Which 8MM Surplus ammo to buy?

[chrissmallwood]

Hi all. I just recieved my C&R license a few weeks ago and I think the first gun Im going to buy with it is a VZ24 Mauser from AIM. I was pricing ammo for it and I figured I would buy some surplus ammo for it so I could shoot it and not break the bank. The only dillema I have is which surplus ammo to buy. J&G Sales has Yugo 196grn fmj and AIM has 150grn fmj for roughly the same price. Which one would I be better off buying? If anyone has had experience with these two rounds I would really appreciate it if you could let me know how they worked.

 

[highorder]

I shoot the 150gr ball from AIM.

Its corrosive, but cleans up easily with hot water. Be sure to get a key to open the spam can.

 

[chrissmallwood]

How does the 150grn ammo shoot? Has anyone had experience with the 196 grn ammo?

 

[dscottw88]

I've shot both the 150gr Romanian, and the 196gr Yugo ammo. I've shot the 196gr in my M24/47 and it was a really blast. The 150gr I tried in my K98, and about 1 out of 5 of the rounds the primer wouldn't ignite, so I reset the hammer on the same round and it worked, but I don't know if this is due to a hard primer, or that maybe my K98's firing pin may be short, or broken some how. A buddy of mine told me he shot the 150gr stuff out of his M24/47 and it worked great, which leads me to believe the rifle may be to blame for the rounds not going off.

 

[Afy]

I would load my own if possible. The Vz does well with 44+ grains of Tu 5000 under a 196 grain Privi FMJ. Then again being in Eruope mine's re-chambered for 8x60S.

 

[chrissmallwood]

Thanks for the responses guys. At the moment I dont have all the equipment to start reloading, Im just trying to figure out which ammo I should get with the rifle so I can shoot it whenever I get it.

 

[cchris]

I've had good luck with the 70's Romanian ammo from ammunitiontogo, I've probably put 80 rounds through without an issue.

 

[Uncle Mike]

The 196 will put a pounding on ya'...especially shooting it out of something like one of those steel butt VZ24 or a K98...
I shot a military service rifle match a couple of years ago... as issued rifles with the same as issued ammo, with exceptions... now this match was not your run of the mill service rifle match.

200y, 300y and 400y shooting at steel! That was a blast, you send a 196gr to 400y and you have time to eat a sandwich before the 'gong' gets back to you.

Anyway, I shot a total of 452 rounds in two days of match...all of them 196gr. corrosive 8x57mm Mauser out of a Yugo 48A.

The 150gr. is a tad bit easier on the shoulder, but both are good loads, the Yugo 48's are twisted for the heavier bullets but shoot the 150gr. good as well.

 

[TehK1w1]

Dunno about the turnbolts but my Hakim loves the romanian. Be aware that a lot of surplus 8mm is steel-core, which some ranges will not allow.

 

[panrobercik]

Yugo 8mm (at least all of what I've shot) has non magnetic bullet and brass case. Despite some hard primers, this has been the best surplus 8mm I've used in Mausers (besides M75 sniper ammo) Most of it comes with a high quality stripper clips for quick loading.

 

[InterWebGuy]

I've been using the 150gr Romanian from AIM for a a little while now (approx 120 rounds out of 3 different Mausers), and have yet to have cause for complaint. It's reasonably accurate, relatively clean, full power (as opposed to some of the more anemic commercial FMJ loadings), and has the refreshing aroma of cat pee upon firing. Not sure about the Yugo stuff from JG Sales, but the $0.01 shipping from AIM was a pretty great deal imo.

 

[wrench]

Some rifles will be more accurate with one or the other, you won't know until you try them.
As other posters have said, the 150gr Romanian is easier on the shoulder, sure fire, accurate in some rifles.
Yugo is brass cased, accurate in some rifles, the 50's stuff has ignition problems sometimes.
Both are corrosive, and require proper cleaning.
If I had to just pick one, I'd take the Romanian 150gr.

 

[ccsniper]

If you can find some, get the turkish 196 grain ammo. It is loaded very hot and is really accurate out of my m38 turks. It is also very mean on the shoulder but I like recoil

 

[CornCod]

I have been shooting the Romanian 8mm ball in recent months. Its light on the shoulder and pretty accurate. No duds, I am happy to report.

 

[chrissmallwood]

Thanks for the help. I think Im going to buy both. Im going to get a can of Romanian from AIM and a few boxes of Yugo from J&G so I can try them both out.