Opinions on this ammo welcome before I shoot any. I bought a couple of boxes for my Mausers and MAYBE my MG42/M53 but I'd like to have some feedback before I use it. The second photo is before cleaning with lacquer thinner and the third is after. Thanks in advance!
8mm ammo question
- Thread starter johnb593
- Start date
Why are you wasting so much time on that one shot stuff? That is berdan primed steel cased. Yes I know that 8mm Mauser rounds are hard to find but resizeing .30-06, .308 and even .270 cases is not that big a chore. First off do you reload? Second can you find cases that you can size and third do you have loading dies and or a forming die.
I can walk you through how to form the cases if you want or assuming there are still some .308 once fireds still down at my LGS form the cases for you and sell them to you. As I recall there were at least 100 .308 cases in a couple baggies.
I can walk you through how to form the cases if you want or assuming there are still some .308 once fireds still down at my LGS form the cases for you and sell them to you. As I recall there were at least 100 .308 cases in a couple baggies.
It appears to be current production. The box says non-corrosive (meaning the primers), steel cased, Berdan primed. Probably identical to the stuff Germany used, other than the non-corrosive primers.
NOT RELOADABLE.
It should function fine, although accuracy is anyone's guess. Fire it, and the cases are good for scrap metal, only.
If you got it cheap (and cheap is the only reason to use steel cased berdan primed ammo), go for it. If you paid the same price as brass cased boxer primed ammo, you got ripped off.
8mm ammo is out there, and is not difficult to find. Commercial sporting ammo made in the US isn't loaded as hot as European ammo, but it is out there, and always has been.
What you won't find any more is cheap surplus military ammo in 8mm Mauser, .303 Brit, 7.7Jap, etc. Even the US .30-06 surplus stuff is about dried up.
And, while handloading wasn't mentioned in the OP, new 8mm Mauser brass also exists. and just FYI, forget about forming cases for 8mm Mauser from .308 Win. Can NOT BE DONE. The .308 case is too short (51mm vs 57mm). .30-06/.270 can be formed into 8mm Mauser. .30-06 case is 63mm, vs. the Mauser 57mm.
However, unless you simply cannot get 8mm brass, or have a ton of 06, and like to do it, forming 8mm Mauser isn't worth it.
NOT RELOADABLE.
It should function fine, although accuracy is anyone's guess. Fire it, and the cases are good for scrap metal, only.
If you got it cheap (and cheap is the only reason to use steel cased berdan primed ammo), go for it. If you paid the same price as brass cased boxer primed ammo, you got ripped off.
8mm ammo is out there, and is not difficult to find. Commercial sporting ammo made in the US isn't loaded as hot as European ammo, but it is out there, and always has been.
What you won't find any more is cheap surplus military ammo in 8mm Mauser, .303 Brit, 7.7Jap, etc. Even the US .30-06 surplus stuff is about dried up.
And, while handloading wasn't mentioned in the OP, new 8mm Mauser brass also exists. and just FYI, forget about forming cases for 8mm Mauser from .308 Win. Can NOT BE DONE. The .308 case is too short (51mm vs 57mm). .30-06/.270 can be formed into 8mm Mauser. .30-06 case is 63mm, vs. the Mauser 57mm.
However, unless you simply cannot get 8mm brass, or have a ton of 06, and like to do it, forming 8mm Mauser isn't worth it.
Appreciated
Thanks for the info fellas. To answer one question, I don't reload. Don't have the equipment, etc.
I got these for my Mauser M48's and K98's mainly. For the MG42/M53 I have a better ammo.
It's 196gr FMJBT sniper ammo with a brass case and berdan primer. Copper jacketed slug. 15 rnds for $8.50.
Thanks for the info fellas. To answer one question, I don't reload. Don't have the equipment, etc.
I got these for my Mauser M48's and K98's mainly. For the MG42/M53 I have a better ammo.
It's 196gr FMJBT sniper ammo with a brass case and berdan primer. Copper jacketed slug. 15 rnds for $8.50.
Attachments
I can size a 30-06 to an 8mm Mauser in 30 seconds. and it takes another 30 to cut to length in my mororized case trimmer..... as for the .308 being shorter that still does not mean that you can not use it you just have to realize that the Case OAL will be shorter so your bullet will hang outside the case a bit more as long as one uses the .308 case and makes sure that the 8mm round is the correct OAL it will work just fine.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
As to the first stuff -- it's steel cased. Probably works fine, but I avoid anything with a steel case. Just my idiotsyncracy, I reckon.
You can use a lot of things if the object is to have something that will probably fire....
you cannot make an 8mm Mauser case from a .308 Win. You can make something that will probably go bang in the chamber, but its not a proper 8mm Mauser case.
Headspacing an "8mm/08" in an 8mm Mauser chamber will be "iffy". The .308 case shoulder is in the wrong place (too far back). If the case is properly held by the extractor, it will fire, and since the overall length of the round still has the bullet lined up with the barrel, it will work (shoot). But the fired case (.308) will have the shoulder blown forward, and won't have much, if any case neck on it.
AND, odds are high that ammo made from .308 brass will not shoot anywhere near the same point of impact as proper ammo.
Firing a .308 in a .30-06 chamber generally results in approximately a 6 inch lower impact at 100yds, compared to 06 ammo. I expect the same thing using .308 cases fired in an 8mm Mauser chamber.
Also, you would not be able to easily reload the fired (in 8mm chamber) .308 brass again, as there is virtually no case neck. You would have to run it through the .308 sizer again, to create a case neck, then expand that neck to 8mm to load it, which is going to work the brass a LOT.
If you were in a survival situation, desperately needing something that will shoot from your 8mm, and you have all the proper components EXCEPT 8mm brass, but you do have .308 Win brass, you could make something that will go bang in your rifle. Other than that far fetched situation, there's no point to it.
Use the right case (06 length can be formed to the right case length), if you need, or want to form brass. otherwise, get the right caliber brass to start with.
Years ago, I picked up a cigar box full of 8mm Mauser reloads with cast bullets (estate sale) 80 some rounds cases were formed from GI SL 52-53 06 brass. They work fine.
44 Amp the correct word is not blown forward it is call fireforming. Yes it is much easier to use 30-06 cases as they are long enough so you just have to use 8mm Mauser die and enough grease and worik the 30-06 case into the Mauser die in incriments till you get the case full sized and the shoulder moved and then you can cut to the correct length BUT with .308 brass you actually have to load the case using the Mauser dies.
The shoulder will be in the wrong place but once you fire a moderate load the shoulder will be in the right place and you can then use the mauser dies to size the .308 brass for the next charging.
The only hitch is that you can only use these cases with heavy bullets that are long enough.
Some reloading manuals from the forties and fifties have notations in the Mauser section on doing this.
Yes the neck will be shorter but the neck should be at least 3/16 long. Crimping would be a problem but it will work.
The shoulder will be in the wrong place but once you fire a moderate load the shoulder will be in the right place and you can then use the mauser dies to size the .308 brass for the next charging.
The only hitch is that you can only use these cases with heavy bullets that are long enough.
Some reloading manuals from the forties and fifties have notations in the Mauser section on doing this.
Yes the neck will be shorter but the neck should be at least 3/16 long. Crimping would be a problem but it will work.
Evan Thomas
Inactive
Umm... the OP said he didn't reload, so discussion of reloading isn't responsive to his request for feedback. Just sayin'... for now.