8mm Mauser ammo 1931-1942, safe to shoot?

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Prothe2nd

New member
I was at a gun show and it was literally a free for all. I was looking for some 8mm to feed my k98 1944 Mauser, I saw two bags, pounced on it and walked out. It was loaded on stripper clips. Half of it is labeled 1931, the other half 1942. The actual bullet tips are a silver color, and the edge around the primer has a half moon with a star. I'm guessing it's Turkish? Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyhow my real question is: is this ammo safe to shoot? I came home, saw the date and questioned whether I bought ammo I couldn't even use. Not too much of a loss, I paid $15 per 30 rds and got two bags, thus I have 60 rds.
 
If you bought a spam can that was sealed I would say yes to shooting it. Old ammo that's loose and you don't know the history of how it was kept...

I have some of the cupro-nickle stuff like yours but I really don't feel like shooting it out of my Mauser. I'm sure it's okay to shoot, I just don't like the idea of shooting those through my rifle.
 
There is always an element of risk buying any "surplus" ammo, though generally its more likely to not fire or hang fire than have dangerous high pressures. USUALLY.

Expect it to be corrosive primed, berdan (non-reloadable) cases.
 
I don't know much about the Turkish ammo, but I never used war production ammo. A lot of that 8 MM was put together by slave labor or civilians in occupied countries. Maybe the Turk stuff was assembled by people being paid.
 
The Turk stuff is a little on the hot side, it is fine in bolt guns, but as seen in the link 2damnold4this posted, not a good idea in a self loading rifle or a machinegun.
 
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