8mm Surplus

I am looking for a first rifle and I stumbled across a yugo m24/47 rifle and I was wondering how much 8mm surplus there is left. I know that if you shoot surplus you have to clean your rifles religiously.
 
Seems to still be a good supply of surplus 8mm. Sportsman's Guide has a pretty good price on some if you want less than a full case.
Bear ammunition is new manufacture and is not corrosive.
 
Be careful when dealing with SG, however. Many of us have had less than positive experiences with these folks.

I bought a case of 1993-dated ammo from them that was literally caked with verdigris. They refused to take it back or do anything else, for that matter, to make things right. Took me the better part of a day to clean off the caked bits and it was still heavily discolored.
 
I've heard both good and bad about SG.
The 8mm they're selling now is 50's Yugo. I bought some of it a couple of months ago and it's good clean ammunition. Looks just like the picture in their ad.
 
Larry, I've heard good stories like yours about SG too. It seems to be the luck of the draw with them. Since my luck is pretty crappy, I've chosen not to do business with them, but it's each buyer's decision what to do.
 
My favorite is the Yugo M75 ammo. The regular Yugo milsurp is ok as well. There is quite a bit of both available.
 
There have been massive quantities of 8mm surplus in so many countries, I wouldn't worry. I've had no problems with SG. Good results with Yugo corrosive from SG, although I no longer use corrrosive ammo in any gun of mine (I put hundreds of 8mm corrosive FMJ rounds in my Zombie Stockpile).

Find a local reloader (or do it yourself) and load to Euro spec. Most shooters say the 8mm only works well with the heavier bullets (180 gr+ ) but I've had great results with 165 gr HP Norma also. Too bad they are exceedingly rare now. :( No bother, 196 gr SPs and the 8mm are like bread and butter. Great ammo from Sellior & Bellot and the much more expensive Norma and even more expensive 200 gr Noslers for premium commercial hunting ammo.

I do most of my "goofing off" shooting these days with 7.62x39 or .308 anyway (both of which are my fighting rifles), so huge stores of 8mm isn't an issue.
 
sc928porsche said:
If 8mm ammo becomes obsolete, rechamber to 8mm-06. Inexpensive and 06 brass is easy to come by.

I think the Mauser Cult is sufficient to sustain itself for quite sometime. :D After all, look at all the 1911 .45 Mania of the last 15 years and the love for truly ancient Cowboy revolvers. In the early '80s, a lot of people though old dinosaurs like the 1911 would fade away as the "Wunder Nines" with high cap mags began to get traction. But humans are sentimental animals.
 
I wouldn't worry about not feeding your 8mm Mausers anytime soon. The 8x57 is one of the most popular rounds in Europe , much like the 30-06 is here. There's even fresh mil-spec ball being produced by Prvi Partizan , Sellier & Bellot , and other grand old ammo makers.
 
A lot of countries used 8mm. The thing is, a lot of countries used 303 too. You don't see a lot of surplus 303 these days. Commercial 303 is still pretty widespread though. I just have a feeling that 8mm surplus is going to end up like 303 surplus.
When my 8mm dries up i'm going to sell my BYF 44 k98 mauser and just shoot my 7.62 Israeli mauser.
 
I have three 8mm mausers and two 7mm mausers and various other calibers. I just roll my own. Pistols and revolvers too!! I have never shot surplus ammo in any of my firearms ever. I don't spend less on shooting, I just have ammo that is tailored to my firearms and I luv it.
 
8mm surplus

I shoot a K-98 in local CMP matches with that stuff.It is in good supply around here about $6 a box.Cheaper than Dirt has it quite often as well in bulk packs.Not bad stuff for plinking or casual shooting but certainly not match grade ammo to say the least.I run a patch down the barrel after a shoot and have forgotten to at least once with no ill effects but don't recommend it.
 
Also I am looking at a mosin, so is bear 7.62x54 corrosive?

All 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive, including the newly manufactured stuff, so if you buy a Mosin Nagant, make sure you clean it ASAP after you shoot it. With that said, you might as well buy surplus 7.62x54R ammo in spam cans. It is dirt cheap.
 
All 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive, including the newly manufactured stuff

Wrong. All of the "bear" and other new-production, commercial rooski loads currently imported are noncorrosive. That doesn't mean it's great stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but they are certainly noncorrosive.
 
Back
Top