Is 8mm Mauser corrosive?

"I think it is an occupation Mauser, because the markings are in Cyrillic."

The above reference by the OP was for the rifle, not the ammo headstamp.
 
FWIW, Turkey never use the Cyrillic alphabet; they went from the Arabic alphabet to the Latin alphabet under Ataturk in 1929, though there was a "period of adjustment."

Jim
 
RE Cyrillic markings: It might be a Yugo K98, but it is a WW II war trophy. We have the papers for it. Of course, who am I to say it isn't a Yugo? I don't know much about the matter other than it is in Russian and it was brought back during WW II. I'll take pictures and post the proof marks. Thanks for all your comments.
Click to expand...

Yugoslavia had plenty of Mausers that were used during the war, including reworked German guns. Also, Germans used captured equipment whenever possible.

To say it's in "Russian" is not completely accurate. As was mentioned in a prior post, "Russian" uses a Cyrillic alphabet as do Serbia (a part of Yugoslavia) and Bulgaria. St. Cyril was a Greek monk, and it is through his efforts the Cyrillic alphabet was promulgated throughout Eastern Europe and into Russia. Cyrillic is based on the Greek alphabet.
 
emcon5 posted some steel case ROMANIAN 8mm mauser ammo that's available to buy. While his had different boxes/names on it than the new steel case box of 8mm Romanian ammo I've tried, I'd be leery of buying it. Of the 20 round box I tried, about 1/2 would not chamber in two of the 8mm German wwII era 98 mausers I own and with most that I was able to chamber, I had a hard time closing the bolt on them. Seems the quality control was poor....shoulders were off on mine.

I'd check around (on internet) for Prvi Partizan 8mm ammo to shoot in it.
 
Thanks for the corrections on my use of Cyrillic. Like I said, I am no expert on Russian/Slavic history.

Here are the pictures as requested.
 

Attachments

  • Left side better 8mm.jpg
    Left side better 8mm.jpg
    237.7 KB · Views: 28
Yes, it's Yugoslav, out of the same factory that gave us the Model 48. Note that the Yugo Model 24 is based on the Belgian FN Model 24. After WWI, the new nation of Yugoslavia bought rifles from FN and also bought the machines and tooling to make their own rifles based on the FN rifle. But the FN (and Yugo) Model 24 has a shorter receiver and a different breech setup from the standard German Model 98, so some parts (e.g., bolt body, firing pin) won't interchange and some Mauser scope mounts won't fit the Model 24.

I don't see any problem with firing corrosive primed ammo if, as others have advised, reasonable cleaning is done afterward. But if in a hot, humid climate (the Brazilian rain forest, or the Washington, D.C., area in the summer) that cleaning should be done as quickly as possible.

Jim
 
Thanks! I've always wondered where this was from! I never got to talk to my great uncle about his war experiences. He lived alone and without electricity, rejecting all of his veteran benefits. I take it Yugo's wound up being used on the Western front?
 
Oh, James, then it can be said that I have a Yugoslavian built Model 24? Is it possible to tell by the serial numbers when it was made. Would these have been issued to Germans at all or Yugoslavians?
 
It was made between 1931 and 1941, probably 1935, in the Vojno Technicki Zavod (Military Technical Factory), in Kragujevac, Serbia.

If this is really interesting to you, Bogdanovic's book "Serbian and Yugoslavian Mauser Rifles" might be worth the read. Just understand that it's more of a reference book than something you'd read for light enjoyment.
 
There is some good info here:

http://candrsenal.com/rifle-serbian-mauser-model-1924/

Actually, I think yours is a M24, rather than a 24/47, it looks like it has the original factory markings, and the Yugo royal crest, rather than the later communist crest found on reworks.

I believe the M24/47s had the royal crest ground off and the Communist Yugoslavian crest stamped in its place during the refurb/update process after WW2.

I could be mistaken though.
 
A transliteration is:

"Kralevina Yugoslavia."

Would these have been issued to Germans at all or Yugoslavians?
Click to expand...

Most likely was issued to a Yugoslavian soldier then captured and used by a German, then recaptured (evidently, as you have the capture papers) by an American GI. Yugoslavia was in the midst of a civil war at the same time as the German occupation, and things were complicated. Mikhailovic and Tito were trying to keep all the various warring forces together to fight against the "common enemy," and put off the civil war until after the Germans were defeated. Or something like that...:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top