Mauser military ammo

J

jells

New member
While roaming the internet, I see that surplus 8X57 ammo can be J or JS, .323 or another round that is smaller .318. I've also seen the comment that the barrel needs to be measured (slugged) before using the bigger round.
Can someone enlighten me on this, how do I measure it and is there a real issue? My Mauser is a take home, 1939 vintage all German 98k.

Thanks
John
 
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Any .318" ammo would be either pre-WW2 civilian ammo, or pre-1905 military ammo. Since the Germans destroyed all of their military J bullet ammo in 1907, it would have to be from somewhere else, and I don't know where else it could be from. It is really a non-issue.
 
I have some cases of surplus 8mm.
It is not worth shooting.
It is not accurate, and the primers are corrosive.
The bullets are not worth pulling down and the powder is not worth pulling down.

Winchester or Remington brass with Sierra bullets and IMR4895 or H4350 powder will make good handloads that get good groups and don't wreck the bore.

Save some time and stop trying to save money.
Don't be slow to catch on, like I was.
 
Very few out there are still .318"

When the Germans went to the larger bore size (and new bullet), they pulled in all their military rifles and had them converted to the larger bore. Just as we did with the m1903 Springfields in .30-03, we converted them to .30-06.

Naturally, as these things go, a hand full of rifles always seem to get missed.

And, on top of that, there were German sporting rifles that stayed in the .318 bore, and ammo was made for them for many years after.

If its a German military rifle (or ammo) odds are long it is .323, BUT, since a small chance exists it could be .318, it pays to check.
 
Some of us have to go backwards, I have a project laying in the shop that requires an .318 cal 8 MM bullet., A Cal 8 K, (8 X 51). Though it was a hunting round more then a military.

Problem I have is the Action is a Mannlicher-Schoenauer. The cal is on the on the action instead of the barrel, so I have to match the barrel instead of matching the action to the barrel.

Good .318 barrels are hard to find, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. I have the reamer & headspace gages (which are a tad differant then the 308 case so I couldnt use the 308 gages).

Then I'll be in the market for .318 bullets so pull them and send them to me :D
 
My thanks to all.
I was unaware of the retirement of the .318 ammo. I did shoot this weapon 40 some years ago deer hunting in Pa. usng commercial 8mm Mauser ammo. Since then, it has been in a bag, stored with various family members until I finally settled and retired in Fl. Time to make up for lost time.
I am reloading now for my 9mm Beretta. It should not be hard to transition to 8mm, it's only -1 :D. I considered starting from scratch; buying brass, power, primers and bullets but I'm leaning toward shooting good commercial ammo and using that brass.
John
 
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