T. O'Heir said:
8x57 and 8mm Mauser are the same thing.
This is incorrect. The cases are the same size, and any "S-Bore" military Mauser made after 1903 when .323 became standard can shoot both, but they are absolutely not the same thing.
There are two specifications for what we call 8mm Mauser, the US SAMMI spec "8MM Mauser", which has a max pressure of 35K psi, and the CIP "8x57 IS" which has a max pressure of ~56K psi. To further muddy the waters, "8x57 IS" is often written as "8x57 JS, evidently because the Germans used a Gothic script, and the I looked like a J.
Generally, what you can get in the US is "8MM Mauser", and it the anemic SAMMI spec.
Privi Partisan actually makes both, if you look at their online catalog, they have entries for both "8MM Mauser" and "8x57 IS", with the latter having a higher velocity for the same bullet. For example, the "8x57" IS 198 gr FMJ is 2425 FPS, (essentially the 1934+
s.S. Patrone military load), but the "8MM Mauser" 198 gr FMJ is only 2180 FPS. Naturally, they only sell the wimpy stuff in the US. To further confuse things, some vendors put the European CIP specs in their catalog but ship the SAMMI stuff, pretty sure it was Cheaper than Dirt, been a while.
Hornady and Nosler seem to be the only US folks making "real" 8x57 ammo, Hornady has two options, a 195 hunting bullet and a 196 gr match, both @ 2500 FPS, which is pretty close to the original military load.
Wolf Gold is a decent hunting bullet made by Privi and loaded to 8x57 IS specs, 196 gr SP @ 2461 fps, but I haven't seen it around in a while.
Nosler has a 200gr AccuBond or Partition at 2475 fps, and a 180gr Ballistic tip at 2600 FPS, but they are really proud of them, at about $2.50 per round.
Seller & Belot and Norma both make a few 196 loads at ~2600 FPS, but availability is spotty, and while the price on the S&B is decent, the Norma stuff is up in the $2.50/round neighborhood.
Huffmanite said:
Big difference in where these three different ammos hit on my 175 yd target with the same sight hold for all of them. The new Prvi 8mm Match hit considerably lower.
Not surprising, considering how low powered it is compared to the military stuff.
kilimanjaro said:
K98s today are valuable antiques. Don't shoot surplus ammo in them, it may be machine gun ammo, or otherwise hot loads no suitable for a rifle.
Never heard of "Machine gun ammo" in 8X57. The Turkish is pretty hot, but pretty much any other should be fine. Romanian and Yugo are probably the most likely to be available, both are quite good, although the Yugo from some years can have hard primers, that may need a second hit.
It is important to differentiate between Romanian Surplus, and the new production Romanian on the market currently. The new stuff has a reputation for being out of spec, slightly over sized. I know a guy with a MG34 that won't chamber it, but the same ammo works/runs fine in a buddies MG42.
I would start buying a box, make sure it works. It appears to be sold through a few channels,
"Hot Shot" (Hot Shot is a Century brand I believe), it is also available from Midway as
"PW Arms" and from the arseholes at Sportsmans Guide
unbranded.
kilimanjaro said:
Corrosion is also not nice. Your rifle is too expensive to risk on cheap ammo of questionable utility.
Some people seem to think that "corrosive" primed ammo is caustic and will damage the gun, and this is not true. It is only corrosive because of salts in the priming compound, which will attract water, and therefore lead to rust if the salts are not removed. All this means, is if you shoot corrosive ammo, you just need to clean the gun shortly thereafter. You can clean at the range if you want, but it is not necessary. Just clean it before the end of the day and you will probably my be fine.
I live in the desert, with so little humidity here, I could probably get away with waiting a few days (weeks?) but I never leave it that long.
In reality, every round fired through almost all military surplus rifles up to the point they ended up in the hands of a collector, was corrosive.
All you need to do it remove the salts, and that is really easy, as salt is water soluble. I pour hot water down the barrel, but a wet patch or two will also work.
Rockrivr1 said:
These targets are at 100 yards shooting off the bench.
Not bad.
There are also some things that can be done to a K98k to improve accuracy, such floating the barrel under the handguard, clearance around the bayonet lug and front band, shimming the action if necessary, clearance between the magazine body and the receiver.
Covered in detail here:
http://www.mausershooters.org/k98k/SC_tips2.html#bed
and here:
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...-restore-accuracy-to-your-Russian-capture-98k
Even after doing all that, you still may find your rifle likes one load over another, sometimes significantly so. This is a Soviet capture "AR" code from 1942, the group on the left is commercial Privi Partizan, and is similar to how it shot with both Yugo and Czech surplus ammo. I was about to give up on it, when just for the hell of it, I tried some reloads I had worked up for a different rifle (100 Yards, from the bench with a "Scout" scope):