Yugo M48 - 8mm ammo difficult to find

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YankeeIronSights

New member
Hi Everyone:

I have been wondering why 8mm Mauser ammo has become so scarce. I have been searching on-line for best prices and availability and, to my surprise, there are just a few companies selling it. None of the gun stores in my area have it in stock (not even Cabelas).

I have considered buying reloading equipment, but the prospect of not finding the reloading materials for this type of caliber defeats the purpose. Please share your thoughts...
 
Yes, it is becoming more scarce. Most of the 8mm is surplus and it is getting quite old and supplies are deleting. Although used a lot in europe, it isnt quite as common here. You can get ammo from companies like remington, and winchester, but they are usually special order. Norma also makes 8mm. Cheap ammo is going to get harder and harder to find.

This gives you 2 options. Reload for 8mm and keep as much brass as you can.
Or, you can rechamber to 8mm-06 and reload. Brass for it is still readily available.
 
I think I have about 3,000 rounds in the garage. Supplies don't last forever and I bought when it was real cheap.
 
I went to a gun show earlier this year and they had 8mm mauser ammo by the truckload. There was some surplus, but I don't shoot corrosive powder and primers in any of my rifles. I saw mostly Privi Partizan but also some Hornady and Sellier & Bellot. I bought 6 boxes of Privi for $20/box, and a couple boxes of Hornady for $30/box. I bought the Hornady to hunt with this fall, and the Privi to shoot and use the brass for reloading. Hornady makes the best factory ammo for the 8mm IMO, but the S&B and Privi are good as well. Wolf is decent for the price. If you can help it, don't buy any "8mm Mauser" ammo from Remington, Federal, or Winchester. The reason it says "8mm Mauser" and not "8x57 js" is, for legal liability reasons I assume, they are loaded with .318 bullets to also be used in the older, weaker actions that had a .318 bore instead of the .323. They load them to much lower pressure levels and of course shooting a .318 bullet in a .323 bore isn't going to be very accurate. The changeover to .323 was around 1905 I think, so any K98 Mauser variation (including your Yugo) should be fine using 8x57 js.

My advice would be to buy brass and start reloading or buy whatever kind of brass-cased ammo you can find, shoot it up and save the brass. The 8x57 is a great round that can be made even better by reloading since the factory stuff is usually pretty mild on pressure. The 8x57 will put down about any animal on this continent. Very similar to the .30-06.
 
I was lucky enough to scrounge up a good quantity of once-fired .30-06 brass. Makes good 8mm brass if you have a power trimmer to take the excess .250" off.
 
reload !!

I have been reloading the 8mm for about 6 or 7 years now. Even with the trend of current events I have been able to acquire all that I need to keep on shooting
I have converted 30-06 brass, but prefer to use standard 8mm brass. I currently have 300 loaded and enough components to load 300 more. Availability seems to be
getting back on track so I guess I will just stock up. 3 mausers from the 30's, 40's and 50's that shoot pretty darned good with my reloads! :D
 
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