Ive slugged my barrel

[kotik]

and I get .312 or 7.92 mm on my slug... But, there are no groves (lands and ridges?) to speak of on the slug... so what does this mean???? other than throw the barrel away. the thing is though, its the only thing Ive got to play with and I would really like to try to get some sort of use out of it.

If POSSIBLE, can anyone give some advise on what could be done
Many thanks again

[Bass Ackward]

and I get .312 or 7.92 mm on my slug... But, there are no groves (lands and ridges?) to speak of on the slug... so what does this mean???? other than throw the barrel away. the thing is though, its the only thing Ive got to play with and I would really like to try to get some sort of use out of it.

If POSSIBLE, can anyone give some advise on what could be done
Many thanks again


Mr Kotik,

How long have you owned this firearm? This sounds remarkably strange to me for an 8MM military piece. But I don't specialize in military arms.

Rifling height determines how hard your bullets need to be and what your velocity ceiling is likely going to be. You will probably need about a .314 slug or larger to determine anything accuracy wise.

I usually use three slugs. One in the throat tells me how large in bullet diameter I "can" go. The second is pounded in from the muzzle and then pushed out to tell me my diameter at the muzzle. Then I push one all the way through to get my smallest diameter measurement. Ideally, you want the smallest measurement to be the muzzle.

Your best option is as someone else suggested to buy a small quantity of bullets to try. Once you get some, there are standard loads that can give you some idea of the accuracy potential that others can help you with once they know what bullet you obtained.

[dragonrider]

.312??? IIRC you have an 8MM,yes??? So that could be the bore size, but groove size should be around .318-.323. At .312 I would say you have a seriously fouled bore, Got a bore light??? take a look and see what you rifling looks like, from youir description of your slug you shouldn't be able to see any, and that would be a problem.

[kotik]

eastern front and I havnt shot it yet as I havnt yet got any rounds for it. the rifling doesnt look too good but like i said, its all i have.
can it possible be that its too fouled up?

[Doble Troble]

It sounds VERY fouled and potentially rusted to the extent of reducing the bore size. What has been done to clean it? Maybe some steel wool is called for.

If a clean 8 mm barrel doesn't show rifling and has a restricted bore there's something very amiss. Are you sure it's not a shot-out 7.65 x 53? It may also be important to consider that the 8 x 57 was chambered in both 0.318 and 0.323 bores.

[kotik]

Thanks for answering,
the rifling can be seen( Its worn a bit but i was supprized when the slug can out w/o any realgroves) and Ive cleaned the barrel w some Nato bore cleaner stuff, there doesnt seem to be any rust/pits in the bore so maybe I should keep on cleaning?
k

[kotik]

ps What do you mean bout "shot out 7.65X53"?

[Bass Ackward]

Ive cleaned the barrel w some Nato bore cleaner stuff, there doesnt seem to be any rust/pits in the bore so maybe I should keep on cleaning?
k


Yea. Keep cleaning. When you are satisfied that you have completed that then try slugging again.

[NVcurmudgeon]

kotik, something doesn't add up here. If your rifle was "dug up on the Eastern Front," and it is a K98k Mauser, it was certainly a .323 or larger groove diameter originally. It is extremely unlikely that Germany had any .318 groove Mausers in service in WWII. Either the rifle is mis-identified or the barrel is badly rusted or fouled. The other possibility is that you are not starting with a large enough slug. I have always been successful wth a slug that is made of pure lead, is too large to enter the barrel, and is driven through an oiled bore. I use oversize slugs with one end tapered to start in the barrel. When the slug is driven fully into the barrel, a ring of lead will be sheared off, so that I know the slug is large enough to reach the bottom of the grooves.

[Buckshot]

................Eastern Front = Dug relic = buried for 63 years = rather less well cared for then normal :-).

There is a rather popular website by a gal who rides her high performance Jap 2 stoke Ninja through the radiation abandoned ares of the old Soviet Union. Her other hobby is WW2 relic recovery from old battlefields. She and several friends spend quite a bit of time exploring with metal detectors and shovels. Her website is full of photo's.

In the process she has dug up many firearms. Some have still been loaded. However none have looked like anything I might have liked to shoot, or have shot near me, to put a point to it.

"..............The rifle is a Mauser, dug up on the eastern front and I havnt shot it yet as I havnt yet got any rounds for it. "

I am understanding "Dug Up" to mean honestly really 'dug up, right? Not like "I dug this up at the local pawn shop".

"................its the only thing Ive got to play with and I would really like to try to get some sort of use out of it."

More importantly then the barrel's bore condition, what is the condition of the chamber? The bolt? Is the bolt nice and shiny and smooth with good solid locking lugs? The sear and trigger? Not that the stock has anything to do with safe firing, but what shape is the stock in?

The fact that you dug it up on the Eastern Front is fascinating. Where are you located?

..................Buckshot

[Wayne Smith]

My brother works in a gun shop, and they took on an 1886 Winnie in 45-90, broken and repaired stock, and appearing to be shot out. After a week of cleaning he's seeing rifling throughtout the length of the bore and says that he's not done yet. He's thinking it'll be a shooter. Oh, yeah, and with a 4 digit serial number!

Clean, clean, and clean some more. Hoppe's Elite (MPro 7) jell works well, and a lot of elbow grease.

[David R]

I made a home made electric bore cleaner. I couldn't believe the junk that came out of my 1917 enfield. It took 8 hours. I did an 1891 mauser and found out how much rifling IS missing. That one only took 4 hours.

David

Try this link http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=4439