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Thread: Mauser, S-147, 1936

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
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    Mauser, S-147, 1936

    I recently found this group while researching about a K98 Mauser I got when my Grandpa passed away. I never got a chance to learn the history of it. My Grandpa was in the Merchant Marine, a butcher, during WWII. The more I learn about the rifle, the more questions I have.

    It has been in the case for 40 years since since I got it. I have done a bit of research. The receiver is stamped S-147, 1936, so it was made in Germany in 1936 by J.P. Sauer und Sohn Gewehrfabrik, Suhl The bolt numbers do not match the receiver and barrel numbers. All things considered, it looks to be in great shape. Worn but still good, no rust, or dings. The bore is nice and shiny but the fore-stock has been shortened thus hand guard over the barrel is also gone.

    Previously I had only fired about 2 rounds when I was 12-13. That was 55 years ago. In the case with the rifle were 3 unfired rounds of Remington Kleanbore 170 grain in the box with 15 fired cases. There is no 8mm ammo in shops around here. Recently I got 15 rounds of old 1952 surplus rounds from a local dealer. The Remington rounds miked at .318, the surplus was .324. Is all commercial 8mm .318?

    I have not yet checked the twist of the barrel, but I slugged the bore before firing the gun as I was worried about shooting the .324 in it. The slug came out at .326. The gun seems to shoot very pretty well. Since the ground was cold and wet, from standing, I was able to hit some chunks of firewood at 50 yards, so I don’t have real grouping info.

    I am thinking since the grooves are .326, and the only jacketed bullets I have found are .323, I would be better off to start a new hobby and cast my own. I now have 30 empty cases. Planning to go get some more surplus rounds, since they cost less than purchasing empty brass. They do have crimped military primers, but that can be fixed.

    I used to reload for 22-250 and .221 fireball, still have my old Lyman Spartan press and dies for those. I now have dies for the 8 x 57. Looking for a bullet mold. I have found a Lee, DC C329-205-!R, it is .329. Lyman’s are .324, all of NOE’s are .326. From what I read the .329 Lee is the only good option?

    I did find a thread here about bullet “bumping” but I am not sure I want to jump into that at this point in the process.

    I am considering making my own mold. Another long time hobby is fabrication and machining. I have a small shop in my basement.

    I am just planning to shoot for fun, I did find a local range has an “old military rifle” competition, so I may try that.

    What do others shoot in their K98’s? Should I plan to make my own gas checks also, or just go with plain base?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    leebuilder's Avatar
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    Hi. Got sort of the same rifle or it least it was. Mine is a s-147 and a 1936 just like yours. Mine is a 308 Israeli conversion, when I got 25 years ago it wore a Czech trigger guard. It's accuracy has amazed me many times. It likes cast, surplus ammo, handloads and factory. I used mine hunting for a few years. Just shoot it once and a while. Funny my most accurate rifles never get shot. Always an issue or a new load I want to perfect.
    As for your question, try both if you can. I always use gas checks, rather not lead up my barrel. I have a little machine shop too and want to modify and make my own molds too. Thinking about cutting down a 6.5 mold can't get any satisfaction the way it is, once done it will be my only plain base rifle mold.
    Be well
    Last edited by leebuilder; 03-14-2017 at 06:01 PM. Reason: Fonics
    When you read the fine print you get an education
    when you ignore the fine print you get experience

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The Mauser folks changed the barrel size at some point. The old one was (IIRC) that .318.. Then they went to the now common .323. One was marked with a pre-fix of "J". Some actually knowledgeable will pipe in shortly. Always good to check the bore / chamber on those old ones. So many backyard gunsmiths between now and then. You just never know. In any event, it's a Mauser, so it has to be good!

  4. #4
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    I believe some commercial ammo had undersized projectiles to prevent overpressures in J bore mausers. The cut off handguard suggests that your rifle rode home in a duffle bag. The barreled action would fit but the sock stuck out unless shortened. Some stocks were repaired when the rifles came to the US.
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Welcome to the madness!

    You can buy 8mm Mauser ammo from Powder Valley or Midway at reasonable prices; shipping is not too bad:

    https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/PRVIPAmmo.shtml

    About $17 for a box of 20 8x57 Mauser The privi brass is pretty good stuff.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    Fishman's Avatar
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    Keep in mind that the surplus ammo is likely corrosive so if you shoot some you will need to clean your rifle right away or you will have a rusty mess.
    "Is all this REALLY necessary?"

  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
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    One other slight problem with 8x57 surplus is that most of it I am aware of used Berdan primers.

    Robert

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    I put many duffle cut 98'sbck together. you can not even tell if they were under the barrel band. first are the Nazi markings stamped out? if so it was a war reparations rifle. I have one that went to Serbia.

  9. #9
    Boolit Mold
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    I made a punch and die to remove the Berdan primers. Working now on bushings to fit boxer primers into the oversize hole.

    Still looking for information my what kind of cast boolits people are using. I slugged the bore and got .326. This is larger than most molds in this range. I did find a Lee mold that is .329.

    The is a photo I found online, exact same markings as mine. This one is year 1937, mine is 1936. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attach...n-dsc05615.jpg

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master

    Wayne Smith's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fishman View Post
    Keep in mind that the surplus ammo is likely corrosive so if you shoot some you will need to clean your rifle right away or you will have a rusty mess.
    And clean first with water, not just Hoppes. Hoppes will not clean out the salts from the corrosive primers.
    Wayne the Shrink

    There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    hemmjo,

    Your rifle bolt does not match the rifle receiver because the arm was surrendered. My Uncle Marty was in the 3rd Army and told me in May 1945 many German soldiers came running down the road to surrender to Americans rather than to the Russians. Marty said the drill was to disarm the Germans, pull out the rifle bolt and toss it into the right roadside ditch and toss the rifle into the other ditch. The German soldiers were told to march to the rear.

    Mis-matched rifles are, in many cases, the result of folks picking up all the surrendered arms and slapping them back together.

    Adam
    Last edited by Adam Helmer; 03-15-2017 at 02:29 PM.

  12. #12
    In Remembrance


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    About 20 years back my brother found a place selling wooden ammo crates of Spanish (Spain) 8mm surplus ammo that was not only boxer primed but non corrosive. The ammo was in stripper clips in grey cardboard boxes tied with white string. Of the 4 cases we bought (all we had free money for) I am down to the last 1/2 case. My cast boolet advice is get an NOE mold for .326" bore and size the boolet to .326" when you lube it. Brass is not the expensive to get, Berdan primed cases are a real pain and I discard them in the brass scrap pail when I find any. As has already been said, ` It`s a Mauser - so it must be good`!Robert

  13. #13
    Boolit Master

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    IIRC 8x57J is the .318 bullet loading. 8x57jS is th later .326 loading.


    I remember a guy I knew when we were young who bought th j type ammo at a gunshow for an inherited Mauser. It shot poorly. Later figured out the whole j vs js thing.

  14. #14
    Boolit Mold
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    Hardcast, will the .326 boolit be ok in a barrel that slugged .326? I was able to recover a couple of the .324 jacketed bullets from the surplus rounds. They were lightly engraved with the rifling, but it was obvious the rifling is all that was touching the bullet.

    I have not cast anything but round balls for a slingshot, the bullet casting part is new to me since I find no bullets bigger than .324

    Adam, that makes sense. Along with the stock being cut to make it fit in a duffle as mentioned by others. I wish I would have had the sense to talk to my grandpa about it when I had the chance.

    Thanks for the input everyone, still learning. I am going to try the berdan conversion, just because I like to use my little machine shop. But as you have said, it is a pain so far, so I will be finding some more boxer brass also.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    If you don't want to jump headfirst into casting, I'm sure some one here can sell you some boolits to get you started.

  16. #16
    Boolit Mold
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    Thanks for that offer, but the casting part is something I have been thinking about for a long time. This is as a good a time as any to get started. I am just trying to learn as much as I can before I start spending money buying the wrong things. I realize I probably will do some of that anyway, but I am trying to minimize that.

    I am learning more everyday, I do appreciate everyone's input.

    Right now the main issue is bullet size. As I mentioned the barrel slug came out at .326. If I understand correctly, a cast boolit should be .001-.002 over that. So, if they come out of the mold at .327 or .328, I do not have to size them, but much over that
    they should be sized down to that size range. Is this correct?

  17. #17
    In Remembrance

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    OTOH you could just buy the cheaper LEE .324 mold and either PC coat the boolits cast from it or paper patch them up to the diameter you require. All the expertise to do either is available right here on this forum, explained so that even a dummy like me has learned how to do both useful skills. It's a hobby, right??
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check