Does ANYONE sell modern Boxer 8mm Mauser ammo loaded to full potential?

[Bert2368]

Looking at the specs on all the common brands of 8mm brass cased, boxer primed ammo- They are all throttled back 300-400 fps from the Yugo or other military loads.

I'm going to load cast for my softball plinking/practice rounds, but does ANYONE sell factory 8mm loaded to military velocity but with a good modern controlled expansion J-word or mono metal Copper/gilding metal bullet?

[koger]

Norma is always top velocity, and other Euro brands as well, check around!

[Bert2368]

S&B 8mm maybe? Prvi Partizan stuff is all down loaded-

(Edit)

From a customer review on Midway's web site:



Sellier and Bellot makes top notch ammo. I can and do highly recommend this product based on its performance on game, price, and accuracy. As an aside I have chronographed this ammo at 2542fps 10 shot average from my Yugo 24/47 and groups run .75-1.25 @100 yards depending on my caffeine intake.


(2nd edit)

Possibly Hornady- But more $'s.

http://www.rareammo.com/Hornady-Custom-8-x-57-JS-195gr-SP-20-Rnds_p_4296.html?thissku=8229777dash7772871&site=www.ammoseek.com#tab-1

Or I could just buy a case of Yugo late production Berdan/mildly corrosive- And a few boxes of modern bullets. Pull the FMJ's, crimp in the Nosler, Norma, Barnes or similar projectiles...

[leadman]

The Sellier & Belliot ammo I shot many years ago was loaded stout. They had a 196gr bullet at around 2,500 fps.

[Skipper]

The Sellier & Belliot ammo I shot many years ago was loaded stout. They had a 196gr bullet at around 2,500 fps.


The SAAMI pressure for the 8mm is 35000 psi. If any company loads higher than that, I'm afraid that their lawyers would soil themselves.

[AllanD]

MAnufacturer's lawyers are all worried you will try to run high pressure ammo in
an old drilling or an ancient "commission rifle" and blow it and yourself to bits...

The same reason factory ammo is downloaded for 6.5x55, except there they are afraid you'll feed it to a Norwegian Krag

[Bert2368]

SAAMI can dictate 35,000 PSI all they like. CIP says 8x57 IS is good for 56,560 (and the military that designed the cartridge agrees).

I am running it in a 98/48 Yugo, action was made in Germany before they ran out of alloying constituents to make good ordnance steel. I will go with CIP.

S&B it is. Less than half the cost of Norma, and anecdotal information says the 196gr SPCE kills deer size critters very dead.

[zuke]

Just about anything from Europe will be better then anything loaded in the US

[NuJudge]

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AP8SP&name=Prvi+Partizan+PPU+8mm+Mauser+SP+196grn+20rd+B ox&groupid=42

http://www.prvipartizan.com/search_r.php

I shoot a lot of the 196gr FMJ ammo in a gas operated semi-auto, which flings brass further when pressures are higher, and with Serbian it throwns cases 20 yards.

[opos]

I have shot both PPU and S&B..it's what I buy to get great brass for subsequent loadings...and both are quite a bit hotter than the "local" brands...I doubt any of it exceeds SAAMI but they both are stout..and cheaper than most..The brass on the PPU is my favorite...S&B brass can have primer pockets that are a bit tight (not staked) but a "uniformer" make short work of that..

[Mauser48]

The 150 grain remington core lokt seems to be some pretty hot stuff. The norma is too but very pricey. If you want real hot stuff at a decent price just load it.

[Bert2368]

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AP8SP&name=Prvi+Partizan+PPU+8mm+Mauser+SP+196grn+20rd+B ox&groupid=42

http://www.prvipartizan.com/search_r.php

I shoot a lot of the 196gr FMJ ammo in a gas operated semi-auto, which flings brass further when pressures are higher, and with Serbian it throwns cases 20 yards.

Looking at Prvi web site, they load the 8mm Mauser 196gr to only around 2,200 fps.

I would guess it runs a gas gun, as you say. Certainly should kill a deer with the right bullet and in close enough too. But not going to equal what the cartridge COULD do at full military spec.

A friend and I just put a couple of boxes of Yugo full power milsurp and some USA lawyer friendly ammo down range. The US stuff is not going hunting, but is certainly more pleasant to shoot wearing only a T-shirt- I had to wrap a 1" layer of closed cell foam over the Mauser butt plate with vet wrap to do the Yugo ammo proper justice, instead of flinching it off the paper.

[bcp477]

I would go with the S&B, if I were you (the OP), if you don't handload. The price is not too bad....and it is good ammo. Certainly adequate for deer. The lighter SAAMI spec loadings will work, if you keep the shooting distances relatively close, but bullet performance (expansion) at such low muzzle velocities is a bit iffy and zeroing is more difficult with military sights, as bullet drop is much greater.

[Bert2368]

I have "hacked" a scope mount onto the Mauser, and will start load development... But I've only got one mould, and no 8mm checks. I have no J-words, no one around here seems to carry 8mm ANYTHING except for a bit of surplus corrosive, Berdan primed ammo. Pre WWII Egyptian, Yugo '50, nuttin' fancy...

My younger brother gave me a few boxes of OTHER milsurp 8mm from his stash, and a couple of members here have sold me an 8mm mould & 20 pieces of 1X Western brass. Haven't slugged the bore yet, or got a bullet size die.

I'm willing to try softball cast with no checks, once I get some cast up.

[UBER7MM]

The Sellier & Belliot ammo I shot many years ago was loaded stout. They had a 196gr bullet at around 2,500 fps.

I agree with Leadman. S&B is a stout round. You'll know you shot one, especially from a steel butt plate military rifle. Priced reasonable too.

You might look into cutting down and re-forming 30'06 or like brass as well. Boxer Springfield range brass is easier to find than 8x57.

If you really want be get hard core, learn to reload Brenand cases. There's threads here on that too.

I hope this helps,

[Bert2368]

Cutting & re forming '06 brass is often suggested, but as I also shoot '06 (see the '03 in the same pic with the K98), I do NOT want improperly head stamped 8mm in my posession. I KNOW what will eventually happen if I have these!

[CHeatermk3]

just get a few boxes of S&B, like maybe 5. Then shoot one box up and experiment with the 20 empties.

I've had good results w/the S&B stuff in 7,62x39.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/310300/sellier-and-bellot-ammunition-8x57mm-js-mauser-8mm-mauser-196-grain-soft-point-cutted-edge-box-of-20

2600fps.

[bcp477]

If you are going to move into handloading for your Mauser and want to try cast boolits, then consider paper patching. I have been paper patching for my Yugo M48 for many years now. I started when j-word bullet prices started to go stupid years ago (can't remember exactly what year that was). Anyway, PP is an excellent way to get near j-word velocities, from cheaper cast projectiles. It is time consuming and requires a learning curve, but works well (and can save you a lot of $$).

[leadman]

If one looks at the SAAMI website they will probably be surprised that there are so few cartridges listed on it. The S&B is rated by European CIP standards. I have shot a fair amount of it and it is very good ammo.

[Bert2368]

Tell me about paper patch moulds for 8mm? I have read about the PP process, but since I mainly shoot 7.62x39, .30-06, .308 Win, 6.5x55 and .224 for Hornet and Fireball as cast in rifles I have not yet gone "hands on". Those tiny bullets and tiny scraps of paper...

[bcp477]

No special moulds needed. There are some that people have come up with to make boolits specifically for PP, but it isn't necessary (and I have no knowledge of them myself). What I do is buy suitable boolits from a commercial caster, then size them, patch them, lube them and load them. For my M48, which has a groove dia. just a bit on the small side (about 0.3228"), I buy a 170 grain round nose/ flat point boolit, which was designed for the 32/40 or the 32 Winchester Special. I get them at 0.322" or 0.324" diameter. When paper-patching, you have to allow for the thickness of the paper (2 wraps)....which works out, in my case, to 0.010". So, first, I size my boolits down to 0.314"....then patch them. The finished product comes out at about 0.3245". As a final step, after lubing, I run them through a boolit sizing die that is just a bit smaller than 0.324". The final patched boolits are just about 0.324". They shoot wonderfully in my M48.

If you want to learn all about paper-patching.....fortunately, you've come to the right place. There is lots of good information here (check the smokeless paper-patching forum).....and many knowledgeable people also. I don't necessarily count myself as one of those, as I have only PP'd for the 8mm Mauser, but I can offer some minor help, here and there.

[runfiverun]

your gonna have the brass and dies and such anyway just load your own jacketed stuff.
I use a rem-700 in 8 mauser for my bigger game stuff here [bull elk/moose]
I just reload it to act like a bigger diameter 30-06.
150 grs at 2750-2800 fps or so is as easy as reloading a 150gr bullet to 2750-2800 fps or so in any other cartridge.
same powders your 0-6 uses too.
why not? the 0-6 is a rip off of the 8 mauser anyway.

[Tackleberry41]

Probably hit or miss on some of the European stuff out there, have to buy some and try it to see. Anything US made is generally downloaded pretty bad. As said there is the off chance someone will try to stuff some modern ammo in an antique. You want full powered and soft point, better off loading it yourself.

The brass isn't nearly as hard to get as it once was, only reason I resorted to forming it from something esle was the other brass was free. I was only using it to salvage some of the Turkish stuff I bought, find them with cracked necks all the time. Save the powder, load it into a formed case. Good ammo, then I just use brass I have bought.