Hey all
I just added an 8 x 54 Krag Jorgensen to the battery. I built the cartridge on an M'91 Argentine Mauser that I have had for over 40 years. This is a Scandinavian moose cartridge derived by the Norwegians circa 1900's. They were looking to get a bit more wallop on moose from the standard service rifle, the Norwegian 6.5 x 55 Krag Jorgensen. By necking the 6.5 x 55 to 8mm with no other changes they arrived at an 8mm cartridge that would work through the standard Krag action, requiring only a new barrel. The Swedish also picked it up, reboring the '94 and '96 Swedish Mausers to 8mm. I first read about the cartridge in Barnes' "Cartridges of the World", and became interested in it then. I thought it might make a great cast bullet hunting gun because it seems to have most of the things you need. Saeco/Reddings 190 grain 8mm bullet cast in hard shot drops from the mold at about 194 grains with the check and lube, and 28 grains of IMR 3031 drives it at about 1690 fps from the 24" barrel. The neck is somewhat longer than the 8 x 57, but the powder capacity is very close to the 8 x 57 because of the slightly larger dimensions of the 6.5 case compared to the rest of the Mauser family of cartridges. The cartridge finishes up a bit shorter, the perfect length and pressure for the pre '98 Mausers. Starting at the 30.0 grain charge suggested for the 8 x 57, the load started shooting at about 28.0 grains and produced a 3 shot group approaching 1 inch at 50 yards, generating an estimated 30,000 psi. I took the gun on an impromptu wild pig hunt last weekend and shot a 200 lb sow running at about 40 yards. I slipped the bullet through the ribs, blew up the heart, and broke a rib on exit. More shooting and more hunting is in order; I am just getting reacquainted with the old '91 in the new caliber. I like the performance so far!