Hunting with the 8x57 in Australia

kombi1976 · #1 03-26-2005, 05:41 AM

Around Christmas time I'd been looking for a suitable deer rifle and I bought a sporterised 1941 k98 from a friend.
It was taking up space in his locker and he wasn't going to use it so I picked it up for $135 with a box of PMC 170gn ammo.
On inspection all the numbers with the exception of the floor plate match and it still has the Nazi proof marks intact.
The barrel, despite exterior pitting, is also sharp and square on the inside so all in all it was quite a score.
While all those Mauser gurus may groan at the thought of this I'm about to have it drilled and tapped for a scope and will be changing to a synthetic stock at sometime in the near future too,
Today I got to test drive it on the 50m indoor range at St.Mary in Western Sydney and it was placing them fairly closely together at 25m and 50m.
Considering it isn't the best light, was using open sights and trying to compensate for the fact the open sights will only go down as far as 100m I think I did o.k.

The loads I was using included 170gn Speer Hot-Cor Semi-Spitzers in front of a 45gn load of ADI Powders AR2206H and a 180gn Nosler Ballistic Tip in front of a a 44gn load of AR2206H.
I used Privi Partizan(PPU) cases and Win Large Rifle primers.
If people are interested I'll post some pics of the targets.
I was just wondering how many guys are using 8mm Mausers here in Australia, what sort of hunting they use them for and what sort of loads they've found successful?

kdub · #2 03-26-2005, 10:13 AM

It's your rifle, Kombi - do whatever you want with it and don't worry what others may think.

Good luck with your project.

If you get into handloading for that Mauser, bet you'll get even better targets.

MikeG · #3 03-26-2005, 11:36 AM

Shot 4 different 8mm mausers at the range yesterday.

1. Model 98 that had been captured / scrubbed by the Yugos, had their crest but still said 'model 98' on the side. The most accurate - 3 bullets in 0.6" at 50 yards!

2. Czech VZ24. Hardly any bluing left, rifling looks good, under 2 inches at 50 yards. Shot to the left although #1 shot to the right....

3. Czech 98/22, czech army issue at one point, then replaced by the VZ24. Then surplused to the Turks (rear sight in Farsi and the bolt handle has a turk cresent moon. Rifling is just gone that the muzzle; got about a 6 inch 'group' at 50 yards. Needs to have a half inch cut off, or be counterbored.

4. Yugo 48 that I picked up at a gunshow with the stock already cut down. Rifling is literally brand new, BUT unfortunately - it was shooting right over the target at 50 yards. So I didn't get it on paper....

Have fun! They are are addictive

Over here there's plenty of cheap mausers still. I have a swede that I won't cut up, and a Yugo 24/47 that appears to have never been fired, but the rest are fair game for sporterizing.....

Fenring · #4 03-28-2005, 02:25 AM

Prolly not that many used for hunting here in OZ, but it has as much grunt as a 30/06 in a very strong action for which heaps of hot up gear is available. So go for it!

RaySendero · #5 03-29-2005, 10:04 AM

kombi1976,

I'm no collector and will never be one - Everthing I have is a "shooter". I do like to rework old rifles. Here's a pic of a VZ-24 I sporterized:

The 8x57 Mauser is a great round up here for deer, hogs, elk, moose and black bear out to 150 yards or so. But must be reloaded to achieve this level of performance. Fully expect it with good reloads to perform on all down under with exception of buffs.

Think you should make a functional rifle that you like to use - Bet it will be your favorite before long! But don't throw that wood stock away too fast. Mine above looked like a POS when I got it but now really looks much better than that pic shows. Under all that old crap was a pretty walnut stock!

kdub · #6 03-29-2005, 04:33 PM

Nice looking rifle and group, Ray.

Kamate · #7 03-30-2005, 03:41 PM

Hey mate I have mates that use em and they swear by them just think as good if not better than my .303 just gotta get used to the trajectory and you'll be sweet!

bang_off · #8 03-31-2005, 03:13 AM

kombi, you know who is happy for us to go you know where in a few weeks so get that baby ready.

Be in touch soon.

btw...http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/php...ic.php?t=57372 just scroll down to my 2nd post in the thread lol.

8iowa · #9 04-02-2005, 06:23 PM

kombi:

My dad used to hunt with a sporterized 8mm Mauser. In the pre-dawn darkness one morning he got his rifle mixed up with a friend who was using a sporterized '03 Springfield. Dad had actually put 8mm cartridges in the '03. Fortunately we discovered the error and tracked down Dad before he had an opportunity to fire the rifle.

To make a long story short, I took his 8mm and had it re-chambered for the 8mm-06. This is a very simple alteration and results in a cartridge with much better ballistics than the standard 8mm Mauser.

You should consider re-chambering your rifle to 8mm-06. With the advent of the 325 WSM there will be an increasing number of good bullets available.