8x57 stories

1899

1899

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
38   0   0
Location
West
I have owned a couple of 8x57 rifles, but I have used one on game, only one time. It was a nice wild boar in Hungary. My mother's cousin uses one in Hungary with great success on stag and boar.

I think it is a very good chambering for North American game - when properly handloaded or used with good Euro-spec ammo - but it doesn't seem to get much love here. A 200gr Partition/Accubond at 2650 fps, a 180gr TSX at +2700 or even a 160gr TTSX at +2900 would make a fine all-around load. And it does this with modest recoil.

Do any of you have some good 8x57 hunting stories/pictures?
 
I once shot and brought down a wounded buck with a bone stock M48 Mauser. I remember it because it was over 200 yards away and on a dead run.

I own a Remington M700 classic in 8x57. It is (still?) the only time a north American factory rifle has been chambered in 8x57.
 
My 8x57 is an old VZ24 purchased in 1961 for the princely sum of $38.00 or about $ 18.00 more than a good Lee Enfield sold for at that time.
A machinist buddy removed the sights, turned down the bolt handle and re-modeled the floor plate restocked it with a Husqvarna stock that he was replacing with his own.
A local gunsmith ( Saskatoon) then drilled and tapped it for Weaver bases and rings, put a 4X Leupold on it and it was as it still is today.
My first hunting trip was for Moose at Candle Lake and one round fired gave my buddy and I the pleasure of butchering a Bull in waist-deep snow in -35 weather.... ( frostbitten hands/feet ;) )

In spite of having half a dozen safes with about 70-odd long guns, the old 8mm is by far my favorite and gets to go on a few hunting jaunts every Fall.
Favorite load for several years is the 180 Nosler B/T over a case full of RL19.
 
I have hunted several times with my 8x57. The rifle is a Husqvarna with a FN commercial 98 action. It has been bedded into an older Bell & Carlson stock and an adjustable trigger added. I have been using 200gr Accubonds, but will switch to 200 gr TSX's once the Accubonds are used up. I really like the 8x57 round. It has the bore diameter and bullet weight to take almost everything in NA. Recoil is moderate and easily handled by most people.

So far I've used mine to take a nice 6x6 elk and a small whitetail buck. My dad used to own a 8x57 and used it successfully on a young 5x5 elk. My friend also owns a Mauser 98 sporter in 8x57 and has used it to take his first black bear. Not a common round, but there are a few people that use it.
 
Ive got a tradex FN commercial mauser in 8x57, its in a bell and carlson medalist stock with a timney trigger and is a great little rifle. Dumped a small meat bear with it once and it likes the hornady 195 spire points over 50.3gr of Rl 15 for 2640 fps. If I didnt have so many rifles in that class and could quit playing with my 9.3's I'd probably use it a lot more.
 
dan belisle said:
I've always been fond of the 8mm's. I have rifles in 8x57, 8x60, 8x63, 8mm-06, 8mm-06AI, 8x68,8mm Rem Mag, and for a brief while an 8mm-378 Wby. It is a great bore, and the 8x57 is the Euro equivalent of the 30-06, a really good all around cartridge. - dan
Click to expand...

Wow, you are a fan of the 8mm's! How do you like the 8x60S? What do you use for brass? I have also used the 8x68 on wild boar in the former Yugoslavia.
 
I have a Remington 700 "Classic" in 8x57. It is what I call a "happy" rifle.
Practically anything I try in it shoots well, some exceptionally well.
I have taken 2 moose with it and two Black bears. 4 shots fired, total.
In my experience with this rifle, Vihtavuori N150. N550 and N560 are THE powders.
I shoot the 180 Ballistic Tip with 52.5 grains of N150 and the 200 Partition and Accubond with 55.0 grains on N560.
I also have a good load with the 195 Hornady and WC852 [Slow Lot]
I like the 8x57....it is very similar to the 30-06, properly loaded.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
My best friend in High School showed up one night needing some help. A 6x6 royal had just fallen victim to the 8x57 he was packing, complete with a German sniper scope rig.
He had a Bronco and needed a truck so we took my little Ford Ranger over to pick it up.

This was our second year of hunting and had little knowledge of what to do. He didn't want to gut it in the field in the dark so we loaded the whole thing in the back of my poor little truck. Don't ask me how as I couldn't do it now. If you don't believe me I can get you in touch with his Dad who was none too pleased to find us gutting an elk under the light of the front porch light. Boy he was mad. "why'd you go shoot a big rank bull like that!?" he bellered at his son.:D

I'll never forget the feel of those antlers in my hand, my first elk I had ever stood beside. Little did I know it would still be 12 more years before I'd get my own!

The year before that, same friend went out with same rifle and walked three miles to the top of the ridge overlooking the Nitchi Valley and Highland grazing lease and took a real nice 4 point Mule Deer. Back when there were still Muleys around and a general tag could be had. I miss those days.
He came home, grabbed his `79 Honda XR250 and some rope and went back up, drug that deer home. There was no hair left on the bottom side of that hide.:p Back then we made due with what we had available and I think we had more fun then than now. If only he still hunted, we always had such fun times. His Dad was sure proud of his boy, got those antlers mounted on a plaque, plate engrave "First Buck,One Shot".

He still has the rifle but it only shoots paper now.
 
8x57 is a nice bullet that holds its energy with any iron sight shooting. I have an M48 that one single word describes it: consistent. The Honey load I use is 180 gr RN Hornady slugs with 51 grains of 4350 powder. I'm testing some 200grain bullets for a buffalo hunt later this fall and anticipate good results.

My complaint for the 8x57 is that not enough choice of commercial loads on the local market, and that North American reloading charts are faulted on the mild side to favor North American calibers. My complaint on the M48BO is that I can't find the proper strap in this country, and that it is not so easy to unload, such as when you're hopping into a vehicle.
 
I've used my 8x57 for about 20 years and have shot the vast majority of my game with it. I like the 8x57 so much I have 4 in hunting configurations, and 4 in milsurp. Like Dan, I have a thing for 8mm rifles, and also have an 8x64 and an 8x68. All great rounds, and I'm finding the 8x64 to be amazinly accurate, just like my other 8mms.
 
Noel said:
My best friend in High School showed up one night needing some help. A 6x6 royal had just fallen victim to the 8x57 he was packing, complete with a German sniper scope rig.
He had a Bronco and needed a truck so we took my little Ford Ranger over to pick it up.

This was our second year of hunting and had little knowledge of what to do. He didn't want to gut it in the field in the dark so we loaded the whole thing in the back of my poor little truck. Don't ask me how as I couldn't do it now. If you don't believe me I can get you in touch with his Dad who was none too pleased to find us gutting an elk under the light of the front porch light. Boy he was mad. "why'd you go shoot a big rank bull like that!?" he bellered at his son.:D

I'll never forget the feel of those antlers in my hand, my first elk I had ever stood beside. Little did I know it would still be 12 more years before I'd get my own!

The year before that, same friend went out with same rifle and walked three miles to the top of the ridge overlooking the Nitchi Valley and Highland grazing lease and took a real nice 4 point Mule Deer. Back when there were still Muleys around and a general tag could be had. I miss those days.
He came home, grabbed his `79 Honda XR250 and some rope and went back up, drug that deer home. There was no hair left on the bottom side of that hide.:p Back then we made due with what we had available and I think we had more fun then than now. If only he still hunted, we always had such fun times. His Dad was sure proud of his boy, got those antlers mounted on a plaque, plate engrave "First Buck,One Shot".

He still has the rifle but it only shoots paper now.
Click to expand...

Hey thats the Gold...
I was never back in "those days", hell i was never even thought of in those days but... Id have loved to be around then..
anyway, sorry for the off topic remark.

WL
 
i shot at a WT doe once with an 8x57. though i missed but found a small bit of blood. tracked her for 300 yards or so, then found her in a big puddle of blood. i had just knicked the jugular. skinned out there weren't any marks on the carcass.

also taken WT bucks, muley bucks and a doe, and a bull and a cow elk with k98, brno M21, portugese M904/39, and yugo M48.
 
MiG25 said:
i shot at a WT doe once with an 8x57. though i missed but found a small bit of blood. tracked her for 300 yards or so, then found her in a big puddle of blood. i had just knicked the jugular. skinned out there weren't any marks on the carcass.

also taken WT bucks, muley bucks and a doe, and a bull and a cow elk with k98, brno M21, portugese M904/39, and yugo M48.
Click to expand...

Yes...I know that Brno. ;)
 
Took my very first Mule Deer at 19 out near Gang Ranch, BC with the venerable 7.92x57mm bullet. (a decade ago)

Used a qve45 Berlin Lübecker Maschinenfabrik made K43 with an original ZF4, loaded with regular Federal Power Shok 170 grain ammunition... Small deer, big bullet... he dropped... it was the last hour of hunting we were going to do all weekend as we had been completely skunked until then.. Good memories!

K432003.jpg


This year I am putting together a "Scout" rig out of my ar41 Mauser Borsigwalde made K98. Bought a 3 round detachable mag for it, scout mount, and plan to set it up with a 4x Leupold LER scope! Should be fun!

I want to load up some 180 grain Barnes TSX this year and see how they do. I have been using a 6.5x55 with TSX bullets the last few hunts with great results.
 
i have used a k98 for deer hunting for many years and enjoy shooting it also. you cannot beat the old bolt actions for hunting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom