Igman 8mm Mauser -- 170gr or 198gr?

Amandil

Amandil

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Alberta -- body in Edmonton, soul in the shortgras
Hi, I'm a babbling idiot when it comes to ammunition, thence my question.

I do know that North American factory loads for 8mm Mauser suck, and because I can't reload just yet, I need to buy some of this Euro factory ammo. The only stuff I've found is the Igman ammo at Districorp.ca.

Now this ammo comes in both 170gr bullets and 198gr bullets. I have been unable to find any kind of ballistic info that would differentiate these two bullets for me (not like I know where to look!). So danged if I know which to purchase.

I intend to shoot these babies at nothing bigger than a mule deer buck at nothing past 300 yards (and that's probably dreaming, as I haven't got my Mauser scoped -- frankly, I've yet to shoot the thing even once!).

My guess is that the 170gr will have a somewhat flatter trajectory, but other than that I haven't got a clue. Will the kinetic energy at point of impact be that much different between the two?

So guys, tell me what to do. This will be about the first time I've ever bought ammunition from anyplace other than Crappy Tire!!!
 
Amandil said:
Hi, I'm a babbling idiot when it comes to ammunition, thence my question.

I do know that North American factory loads for 8mm Mauser suck, and because I can't reload just yet, I need to buy some of this Euro factory ammo. The only stuff I've found is the Igman ammo at Districorp.ca.

Now this ammo comes in both 170gr bullets and 198gr bullets. I have been unable to find any kind of ballistic info that would differentiate these two bullets for me (not like I know where to look!). So danged if I know which to purchase.

I intend to shoot these babies at nothing bigger than a mule deer buck at nothing past 300 yards (and that's probably dreaming, as I haven't got my Mauser scoped -- frankly, I've yet to shoot the thing even once!).

My guess is that the 170gr will have a somewhat flatter trajectory, but other than that I haven't got a clue. Will the kinetic energy at point of impact be that much different between the two?

So guys, tell me what to do. This will be about the first time I've ever bought ammunition from anyplace other than Crappy Tire!!!
Click to expand...

As usual, Google is your friend. Here is the Igman website. Go to the 8x57JS columns and there you go. I'm thinking of getting some 198's (actually 196 per Igman) myself. Looks like they hit much harder at range. I already have the 170's. They shoot fine.
 
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Sharkson said:
As usual, Google is your friend. Here is the Igman website. Go to the 8x57JS columns and there you go. I'm thinking of getting some 198's (actually 196 per Igman) myself. Looks like they hit much harder at range. I already have the 170's. They shoot fine.
Click to expand...
Ah, I see, I was trying to find ballistics at this site http://www.igman.com/ammunition/, not at this site: http://www.igman.co.ba/hunting.htm Somehow I didn't find the latter site the first time I tried to make friends with Google! :redface:
 
Amandil said:
Ah, I see, I was trying to find ballistics at this site http://www.igman.com/ammunition/, not at this site: http://www.igman.co.ba/hunting.htm Somehow I didn't find the latter site the first time I tried to make friends with Google! :redface:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I found the former too, but figured it was just some sort of ad. Glad you got it sorted out.

I love my war-time Mauser in a nice hunting stock. :) Just got it back from the gunsmith. It needed it's 60 year tune-up. Floated the barrel, put in a Timney featherweight trigger (3 lb out of the box - Wow - beautiful break!). Shortened the stock b/c my arms don't match my father's monkey arms. Fits me much better now. Waiting on new European claw type rings for the original claw mounts so I can replace the seized 40 year old scope that's on here now.

Question for all: I presume that the 196g Igman's would be better on moose than the 170's?
 
Another good thing about Igman ammo is that it is loaded a lot hotter than the North American 8mm, to where the round should be at. The 196'ers are loaded to about 2400 FPS, very close to the original German military specs.

Igman is dirty, dirty stuff though....
 
Amandil said:
Crap, what does that mean? Not corrosive, surely! Does its powder foul the bore something fierce, or what? (I am, obviously, a noob.) :(
Click to expand...

It means you are going to use at least 4 or 5 more patches than you normally would to clean it out. I assume this is a bolt action? If so, no big deal IMO. For a semi, the gas system might get some crud in it which is less than good.

When people say Igman is "dirty", it is just very very sooty in my experience. Hoppes solvent has absolutely no problem cutting through it.
 
Make your own solvent:

1 part acetone
1 part mineral spirits (paint thinner, Varsol)
1 part kerosene
1 part ATF

It as good as anything I have used.
 
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