Interesting 1938-dated Steyr 8x56r ammo with Waffen stamp?

louthepou

louthepou

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I folks, I received a Steyr carbine I recently bought - sadly it has a pitted bore :(

But that's a story for another day. Tonight I am wondering if anyone has info about the ammo it came with. Looks like 1938 is the year it was made; and there's a waffenstamp; is this typical surplus ammo, which usually gets the "up to $1 per round" appraisal?


 
The ammo was made in August, 1938 at P635 factory (Hirtenberger Patronenfabrik). The package was made in December of 1938.

It is very, very well made ammo. I shot five rounds in my Budapest stutzen and she kicked. The rest I am keeping as it is getting hard to find. The real treat is checking the clips as you can find a mix of WW1, subcontractors, and WaA marked ones all in one package.

The ammo is berdan primed as well and is corrosive. I would say the rounds are worth more than $1, probably closer to $2 now from what I have seen at my local gun shows.
 
$5+ per round at the Calgary show.

It is good for checking the wear of the barrel as they are proper .330 diameter. The greatest amount of wear is the last 4 inch or so of the barrel. Stick the pointed end of the bullit into the Muzzle. On a GOOD barrel there will be 1/4 inch or so between the end of the barrel and the end of the casing. A shot out barrel,the bullit will slide all the way in till the casing touches the barrel. I have 2 M95's. An M95/30, thats a great shooter that show's a full 1/4" from Barrel to casing. And an M95 Stutzen that does not shoot anywhere near as good and shows a bit less than 1/8" from barrel to casing. Yet from the Breach the rifling looks the same on each rifle.

Ken
 
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I've got a couple of hundreds rounds of this ammo put aside for the future - I try to shoot as little of it as I can.

As posted above its made in Austria while under German rule hence the Nazi Eagles. All 8x56r ammo that was in Austria in 1940 (either pre or post anschluss made) was given/sold to Bulgaria where it was inspected and repacked. Sometimes a mix of ammo years can be found in a ten round packet.
 
Reminds me of a quote I heard a while ago, attributed to Bismark. A Bavarian is a cross between an Austrian and a human being. ;)


Grizz
 
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