Mauser .318 & .323 issues

A

Aaron Neville

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Albertabama
Just bought a used rifle. The rifle says it is chambered for "8mm". Just bought a bunch of components and reading my manual i find it warns about the two dif. barrel sizes. According to my micrometer, I got the .318 diameter barrel. Pretty frustrated.Can it get it re-chambered and have barrel work done, so I can use the more modern .323 stuff? I guess I'd have to try and find a new barrel? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
What sort of rifle is it?
What did you measure?
The Germans altered I bore rifles to use S ammunition by recutting the throats. This was a stopgap measure during WWI. If your rifle is I bored, there really isn't much you can do about it.
 
tiriaq said:
What sort of rifle is it?
What did you measure?
The Germans altered I bore rifles to use S ammunition by recutting the throats. This was a stopgap measure during WWI. If your rifle is I bored, there really isn't much you can do about it.
Click to expand...

It is a Husqvarna M96 8mm.
I measured .3185, and a second and third look yielded .319
 
tiriaq, Most of the milsurp mausers are stamped "7.92mm". Like you, I wonder if the rifle stamped "8MM", is most likely a commercial model. I don't know how often I've heard some one talking about their 7mm and not have a clue as to which cartridge they're really talking about. Aaron just hasn't given us enough information to help him out here.
 
bearhunter said:
tiriaq, Most of the milsurp mausers are stamped "7.92mm". Like you, I wonder if the rifle stamped "8MM", is most likely a commercial model. I don't know how often I've heard some one talking about their 7mm and not have a clue as to which cartridge they're really talking about. Aaron just hasn't given us enough information to help him out here.
Click to expand...

It is a Husqvarna M96 STAMPED 8mm.
I measured .3185, and a second and third look yielded .319

It's just a basic hunting rifle from Sweden. Hundreds of em for sale at T.E.C. Trade Ex.....
 
ironnose said:
Did you measure bore diameter or groove diameter?
Click to expand...

.......uhm....maybe a bit of both?......I give up. I'm going to a smith tomorrow.
Cuz, yea, if it is stamped "8mm" it would have to be 8mm, right? It wouldn't be 7.92, would/could it? I dig the euro cal thing, but man it's confusing the crap outta me right about now.
 
The early 8mm mauser was .318" AKA 8x57J 1888 Commission Rifle This was later changed to .323 AKA 8x57 JS The J is a stylized German "I" for infantry and the "S" bore identifies the larger bullet dia .323" Not aplicable in your case but rimmed versions of both also had an "R" added.Hornady used to make both dia but have discontinued the .318 size.Harold**** .308 dia bullets can be roughed up with a bastard file and paper patched to the correct dia.
 
Last edited:
If you're going to shoot commercialy loaded ammunition through it and it is made in north america it won't matter anyway. North American ammunition has been loaded down on purpose so it will be safe in a .318 bore.

I'm not sure how you measured your bore, but I've owned a couple of M96 mausers in 8mm and they both had .323 bores.

By the way, we're the ones bastardising the measurements. 7.92 is the correct desgination.

Harold has given you some good history there but there were also some 95 and 98 mausers with .318 bores. I couldn't find anything about the commercial 96 bores ever being offered in .318, though there is a reference about British gun makers producing rifles with .318 bores on special order into the late 1920s.

Give tradex a call. They will be glad to help you out and it won't cost you anything. I sincerely doubt that the bore is .318.
 
Aaron Neville said:
It is a Husqvarna M96 8mm.
I measured .3185, and a second and third look yielded .319
Click to expand...

If it is a Husqvarna, your M96 type rifle was factory chambered for 8x57JS, according to the reference book: Husqvarna Jaktvapen 1870-1977. 8x57JS is .323". (8x57J is .318")

Your rifle is not actually a model 96. It is a Model 96 type... Tradeex uses the similar military model equivalent because more people are familiar with it, but Husqvarna didn't ever build a model 96.

Husqvarna's earliest m96 type rifle factory chambered in 8x57 was the Model 648, which is probably what you have. The M648 was made from the mid '40s to the mid '50s. The .318 bore was obsolete for 30-40 years already by that time. I have a M648 built in the early '50s that is .323" bore.

The best place on the web to learn about Husqvarna firearms is the Swedish Civilian Firearms forum at Gunboards.com

You can find model and date of manufacture info here: http://www.skydevaaben.com/index.xml
 
Last edited:
You guys are awsome!

Wow. Thanks a lot guys. You've really put my mind at ease. Yea, I'll check those sites out and I'll go ahead and give Trade Ex a call, too. Thanks again.:)
 
How exactly did you "mike the bore"? Did you eyeball the muzzle with a micrometer, or run a slug down the bore and measure it? If it has an odd number of grooves, did you spin the slug to get the real groove size?
 
I suggest that if you want to measure the bore, you need to drive a slug of lead through it and measure the diameter of the slug. A gunsmith should also be able to do this for you.
 
The Germans when they changed over in 1905, cut deeper grooves but kept the bore the same. This helped the barrel life,but not accuracy.So a lot of German sporting rifles stayed with the 318. Good Luck
 
downwindtracker2 said:
The Germans when they changed over in 1905, cut deeper grooves but kept the bore the same. This helped the barrel life,but not accuracy.So a lot of German sporting rifles stayed with the 318. Good Luck
Click to expand...

That is true, and if this were a custom German sporter from the WW1 era, that would be a consideration. But it is a factory built Swedish rifle built 40 years later.

Anything is possible, maybe it has been rebarrelled - or maybe it is a one-off built for an eccentric customer - but not very likely. I do know that Swedish Husqvarna mauser based rifles were specifically chambered for the 8x57JS (.323") cartridge according to the examples I have seen and own, Husqvarna authorized publications, and period catalogues.
 
Last edited:
Mauser .318 vs. .323 Bore Size

It is my understanding that all Swedish M96 and M98 in 8x57 were in .323 bore size. Anthony at Tradeex will confirm for you.
 
There is no reason to push a lead plug all the way through the barrel. Unless you have a badly worn muzzle, only slug the first centimeter or so. Make sure you use some lubricant to make things easier etc. Next, use a wrapped rod to tap the short plug out of the muzzle, works fine. If you're making up a lap to smooth the bore, that's a different matter. If you're looking for tight or loose spots, a tight, lubed patch will accomplish that without any issues.

I use soft cast 25 cal bulletts for 22 bores, 357 soft cast for the rest up to 35 cal and 458 soft cast up to 458. For black powder rifles of 50 cal and over, I cast a soft maxi ball and bump it up in a vice and partially push it in the muzzle. This way I can figure out my patch thickness requirements.

Life is much easier this way and you still get accurate measurements.
 
I have a German made Sporter dating from the '20s. it is a .318.

I notice it has a long throat, much like a remington, so that 323 ammo can be shot in safety.

I load .318 Barnes X in it for hunting. For plinking. I shoot .321 bullets intended for a 32 Spl.

There is no caliber markings of any kind on the rifle. It is a 8x60R

But is sounds like yours is the modern 8x57 (.323)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom