Recently purchased Checkslovak, ww2 ,8mm mauser
- Thread starter enmow
- Start date
+1. Also look into reloading, North American factory ammo is loaded weak in deference to the older .318" bore guns. Full power 8x57 loads are equivalent to 30-06 and that has taken most any NA game worth mentioning.
Mark
The Czech Mausers were mechanically the same as the much-more-famous German Mausers and they were built largely on machine tools taken from the big German factories after the end of World War One. Machine-tools, if properly looked after, don't wear out all that fast (if ever). Czechoslovakia took over a big chunk of the international arms trade between the World Wars.
When the Nasties walk in in 1938, it was little trouble at all just to keep the factories cranked up, making rifles for the Germans. The original Czech VZ-24 had a front handguard and a barrel-band different from the German Kar98k model (which came out in 1935) but it was not a big job at all to change that over while production kept on full blast, just using up the parts on hand. After that, the only way you could tell a Czech Mauser from a German one was by the factory codes stamped on them.... if you had a code book.
There were quite a number of Czech rifles built as scoped snipers in the 1930s, including a big batch for the Romanian Army. A lot of the German top shots seemed to feel that the Czech rifles were built better than their own, although it is pretty hard to see just how.
They were good, really good.
The biggest drawback is what has been pointed out above: modern ammo is just loaded too light. You can really zip it up by loading your own. Get 3 or 4 boxes of factory stuff and bang it off at cans and seals and stuff like that, then sit down and reload it. Same power as a .30-'06 is completely safe in a Czech Mauser. And it WILL flatten your Moose, even those big ugly ones that stand in the middle of the Road to the Isles all darned night, up by Notre Dame Junction!
Good luck, friend!
Nice toy!
When the Nasties walk in in 1938, it was little trouble at all just to keep the factories cranked up, making rifles for the Germans. The original Czech VZ-24 had a front handguard and a barrel-band different from the German Kar98k model (which came out in 1935) but it was not a big job at all to change that over while production kept on full blast, just using up the parts on hand. After that, the only way you could tell a Czech Mauser from a German one was by the factory codes stamped on them.... if you had a code book.
There were quite a number of Czech rifles built as scoped snipers in the 1930s, including a big batch for the Romanian Army. A lot of the German top shots seemed to feel that the Czech rifles were built better than their own, although it is pretty hard to see just how.
They were good, really good.
The biggest drawback is what has been pointed out above: modern ammo is just loaded too light. You can really zip it up by loading your own. Get 3 or 4 boxes of factory stuff and bang it off at cans and seals and stuff like that, then sit down and reload it. Same power as a .30-'06 is completely safe in a Czech Mauser. And it WILL flatten your Moose, even those big ugly ones that stand in the middle of the Road to the Isles all darned night, up by Notre Dame Junction!
Good luck, friend!
Nice toy!
Use 196gr bullets, The 8x57mm sight radius and graduations on the rear sights were designed for that bullet weight. And while others will argue that you could and can shoot lighter weights, I have found that keeping within the original specs for ammo, I got better groups. Try S&B ammo, the make proper loads for the 8x57mm & is made in Czech republic.
Pete
Pete
x8
Certainly will work for any big-game we have here! I've got my Dad's vz24 (bubba'd with a bent bolt and scope mounted...he didn't see it as a crime in '65) and, it shoots very, very well. Has taken both, deer n' moose (and the odd groundhog when ammo was cheap!) and, has a cool bit 'o' history to boot!
You'll love it...there's more than one "Mauser-Man" in these forums for a good reason!
Congrats on your aquisition!
Certainly will work for any big-game we have here! I've got my Dad's vz24 (bubba'd with a bent bolt and scope mounted...he didn't see it as a crime in '65) and, it shoots very, very well. Has taken both, deer n' moose (and the odd groundhog when ammo was cheap!) and, has a cool bit 'o' history to boot!
You'll love it...there's more than one "Mauser-Man" in these forums for a good reason!
Congrats on your aquisition!
For hunting in Newfoundland, yes, the 196 would work wonders on Moose.
There also is the 170 or 175, which likely would be more appropriate for Caribou.
If you ever come out West, you bring the rifle and use 150s for Whitetail Deer.
The 8mm size is very popular in Europe; it is sort of the European version of the .30-calibre. They have a bigger selection of bullets over there than we have here, but we do have the three most practical weights for our conditions.
If you don't want to wreck your old Mauser by having it drilled and tapped, you can pop out the back-sight leaf and instal a B-Square or S&K Insta-Mount. Either one requires NO drilling on your original rifle. You mount it with an LER (Long Eye Relief) scope, which is both cheaper and better these days than even a few years ago, and you're in business.
Whatever, don't forget to have fun.
And welcome to the Milsurp crowd!
There also is the 170 or 175, which likely would be more appropriate for Caribou.
If you ever come out West, you bring the rifle and use 150s for Whitetail Deer.
The 8mm size is very popular in Europe; it is sort of the European version of the .30-calibre. They have a bigger selection of bullets over there than we have here, but we do have the three most practical weights for our conditions.
If you don't want to wreck your old Mauser by having it drilled and tapped, you can pop out the back-sight leaf and instal a B-Square or S&K Insta-Mount. Either one requires NO drilling on your original rifle. You mount it with an LER (Long Eye Relief) scope, which is both cheaper and better these days than even a few years ago, and you're in business.
Whatever, don't forget to have fun.
And welcome to the Milsurp crowd!
Works great on game. Previous posters have mentioned European ammo as American stuff is underloaded. I tried some yugoslav 196 round nose soft points, lots of wallop but pretty brutal off a bench with that steel buttplate.
Well, yes, the 196 is GOING to kick: originally, that was the restricted anti-Tank load.
With 150s approximating the War One load, they are a joy to shoot.... and still have more wallop than the original .30-'06.
Something to think about.
Have fun!
With 150s approximating the War One load, they are a joy to shoot.... and still have more wallop than the original .30-'06.
Something to think about.
Have fun!
I've been using Norma 196gr Alaskans for years in my 8x57s on everything from coyotes to moose. They whistle right though white tail and mule deer, with a lot less damge than any magnum cartridge. My VZ24, with the military barrel and sporter stock, is amazingly accurate, doing MOA all day long. Reloading is the only way to go with this cartridge, unless you feel the need to purchase RWS ammo. Keep your 196s at 2500fps and be happy!
Just because no one else has said it:
Don't cut, file, drill, or otherwise permanently alter the gun. Why? Because the value of the gun is in it's original condition. No matter how much money put into the gun to "Sporterize" it, it will be worth no more than the value of the parts added and half the original value of the gun itself. Too many people sink money into parts and gunsmithing only to find out they have thrown it all away and destroyed their gun.
If the gun isn't original, ignore me.
Don't cut, file, drill, or otherwise permanently alter the gun. Why? Because the value of the gun is in it's original condition. No matter how much money put into the gun to "Sporterize" it, it will be worth no more than the value of the parts added and half the original value of the gun itself. Too many people sink money into parts and gunsmithing only to find out they have thrown it all away and destroyed their gun.
If the gun isn't original, ignore me.
I have one of those CZ Mausers too. Mine was made in 1944 at Brstoyka ( I hope I spelled that right!), has the bent bolt and was refurbed in Germany after some sort of mishap that required replacing the floorplate. It has the arsenal re-work stamps with the Nazi eagle and also has the eagle and swastika on the root of the bolt handle.The stock had been cut down before I got it so I put it in a new stock an installed a Lyman reciever sight and a nice ramp front sight (GASP!). It is quite a shooter with Hornady 150 grain spitzer bullets and it really likes the 170 grain round nose as well. Great deer loads both, and I can tell you the 170 RN will drop a porcupine right out of the tree he is in!
I used it last fall on a moose with some 220 grain Hornady spitzers that I hand loaded. The moose went down. 1 shot through the lungs, complete penetration and no jellied meat at all! The 8mm is a very capable round for any big game that we could hunt, excepting perhaps the great bears. Even then I am sure someone has done it.
I used it last fall on a moose with some 220 grain Hornady spitzers that I hand loaded. The moose went down. 1 shot through the lungs, complete penetration and no jellied meat at all! The 8mm is a very capable round for any big game that we could hunt, excepting perhaps the great bears. Even then I am sure someone has done it.
Czech K98 Mausers were made better than the German made K98's.
"...North American factory ammo is loaded weak in deference to the older .318"..." Nothing to do with .318" bullets. Few, if any, ammo makers load .318" bullets. That diameter was dropped by the Germans in 1905. Factory 8mm Mauser hunting ammo uses a .323" bullet.
"...restricted anti-Tank load..." Yep. Standard issue was a 154 grain bullet.
Remington, for example, loads a 170 grain SP that'll drop Bullwinkle with no fuss. $35ish per 20 though. Winchester is a bit more expensive. Reloading is the way to go.
"...North American factory ammo is loaded weak in deference to the older .318"..." Nothing to do with .318" bullets. Few, if any, ammo makers load .318" bullets. That diameter was dropped by the Germans in 1905. Factory 8mm Mauser hunting ammo uses a .323" bullet.
"...restricted anti-Tank load..." Yep. Standard issue was a 154 grain bullet.
Remington, for example, loads a 170 grain SP that'll drop Bullwinkle with no fuss. $35ish per 20 though. Winchester is a bit more expensive. Reloading is the way to go.
Sunray, .318" ammo was dropped from the German military in 1905, not from sporting firearms, thus the european designation "J" and "JS" used in 8x57 ammo. The "J" for the .318 bores, and the "JS" for the .323" bores.
I agree though, reloading is the only way to go. I have to say that I have gotten the greatest accuracy out of the 196 - 200gr bullets. Probably not trying hard enough with the lighter projectiles.
I agree though, reloading is the only way to go. I have to say that I have gotten the greatest accuracy out of the 196 - 200gr bullets. Probably not trying hard enough with the lighter projectiles.
