Took 2 of my babies for a run this afternoon

kjohn

kjohn

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I decided I had better try out that 8mm stuff I got from Frontier, so I took a 1943 dot, all matching, and a sportered Steyr straight-pull with an 8mm Mauser barrel out to my shooting spot.

At approx. 100 yds (yes, yards), the Mauser shot about 8" high and about 4" right. That was with both the 1953 Yugo ammo and some ugly 1950 stuff I had.

The Steyr shot a bit high, not as bad as the Mauser. It didn't seem to want to set the 1953 ammo off, and I had to pull the cocking piece on several. I will have to take the bolt apart and clean/check it. The Mauser set everything off.

One nice thing about those straight-pulls is the ability to re-#### without opening the bolt.

What a pleasure to be able to fire these rifles. The Mauser belonged to a dear friend, and I was able to purchase it from his widow. I remember when he bought that rifle. He was so proud of it. He was one of the two other fellows that were in on a dealer's licence years back. The Steyr is probably 100 years old, or at least the receiver and stock. I am not sure when these rifles were re-barreled. They make a nice little sporter.

No pics, camera safely at home. I gave them a cleaning and ran a rag soaked with Fluid Film down the barrel last to prevent corrosion. I tagged each with a note to clean barrel before shooting. :)
 
Sounds like fun! I was hoping to make it to the range today, but never did.

How did the ammo group? I was considering buying some, but will probably just stick to reloading.
 
If the Steyr is in 8mm Mauser, it is probably an M95M with the "M" after the "M95" on the receiver, is that what you see on yours ?

I recently tried my Steyr M95 in 8x56R and she was very fun to shoot. Straight pulls are underrated ;).
 
Yes, it is an M95M. I have three or four of these little rifles. A couple of them have rather sticky actions, while one is as slick as snot on a doorknob.

As to the other question, re: grouping - I am not the right person to ask.:p My 64 year old eyes aren't what they used to be. Once I got the 98 figured out, I think it would be able to group not too bad, considering the ammo is 60, the rifle is 70, and the shooter halfway in between! :)

I managed to hit a football-sized rock at 100 yds. offhand a couple of times. I love shooting these old rifles offhand, as then my failings are somewhat lost in the "wind".:rolleyes:
 
Most of that ammo was pretty decent when it was made: about 2 MOA was minimum for most armies.

What happens is that the old PRIMERS get dodgy from age and less-than-perfect storage..... but they will do it from age alone.

Best thing to do with surplus ammo is pull it down and reload the powder nd bullets into casings with fresh primers.

I did that several years ago with some of that truly awful Turkish stuff.... and started getting groups from slightly under 1 MOA to 1.5 MOA.

A HUGE improvement, and it cost but a bit of time and 3 cents a shot for a fresh primer.

Try it; I know it will work for you, too.
.
 
what is "fluid film"? for corrosion prevention?

kjohn said:
I decided I had better try out that 8mm stuff I got from Frontier, so I took a 1943 dot, all matching, and a sportered Steyr straight-pull with an 8mm Mauser barrel out to my shooting spot.

At approx. 100 yds (yes, yards), the Mauser shot about 8" high and about 4" right. That was with both the 1953 Yugo ammo and some ugly 1950 stuff I had.

The Steyr shot a bit high, not as bad as the Mauser. It didn't seem to want to set the 1953 ammo off, and I had to pull the cocking piece on several. I will have to take the bolt apart and clean/check it. The Mauser set everything off.

One nice thing about those straight-pulls is the ability to re-#### without opening the bolt.

What a pleasure to be able to fire these rifles. The Mauser belonged to a dear friend, and I was able to purchase it from his widow. I remember when he bought that rifle. He was so proud of it. He was one of the two other fellows that were in on a dealer's licence years back. The Steyr is probably 100 years old, or at least the receiver and stock. I am not sure when these rifles were re-barreled. They make a nice little sporter.

No pics, camera safely at home. I gave them a cleaning and ran a rag soaked with Fluid Film down the barrel last to prevent corrosion. I tagged each with a note to clean barrel before shooting. :)
Click to expand...

Ragsoaked in fluid film? Whatzat?
 
FLUID FILM

It can be purchased at most places that sell oil, etc., like CT, NAPA. It contains lanolin, which takes care of corrosion. Shake the can before use, and don't use it over your keyboard! :D

I've been using it for some years now, ever since a shooting buddy pointed it out. Even if I don't actually clean the barrel right after shooting, I give it a run through with a FF soaked patch, good and wet, and leave it. NO CORROSION OCCURS.

I know, I know! Boiling water, singing "Marching To Pretoria", standing on one leg, etc. are the proper steps, but I am naturally a lazy ba$tard. :p

Our SK Co-ops had it on for $8.88 a can, so I stocked up. :)

FLUIDFILM-1.jpg
 
I know that if smellie and Buffdog ever get their hands on me, I am likely to get my butt kicked for spewing such blasphemy about how to deal with corrosive ammo. I can still run pretty fast, so that's what I'm counting on!!:p
 
smellie said:
Most of that ammo was pretty decent when it was made: about 2 MOA was minimum for most armies.

What happens is that the old PRIMERS get dodgy from age and less-than-perfect storage..... but they will do it from age alone.

Best thing to do with surplus ammo is pull it down and reload the powder nd bullets into casings with fresh primers.

I did that several years ago with some of that truly awful Turkish stuff.... and started getting groups from slightly under 1 MOA to 1.5 MOA.

A HUGE improvement, and it cost but a bit of time and 3 cents a shot for a fresh primer.

Try it; I know it will work for you, too.
.
Click to expand...

Good advice. I may just do that with the 1950 stuff. I tried some a few years back and had several duds. Unnerving, to say the least. At least with the old straight-pull M95M's, you can #### again without having to touch the bolt. I have some old .303 ammo that has "timed" firing on the primers - click...... BANG! No touchee bolt for long time!:eek:
 
John Sukey said:
Fresh primers in surplus ammo? I assume you have a good supply of BERDAN primers?
Click to expand...

I think he meant to use the powder and bullets in some reloadable brass, not counting the brass as an expense encountered at each reloading. At least that's what I would presume.... :)
 
No supply of Berdan primers. I just use fresh brass and fresh Boxers.

The original brass was good in this ammo, as were the primers, but the primers have aged and no longer give consistent ignition. It's like trying to light a fire when half of your matches have gotten wet; even after you dry them out they aren't consistent.

So I use fresh (or at least good and consistent) Boxer-primed brass and fresh primers, get the dodgy bits out of the system.

In the case of the Turkish ammo, I ended up with match-grade stuff for 11 cents a shot: about a sixth of the cost of loading it.

I know: it doesn't work with Cordite.

Working on that one, working on that one........

.
 
FWIW, North Sylva does sell berdan primers to dealers. I have several hundred right in front of me, all RWS stuff, that came from them.
 
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