Turkish 8×57mm surplus ammo

[fat tony]

Turkish 8×57mm surplus ammo

Has anyone used it & is it for sale anywhere in Canada? I am supposing it might be a source of bullets depending on the price. Apparently there are a few onoes type stories on the net about the infamous turk 8mm ammo. How much of this is hype & how much is regurgitated and apocryphal internet 'truth'?

 

[zuke]

I still have some.

 

[Andy]

This is about 15 years too late! There were many tales and warnings about the ammo (it's hot, it's dangerous, etc.), but it was gobbled up and a lot of it was shot in surplus Turkish Mausers imported along with the ammo into the US around the turn of the century. These Mausers were going for less than $100 and the fate of many was to be sporterized.

Many Turkish Mausers made it to Canada, but not much if any of the ammo.

I have a couple hundred of the open base FMJ 154 gr bullets and they're "ok" to shoot.

 

[jonnyc]

I've shot a bunch of it. It has been reliable and relatively accurate, but a bit dirty and corrosive. I have heard the "over-powered" warnings, but since it's corrosive I only use it in bolt-actions, not semis, so no problem.

 

[fat tony]

Thanks for the reality check. I see there is some German 8mm dating back to the 1930's, somehow refurbished with new primers being sold by some vendors. This is interesting as I always thought German military 8×57mm was berdan primed, making this a labour intensive exercise (hydraulic depriming?). There must be a very interesting chain of custody on that lot of ammunition. Too bad we will never get to know it.

 

[9.3mauser]

I had some of the milsurp Turkish stuff years ago and it is bloody hot! Cratered primers, perforated primers, sticky cases, ( in a Mauser 98 )... if they had been handloads I would have pulled the bullets and started over. Plus the occasional hangfire just to check your flinch.

 

[fat tony]

Maybe there is something to the internets tales after all. I once had some Czecho Russian rimmed surplus I pulled down a while back. The powder had a strong smell reminiscent of acetone. It was almost the same smell you would experience when you would go to emerg. years ago to get stitches & they cleansed the skin around the cut with a brown coloured solution - collodion suspension?