What is with the "so called" 8mm mauser (7.92)???

Sgt Striker

Sgt Striker

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I got all excited thinking I had discovered something great!!! Been having a problem finding 8mm bullets to reload, so I did a convertion from 7.92mm to inches.... and holy cow it came out to ".312" (rounded up just a bit)!! I thought HOLY COW!! we can use .303 bullets in our mausers...... NOT!! I went in the house to mic some rounds and of coarse this info was way off.

So why the hell did the German's call it 7.92mm when it's really 8.178mm??

Not really looking for an answer, just pissed off I got myself so "excited" thinking I'd made this "great" discovery..... sheeesssh :redface:
 
No rhyme or reason.
Its best to just accept that .323" is what is used for 8mm.
The metric equivalent is not really correct.
Anyhow when I do the mathematical conversion on 8mm to inches its .3149".
 
Here is something I got on the net giving some background to the 8mm cartridge.


The 8mm Mauser (8x57 or 7,92x57) was the standard service cartridge of the German Army in World Wars I and II. Originally made in 1888 and called the 8x57J, it used a .318 bullet. Ten years later, the 1898 Mauser was introduced with a stronger action but it still used the .318 bullet. However around 1905 the .318 bullet was replaced with a .323 diameter bullet. All of this caused confusion and it would be dangerous to shoot 8x57JS ammunition in a 1888 rifle. The 8mm Mauser is an excellent cartridge and the 98 Mauser is a strong, smooth functioning gun. Many have been modified to sporting arms using high pressure cartridges
 
The .318" / .323" thing is no end of problem for North American shooters.
European shooters, having grown up with metric, seem to be OK with it, but here, becuase of old .318 bore rifles still around, means that the US ammo companies really download the 8x57mm to much lower pressures.

Also, US shooters tend to shy away from metric designations, so much so that the 325 Winchester makes NO mention of it being an 8mm. It actually uses .323 bullets.
 
The 8x57 is a great cartridge and will do anything that the 338Federal will do.
There are plenty of different bullet weights available, but you may have to order them in. I especially like the 200 grain range of bullets. Shoot very well and very effective on game.

The 8x57 is really a great choice, it's to bad commercial ammunition loaded in North America is held back in defference to the .318 bores.

Be patient. Get some good Nosler 200 grain spire points and develop a decent load with around 50,000 CUP. You won't be sorry.

bearhunter
 
"...why the hell did the Germans call it 7.92mm when it's really 8.178mm??..." Trying to figure out why a cartridge is named what it was can give you brain damage. In any case, direct mathematical conversions have little to do with it. .308" doesn't convert to 7.62mm's either.
 
I have a .318 rifle. Barnes will supply any of their X bullets in .318 They just run a .323 through a die. Good hunting bullets but too expensive for plinkers.

For plinking I load 32 Special bullets. .321"
 
Ganderite, Barnes supplies their X bullets in .318? I've had a bugger of a time finding bullets for my .318 bore Sauer. I tried to get Buffalo Arms and Midway to export bullets but they said no. When I bought the rifle a .317 swaging die and some old Winchester Western .322 bullets came with it. I broke the handle attachment on a Lee single stage press trying to swage those bullets so I bought a new RCBS Ammomaster 2 press. I swaged some flat nosed .321 bullets for plinking, then tried the .322, no problem. The .322 bullets seem very lightly constructed so I tried a .323 Nosler ballistic tip, bad idea since I had to pound it back out with a punch. It may have worked if I used a snipe on the handle, but I didn't want to break my bench or press.
I read somewhere that years ago Winchester came out with a jacketed bullet that was soft enough that it wouldn't cause high pressures even if it was fired in a .318 bore. I think these .322 bullets may be them. They were discontinued since they wouldn't hold together on game.
This morning I was going to post the question on the reloading board "what heavily constructed or bonded core bullet available suitable for moose would be most easily swaged to .318?" As a backup where do you order the .318 Barnes bullets?
 
colinjw said:
Here is something I got on the net giving some background to the 8mm cartridge.


The 8mm Mauser (8x57 or 7,92x57) was the standard service cartridge of the German Army in World Wars I and II. Originally made in 1888 and called the 8x57J, it used a .318 bullet. Ten years later, the 1898 Mauser was introduced with a stronger action but it still used the .318 bullet. However around 1905 the .318 bullet was replaced with a .323 diameter bullet. All of this caused confusion and it would be dangerous to shoot 8x57JS ammunition in a 1888 rifle. The 8mm Mauser is an excellent cartridge and the 98 Mauser is a strong, smooth functioning gun. Many have been modified to sporting arms using high pressure cartridges
Click to expand...

AND the 8MM Kropatchek uses a .329 bullet;)
 
CIP barrel specs for the 8X57IS (or 7.9X57JS or 7.9X57JS)

Land; 7.89mm (0.3106")
Groove; 8.20mm (0.3228")
Area; 51.78 sq. mm

for the 8X57I

Land; 7.80mm (0.307")
Groove; 8.07mm (0.3177")
Area; 50.30 sq. mm

Official CIP denomination; 8X57I and 8X57IS
 
North of 58. I phoned Barnes and asked about 318's. Don't know why I picked them. Somebody may have put me on to them. They said I could have any bullet I wanted (these were the X bullets) in 318. I ordered a box of each weight - 180, 200 and 220.

My rifle is a double, so the load development challenge is to get a load that superimposes the impact. As it happens, only one load works, the 180 gr bullet and 52gr of Vhit N150 - 2650 fps.

On another rifle, I have to paint the primers red and green. The loads that superimpose are different weight bullets with different power charges of different powders.

Phone Barnes and PM me the results. I might be able to help.
 
North of 58. You can safely shoot 32 Spl bullets. Don't load them full power (they are for plinking) and don't seat them into the rifling.

The bullet is thin skinned and soft, so if you hunt with it the bullet might blow up if shot full power. It would be like loading a 30-30 bullet in a 30-06.
 
OOPS. You can shoot 321 32 Spl bullets in a 318 so long as the rifle has sufficient neck clearance. Measure the OD of a fired neck and if it is bigger than a loaded neck, you are good to go. I have 3 rifles with 318 barrels, and all have necks plenty big enough to shoot 323 bullets, never mind a 321.
 
So I quess you think a Rem 44 Mag is more than 42 cal? Or that 38 cal is more than 35 Cal?

Things like this really don't bother me,I shoot a 22WRF which is actually .224 in diameter much like a .223 but not!

Bob:runaway:
 
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