QT PREWAR MAUSER

[barbarossa]

Just picked up this Prewar Mauser in 8mm.Should make a nice woods rifle

[Old Shatterhand]

Fine find! The stock, the bolt handle and the octagonal barrel indicate that rifle is from the twenties or earlier. Are there any stampings on the bottom of the reciever and barrel base? The fine Apel scope mount costs about 350 Euros and is very reliable and handy.

Is it a I- or S-bore? You can measure the bore by tapping a conical piece of soft lead a quarter of an inch into the muzzle, and the measure it with a micro caliper. .318" makes an I-bore, and .323" makes a S-bore. American factory ammo can be used in both bores, as it is so soft that you don't get excessive pressure in the smaller I-version. However, both bores have with proper loads neraly the same prestanda as a .30-06 with comparable bullet weight.

If you handload, you can choose a bullet of proper diameter and enjoy the full power of this nice cartridge. Huntinton, Midway and other bigger retailers have bullets in both diameters, and for the .318" there are good bullets from Woodleigh and RWS. Most all bulletmakers have .323". IMR 4350 is a good powder for this cartridge.

If the bore is .318", it is a good advice to buy a Lee 8 mm Mauser tool, and polish the expander to .317", that the bullet seats safely in the brass. All dimensions but the the neck and bullet dimensions are identical, so 8x57ISbrass can be used, if you can't get properly stamped. Reloading data are the same for the I-version as for the S, but max loads should be two grains less.

B.T.W. it's one of my favorite calibers. I have Brno M21 and a drilling in it. Last winter a bagged a moose with the drilling's rimmed 8x57IR. It took ten steps and dropped.

Old Sh.

[barbarossa]

Barrel is half oct/round with full rib marked Fluss Stahl Kruup Essen and is a type B pattern mauser no 128.It is the standard .323 bore as well.

[firefuzz]

VERY nice rifle.

Rob

[Old Time Hunter]

Nice rifle, very nice. Does it have the 19 degree shoulder angle or the 21 degree(actually 20.48')? On the military 98's they tried to convert all to the 19 degree, but most of the conversions were done between 1930 and 1938. Even though the armories updated ancillary government 98's, quite a few in civilian hands did not get converted. Also, most of the Commission 88's that were NOT shipped to Turkey (or other countries) did not get updated either. Do not fret too much though as the shoulder angle can be "fire" formed using even factory US ammo.

http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=26986

[olyinaz]

Gosh that's lovely. What's the barrel length?

Oly

[barbarossa]

Barrel length is 23 inches

[Rusty]

that is one fine looking rifle. I bought an M-48E a few years ago with the thoughts of one day turning it into a sporting rifle with lines similar to that. It's hard not to like the old 8mm too.

[Old Savage]

Great find.