What have you killed with the 8x57?

[PeteG]

Not myself, but PeteG snr hunted extensively here in Zambia with a Brno 8x57 full stock with the double set triggers.
Bushbuck, duiker, reedbuck, puku, lechwe, and most of the rest in this size range.
Kudu, roan, sable, hartebeest, waterbuck, zebra, and some I may not recall.
Lion, buffalo, hippo, croc.

I may have left some out, or rather I’m pretty sure I have.
Only leopard(300wm) and ele he didn’t shoot with the 8x57.

Mostly with the cup and core bullets until they could get German ammo in h-mantle and t-mantle’s (220gr). Which he always had good things to say about.

 

[mauser98]

It’s my the best all around caliber.
I have been using it since 2016 as my primary caliber. I had the opportunity to hunt every species of game found in Polish forests: foxes, roe deer, fallow deer, red deer, wild boars, mouflon.
I'm delighted!
At the beginning I used RWS ID Classic with great result and for last 4 years I use hand loaded ammunition based on Remington Core-Lokt bullets which is even better!

It is worth noting that in Poland we have a lot of legal regulations regarding hunting, including the distance at which we shoot. The maximum legal distance in Poland is 200 m. I do not need to make any corrections for this distance.

It’s perfect caliber for hunting in Poland and I believe not only in Poland.

All the best!
Maciej

I agree, one of the better all around cartridges. Out here in Canada shots up to 300M can be expected and i don't feel under gunned even at that range. I was actually shooting at the range this weekend and with one of my VZ 24 mauser's with iron sights i was hitting the 300M and 485M targets pretty easy, so the cartridge is more than capable.

 

[poco]

When I was doing my masters thesis on tick fever in cattle & wildlife , I was assigned to a culling team to collect ticks to document the spread of disease
the European company who culled and then butchered / sold the animals used 8x57
I saw +/- 350 animals harvested, it’s a very capable cartridge to 300 meters

 

[93marlin]

.323 Rigby Express!

That would get plenty of attention!

 

[Red Leg]

I used one fairly extensively while stationed in Germany back in the day. It was something of the go-to choice for red stag and boar at the time. As @PeteG notes the 220 gr bullets are particularly well balanced in the caliber.

I own two drillings with 8x57R rifle chamberings and both have taken whitetail and feral hogs. Had Germany not lost a couple of wars, it would be the 30-06 of our time.

 

[cmk]

I don't know what the other bore dimension is but maybe call it the 320 E No. 2 as they call the 284 the 275!

.318 I believe.

that sounds about right and that would explain its popularity back in the early days (318 WR w/ FMJs) even on elephant

Actually, there were/are 2 different 8x57 calibres. Initially, it was .318 and it came in both rimless (I) and rimmed (IR) versions. Around the turn of the century the military decided to go from heavy-for-calibre round nosed bullets to the more modern spitzer form. For reasons unknown to me, the bore was at the same time increased to .323, and these cartridges are now known as 8x57 IS and IRS, respectively. (S = spitzer).

If you find an old rifle, it might just have "8mm" or "8x57" stamped on it, so you should measure the rifle before attempting to fire modern cartridges in it.

Interestingly - neither .318 or .323 corresponds to exactly 8 mm. And the .318 WR actually shoots .330 bullets... confusing were the days.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

LOL personally I killed the need to have one by converting into 257 AI and 757 AI. Fantastic case (one that Browning simply improved upon in the 06 a few yrs later.)

@C.W. Richter
Did he improve on it. It was already a great cartridge. He just americanised it.
Bob

 

[F. Vaccaro]

I used one fairly extensively while stationed in Germany back in the day. It was something of the go-to choice for red stag and boar at the time. As @PeteG notes the 220 gr bullets are particularly well balanced in the caliber.

I own two drillings with 8x57R rifle chamberings and both have taken whitetail and feral hogs. Had

Germany not lost a couple of wars, it would be the 30-06 of our time.

No it wouldn't private citizens wouldn't have been allowed to own firearms!

 

[Warbeast]

Propably a dozend of roe deer and wild boar.
It has been a loaner rifle from a friend.
Have to admit only had an old 98 Stutzen couple of years ago but never took it to the woods

 

[guerero]

In my case, the choice of this caliber was an absolutely conscious decision based on long-term information collection. This was the specific caliber I wanted. The choice was also based on its hunting history, also African - not war. As a unit, I chose a modern rifle that I fell in love with from the very beginning - the SAKO 85. In fact, I had to wait nine months for it. After these seven years, I think it was an excellent choice and I wouldn't make it any other way.

 

[C.W. Richter]

@C.W. Richter
Did he improve on it. It was already a great cartridge. He just americanised it.
Bob

That's early American for duplicate

 

[RayAtkinson]

8x57 is standard for the mod 98 Mauser and others. Some older Mausers have a .318 bore so be careful and if your not sure have a gunsmith check it out. Over the years I have shot a few whitetail deer and one elk..Prefer the 8mm/06 Ackley Imp. Ii prefer the 30-06 however but I have two assume JP Sauer & Sons deluxe mausers, One in 8x57 and one in 30-06.

 

[RayAtkinson]

Ive somewhat neglected the 8x57 but shot a couple of deer and three cow elk over the years..My load was the 160 gr Nosler partition and it worked well, as expected, but I always preferred the 7x57, 30-06 or 270 as its equels.

 

[yamoon]

The 8x57 .318 and .323 are my favorite calibers for the hunting I do. I have a .323 Brno 22F proofed in 1948, a repurposed 98 Mauser proofed in 1932 .318 bore and a Oberndorf B 98 sporter proofed in 1912. The Oberndorf slugs .321 the chamber allows for the use of .323 ammo, all are double set trigger. I hunt from a blind so the triggers have never been a problem.
Mike

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

I’ve got an original 04/39 vergueiro in 8x57, I bought it from a friend who was dying from cancer. I’ve not shot any animals with it though, I will use it to shoot a goat and a deer in Howard’s memory. I was waiting till I could find a bayonet for it to do it justice
gumpy

 

[93marlin]

I'm about to take delivery of another 8x57, a BRNO 21H. I am really looking forward to working on a good load for it!!

I already have a Husqvarna 146? In 8x57.
The Husqvarna is one those that has an FN '98 action. Extremely smooth action. I haven't shot anything other than paper and rocks with it. I have other rifles that I have learned to trust, so those are the ones that get the hunting duties.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'm about to take delivery of another 8x57, a BRNO 21H. I am really looking forward to working on a good load for it!!

I already have a Husqvarna 146? In 8x57.
The Husqvarna is one those that has an FN '98 action. Extremely smooth action. I haven't shot anything other than paper and rocks with it. I have other rifles that I have learned to trust, so those are the ones that get the hunting duties.

@93marlin
Maybe you should learn to trust your 8x57. It's a great hunting round.
Bob

 

[Troubleshooter]

I own two drillings with 8x57R rifle chamberings and both have taken whitetail and feral hogs.

I realize that most of the postings on this thread are referring to the 8x57 (rimless) Mauser, but -- for those of us who own the older rimmed version, Graf's recently had 8x57 JR (the .318" bullet) available at a reasonable price. Limit of five boxes per order. That's the first time I've seen these in-stock for several years now.

 

[Red Leg]

I realize that most of the postings on this thread are referring to the 8x57 (rimless) Mauser, but -- for those of us who own the older rimmed version, Graf's recently had 8x57 JR (the .318" bullet) available at a reasonable price. Limit of five boxes per order. That's the first time I've seen these in-stock for several years now.

Thanks for the heads up! Just ordered 100 rds.

 

[rookhawk]

As a bit of trivia for the fans here, Do you know what the 8x57J, 8x57JR, the 8x57S, and the 8x57JRS all mean?

Pretty interesting, actually. The J is actually an I, as reference to "Infantry". The black gothic script popular in the WW1-WW2 era looked a lot like a J to the Anglos so the "J" stuck. It means infantry.

The R means rimmed. Pretty Straightforward on that one.

The S indicates the larger .323" bullet that has been discussed above. Absence of the S means a .318" bullet. I don't know what the German word is that is represented by the S, but that's the indicator of bullet size. (and often additional powder/pressure/velocity for modern guns too)

I was told that the WW1 mausers that were retained by the Germans were often so badly worn, they sorted those that could be repaired, yet had eroded bores into the .323" pile. I'm unsure if they just shot worn out .318" rifles, or if they remanufactured the bores to .323", but the impetus was reuse of old guns in the build up to the WW2 era.

So in conclusion, an 8x57JRS would mean a .323", rimmed, modern pressure load. You'd find this on say a 1970s era or later drilling. An 8x57J would be a .318" rimless from a WW1 era vintage military mauser. Obviously every gun needs to be slugged or pin gauge checked to ensure the correct rounds are used, but that's the folklore of these variants.

In even greater obscurity, there is literally a "R" version of almost every single German metric caliber. 7x64 brenneke rimless = 7x65R as a rimmed variant. Same with 7, 8, 9, 9.3, and 9.5 x 57 mausers. There are even some weird x64 brennekes in rimmed and rimless across a myriad of bullet diameters too.