I have a 1939 german mauser in 8x57. I traded an old tv for the rifle and a ww2 ammo pouch with a few rounds of ammo still left in it. The stock has been butchered but, all of the metal is in very good shape and has matching serial numbers. I acquired this rifle 2 years ago and have never fired it. I decided to purchase some remington 8mm mauser ammo to go shot the rifle the other day. I laid a round in front of the bolt and closed the action. Only problem was, the bolt would not close. I tried and tried and could not get teh bolt to close, 3/8" from closing. Now, when I chamber a military round that came with the rifle, the bolt closes no problem. I fired off a round to see if the rifle would fire, worked perfectly. Actually hit 1 moa high and 2 moa right from point of aim, iron sights and all. The stamp on the military ammo is 7.92 and something I cannot read. Is it the bullet design? The military ammo is a spitzer, long bullet that looks to be an aluminum fmj. The remington 8mm ammo I purchased is round nose. Any help would be appreciated to save a trip to a gun smith. I really do not know a good gunsmith that works on mausers in these parts.
