Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles 8mm factory ammo

Recently acquired a Zastava M70 in 8×57 that I am currently dressing up the stock on (stripped, sanded, currently soaking up oil, wax on standby). I have never had this caluber before Md want to use it this year for Pa Deer Season. Most shots under 100, 150 would be a long shot from my "regular" stand. Anyone have a recommendation on what factory ammo to try? Doubt I'll get in to reloading this caliber, really only bought it to redo the wood....

I've found that Privi (PPU) works best for me. Should be about $18 a box. Stay away from the US made stuff.
If you cant find it locally, check out ammoseek.

I've used or seen used Remington, Federal, Winchester, Peters, Western, Dominion, Norma, Sellier & Bellot, Prvi Partisan (PPU), RWS, and probably several other brands with good results. PPU and S&B will be your least expensive brands by far. Velocities vary from roughly 30/30 up to nearly 30/06 levels so pretty much anything will be fine for deer.

I've seen more deer taken with 150 gr bullets though the heavier bullets will work just as well. I am loading 150 gr bullets at 300 Savage velocities in the one gun for nieces and nephews to use while another is getting stoked with 170s as that is what I currently have on hand. A third is sighted for 196 gr bullets as it is a back up/loaner gun for bear hunting. The 8x57 is a truly versatile cartridge and will work well in any reasonable situation for deer.

For close range work in the deer woods of PA, any old factory ammo will work fine. Choose the brand that is most accurate in the rifle and don't give it another thought. The "old slow" domestic 8x57 ammo has plenty of moxie for this application.

You don't need the latest/greatest super whizzbang rifle/ammo to kill a whitetail at 100 yards, no matter what the pundits say. Try not to overthink it!!

Despite loading up a ton of "modern" ammo, all my hunting of game with the 8x57 was done with Remington 170 gr factory loads. It was very accurate and ranges under 200 yds. S&B ammo is very accurate and packs a good deal more punch. While I haven;t tried the PPU 8x57 I have tried it in other Euro cartridges like the 9,3x62 and found it to be a stellar performer despite the discount pricing.

Given the current ammo situation, shoot what you can get at the stated distances. I was making brass by firing up some 8x57 by PPU recently, perky and accurate, brass is pretty darn uniform too.

Sellior &Belliot
196gr SPCE
2592 fps
Very accurate and hard hitting.
Long bearing surface
Unique older euro hunting bullet design.
Zero dead on at 100
Drops about 5" at 200.
Fuggs a whitetail up....
Posted plenty about my rifle and how it shoots the round
Pics or it never happened type of post....

YMMV.....

Yup, this is what I have my Husqvarna 1640 sighted in for. It loves this stuff. Haven't had the opportunity to kill anything but paper with it though.

I really like my 8X57 Mauser. It's got a short (19") barrel and it's so accurate it still shocks me, but it's never been fired with a factory load.

The 3 bullet I have used are the 170 grain Hornady SST, the 180 Grain Hornady GMX and the 200 grain Nosler partition. The 180 and the 200 shoot about 1 MOA. The 170s shoot so wall I won't say because no one would believe me, but I can say they are VERY accurate. I don't know if Hornady offers an 8X57 factory load or not.

I have thought I should buy some of the 196 grain PPU bullets and use them as practice rounds, and save the 200 grain Partitions for hunting, but I read enough about them in their factory loads that I may try them on elk and see how they do. I'd love to hear form anyone that have killed any game with that bullet and hear their opinion of how well it worked.Factory loaded or handloaded.

The 170GR SST is good for deer and antelope and I did kill a nice 5X5 bull with them, but I was not impressed with how they works on elk. They Shed jackets ,and gave only enough penetration to hit the things inside I needed to hit, but just barely. On deer and antelope they are just fine.

The 200 Grain Noslers are wonderful but too costly for a lot of practice. My short barreled rifle only fired them at 2300 FPS, so I don't know far away they will still expand reliably, but so far I have not had to make any longer shots, so it's not been a problem. I do wish they would make a 170 however.

I have never shot any living thing with the 180 grain GMX so I can't say yet, but I am pretty sure they will be good too. Pretty much the same kind of bullet as a Banes TSX, which I have used and seen used in other calibers and weights, so I believe it will be good but it's only an educated guess as of right now. MV for my load is 2495 FPS.

Here is a post on the take a mauser hunting thread I posted.
With pics.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ge-from-the-mauser-rescue-s#Post14301590
Used to shoot ppu 196gr soft point.

I shot a 3.5 yr old mutant rack 5pt on slumlords place last year with the bullet. Thought it was a decent 8 put about 4 or 5 mins of freeze, walk, run , sprint on it using terrian and tree line cover .
Got braced alongside a tree. About a 125 130 yard shot from one rolling ridge over a small valley to the other
That bullet deposited alot of energy in that deer.
Moment of impact the deer shuddered thru the scope way more than I have seen before. Went about 35 yards.
Buck had a shriveled nut sack, grape sized balls. 4 pts on one side main beam on the other

Never found the round.
Bout a 1.25 " exit wound
Blood trail from spot where shot to down.
Was curious how the blood trail looked
Followed it back to the shot site
Stevie wonder could have followed it.
Looked like Jack the Ripper ran thru the open oaks with a bucket of blood.

I need ta get out with my rifle, installed a timney in it about 10 days ago.
Waiting on cooler weather, dont like to shoot in the heat with sweat rolling into my eyes, I dont get paid to do that anymore. LOL!!!

That Timney is a huge step up from the 98 2 stage.
I did some polishing on that 2 stage and clipped a coil.
Improved it alot and was nice for what it was.
But a single stage Timney outclasses it by far.
JMO...
also it is a close feel to my mod70ot6.
All 4 of my scoped long guns have Sightron SII 3-9x42 scopes
on them, so its consistent in my mind sight picture wise

OCD gun stuff to me.....

Hornady has a 196 bthp load in their classic match line up.
Used it a accuracy load when I 1st got my rifle.
Cant report on accuracy about it though.
Scattered shots like 00 buck shot.

Had ta lop about 5/8 ths inch off my barrel after reading the copper fouling on the lands and do a recrown on it.
Barrel is 22 7/8ths" now.
Just a hair under 23".
Then the rifle sang loud and proud shooting consistent 1 inch or a little below groups with ppu and S&B.

Ppu zero was striking about 7 inches low when I 1st shot S&B thru it before adjustments.

That mauser is one of the best guns I have ever snagged up in a pawn shop. 185 or 210 bucks IIRC.
They didnt know what it actually was.
Allowed me to break it down and take pics of the markings on under side of receiver.
Nazi markings and Sako markings on the web researching them.
Sako was picking up K98,s after WW2, customizing em and selling em in PX,s in germany thru the 50,s and very early 60,s.

Nice project rifle I posted alot of pics about while doing the project several yrs ago.

My mod 70 ot6 hasnt seen the woodline for 2 falls and this one will be the 3rd.
The mauser is almost 1 full pd lighter than it also.
I really like that mauser alot.
It is a perfect open oak forest and hardwood bottoms bolt rifle to me
Anything under 200 yds which is a extremely long shot thru timber here in TN is game on like donkey kong.
Zeroed at 100 it drops about 5" at 200.

If there ever was a cartridge that benefits from re loading efforts ....


The 8x57 should be considered as a top 10

IMO

I have a hitler pre war post office model 98. It has a long barrel. It can take a lot of 3031 and keep on keeping on accurately.

Bubba'd Mausers are still fairly popular up here with the 196 gr PPU ammo being the most common factory loading due to price and availability. The PPU has a good reputation on deer but the use on larger game in these parts is limited due to black bears being the only other option and that is mostly on a draw basis.

I know first hand of two bears being shot with the PPU loads and the load worked well. There was a good sized exit which allowed for a good blood trail for follow up. That is important for recovery with fall bears as fat and hide often clogs and sops up the blood making for tough follow up, particularly in the dark. The "test" is lacking in numbers and is ongoing as neither bear was overly large. One was the typical 180 pound animal and the other was a little bigger at maybe 250. From this limited observation I wouldn't doubt the 196 gr PPU load would work as well on elk as a similar load from a 308 or 30/06.

Not sure if mentioned above, but the Nosler Custom is on clearance in 8x57. Still not cheap, but way less than usual if you want premium to hunt with.

https://shop.nosler.com/noslercustom-8x57-js-mauser-200-grain-partition-ammo-20-ct.html

My only kill using the 8x57 was on a Northern California blacktail 4X4 some years back. The only hunting ammo I could find at the time for my 8mm Mauser was Federal 170 grain cartridges, which only carry 2250 at muzzle velocity. I hit the Blackmail buck with a broadside shot at about 80 yards. He took off running and I found him piled up about sixty yards away. Bullet went clean through both lungs and existed out the other side which helped with the blood trail. I can't say I was displeased with it's performance but it wasn't spectacular drop them in their track performance which I've had using a 308 and a 30-06 with the same shot. But not all deer behave or act the same when shot. I have my rifle now sighted in with PPU 196 grain bullets as I may also use it for deer and bear next hunt with it. Want to get my hands on some Sellier & Bellot ammunition as they load their stuff hotter. But with the current ammo shortage can't obtain any at the moment.

Shot 2 whitetail does with 150 gr Hornady sp bullets loaded to just over 2700 fps in my m700 8x57. Could not see any difference in the way they work in the 8 than 150 gr Hornady sp"s in the 30-06 or 308. Mb

The S&B SPCE is the best of the currently available ammo. If you can find any of the old Hornady 195 gr load it was what I used for years. The Hornady PN was 8229. 195 gr Interlock at 2,500 fps. Pretty awesome on deer, hogs and black bear. I actually have a bunch of each, if you want to try any of them out PM me and I'll send you some.

Killed plenty of deer with Winchester 170gr as a kid, today, I'd use S&B or PPU if I didn't reload, a 200 gr HotCor over 53gr of CFE223 tends to give a critter a really bad day.

Privi and S&B both make good 8x57mm Mauser cartridges. I have used both, and they are "adult" loads for the Mauser. They help to let you see the real potential of the cartridge.

Nearly every American made box of cartridges is loaded down for liability reasons. Seems some people don't understand some of the earliest Mausers are no longer in shooting condition, or cannot shoot full pressure loads any more. They are okay for close-up deer hunting, but they're not much more powerful than a good loaded 30-30 WCF.

Rolling your own handloads for this cartridge really brings out the potential, and gives you a few options not really available commercially.

A while back Nosler put their custom stuff on clearance. Much closer to European speeds. I check back periodically to see what they're trying to unload. Just a heads up.