Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 8x57 vs .308

I was sitting in a cafe in Craig, CO before opening day a few years ago and was approached by a fellow looking for a place to buy ammo. He was looking for .30-06 or .300 Win Mag in a 165 gr load and everywhere he had been was sold out. I directed him to Murdoch’s on US-40. Hope he found some. Moral: Rogers Rules for Rangers #1: Don’t forget nothing.

I think I saw one of those 8mm Rem Classics today. Black forend tip, and a tag that said 8mm.

http://allisoncareygunworks.com/

Bruce

.308??????


BLRs, 88s, 99s, 70 feather weights, 77 carbines etc, etc.

8X57?????????

98 s baby, 98 s!!!!!!!!

rifle,

NOTHING if the 8x57mm Mauser is loaded as it is factory-loaded in Europe.
(In fact the 8x57mm in some European loadings, exceeds the .30-06.)

US ammo companies have always down-loaded the 8mm Mauser, so that it could be used in some of the old/weak rifles. = That said, the 8x57mm as loaded in the USA is still a more than adequate deer cartridge.
(The BIGGEST WT "head" that I've ever seen was killed at 150+ M by a man from Upshur County, TX in the 1970s.)

yours, tex

Sorry, the store at Podunk closed 40 years ago. As a former walmart employee I can say the last rifle ammo on the shelf at our store during the BHO years was .270 Winchester. Everything else was gone.

kwg

My buddy John spent the winter of '44 up on the Sigfried line. His assessments were based on the 30-06 vs the 8X57. However, they may be applicable here.

His opinion was that the two rounds were pretty much identical in their effects on the receiving end.

He did give the edge to 30-06 for night use. He said that, in the snow, you could just put a white, wet rag over the barrel of an M1 and do a pretty good job of suppressing the muzzle flash. With the K98, nothing they seemed to do would reduce the flash. As a result, he could recover his eyesight quicker and send off a round back at the spot where he saw the flash faster than the Kraut on the other side could recover his eyesight.

This came in handy one night. John's squad was dug-in in the floor of a wrecked barn. There was fresh snow and a full moon. The Krauts decided to try to infiltrate the lines with SS in full snow camo. It was perfect except for the black suspenders of the ammo belt. It made a perfect X over the center of the chest. John and his buddies spent the night aiming at the X; they dropped countless Germans. The Krauts never saw where the fire was coming from, due to the trick with the wet rag. In the morning, you could walk across the pasture on the dead bodies without touching the ground.

I have used a 30-06 and the 308 WIN to take whitetails at first and last light. The flash from both is substantial. I shot a doe a few years ago in the last minute of legal hunting. I pretty much had to trust the deer was down. I have yet to do so with my Kar 98; to date, all my shots have been in broad daylight.

Shaman,

That is a remarkable story. Glad you shared it..

The 308 will fit in a short action. The 8x57 will fit in a long action but so will a 338-06.

The ancient 8X57 will indeed work, and quite well. I still have my very first deer rifle, a '44 BCD 98K. Not stock per say, has a Bishop stock and a Redfield peep sight, original barrel and front sight. I taken many deer with this rifle, in the Northern MN woods. Not really a long range rig, but I bet I could do quite well against zombies... The 308 is a great round, but all things equal the 8X57 does most anything the 308 will expect that dang fits in a short action... Why that is such a big deal I have no idea.

kwg020,

ImVho, "ammo availability" is an EXCELLENT reason for buying/KEEPING a .30-06. - Even in "Podunk no place" Northeast Texas where I'm from, .30-06 is available all the time, even in little "convenience" stores at numerous country crossroads & sometimes even at places like gas stations, farm supply stores & "bait & tackle shops"..

Neither 8mm Mauser nor .308WCF is always available in a LOT of smaller communities but .30-30WCF & .30-06 shells nearly always are.

yours, tex

I respectfully disagree. The 308 has got to be the most common round in the world at this point. It’s everywhere

I don't know about the 8x57 vs. 7.62x51, but if the U.S. military had adopted the 7.65x53, or a modified 7.62x53, instead of the 30-40 Krag, they could have skipped right over the 30-06 and 308.

I don’t have the stats handy so

I’d say it’s likely a toss up which one is more readily available.

Maybe someone has the stats handy.

The 8 Mauser can’t be close to either of those.


Jerry

I'm with 260 Rem...the 7.65 x 53 is pretty much my final choice after years of shooting and reloading pretty much all the WW I and WW II calibers. There are NO bad old military calibers but the "Belgian Mauser" does it all with no fuss. The Graf & Sons special order 174 gr HPBT, .312 is just superb in my 1935 Peruvian and rings 700 yard steel with considerable more authority than my Swede or 6.5 Swede-moor.