8mm question

[benjaminw7528]

would a 8mm mauser be a good bear gun

[Val]

I believe it would be a good bear gun. My sporterized K98 Mauser spits out a 200 grain pellet at 2265 fps. Up to about 200 yds I think it will do a great job. At longer ranges I think bullet drop becomes an issue. If you practice and learn the bullet trajectory longer ranges than 200 yds are good to go.

[beemanbeme]

What kinda bear?  Black?  Without a doubt; interior griz? probably; Kodiak or polar? I ain't huntin' them with anything that doesn't have wheels under it. 

[RaySendero]

My carry around hog rifle is a sporterized Vz-24 Mauser using a 200 grain Nosler partition over IMR-4895 going 2,515 fps.

With a PH back-up - Big bears; YOU BET.

[kombi1976]

would a 8mm mauser be a good bear gun

I guess it depends on what sort of bear.
There are now a stack of good 8mm projectiles.
Woodleigh make a few different projectiles including 200 and 220gn Protected Points(Mag Tips) but their heaviest offering is a 250gn RNSN and it was designed with the 8x57 in mind.
In a powerful rifle like the 8mm Rem Mag or even the 325 WSM it would probably expand too fast but with the moderate velocities of the 8x57 it's quite suitable and should give good penetration.
I'm not sure I'd head out to use it on grizzlies or buffs but it would definitely do the job if placed well.

[Mikey]

8mm and bear - yep, all but the really big ones.  The 8mm will do anything the 06 will.  I load either 195 gn Hornadays or 200 gn Nosler Accubonds over book loads ov VV N160 for 2500'/sec or a bit better and accuracy is a one hole group at 100 yds.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Drilling Man]

  I load the 200 NP's in my 8x57jrs at 2,500 fps and although i have "not" taken a brown bear with it, i have harvested blk. bear, moose and many other animials with it.  (includeing the one in the pict.)

  From what browns i've taken with other cals/cartridges and based on what i've seen i'd call it a minimum for browns and i'd really prefer either the bullet going faster (read 8mm Rem. mag.) or something else in my hands.

  Would it kill a big brown? Absolutely, it just wouldn't be my first choise....

  DM

[Siskiyou]

I killed this bear with a 8MM, Model 98.  The bullet was a C-I-L 175 grain softpoint.  An old hunter in his late 70’s loaned this rifle to me.  He had taken numerous, bear and elk with it.

In his younger days he must have been a little crazy.  While hunting Alberta’s Smoky River with his buddies, he shot and wounded a black bear.  While one of his buddies was ready with the camera, he put an arm-lock around the bear’s neck.  The bear proceeded to take a bite out of his leg.  They had to put him into a boat and float him to a road where he could be haul to Edmonton for medical care. 

I assure you that my bear was dead before the camera came out.

[kombi1976]

BTW, here's a pic of my sporterised '41 Kar98k 8x57JS.
And don't worry, I wasn't the man who butchered it!



It's been drilled, tapped, the bolt handle bent and has a Tasco Mag IV 3-12x40AO on Leupold mounts and rings.
The barrel has been lopped to remove the original front sight and overcome the corrosion in the crown and the rearsight sleeve was also removed.
I also had the receiver and barrel sandblasted and powder coated to sort out some pitting problems.
I'm pleased with the outcome but need to re-bed it in the stock and sort out loads again as there are some new inconsistencies with the new barrel length and crown.
Incidentally, it does very unkind things to hares........ 

[Cheesehead]

Kombi

What do you mean butchered?, that rifle is beautiful. Do you have any experience the the 250 grain bullets you spoke of?

Cheese

[kombi1976]

No, it was butchery.
This was a matching numbers rifle and someone cut off the front of the stock, threw away all the bands and metal, removed the buttplate and puttied it before ######## on, of all things, an old Baikal plastic buttplate.
By the time I got it it was too far gone to consider restoring because of pitting and rust in places.
It could do with a complete new stock as well but it's ok for the moment and the Pachmeyer slip-on presently hides a multitude of evils.
As far as the 250gn Woodleighs go, I did some load testing with these before the bbl was shortened and they showed signs of decent accuracy with a 1.18" group at 50yds.
But that's quite premature and early next year I intend to do some more intensive testing with hotter loads.
I haven't tried them on game but reports have been good.
They're basically the same construction as other Woodleigh RNSNs and these have proven performance.

[TribReady]

I love 8mm. Like mentioned, do research on the trajectory,etc and you'll see an awesome round better than an '06.
With European factory loads, bear are fair game. And with some of the handloads mentioned, YOU BET!
I have  1949 Husqvarna 8mm sporter that I love.  I've used milsurps in 8mm too, though.

About that sporterized k98---as good as that looks, it would look so much better with the original stock,et. An all-matching 1941 k98 just oozes with history--enjoy it as is, but we can all imagine it the way it was and should be 

[kombi1976]

If it had been in better condition I would've sourced a military stock.
But not only was the metal pitting, etc. unsightly, it was dangerous.
The lip at the end of the rear sight base sleeve that usually holds the handguard on had become serrated through rust!
I was at pains to avoid touching it.
And the bbl crown was done in by poor cleaning and corrosive ammo.
Once day I'll fully convert it to a sporter bbl but for the moment it shoots fine.
But, yes, it was intensely frustrating.
I mean, for goodness sake, the waffenampts (Nazi markings) on it are still clear.
They had never been ground off.
Some people are boneheads of the highest order.

P.S.I believe Woodleigh's estimation of possible muzzle velocities for the 250gn RNSN is in the 2200 to 2300 fps range, and I think you could push it perhaps even as high as 2400fps with full house 50k+ psi loads.
That's classic big game territory with well over 3000 ftlbs of ME, certainly something to consider.
The real pity is that no one makes a 8mm FMJ or Solid for hunting.