8mm surplus ID

[Broondog]

i just picked up 75rds of some surplus 8mm Mauser ammo from a friend at work. it looks good and every round i've pulled from a box is in good shape.

i'm really looking to confirm my suspicions and maybe get close to a bullet weight.

four of the plain tan boxes say "7.92mm type Mauser" and have a double circle 10 on them. the round is FMJ in a copper washed, presumably steel case with no primer or neck sealer. the headstamp has a "10" at 12 o'clock, a "\" at 2 o'clock, a triangle at 4 o'clock, and "64" at 6 o'clock. IIRC isn't double circle 10 Bulgarian? the 64 would represent 1964? would anyone venture an educated guess on a bullet weight for these?

the fifth box, again plain tan, has a bunch of probably Russian writing on it. i can make out 7.9mm, Hu-05-79, Ocp(?) 21/53 and 11-1954. the rounds are on strippers, FMJ, brass cases with red sealed primers. headstamp is "11" at 12 o'clock, "54" at 6 o'clock and commie stars at 3 and 9 o'clock. so probably Russian made in Nov 1954. bullet weight guesses anybody?

the guy only wanted $2 a box so i gladly gave it. it should be good plinking ammo if nothing else. hmmm, i probably better treat it as corrosive too. :biggrina:

[raxar]

i just picked up 75rds of some surplus 8mm Mauser ammo from a friend at work. it looks good and every round i've pulled from a box is in good shape.

i'm really looking to confirm my suspicions and maybe get close to a bullet weight.

four of the plain tan boxes say "7.92mm type Mauser" and have a double circle 10 on them. the round is FMJ in a copper washed, presumably steel case with no primer or neck sealer. the headstamp has a "10" at 12 o'clock, a "\" at 2 o'clock, a triangle at 4 o'clock, and "64" at 6 o'clock. IIRC isn't double circle 10 Bulgarian? the 64 would represent 1964? would anyone venture an educated guess on a bullet weight for these?

the fifth box, again plain tan, has a bunch of probably Russian writing on it. i can make out 7.9mm, Hu-05-79, Ocp(?) 21/53 and 11-1954. the rounds are on strippers, FMJ, brass cases with red sealed primers. headstamp is "11" at 12 o'clock, "54" at 6 o'clock and commie stars at 3 and 9 o'clock. so probably Russian made in Nov 1954. bullet weight guesses anybody?

the guy only wanted $2 a box so i gladly gave it. it should be good plinking ammo if nothing else. hmmm, i probably better treat it as corrosive too. :biggrina:

the stuff in the fifth box is yugo, and will probably have hard primers, No idea what the other stuff is, but IIRC I have a box of that stuff sitting somewhere too.

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, circle 10 is Bulgarian, so that's probably what you've got in the other boxes.

[Broondog]

Well, circle 10 is Bulgarian, so that's probably what you've got in the other boxes.

cool, thanks! i was second guessing myself for a sec and thinking that circle 10 might have been Czech. dunno why, i just was.

now if i knew if the stuff was heavy ball or lighter. it's not that deep to actually pull a bullet but inquiring minds still wanna know.


hmmm, i suppose i could trap a spent round and drop it on a scale. :)

[Schuetzenman]

The stuff without the circle ten marks sounds like Yugoslav 8 mm. Are the strippers shiny like stainless steel and are the rounds 15 in a box. If so , probably Yugo. Got a digital camera with Macro function on it? Photos would be nice.

[Broondog]

yeah, i've got a camera but i've just been too lazy to get it out. and what's a macro function? i just push the little button and the thing flashes. :biggrina:

but yeah, shiny strippers. here's the requested pic.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii365/broondog007/8mmammo.jpg

[Schuetzenman]

yeah, i've got a camera but i've just been too lazy to get it out. and what's a macro function? i just push the little button and the thing flashes. :biggrina:

but yeah, shiny strippers. here's the requested pic.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii365/broondog007/8mmammo.jpg

As stated the box on the left of the image with the two circles and 10 is Bulgarian arsenal marking. The box on the right is definitely Yugoslav from November of 1954. I have shot and sold a couple tons of that ammo, I know the markings well. The Yugo is generally sure fire but has deep primer pockets and hard primers. Often it takes 2 or 3 hits to set one off. Luckily it is only about 10 to 20% of them like that. When I owned 8 mm Mausers I had a modified firing pin that stuck out further to use with this ammo. That way I got 100% ignition most of the time.

Macro means close focusing more or less. Most cameras that have it use a Tulip flower icon to indicate the Macro function.

[Broondog]

cool, thanks for the definitive info Scheutz! my game plan is to light some of this stuff off tomorrow in my new-to-me Portuguese Mdl 1904 that i picked up at the same time. (pics are coming)

macro, close focus, tulip thing. interesting as well. my camera has the tulip button. i think i'll have to give that a whirl sometime. i always wondered how folks got those awesome shots of stuff like receiver markings.

[Schuetzenman]

. interesting as well. my camera has the tulip button. i think i'll have to give that a whirl sometime. i always wondered how folks got those awesome shots of stuff like receiver markings.

Yep that's how to get nice clear images of arsenal marks, serial numbers, cartouche marks on stocks etc.