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Other 8mm Milsurp

Besides the now somewhat rare Turkish loaded ammo the other once commonly available post WWII milsurp 8mm is Ecuadorian, Yugoslavian, and Romanian. The Ecuadorian and Yugoslavian come with 198 grain bullets while the Romanian is 154 grain. The Ecuadorian ammo is now rather scarce.


1954 Yugo - 8mm Mauser Ammo

Here is some Yugoslavian ammo from 1954. It came in a weak tin box of 900 rounds packed 15 to a box on very nice steel stripper clips. This is brass cased, Berdan primed, lead core with copper jackets. About 40.5 grains of typical flake powder. Cases averaged about 172 grains unfired, slightly less than Turk cases. This ammo is well known for its hard primers and frequent failures to fire.


1940 Yugo - 8mm Mauser Ammo

Some 1940 Yugo 8mm: this is supposed to be really good ammo. As good as the 1939 era German ammo that was offered for sale around 2002. The bullets weighed about 197 grains with about 42 grains of powder. The cases have not been annealed as they are on the 50's era ammo. The bullets are a different profile and are a bit longer than the 50's versions. A friend who got 400+ rounds in 2006 finally finished shooting all of them and reports no failures to fire. He wants more!


Romanian - 8mm Mauser Ammo

Photo above shows some Romanian 8mm with lacquer coated steel cases. Though made in '74, this is corrosive. The red stuff is sealant. See chronograph results.


Another somewhat common 8mm milsurp ammo from around 2005 comes with a 175 grain, cupro-nickel, jacketed bullet, made by Sellier and Bellot, Vlasim in Occupied Czechoslovakia in 1944. Ammo has 4 stakes in the primer pockets with brass cases. Some 1947 and 1949 dated rounds have found their way into the 15 rd boxes (lending credence to the theory that this is post war repack ammo). This is supposed to be good ammo.

Modern commercial 8mm ammunition is readily available, but not always well suited for shooting in your Turkish Mauser. Given the wide range of rifles that can fire 8mm, the commercial manufacturers are forced to deal with the least common denominator. If you want to load your own, then your chances are much greater that you'll get what you want.