8mm Mauser Rifle History

The formidable 8mm Mauser became popular in Germany in 1888 after it was adopted as the German service rifle. Not only did the 8mm Mauser become popular but it became just as popular as the 30-06 cartridge did here in the U.S.. The 8mm Mauser was not just popular because of its service use, it was also because it was a great cartridge for sporting use as well. The 8mm Mauser was also known as the 8x57mm JS, but the name of 8mm Mauser seemed to really stick in the minds of the users, thus the 8mm Mauser was brought into history.

The 8x57 or 8mm Mauser cartridge was the first smokeless powder cartridge to be used in any major military organization world wide. As the Speer Reloading Manual states, the original load of the 8mm Mauser was a 227 grain bullet, with a round nose, the 8mm bullet came in at 0.318 diameter. Then in 1905 after years of use a high velocity version was introduces, this version was known as the JS. The JS cartridge only used a 150 grain bullet and has a diameter of 0.323, this improved the long range performance of the rifle. Because of this increased power the rifles for the new high velocity loads had much stronger actions than those used in the original Model 1888. Because these new higher velocities in the cartridge were achieved with a higher powder load and therefore had a higher pressure, the chambers of the rifles had to have a significantly higher pressure rating to keep from bursting under the intense increase in pressure. Even with such a strong following in the German market the 8mm Mauser never took on the same popularity in the American market. I believe that this market popularity difference is in some small way related to the actions and event of World War 2, but that is my opinion. Even though ever since the 8mm Mauser cartridge has been around it has never been chambered in any U.S. sporting rifle, other than a very short run of the Model 54 Winchester. Thankfully there has been an increase in the surplus military rifles that have come to U.S. shores. This and the reloaders of the U.S. have helped keep the 8mm Mauser cartridge alive, and it even shows that the interest in hand loading the 8mm Mauser and the general interest in the cartridge has been on the rise.

Part of the interest in the 8mm Mauser cartridge is the fact that the American factory loads are downloaded to an unusually low level for fear of the JS cartridge type being used in the weaker chambered Model 1888 rifles. But when you can upload or get the European cartridges the full experience of the 8mm Mauser can be had, which to my understanding is closer to the experience of the 308 Winchester. Whereas when the cartridge is downloaded to a lower pressure it is only comparable to the 30-30 cartridge. By keeping th e8mm Mauser alive and the history of this great cartridge alive shooters can experience a cross continental shooting experience, worthy of the history books.