What caliber is my Mauser?

[eddiewiggles]

Looking for some help here. Was gifted this Mauser which was in very good shape. I consulted with a local gun store who has lots of similar rifles in their shop and is pretty knowledgeable in this area as to what ammo for it. I wanted to shoot it just to say I shot it. Fired once, and the case had to be beat out of the chamber. I know these have been re barreled to all kinds of stuff, but barrel and action have matching SN’s. Any info is appreciated

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[TxLite]

What size did the inside of the neck open up to?

 

[mt100gr.]

And what cartridge did you test? 8mm mauser?

 

[flathead#2]

Dang, looks like it's a 45-70.

 

[Eleven]

MidwayUSA Chamber Casting Alloy 1/2 lb

National Metallic Chamber Casting Alloy is the best known material from which to make a casting of the chamber and throat of a firearm - to determine...

www.midwayusa.com

Cast the chamber before you hurt yourself.

 

[eddiewiggles]

What size did the inside of the neck open up to?

Roughly .323


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[eddiewiggles]

And what cartridge did you test? 8mm mauser?

Yes


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[NRA4LIFE]

That's a Polish rifle, should be 8mm Mauser, 7.92X57. That is somewhat of a rare find.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

That's pretty wild. Talk about a fireform.

 

[eddiewiggles]

MidwayUSA Chamber Casting Alloy 1/2 lb

National Metallic Chamber Casting Alloy is the best known material from which to make a casting of the chamber and throat of a firearm - to determine...

www.midwayusa.com

Cast the chamber before you hurt yourself.

Well, I wanted to initially. (And now I really do)

But after looking all over this gun and all its markings, myself and a few other gentlemen were completely sure that it was all original. I still took some safety measures to fire it. I may be kinda dumb, but I’m not dumb enough to shoot it again. My dad suspects 8mm-06 improved.


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[Castle Rock]

It will have been rechambered to 8mm/06
This was very common in the early post WW2 years

 

[Tmac]

Well, I wanted to initially. (And now I really do)

But after looking all over this gun and all its markings, myself and a few other gentlemen were completely sure that it was all original. I still took some safety measures to fire it. I may be kinda dumb, but I’m not dumb enough to shoot it again. My dad suspects 8mm-06 improved.


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I agree with your Dad. But cast that chamber.

 

[Eleven]

A million different things were done with Mausers after the war. Everything from rebarreling and complete customs to rechambering the original barrel to something else. By the looks of the fired case I’d say it was rechambered. So original bore diameter with who knows what for a case holding that .323 diameter bullet. With the matching barrel I probably would have made the mistake of assuming it was a standard 8x57JS as well, but that case shows that it clearly isn’t. Be careful. Good luck.

 

[The Harbor Master]

Why was sporterizing and changing calibers so popular? Were guys wanting different ballistics or was 8mm Mauser unobtanium stateside?

 

[Eleven]

Why was sporterizing and changing calibers so popular? Were guys wanting different ballistics or was 8mm Mauser unobtanium stateside?

The actions are very strong/robust, perfect for customs. I wasn’t there but from what I understand the 8mauser (8x57js) ammo was the hard part to find. 30-06 cases necked up to .323 made a wonderful round. Almost a 35 Whalen. (Whalen is .35 diameter bullet in an ‘06 case).

 

[Mojave]

bullet is .318 instead of .323.

 

[49ereric]

See if a 06 round chambers be my first step.

 

[Wapiti1]

There is no reason to figure out what you have at this point since it's not collector quality, and looking at the fired round, that chamber has some serious issues. It looks drilled, not rechambered based on the marks on that casing. It's simply not safe to shoot.

So, it's not an original chamber. At this point, I would find a good WW2 original 8mm barrel to put on it as a restoration project. As long as the rest of it is original, or can be made so, you have a collector rifle with a clean action. Something not often seen.

A few details, that is a rare action, so restoring it would bring it's value way up. It's a Polish small ring K98. This guy goes over it pretty well.

Suffice to say, it's worth digging up more info and, IMO restoring it.

Jeremy