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Old November 29, 2012, 09:06 PM   #1
chiefr
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8mm Surplus ammo issues.

I purchased some of the Iranian surplus 8mm Mauser ammo a few days ago. I am sure some of you have seen this stuff for sale.
In firing 20 rounds, 3 did not fire at all. I even attempted to fire the rounds a second time with the same result. 4 of the rounds were hangfires lasting 1/2 - 1 second. The remaining rounds all fired, however the group measured 7" @ 25yds.
Rifle was a VZ 24 that I normally get 2" groups at 50 - 75 yards.

Lucky for me I did not pay that much for the ammo.
Buyer Beware.
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Old November 30, 2012, 04:02 AM   #2
warningshot
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Chaulk this purchase up to experience.
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Old November 30, 2012, 08:20 PM   #3
Capybara
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I just bought 900 rounds of the Yugo surplus from the '50s, I have heard similar things about it, a few non-fires, hangfires are to be expected. Although I also read that if you are shooting an old Mauser, your firing protrusion and firing pin spring may not be up to the task, at least as far as on the old Yugo, which I read has incredibly hard primers.

Google Mauser firing pin protrusion and read up on it. It won't solve all of your surplus ammo woes but it could help.
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Old December 1, 2012, 01:23 AM   #4
Heavy Metal 1
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I have had great accuracy w/ 50s Yugo surplus + it's on stripper clips. I have had a few FTF that required a second strike. I have some 80s stuff that looks like it was made yesterday; it is good too, but not on strippers. I bought all of this at LGS.
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Old December 1, 2012, 05:10 PM   #5
chiefr
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Firing pin protrusion is not an issue with the rifle I am using.

I too have blasted away many rounds of the Yugo surplus both old and new and in the same rifle. All of the Yugo surplus is surfire and accurate. I still have some.

After reading responses to this post, I went and pulled the bullets from the 3 that FTF. The primers did not ignite. Also the powder used was trapezoidal flakes and the powder showed clear signs of deterioration averaging up to 10%.
The deterioration was more than likely greater in the rounds that hangfired.
Seems to explain everything to include the gross inaccuracy of this stuff.

I too was attracted to the low cost of this stuff and wanted to make sure fellow TFL guys knew what to expect.
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Old December 3, 2012, 11:25 AM   #6
Capybara
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Thanks Chiefr. I will report back once I can make it out to the range to try this stuff out. Most of the firing pin protrusion issues I have read about seem to center largely around the older, Turkish Mausers like I have. I have not heard of too many of these issues with more modern Yugos, K98s, etc.
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Old December 3, 2012, 05:35 PM   #7
James K
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Just a note that if you get a misfire, it might be a hangfire and the bolt should be left closed and the rifle pointed in a safe direction for (IMHO) at least 30 seconds. Ejecting the misfire and having the cartridge explode inches from your face might not be too good for future girl watching.

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Old December 4, 2012, 09:40 PM   #8
DennisCA
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I have a yugo 24/47 and it seems that yugo ammo works the best.
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Old December 23, 2012, 02:30 PM   #9
FairWarning
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I used to use corrosive surplus for my K98 for plinking, but honestly, there are some very good small manus out there if you don't want to reload or there is always affordable Sellior & Bellot to make the gun consistently perform the way it should---accurately.

I still have various corrosive ammo stockpiled in the event I might want to use it some day...but I can't imagine when..
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Old December 24, 2012, 12:17 AM   #10
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It never ceases to amaze me when people buy junk and expect premium performance from it. My Grandma used to say "If you take moose #$%& and fry it, you have fried moose#$%&.".
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Old December 26, 2012, 05:29 PM   #11
straightShot
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If you are shooting a surplus bolt action rifle, always remember to take your bolt out, take it apart, and clean the firing pin and bolt thoroughly when you first get it. You'd be amazed at how many people come to the range and have cleaned everything but their bolt and wonder why their rounds don't fire!

That being said, with a clean bolt and experiencing the same problems, it could just be the ammo...I have stuff from the '40s and '50s. It still goes bang and is corrosive, but it's fun to shoot and sometimes requires two primer strikes.

Stay safe!
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Old December 27, 2012, 12:02 AM   #12
kilimanjaro
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Just me talking, but I'd throw the Iranian, Egyptian, and Iraqi 8mm away and just get some PRVI 8mm if you can't find Yugo or Romanian surplus. I've learned my lesson on Third World ammunition.
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Old December 27, 2012, 08:07 PM   #13
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I never fired 8mm loaded in the 40's. A lot of that stuff was loaded by slave labor and POW's.
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Old December 29, 2012, 04:57 PM   #14
Bigdog57
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My shooting buddy and I both have had very poor performance from the 50's Yugo 8mm. Many of his required up to four tries before firing. Some never fired. I call it the "UN Safety Ammo"......

My three hundred rounds (bought from Sportsman's Guide) had so few that would actually fire I ended up pulling them all down for the bullets. It's amazing some shooters report such 'good accuracy'.
My weighing of the components found the nominal 198 grain bullets varying from 194 grains to just under 200 grains.
Powder varied over about a four grain range too. The powder went onto the garden.

Now my 70's production Yugo 8mm - wish I could find more - LOVE IT! That stuff rocks! Excellent performance, fires everytime and is accurate!
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Old December 29, 2012, 10:07 PM   #15
Capybara
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Finally made it to the range to try out the 1950s Yugo on the stripper clips. I only had time to try a few stripper clips of it. I have four FTF in two five round clips. In the same trip, I also brought some of the Yugo M75 "Sniper" ammo. All twenty of these rounds shot perfectly.

FWIW, I have a 1937 Turkish Mauser that I am told was re-arsenaled in Turkey, but it actually an M1903 so it dates probably back to the WWI era. I am curious if a newer 24/47 or M48 Mauser would ignite the 1950s Yugo any better? (stronger firing pin spring, etc.)

It's a shame, it is beautiful ammo, it looks like new, the packaging was all perfect when I opened the spam can. And I have a 1260 round case of it. Not sure if I should sell it or try it in a newer Mauser or order a Wolf replacement firing pin spring for my Turkish Mauser?
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Old January 1, 2013, 08:57 PM   #16
James K
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I had a lot of 8mm loaded in 1940 that had misfires or hangfires every round. Gunplummer might have the reason why, except that I was unaware that there was much slave labor in Canada.

Jim
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Old January 1, 2013, 09:30 PM   #17
Tidewater_Kid
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My M38 Turkish Mauser will not shoot the 50's Yugo reliably. I replaced the spring and the firing pin, no luck. It will shoot Romanian or commercial all day. My Vz24 and my M48 have no problems with the 50's Yugo and I have yet to have a FTF with them.

TK
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Old January 1, 2013, 11:14 PM   #18
Capybara
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Thanks Tidewater. Sounds like I need to get that 24/47 or M48 I have been thinking about.
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Old January 3, 2013, 11:51 AM   #19
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on most sites they say to expect hangfires and duds from that ammo due to age and how it was stored.
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