8mm surplus ammo - where have I been?

[jclayto]

I haven't needed to buy surplus ammo in a while as I had a good supply. Today I started shopping for 8mm surplus which always seemed to be around the same price as the x54 and can't seem to find any. Did I miss the memo? Did the 8mm surplus ship sail already?

[m.p.driver]

You were left on the shore.Last batch that i seen was some berdan primed Yugo about 3 years ago, that came in the same time as some 24/47's.About the only thing local is some 8mm prvi.

[kilimanjaro]

I stocked up on the Romanian 2 years ago, glad I did, got in one last case, went to order more a week later, all gone from several sources. The Prvi 8mm is outstanding stuff, going for $20 a box here, dollar a round, so I'm buying brass and looking at a reload setup.

[warningshot]

About 18 months ago I had to decide on 54R or 8mm. Cost & availabilty was about the same for each... then. Not no more.

Some say 7mm Mauser, .303 Brit, 7.62 Argentine, 6.5x55 and 8mm et al, will come back. I hope so. Dought it, but hope so.

The Mosin action isn't a Mauser, but the ammo is still around and at ~.22cent to .25cent a round depending if you prefer Tuna or Spam Can varity.

[Mike Irwin]

Surplus for just about everything has largely dried up, unfortunately.

Some years ago we were awash in .303 British. Then poof, it's gone.

[jsmaye]

I still see surplus ammo all around; it's just not sold in cans of 1200 for .15 a round any more. Mostly it's sold in boxes of 20 for $1.00 - $1.50 a round as though it were factory fresh.

[Mike Irwin]

"Mostly it's sold in boxes of 20 for $1.00 - $1.50 a round as though it were factory fresh."

Exactly, because the supply has largely dried up, pushing surplus prices up as with any commodity that is in limited supply but high demand.

[jclayto]

Gosh, that stinks.. I had cases of it sitting around until my house burned last weekend. I never really thought to keep stocking up as it was always cheap and plentiful and not a caliber I shot often. Guess I'll stock up on the x54 while its still cheap. I don't shoot much of it either, but I guess I better get it while it's here.

Thanks everyone

[Webleymkv]

8mm surplus is still out there if you know where to look.

http://www.samcoglobal.com/Ammo-8mm.html

[TX Hunter]

I wish I could find some more of that Romanian Light Ball, that stuff is outstanding and not long ago was everywhere.
The Ship has definately sailed. Great cartridge, shame its so mis understood.

[m&p45acp10+1]

The LGS here has a huge ammo can full of 8mm Mauser selling it for $2.50 for 5 rounds with a stripper clip. Even worse is they are teasing me with an 8mm Mauser (Not sure of origin) for $198 with all the do dads, and 4 of the stripper clips with 5 rounds each.:eek: Looks like I will have to lay it away on Friday if it is still there.

[Webleymkv]

Here's a few more links for surplus 8mm

http://www.southernohiogun.com/ammo-mags-more/ammunition/8mm-yugo-15rd-box-on-5rd-stripper-clip.html

http://www.jgsales.com/8mm-yugo-m75-sniper-ammo,-15rd-box.-p-1755.html

http://www.centuryarms.biz/proddetail.asp?prod=AM1634

[LarryNTX]

I wish I could find some more of that Romanian Light Ball
TX, Sportsman's Guide has some, but you have to buy a full 880 round case. Pretty good price.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/880-rds-762x54r-fmj-149-gr-ammo.aspx?a=235122

[emcon5]

Sportsman's Guide has some

7.62x54R ≠ 8x57 Mauser

[LarryNTX]

I know, I wasn't paying enough attention. I thought he was asking about 7.62.

[Mike Irwin]

That's a pretty good price compared to what I've been seeing at gun shows lately...

Maybe I should finally spring for a Moisin Nagant...


Anyone know what the shipping runs on an 880 count tin?

[emcon5]

That's a pretty good price compared to what I've been seeing at gun shows lately...

Maybe I should finally spring for a Moisin Nagant...

SGAmmo has better prices, and as a bonus, they aren't Sportsman's Guide.

http://www.sgammo.com/catalog/rifle-ammunition/762x54r

[TX Hunter]

I will go ahead and order a 880 Round Box. Thanks again. OOPS, I checked the link it was 7.62x54 I would recomend getting that though, because one day the 54 will dry up too.
I ordered some 8x57 Dies this afternoon and a couple of hundred bullets.

[TX Hunter]

I have been reloading alot this year for .308, but ordered dies and bullets for 8x57 Mauser. Ive got a Yugo 24 47 Rifle that I bought from Samco Global with a bent bolt handle, that I love.
Ive got some 8x57 brass, and a nice pile of 30 06 brass.
Here is a good Yutube video of how to make 8x57 brass from 270 Winchester cases, you can do the same with 30 06 brass a little easier.
I like this guy, he is pretty cool.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYOYG97msAA

[carguychris]

Anyone know what the shipping runs on an 880 count tin?
Not sure, but FWIW you want to order them in pairs, because you'll typically be charged less per unit and you should get a protective wooden crate and a can opener. :)

[TX Hunter]

In a way though with the Surplus ammo gone, or dang near gone, and the factory ammo expensive, and underloaded this may put a few more nice Mausers on the market, for those of us who ''Roll our own''. :D

[CowTowner]

Just to drop one more link.

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8435&dir=18|830|854

[Tom68]

I for one won't be messing with any more surplus 8 x 57. Last box I bought from LGS mic'd at .318...which I measured AFTER shooting 2ft groups at 100 yds. I haven't slugged either of my mauser barrels, I'm pretty certain both are closer to the .323 spec than .318!

This past weekend I was hitting 1/2 gallon milk jugs at 100 yards with factory Privi. Now I'm collecting once-fired factory brass and I'll get a set of dies when I have about 100 pcs. I don't intend to shoot more than a hundred or so of rounds per year through these rifles.

[mauserMan]

I got burned hard when surplus 8mm (not the over priced sniper stuff) disappeared over night. It was super strange because one weekend I spent hours scouring around finding plenty of sources searching for the best deal. The next weekend (after I got paid) I went to order and *poof* EVERYONE was out of stock. I loved that 50's Yugo stuff. Got mine from J&G. My k98 ate it right up. Never a cracked, let alone burst case. Maybe about 5-10 FTF's out of 900 rounds fired (I rechambered and restruck all of the FTF and they fired fine on the second hit)

I did buy 150 rds of 50's Yugo from a gun show once. Terrible stuff. Once I got home I "QC rejected" about 15% of the rounds as dangerous. I blamed it on mishandling.

Most of the links above, although appreciated, are for the much more expensive "sniper grade". I did see the one link for 50's Iranian. (link (http://www.samcoglobal.com/Ammo-8mm.html)) I never heard any reports on it though. Anyone have any experience with it? I just want it for plinking, so a reasonable number of FTF's are OK for the price and I really don't care about accuracy, but I'm not willing to risk any serious damage to my k98.

Thanks in advance for any comments or opinions. Also, apologies for making this my first post here instead of doing a proper introduction.

Mike

[shaunpain]

I am also seeing a lot of 54R, which is great, I've been slowly stockpiling it up. I am seeing factory ammo from the Russians, and it's great to know that the gun will run anything through it. My brother and I were discussing K98s the other day and I had to forewarn him that there is just absolutely no way he'll be able to feed it (living in Chicago, I can't get any ammo shipped here... ugh). I went with an Ishapore Enfield recently in 7.62 NATO expressly because I knew I'd never find .303 at any of my local shops.

That samco link that someone posted should help. I've dealt with them before on a rifle and they were solid. Just... hard to understand over the phone!

[BlueTrain]

Doesn't someone still make 1950s surplus 8mm or .303? There must be someone since there's still a demand for it.

[emcon5]

Doesn't someone still make 1950s surplus 8mm or .303?

:confused: How exactly would someone go about making 1950s vintage ammo?

If you are talking about making military ammo to the same specs as they did at the time, yeah, someone is: http://www.prvipartizan.com/

[LarryNTX]

I got a flyer from SOG today that said that they had got some 50's Yugo 8mm.
Checked the web site, and it shows in stock.
http://www.southernohiogun.com/ammo-mags-more/ammunition/8mm-yugo-15rd-box-on-5rd-stripper-clip.html

[FairWarning]

There is no shortage of old 8mm surplus online. Much harder to find at shows these days, however. Then again, I rarely go to shows these days, first because you rarely find a better deal than online and second because I'm more tempted to buy something I don't need when I can actually handle it in person. :o

The popularity of 8mm is such that there are several reputable small scale manus of very good new 8mm such as GA Arms that make corrosive surplus obselete for me (don't like messing with corrosive ammo, anyway). And S&B and Privi are great deals among major brands.

8mm has never been one of the rounds I shoot like there is no tomorrow anyway. I leave that to 7.62 x 39, 9mm and .22 LR. :D