Eric needs help with ID an usual rifle~~

[danielsand]

Originally Posted by luger.parabellum

My Yugo M48 was in the cal. 8x57 JS like all the others Mauser K98K

Sergio

P.S.

"And back then when M48 was fielded, men were still men, and didn't need any "plastic guns"..."

I agree except on "plastic guns", since 1992 I think I've owned and used at the range at least a dozen of GLOCKs! :-)

I see the dimensions you posted Sergio, but all information that was available (still is) on K98, M48, and alike, says that 8mm Mauser (as it's called in the US) IS actually 7.92X57 as I was taught in the school in Yugoslavia. No doubt they knew what their bore diameter is? Heck,.....even PPU "sniper" ammo I'm using is headstamped 7.9! (I just looked).

Edited to add: I just looked closely, and you posted the case mouth dimension of the cartridge which is correct (with some tolerances depending on the manufacturer). But the bore itself IS 7.92 (measured from "land to land", NOT groove to groove!). Since the bullet IS 8mm+, smaller bore makes a nice "bite" on the bullet, and gives it the necessary rotation. Guns chambered in this caliber ARE 7.92, and the bullets are a tad bigger. Americans commonly refer to this caliber as "8mm Mauser", but Germans, Yugos, Spaniards, etc call it 7.92. Back in the day in Yugoslavia they called it simply "seven point nine millimeter" not bothering with remaining .02, and they stamped the ammo as such.

As far as "plastic guns", ....that was my feeble attempt at humor, because my favorite pistol IS Glock, and I own G26, and G17 (used to own G24, and G22 also, but didn't care much for .40 cartridge, so I sold them). When in need to take one with me, I take G26 every time, but for serious work I would take G17 (carried it in Bosnia in the 90s). I put about 1000 rounds through these two per year.

IF I could have ANY (imaginary) handgun, I would take Yugo M57 in 7.62X25 with double stacked mag, Glock "safe action", and no levers, safeties, and gadgets. I would also load it with "Hydra Shock" hollow points, or "Black Talons" for some good stopping power. As it is,.....M57 single stack, single action (with round nose FMJs) is great for plinking, but is far behind modern handguns, although an important part of my collection of Yugo weaponry.

[danielsand]

Did some "digging", and I think I know where the confusion is coming from.

Most European countries in the period (WW2, and in the years after) referred to their calibers by the dimension of the bore, measured from "land to land". I don't know about Italy though.

In Yugoslavia that was certainly the case. They called the Mauser cartridge 7.92X57mm. They also call 7.62X39 (and all others) by the dimension of the bore. All these weapons have slightly bigger bullets (for the reason mentioned in the above post).

Even P08 is stamped at the bottom of the barrel as 8.82 (or 8.83...I've seen both), but we all know that the bullet IS 9mm, right? In Europe 9mm Luger caliber is called "Long Nine" in some countries (including Yugoslavia), and .380 (or German 9mm Kurtz) is called "short nine".

Americans are masters of simplifying everything, and they sell the ammo in question as "8mm Mauser". They call all weapons by the diameter of the bullet, NOT by the size of the bore that shoots it! Throw in SAE measurements, and you have a nice confusion going. As we know, 7.62mm is .30 caliber in the US, 9mm is .380, and so on.

And in conclusion,......ALL Mauser rifles used by Germany were the same caliber as M24, M48, M48A, M53, MG42, MG34, etc. They produced the rifles in other calibers as well (7mm Mauser) for other countries.