Eric needs help with ID an usual rifle~~

danielsand · 05-19-2015, 04:24 PM

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.

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05-19-2015, 04:24 PM	#1
danielsand User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: SoCal Posts: 137 Thanks: 52 Thanked 100 Times in 43 Posts	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.