I bought this ammo brick ten years ago

[cirelaw]

And still don't know what it is!! Any thoughts~~Eric

[Zorba]

Looks like 7mm Mauser to me!

[tomaustin]

zormpas, you have been dancing toooooooooo much......

[cirelaw]

This is how little I know~~Are they rifle of pistol rounds and what weapon would they go to? Always a pleasure!~~PS Not Enough~Eric

[alanint]

What are the dimensions of the box? That would go a long way in determining whether pistol or rifle!


My opinion without knowing much more than the photo provides is that this is 7mm, (30 caliber?) Mauser pistrol ammo made by FN for the South American Market. This is partially based on the box capacity of 100 rounds, which would be rather massive if they were rifles cartridges.

[SteveM]

Unissued Venezuelan FN 24/30 7x57

[alanint]

I have Chilean Model 1895 and Model 1912 Mausers in 7mm Mauser, made by Ludwig Loewe and DWM, respectively, but this is not rifle ammo, based on the number of cartridges the box holds.

[cirelaw]

3" by 6" very heavy ~~~

[John Sabato]

I think this is a "combat" pack of 7x57 mauser tightly packed. The fact that the box looks as wide as it is tall seems to eliminate pistol ammunition. The ammo is probably packed with every other round being head/bullet/head/bullet up... maybe 5 rows of 20...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

I think this is a "combat" pack of 7x57 mauser tightly packed. The fact that the box looks as wide as it is tall seems to eliminate pistol ammunition. The ammo is probably packed with every other round being head/bullet/head/bullet up... maybe 5 rows of 20...

I would second that...And add that from the lack of advertising, contents, ingredients, etc, it is probably from a military contract...

I posted pics from another forum some time ago, ammunition that looked good on the outside of the cartridge but which had become so moisture contaminated inside that the brass had changed color [green, corrosion] and begun to disintegrate...Definitely unsafe to shoot...

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=30713

[cirelaw]

I traded a will for this rifle. How did I do? What is it? Very heavy!!

[John Sabato]

A Yugoslavian M-48 Mauser in 8x57 Mauser caliber. A quality made rifle and yours looks in fine condition. Virtually a copy of the M98 Mauser used by the Germans in WW2. In short: A keeper. Whether or not you got a good deal depends on how much time you invested in creating that will... and what your billing rate normally is...

[John Sabato]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I would second that...And add that from the lack of advertising, contents, ingredients, etc, it is probably from a military contract...

I posted pics from another forum some time ago, ammunition that looked good on the outside of the cartridge but which had become so moisture contaminated inside that the brass had changed color [green, corrosion] and begun to disintegrate...Definitely unsafe to shoot...

I would tend to think that ammunition that was manufactured by FN, in Belgium, to military standards, would probably be still safe to shoot... strictly IMHO. The problem is that the ammo is old enough, that it probably has corrosive primers... so I wouldn't shoot it in anything that I wasn't able to thoroughly clean afterward, and in short order.

[cirelaw]

Thanks John I collect the ammo but havent shot any. I have to post my favorite. Its workmanship is outstanding. A Walther Sports Model 22 cal used in competitions my research shown. 'Neues Sportmedell V' There a small ring on the bottom of the real stock thats a mystery~~~

[danielsand]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

A Yugoslavian M-48 Mauser in 8x57 Mauser caliber. A quality made rifle and yours looks in fine condition. Virtually a copy of the M98 Mauser used by the Germans in WW2. In short: A keeper. Whether or not you got a good deal depends on how much time you invested in creating that will... and what your billing rate normally is...

John,

As you probably read on the forum, I completed elementary school education in former Yugoslavia. ALL children (boys and girls) were recquired to complete one week "field training" in the military garrison, at the age of 14 (eight grade spring break). This was the rifle we were trained on. Field stripping, cleaning, loading, and LIVE fire at the 1X1meter paper target at 100 meters.

Among other things we were trained in using gas masks, field wound triage, digging "foxholes", using compass....stuff like that. We slept in military barracks (bunk beds and all), ate in the mess hall with regular troops, and enjoyed the hell out of it. In the evening we were sitting by the bonfires and told stories, but some "more grown up" among us, were making out with girls in the bushes. We all had a GREAT time, and this one week changed my whole life (I decided right then and there, that I will be "career military" for life, among other "changes" ).

So this rifle IS the first firearm I've ever fired (Parabellum P08 was the first one I ever "fondled"), and as such, it has a special place in my collection. Mine was NOS (at the time of acquisition), three digit serial, and dead on! I shoot it on my ranch out to 6-7 hundred yards, and it has about 1000 rounds through it by now.

Sorry if I annoyed anyone with "my full life story" as one poster commented.

[cirelaw]

It amazes me how troops managed to carry these rifles the ammo and supplies~

[danielsand]

As couple of you correctly statted, the box in the OP is 7x57 Mauser RIFLE ammo, made by FN for export to Argentina (to accompany FN Mauser, Argentine contract). Ammo is marked "ORDINARIOS" in Spanish ("normal" or "ordinary"), as opposed to tracers, armor piercing, and blanks (all available, and shipped to Agrentina by FN). This ammo is CORROSIVE (as John warned you all), but perfectly safe to shoot.

Immediate cleaning after fire is a MUST (and drilled into us military folks, regardless of the type of ammo!). According to MOST militaries in the world, corrosive ammo has a shelf life of 50 years, and the military stock is rotated as such. I fired some ammo that was approaching 100 years of age, without ANY problems. Come think of it,..... ALL my stock of 8x57, 7,62x39, and 7.62x25 is well over 50 years old now!

Fire away.

[danielsand]

Originally Posted by cirelaw

It amazes me how troops managed to carry these rifles the ammo and supplies~

That's "child's play" for a grown man!

But, imagine, 14 year old kids shooting it. We shot in prone position, off of the shooting "table", through the window (hard to describe, but that was the shooting range). Imagine a long "room", with row of "tables" on one wall (I forgot how many tables, but at least 20-30) spaced about six feet apart. Each table has a "window", and a sand bag on the "window sill". The window opens to a shooting range out to 300 meters (it has three "shooting lines"....100, 200, and 300).

Each kid was prone on the table, firing from the shoulder. Some smaller kids were literaly pushed off the table by the recoil! There was about three or four cases of broken colar bones (total of about 150 kids in training), and NOBODY walked away without any bruises (including me, and I was the tallest, strongest kid in the class). We were recquired to shoot five rounds, unless the kids started crying (in pain), in which case the instructor would pull the kid off of the firing line.

I don't have to tell you that the kids like me, who fired all five shots (and asked for more!) had all the bragging rights in the evenings, and the pick of the girls?

[cirelaw]

Theres No Place Like Home!

[John Sabato]

Originally Posted by cirelaw

It amazes me how troops managed to carry these rifles the ammo and supplies~

A very simple answer Eric...

It starts with physical conditioning in Basic Training... and the rest is a confident dependence in knowing that the effort expended in caring for, and carrying your equipment makes the difference between keeping yourself alive, and depriving the enemy of his own life.

The U.S. M-14 Rifle that I trained with in Basic Training weighs even more than your M48... Add to that 4 twenty round magazines, and the basic load of 7.62x51 NATO ammunition, plus a canteen full of water, and a sharp bayonet... and your field gear including the old Steel Helmet, and you are tired even before you stand up.

Do that every day for a couple of months of training, and by graduation day, it is no longer the chore it was when you started...