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Recently I came into several boxes of Nazi Marked Austrian Styer ammo, head stamps and boxes. I'm a long rifle collector, not much of an ammo guy,but, was told these puppies may be something special. Is there anybody out there that could share anything on this type of ammo for me and do they hold any special value? SDH:D:D
Are you referring to the Rimmed 8x56 Steyr in 5 round clips, packed 2 in a box? 1938 or so dated with Reichsadler on the case head? Good Stuff. I use it in a Steyr M95 Long Rifle. I own a M95 Carbine, but have not shot it. Surefire ammo, works perfectly every time, no hang fires or misfires. It is getting scarce, I'm down to my last 1000 rounds or so. Guess I'll have to get reloading dies for it.
I've added a few pics of the Styer ammo and a few others to which I have no clue what it is. All I can tell you the bullets match the boxes and the condition is very good. Dan Do you really shoot 1938 ammo? Any case issues? Back in the mid 1980's, I had a close call with U.S.G.I. 1930's match ammo in prestine condition that cost me a set of glasses, muffs, firing pin and bolt in a 1903A3. The case vaporized the only thing left was the case neck and the face of the bolt looked as if it were torch cut right at the firing pin hole The thing that saved me and my weapon was the Hatcher hole, but, I was burnt on the cheek, nose, eye and big flippen ear (no loss there). I took the complete gun apart to blue print it and the only thing I found was brass dust. Now when I buy bulk, its got to be fairly new +/- 25 years and mint condition am I being paranoid, or maybe its just older U.S. Stuff??-SDH
Opps an extra pic jumped in, Very sorry look for another post if interested-SDH
That is the stuff... 8x56R. I bought it in sealed cases, and it was as fresh as the day it was made. Superb quality ammunition. Until Hornady started selling it, it was the only option short of forming cases and handloading. The brass is top notch. No case failures reported by me, and no signs of excessive case stretching after examining fired cases... I saved all my cases, perhaps one day I will find the right Berdan Primers and reload it. There was some Bulgarian 8X56R floating around, but prices have really gone up to the point where I will just reload.
I am a bit puzzled about the '30s match ammo problems you have had. I have only had that problem with WW1 vintage M1906 cartridges. I shot a ton of WW1 surplus when there was nothing available, and some of it was really bad... soft brass cases failed sprctacularly and the most likely cause of the blow ups reported in the low number M1903 rifles. A little off topic but as a kid I was given several .50 Cal ammunition cans filled with loose surplus .45ACP cartridges... WW1, interwar and WW2 vintage. Suprisingly almost all of it worked as advertised, except the 1933 dated stuff. Many dead primers, and the ones that went off exhibited cracked cases. All the WW1 .45 worked as advertised. I kept 7 rounds of 1917 dated ammo that was still loaded in a magazine buried in the bottom of the can.
It wasn't stored correctly, The stuff was in an attic for years with a great temperature swing over many years. If it wasn't for the brute strength and design of the A3 I'd most likely not been here writing this. I had a close friend who wasn't so lucky in the reloading department, he pushed a load in an old Lee Navy and was gone before his body touched the ground. Of all the people I've known he was the last fellow I've ever met that I thought would do that type thing. Ammo is indeed a tricky thing. I believe I've saved the case neck of my torch shot, If I can find it in the obis, I take a pic or two, very best regards-Steve
Hornady has made a special run of bullets that are the right diameter for this cartridge. I don't know if it's going to be an ongoing thing or not. You may want to stock up while you can, if you're going to reload. The bullet diameter for the 8x56 is .329 as opposed to .323 in the 7.92x57
I'll probably place an order for some Hornady .329 projectiles in the next day or so... I do like their 160 Gr. .268 Carcano RN projectiles very much. Now if they will only make a .327 projectile for the Lebel I will be a happy man :)
Dan M, I've used the .329 Hornady offering in the Lebel and they work just fine. Much better than the standard .323 offerings. My Turkish Forestry Carbine has an excellent bore that measures .328 so the fit is close enough.
.002 oversize diameter bullets seem perfect for the job as far as accuracy goes. I suspect that Lebels are just as notorious for dimensional discrepencies concerning bore diameters as any other milsurp. I only have the one chambered for the Lebel so I can't really say.
Good to know... thanks! :D