Got the Gewehr 88/05 out!

[Eaglelord17]

Hi all,

Finally got my Gewehr 88/05 out shooting. I've had it for a while now but I have somewhat sidetracked in getting it running again due to life. That and the need to do some research as this requires a special loading (i.e. highly not recommended to shoot factory 8mm Mauser out of it due to the different in diameter in the bore and the weakness of the action in general).

I used .321 dia 170grn bullets which fits my .3215 bore quite nicely (these bullets were intended for a .32 Winchester Special rifle). I also used about 40grns of IMR 3031, so this should be at somewhere around 2250-2300 ft/sec. Because it is a slightly heavier bullet and it isn't going anywhere near what it would have been going for the Patrone 'S' cartridge it actually doesn't require much holdover at 100m (I was aiming at the bottom of the black circle). Someone had also left some clays at the 100m and once I figured out where to aim I was hitting them with every shot.

The only issue was I had to single load them (which is safe for the rifle as the extractor feeds over the rim) as there wasn't enough neck tension to allow it to feed from the magazine without the bullet being crushed in, guess I will have to buy a 8mm Mauser crimp die.

Overall I think this rifle has a fair bit of potential and with this light loading there isn't much kick at all. Definitely a shame these rifles aren't very appreciated, however that makes them cheap for me!

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