Someone on Anything About Guns was given a German rifle, probably WWII. It is in cal. 30-08. Apparently it chambers the 30-08 and will fire the 30-06. Have you ever heard of a 30-08? No one there ever has and I googled and did some other web searching and there is nothing on a 30-08. He thinks it might be a one off. There are no markings on the gun except for a few number and letters scattered around the gun.
Question for Doug or other WWII Military rifle experts
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Never heard of a .30-08 that's an odd one especially for a German gun and caliber. Most of their calibers are metric. .30-08 sounds very U.S. Armyish. There was a .30-03(.30 caliber made in 1903) made to replace the .30-40 Krag but it only lasted 3yrs to be replaced with the .30-06. Don't have any idea what he has. Must be some wildcat caliber.
I did find a reference to reloading data for a .30-08 Remington Magnum or .30-8mm Remington Magnum
http://www.accuratereloading.com/30-8r.html
I did find a reference to reloading data for a .30-08 Remington Magnum or .30-8mm Remington Magnum
http://www.accuratereloading.com/30-8r.html
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A misprint
A friend bought a couple of cases of 98 Mausers from somewhere. One of them was stamped 30-06 right across the crown of the receiver just forward of the ejection port. However, a 30 cal bullet would fall through the barrel when dropped in the muzzle.
I wound up with this rifle(free) and used it for decoration until one day I was thumbing thru shotgun news and found an ad for new Swedish mauser barrels chambered for 30-06. I bought one of these barrels for $45.00 and had it installed and headspaced, had it drilled and tapped for scope mounts, put it in a synthetic stock, now it is my go to gun for nasty weather.
I wonder if this rifle was stamped 30-06 and the 6 was mis-stamped as an 8. Mine was an Argentine Mauser.
I wound up with this rifle(free) and used it for decoration until one day I was thumbing thru shotgun news and found an ad for new Swedish mauser barrels chambered for 30-06. I bought one of these barrels for $45.00 and had it installed and headspaced, had it drilled and tapped for scope mounts, put it in a synthetic stock, now it is my go to gun for nasty weather.
I wonder if this rifle was stamped 30-06 and the 6 was mis-stamped as an 8. Mine was an Argentine Mauser.
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Neat!! Was it in a military rifle or commercial?xcaliber said:
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I don't know everything there is to know about guns, but I know enough to have confidence in saying this:xcaliber said:
Whoever told you that gun you were shooting was a "30 ought 8" didn't know what the h*ll he was talking about.
Until you can provide some proof of this ridiculous claim of yours, I'm calling "bullsh*t!"
:eyeroll:
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+++1Brutus said:If it was anything remotely related to a .30-'06 and had an "8" anywhere in the nomenclature, it was almost assuredly an 8mm-'06.xcaliber said:
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That's what my research (all 5 minutes of it ha ha) found as well...PhillipM said:
I'll ask HoferUtzer if he has encountered these.
I HAVE one...
The rifle was too nice to dump, ( someone did ivory inlays and stock carving in the past) so this was my solution to shoot it. I understand dies for this combination are actually available, but being a cheap SOB, I used what I had. The step from a .309 30-06 bullet diameter to .312 isn't much, so it wasn't hard to do- The neck expands that much when the round is fired.
It was a labor of love, and it shoots really sweet, tight groups.
I actually have a Peruvian Mauser (GEW 98 export) originally chambered in 7.65 x 53, and still marked as such. However, the first time I fired it, I blew the necks out of four rounds. I found the chamber fit a 30-06 round perfectly, but the bore slugs at .312, which is normal for the 7.65. It WILL fire the 30-06, but accuracy is much better with a .312 bullet that I cast for my Enfield (180g gas check, 21 Brinnell). (The reason I quote you is that 8mm is .314, so this COULD be considered as a 30-08 or 08-06, or whatever you want to call it.). I load 30-06 range brass with the .312 bullets without neck sizing, using a 30-06 powder thru expander die. I then collet crimp the neck with a 303 British crimp die. (Probably unnecessary as the bullet fits nicely in the unsized neck). Trim length is standard 30-06. I CAN shoot factory 30-06 ammo, but the possibility of gas leakage around the smaller bullet makes me avoid it.Brutus said:
The rifle was too nice to dump, ( someone did ivory inlays and stock carving in the past) so this was my solution to shoot it. I understand dies for this combination are actually available, but being a cheap SOB, I used what I had. The step from a .309 30-06 bullet diameter to .312 isn't much, so it wasn't hard to do- The neck expands that much when the round is fired.
It was a labor of love, and it shoots really sweet, tight groups.
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Tanker, its been a long time since you opened this thread, but I didn't see this suggestion anywhere up there, so:
Get some chamber casting metal from Brownell's and cast the chamber and an inch of the bore. From the measurements, you can be sure of what you have...chamber dimensions for the case, and bore dimensions for the bore. It's an easy do-it-yourself job.
Get some chamber casting metal from Brownell's and cast the chamber and an inch of the bore. From the measurements, you can be sure of what you have...chamber dimensions for the case, and bore dimensions for the bore. It's an easy do-it-yourself job.
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