8mm wins.



Perhaps you'll disagree, but for jollies I pulled some bullets, and in addition, some years ago I brought some steel for the boys to shoot, and you could hear the difference in Oompa.

The Garand, with its ability for semiautomatic fire, was superior.

Bullet on bullet.. 30.06 is for girls.

8mm is a cool round for sure.

I’m pressing my 30-06 into service this week as I have moose tag and 2 caribou tags in my pocket. 200g trophy bonded bear claws are fucking money when everything in the state is on the list for the day. I also love the 180g partitions out of The 06.

Me & my Czech Mauser 98/22 agree.

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples...

Keep in mind that the WW2 military standard .30-06 load was a 150 grain round, while the WW2 military standard 8mm Mauser load was 197 grains. Those two weight ranges are still the most common for those rounds today, and are probably what are shown in your photo. So naturally, the 8mm bullet will be bigger/heavier.

However, if you roll back to WW1, the standard 8mm Mauser load was 153 grains, which is more comparable to what you were probably shooting in .30-06.

Today, .30-06 is available with bullets up to 220ish grains, and 8mm is available down to 150ish grains.

Next time you're comparing them, try shooting some of the lighter 8mm loads, and/or some of the heavier .30-06 loads.

A 220 grain .30-06 bullet will be bigger than 150 grain 8mm, and will have more "oompa" when shooting steel. Would that then mean that 8mm is for girls?

A Garand built for 8x57mm would be an interesting thing to see in a parallel universe.

Just saying.

Just get a 8mm FN49, I love mine.

Or a Hakim.

keeping ball in mind, (30.06)

AP, which was relatively common in WWII, is ~165gr gr weight

and match stuff is 173gr

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Make sure you're comparing apples to apples...

Keep in mind that the WW2 military standard .30-06 load was a 150 grain round, while the WW2 military standard 8mm Mauser load was 197 grains. Those two weight ranges are still the most common for those rounds today, and are probably what are shown in your photo. So naturally, the 8mm bullet will be bigger/heavier.

However, if you roll back to WW1, the standard 8mm Mauser load was 153 grains, which is more comparable to what you were probably shooting in .30-06.

Today, .30-06 is available with bullets up to 220ish grains, and 8mm is available down to 150ish grains.

Next time you're comparing them, try shooting some of the lighter 8mm loads, and/or some of the heavier .30-06 loads.

A 220 grain .30-06 bullet will be bigger than 150 grain 8mm, and will have more "oompa" when shooting steel. Would that then mean that 8mm is for girls?

I've got surplus rifles and surplus ammo... I'm talking about the bullets going back and forth in WWII. Of course you can find heavy bullets in 30.06. Are you putting those through a Garand? An '03?

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
I've got surplus rifles and surplus ammo...

Surplus ammo doesn't necessarily have to mean 197ish grain 8mm, although that can be the more commonly encountered weight, depending on the country of origin.

However, some this lighter surplus 8mm ammo is also fairly common, from countries who stuck with 150ish grain light ball as their standard load even after most everyone else switched to the heavier 8mm. This includes countries such as Romania and Turkey, whose surplus 150ish 8mm ammo is widespread (or at least was until the last several years).

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Of course you can find heavy bullets in 30.06. Are you putting those through a Garand? An '03?

I have no qualms putting heavier .30-06 bullets through a M1903 or M1917.

I wouldn't do that in a stock Garand, due to the different gas pressure curve, but it's doable if you have an adjustable gas plug or ported gas plug.

Oh, I know about the Shuster gas plug, I imagine there are other versions. It's simpler to stick to the surplus, or commercial ammo marked "30.06 Springfield."

I might just have to pick up a 49, it looks like fun. I've also thought about getting a modern bolt in 8mm Mauser. Just because I have a lot of it.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Oh, I know about the Shuster gas plug, I imagine there are other versions. It's simpler to stick to the surplus, or commercial ammo marked "30.06 Springfield."

".30-06 Springfield" is simply the caliber nomenclature, and being marked as such is by no means an indication that it's "Garand Safe".

For example, here are a couple of 220 grain ".30-06 Springfield" loads, which would be well outside the proper pressure curve for a M1 Garand:





Instead, if you're looking for commercial ammo that's the correct pressure for your Garand, look for ammo that's specifically labeled as "for the M1 Garand". Like so:

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
I might just have to pick up a 49, it looks like fun.

FN-49s are a blast, and some of the best looking military rifles IMO. (One author describes them as "The Last Elegant Old-World Military Rifle".)

They represent the closing chapter of the old-school wood-and-steel traditional semiauto battle rifles of the WW2 era and the transition to the more modernized Cold War battle rifles like the FAL and G3.

Unfortunately, not a whole lot were made compared to most other types of battle rifles. And prices have really gotten up there lately, especially for the more in-demand calibers like .30-06.

If you'd like to know more about the FN-49, I highly recommend the Collector Grade Publications book "The FN-49: The Rifle That Ran Out of Time".

The "garand safe" bit is a good note. I'm just on autopilot for one type of ammo, when and if I buy commercial.

You simply need to get a McCann .458 win mag Garand and amplify your Oompa.



FN-49s are fun. I like the Ljungman AG-42 better. 6.5x55 in a 10 pound direct impingement semi-auto is very soft. It is what the Hakim is derived from...

Any unusual calibers in the Garand, don't really interest me. But the march of progress and wider appeal of the Garand or M14 hosting other calibers is all good.

6.5x55... Mm. I'd go K31 first, which is 7.5?

Dont know I your interested but there's always Mitchells Mausers. I bought one its fun to shoot.
Off hand I dont know what grain the bullets are but I bought S&B 8mm. Good enough for me. I am not a great, but I can hit a bowling pin at 50yds fairly consistently.
I am better with the Mauser than my Garand.

if we are sticking to the garand,

get some M72 match or handeload the equivalent,

173 gr match round does good, handloads with 168's or 175's do as good or better,

Well...since the '06 was over-kill for an infantryman anyway, I'll take the superior platform that won the war (OK, too far, our manufacturing did) over a bigger bullet fired from a bolt action.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
Well...since the '06 was over-kill for an infantryman anyway, I'll take the superior platform that won the war (OK, too far, our manufacturing did) over a bigger bullet fired from a bolt action.

Careful now, you'll trigger a debate on exactly whether 5.56 was a good choice to move to.

I loves me some Garand, but I think there is something to spending some time behind a K98.

Call me crazy but I prefer it over the '03, which I bought and sold.

I probably shoot more 5.56 than any other rifle cartridge including 22lr.


But man is it eye opening when I break out the Mauser and whack some of the rifle steel that I have been shooting with my AR.


It pings and swings with the 5.56.

The Mauser just flat out smacks the shit out of it and it swings WAYYY back and above level.


I sold off most of my milsup ammo to fund a 5.56 silencer but I kept a decent supply, as well as handloading supplies. My Mauser is here to stay. I don't shoot it much but it is one hell of a rifle.