8x57 JS

Germany adopted what is now commonly known as the 8mm Mauser in 1888. Soon the military of a number of other countries, including Czechoslovakia, Poland and China were using it, too. The moniker "Mauser" is clearly a misnomer as this cartridge was developed by a German military commission at Spandau Arsenal, for chambering in the forerunner of the now famous M-98 Mauser bolt-action rifle. Amazingly, the "J" in the name originated with confusion over the word "Infanterie" in German documents describing the military version of this cartridge. English speaking translators mistook the Gothic stylized "I" for a "J". (This interesting situation is discussed in some detail in recent editions of Cartridges of the World.) The "J" has no significance as to proper bullet size. In 1905, Germany increased working pressure of this cartridge and switched from a 226-grain, 0.318-inch, round-nose bullet (2095-fps) to a 154-grain, 0.323-inch, spitzer bullet (2880-fps – phenomenal velocity for that era). The reason behind the increase in bullet diameter was that the grooves of all existing military 8x57 J barrels were deepened, to extend useful barrel life; all new barrels were specified with the deeper grooves; bore diameter was unaltered. The "S" in the designation stands for "Spitzer" and also indicates that the bore was either originally made for, or was altered for, 0.323-inch bullets. It is extremely rare to find a sporting rifle chambered and barreled for the original 8x57 J (0.318-inch groove). However, this is possible so; if in doubt, have the bore slugged to determine if it is safe to fire loads using 0.323-inch bullets. The 8x57 JS is a flexible and powerful cartridge and duplicates 30-06 performance. Few bolt-action rifles have recently been chambered for the 8x57 JS, which is too bad. This is a fine old chambering that, in competent hands, is suitable for hunting most species, worldwide.