Ammo Evaluation: Romanian 8mm Mauser
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- / forgottenweapons
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Towards the end of the Cold War, Romania was a major exporter of arms and ammunition on the world market. Today we are looking at Romanian pattern 1971 8mm Mauser ammunition, made between 1972 and 1978 (this particular sample is form 1972). It was produced at the U.M. Sadu plant in Bumbesti Jiu, Romania. At the time of production, Romania had no 8mm Mauser firearms in active military service, suggesting that this ammunition was made for export (or perhaps a planned weapon which never actually saw adoption). Interestingly, the cases across the entire production run of this ammo are about 1mm shorter than standard 8mm Mauser, measuring closer to 56mm than 57mm. The shoulder is in the proper location, and this slightly short neck does not appear to produce any abnormal effects, either positive or negative.
The ammunition is packed in wooden crates, each containing two sealed tins. It was packaged both loose in boxes (20 rounds per box, 380 rounds per tin, 760 rounds per crate) and also on 5-round Mauser stripper clips (15 rounds per box, 340 rounds per tin, 680 rounds per crate). This particular sample is packaged loose.
Velocity:
I tested velocity using an 8mm Kar98k Mauser rifle (barrel length 23.6 inches). Measurements were taken at 10 feet from the muzzle, with a sample size of 15 rounds fired. I found an average velocity of 2674 fps, extreme spread of 107 fps (max 2716, min 2609), and standard deviation of 25.75 fps. None of the rounds exhibited any unusual behavior when fired. In my experience outside this specific test, this ammunition has never shown and duds or hangfires.
Bullets:
I tested the weight of 10 bullets using a calibrated Lyman electronic scale. I found an average weight of 154.2 grains, extreme spread of 2.4 grains (max 155.4 gr, min 153.0 gr), and standard deviation of 0.86 grains. Bullet construction is boattail base with an open base, and the bullet attract a magnet.
The primers are Berdan and corrosive. The cases are lacquered steel.
Raw data:
Velocities (fps): 2671, 2664, 2677, 2654, 2609, 2695, 2698, 2668, 2688, 2678, 2639, 2688, 2716, 2701, 2669
Bullet weights (grains): 153.8, 155.4, 154.8, 153.3, 154.0, 155.0, 153.0, 153.1, 155.3, 154.1
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
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Tucson, AZ 85754
'Now let's get this ammo out on to a tray
*Nice* , mkay'
Hahaha, mmmm nice hiss.
Made my morning
Nice hiss
Damned, I had the same reaction after the comment about the "Nice hiss" :D ^^ - great minds think alike, right? ;)
Nice
'Horrible Communist Tetanus' is the name of my A Perfect Circle cover band.
It's the perfect name for a metal band!
With such cuts as Gulag (Judith Remix), 3 Lenins, Vanishing (Rations), and The Outsider (Tell us more?)
@@DonHaussettler perfect haha. eat the bourgeoisie (new album remix)
Title of your sex tape.
CANNIBAAAAAALLLL HA HA HA HA HA (island)
8 mm Mauser was used internally in Romania by the Patriotic Guards who where using old army stocks of K98k, Nagants and other firearms deemed obsolete. They used quite a lot of ammunition for training since all factories and large enterprises had a Patriotic Guard detachment and all the able men where required to have target practice. More details here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotic_Guards_(Romania)
ZB 30 Lmg and MG 34 and MG 42 + mg 15
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine for cost of production?!
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine "It still works, but why was that done?"
As has been established, it works, and if it were to be used in unknown weapons of possibly dubious wartime quality, it reduces the chance of a stuck cartridge incident or an over-pressure incident due to a "short chamber" overall length.
Add to that the chance in mass produced ammo, some random selections of which might be slightly over length.
(Ever noticed a rifleman chambering a round and following up with ramming the bolt handle down with his palm? 2:40)
It might also be better for fully automatic weapons because of the chance of junk ending up in the forward end of the chamber during firing.
Considerations such as these might militate against the factory specification of a 57mm overall case length for their ammo, depending on their confidence in their own capabilities and philosophy of operation.
Yeah, my mother in law used a mauser in the 1970's in a militia type training.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Same reason that they made some 7.62x39 that had only a little lead in the jacket....Yes it existed, I personally bought some old commie production in the early 90s and that was the case. I'd guess that there were quotas that were to be met, regardless of the availability of materials...
7:43 Nice Steve1989 reference.
that made me happier than it had any right to.
Real rich, wholesome ammunition. Let's put it all on the tray.
@@scoe5908 ....now lets get some of these rounds out on a tray...nice....
Steve would have opened it with a P38 though
exactly my thoughts!
Using a dremel to open a tin of ammo could be "exciting". I love Ian's understatements.
Private: "I got the ammo box open sir."
Sergeant: "The war ended a month ago."
romania was a socialist republic back then- they had to make sure the locals had a time getting into it, otherwise, maybe revolution again comrade.
@@ClannerJake This type of cans was also used in Poland and for people that got access to them they were good source of
decent can openers(but not like the one presented in the video) as the civilian "socialist" can openers were often dull or broken before you finished opening the first can of food with it(and that was typical quality of civilian products in "proletariat heavens")... ;)
@@ClannerJake indeed, a fascist revolution
Neah. Romanian Army had special civil servants hired to open ammo cans for soldiers...
typical private....calling a Sergeant 'Sir'.... 'March that peasant 10 times around the parade ground, weapon held high'...that'll teach him ;-)
The case is short for a reason. Brass expands easier than steel and retracts more as it cools. Longer steel cases with less taper can tend to grow enough that they get stuck. i.e. they get stretched and stay mostly stretched. So they basically make the case a bit shorter so that it has room to grow and still not stick. Barnaul does the same thing with brass colored 30-06 steel ammo, but using a different method. There's a groove around the lower third of the case pressed in.
Addendum, this problem is worse with looser chambers, which have short leade.
Good observation. I was just assuming the communists were saving metal, 1mm at a time, times several to 10's of millions, in a way that didn't detract from the functionality of the round
My first thought was that it was so the neck tension on the bullet would approximate that of a brass case.
Watching Ian trying to open the tin, I had flashbacks to the scene from the movie Zulu Dawn, where the British army supply personnel are desperately trying to open ammunition crates with a great deal of difficulty, while the British soldiers are running out of ammo to hold off the attacking Zulus.
Said scene was totally bogus.
British ammo boxes of the period had an access panel on in the top, secured by a single grub screw. This could be undone by a single turn with a screwdriver, or a penny, or just kicked loose. And the tin foil sealing the contents could be pierced with a bayonet or screwdriver and then torn open.
UM Sadu = Uzina Mecanica Sadu. meaning Mechanical Factory Sadu. They make munition mainly, but also rifles. the WUM Sadu is a semi-auto AK47
They are from the west of Atlantic...they dont know Europe.
One of my favorite surplus ammo's...I've used it in MG42's, 1919's (converted), Mausers, Hakims and its always worked great. Bought it for $29 a tin/$60 a crate about 15 years ago. Still have 7 cases left.
For modern context, that's about $49 for a spam can, and $102 for a crate.
It’s scary to think these things came out of a machine gun with a 1,450rpm rate of fire.
The most interesting about the caliber is, that Mauser (today part of Rheinmetall) still produces G98 rifles, which can be ordered in 7.92x57mm
So cool. I want one!
Speaking as a Romanian, I find the question mark in the intro text both amusing and incredibly accurate.
"Romanian 7.92x56 (?)mm Mauser"
EDIT: It's pronounced closer to UM Saadoo, and the town is pronounced closer to Boom-besh-tea (one word) Jeeu, in case anyone is interested.
EDIT 2: I suspect part of the reason this type of ammunition was made in the first place was to have a reserve of ammunition for the eventuality where Romania ever came to blows with the Soviet Union, and would need to resort to surplus weapons like the ZBs and the MG34s.
See, Ceausescu had some differences of opinion with the Soviet leadership, such as refusing to send troops to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and his paranoia led him to believe that maybe there might be some sort of vindictive action taken against the country for that. Ridiculous idea, of course. The Soviets would never hold a grudge over something that petty, I tell you. And even if they did, they would never stoop so low as to embargo access to the latest military hardware before invading :P
Still, Ceausescu might have wanted to have some stockpiled ammo to put up a protracted resistance if that ever came to pass
"Communist Tetanus" sounds like the worst possible way to die.
How bad is it, Doc? What did the tests say?
"I'm sorry, Ian. You have...... You have HCT. Horrible Communist Tetanus. There's no cure."
Great band name though
@@DrLoverLover ah yes, communism, well known for it's lack of famines
I spent way too much time laughing way too hard about that.
Huckleberry any regime that on one hand espouses socialist beliefs but at the same time has commodity production of goods for profit and thusly exploitation of the people making it, isn’t real socialism and is more on par with state capitalism Kind of like China
I dream of the day when I can walk into the store, ask where the canned soup is and receive the reply that its next to the canned 8mm Mauser.
I used to pass through Bumbesti/Sadu sometimes, and you could still see the lines of workers going to the plant every morning
I shot a lot of that stuff on my Yugo Mauser. I really liked it because it was accurate, reliable and had less recoil than the Yugo ammo I was using.
I've really enjoyed these ammo testing videos. They are strangely relaxing.
Even better than if Morgan Freeman did the voice. :)
Your filming location captured a wonderful thunderous roar of that rifle - Love it!
Years ago when my Father's Day gift to myself was a Yugo M48A, I also picked up a "spam can" of this ammo. It shot very accurately in that rifle and I had a lot of fun on my old PD's range with it.
The range was set atop what used to be a dump and off to one side was a huge slab of what had been the concrete floor of a demolished building. The concrete was several inches thick and had the usual steel mesh (steel wires forming rectangles several inches across) within. That ammo would bust right through that concrete (yes, Nervous Nellies, it was safe to shoot it there, it was allowed to shoot it as well, and I was alone). I have a couple of the steel cores from the bullets somewhere that I picked up among the rubble of that busted up concrete. That is some very soft steel. It's harder than lead, obviously, but I could bend it with my fingers.
Fun story: We had several old cars that we used to shoot up. I think a couple of the cars were older than the ammo. Originally we did various tactical drills, and some of us tested different ammo on. They had sat there for at least a couple of years. I was shooting that steel core Romanian ammo one day and put five rounds into the engine compartment just ahead of the driver side firewall. I was curious what, if anything, the ammo would do to the engine. I waited for the huge cloud of dust to settle only it didn't seem to be settling. It was also rather dark and smelled a bit acrid. Um .. wait .. I opened the driver's door to pop the hood and through holes smashed into the dash (these things had been shot A LOT) I saw what appeared to be numerous old bird nests (generations, I suppose) and also flames. Within moments the entire car was engulfed. I got the fire dept out there and we got the fire out. Then, at their request we tried to make it happen with the other vehicles there but it just wouldn't happen. FWIW, I still have quite a bit of that ammo and it still shoots well and reliably.
Sometimes I wonder If the packaging is more expensive to make than the ammo itself.
For the military good quality robust packing is as important as good quality ammo.
@@ATH_Berkshire Fair enough, even for export that would make sense.
compared with a bullet price yes, it is. Compared with the whole box...nope.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine in case of zombie armageddon this is the quality of storage you hope for when finding crates of bolter rounds
And some point in Comunist România we send some stuff that was bad we only know after we ship it, and the client admitted that they were not interested in the goods only in the oak wooden box
*7.92x56mm MD71* _LPS gs_ (Russian > _Legkoy Puley Stalnoi_ , "Light bullet with mild steel penetrator" (Semi-Armor-Piercing), Russian > _gilza stal_ , [lacquered] steel case). All labels and packaging used Russian designations due to Warsaw Pact standards.
760 rounds per crate / 380 rounds per "spam can" - Crate marked _FARA LAME_ ("Without Clips"). Loose-packed in cartons of 20. 19 cartons per can. Loaded into belts and used in MG 42 machineguns. The slightly shorter cartridge supposedly feeds better in machineguns.
680 rounds per crate / 340 rounds per "spam can" - Crate marked _PE LAME_ ("With Clips"). Packed in 5-round clips in cartons of 20. 17 cartons per can. Used in Vz. 24 Mauser rifles.
From what I understand the ammo was made for use by irregular militia units ( _Garzile Patriotice_ , or "Patriotic Guards"; there are pictures of factory worker units drilling and then picnicking and drinking at musters). The regular military units used weapons chambered for the 7.62x54mm M91 Russian cartridge. (Soviet weapons and munitions became standard after 1959). The militias were meant to be a blocking force or last-ditch effort in case of an invasion (like Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968) or coup d'etat against the Ceausescu regime. They were created to slow down an enemy force while being no match for a well-trained and -equipped regular army unit.
the good old days when that ammo was $32 a tin. I still have cases of it.
Back in 2006-2010ish we used to buy those metal cans of ~440 rounds for $20.
pretty sure it was made for the African conflict at the time, we did smuggled weapons and ammunition in Africa. and that "tetanus"...not that i praise communism....paid off all Romanian debts.
almost 50 years later those are still air tight and ready to use unlike most things now days that after 3-5 years you have to buy anew :P
I was thinking about how many chrono's get end up shot, but halfway through that I thought that people who can buy chrono's are likely skilled enough to not shoot them. So I decided to make this comment for SEO but halfway through that I started wondering whether your engagement stats have as much of an effect since you're fully demonetised. So in short I'm making a comment largely for no reason.
Good video though.
My favourite comment today.
I actually love this
As a Romanian, I have no idea where you said this ammo is from.
EDIT: I figured it out, he said Bumbești-Jiu.
I love these reviews. They are not forgotten weapons, but as surplus ammo dries up the ballistic info may be lost. I like the packaging too.
Hello from Romania...Salutari din Romania
I bought a box because of your review and I received the can opener with the
760 rounds .Very Happy with review and the product Keep the superb reviews much appreciate you! Very happy with the ammo it's in fine shape. I think the load is of fine load not too overcharged and no miss fires . Great Post enough for me to buy my wooden case soon after seeing your professional review! Love my Mauser and Thank You for your expertise! Best to you and your family Health, Wealth, Happiness to you Sir!
I don't care much about the ammo but the dovetail construction is an interesting choice :P
Edit:
I suspect the 1mm difference could be from its production. If you already have an existing production using a very similar source of sheet metal, you could just adapt the bullet rather than open up an entirely new line of manufacture. In this case the 1mm difference has no meaningful impact on performance.
Or, someone thought they could make a bit of side money by shorting the cases, and pocketing the difference.
If you order material at a certain size and cost, but accept delivery of undersize material, you could split the difference in cost with your supplier.
@@olddragondude4398 Or, they could have been accounting for tight chambers and the thickness of a potential neck sealant.
LazyLife IFreak my Turkish Mauser was converted from 7mm to 8mm and this the mag well was meant for the 7mm rounds meaning the 8mm rounds barely fit and often get stuck in the mag well so I’m wondering if the 1mm difference is because of that as I am certain that it would fix the problem
Or it was just a cost saving measure. Even a 1mm savings in steel adds up over a couple of production runs.
Until you find out the bullets were sat 1mm deeper on purpose in case the ammo was stolen to be used in a revolt of sorts...
Pretty much identical in packaging to 7.62x54R. The trick I used to open the can was also a workout for your core and arms. You flip the can over and place it on concrete or asphalt, preferably an area you don't care about, so that you can move it around and the concrete would literally grind the soft metal around the lip of the can. It would take a while but it was an amazing workout and the top neatly comes off preserving it in case you wanted to save it for display or reuse. Easy enough to smooth out the grind edges and make it a nice ashtray or something.
The only ammo my mg34 loves.
My Zb26 loves it too. I still have 27 cases of it.
Mongo63a would you be interested in a Chinese 7.62x39 conversion. Has barrel bolt carrier gas block. Needs assembled and refinished.
@@psp1921tsmg I actually have 5 of the barrels and 3 sets of the other parts to convert it to 7.62X39 but I have not gotten around to doing the conversion yet. I use 7.62X39 in my Japanese Type 99 LMG.
Buck Berthod 700 plus shipping
I envy you, i hope to someday own an mg34 or mg42
You made my day, I just bought a crate of this a week ago, thanks!
Where did you pick it up at? I've been hunting for some nice 8mm ammo
@@richardseyboldt3960 I bought mine from a guy on Gunbroker who lives just outside of Frisco, TX who was selling it fairly cheap.
MD names in Romania were (and still are) used as military designations (just like the M in USA). This means that in 1971 this ammo (specification) was formally adopted/accepted for governmental departments use.
Friend : "Look at metal Canned package"
Friend : Is that your ration for Apocalypse ?
Me : Well yes but no.
My Brain : Its my rifle's ration for later
I’ve shot quite a bit of this and it has been an excellent, reliable performer.
I can see California and New York requiring ammo in sealed cans and having to register your can opener no automatic can openers allowed.
On the positive side, grandma will be ready when social security inevitably fails and it's Ol Roy for dinner. Except for Fancy Feast Fridays.
you joke but they're already damn near there in the UK, requiring ID to purchase cutlery, even butter knives, and you're not allowed to have it shipped to your home.
I remembered the smell of that ammo when you opened up that can.
Steve1989 and FG, two channels that I love but have little in actual common with, 1) because I don't eat 100 year old food, and 2) because I'm British ;_;
You could make collectors boxes with all your videos. Sure your fanbase would absolutely love it!
Romanian army used vz24 mauser and after 1963 they transit to akm , and patriotic guards still used the old mauser cz24 till 1985
I remember in 2002-2003 FAC routinely had that ammo on sale for $23/340. Those were the days.
Yes it was cheap around 8 cents a round when I bought mine.
Yep, that's the price I remember also. It was usually the FFL price. I've said this many times in life....I should have bought more way back when.!! LOL
GunFun ZS had a reasonble explanation for the shorter case. That being said, the shorter case has little to do with the OAL. In handloading lore, it is generally acceptable to seat the bullet out no further than .030" short of the bullet contacting the lands (indeed, for certain, specific applications, bullets are seated to contact the lands). Military ammo, manufactured in the millions would be kept at a considerably shorter OAL to facilitate reliable functioning in a myriad of firearms. Thanks for the review.
The numbers mason what do they mean
The issue with cases being longer than spec is not that the projectile jams into the rifling and/or pushed into the case (thereby reducing the volume in the case), it's that the case can get jammed into the throat which will crimp the mouth down around the projectile. Unlike a proper length case with a crimp, the crimp jammed in the throat cannot expand and release the bullet. Boom.
Ian, you mentioned that you're not sure if they produced any in 1971. I have a few rounds left from a case that I bought roughly 10 years ago in Europe and it's head stamped 71.
"Nice hiss!". My two favorite UA-camrs! Love you both :D
In the late 1980's we (US Army) were told that Romania was still issuing MG34's to it's border guards and paramilitary units. Not sure if that info was erroneous and disproven after Ceaucesceu got his just desserts......
Well, to be honest Germany and Italy still use the MG42 as their main SAW/LMG and vehicle machine gun, I don't see how still isseuing the 34 would be that bad, the guns were great.
@Huckleberry
The majority of european states are more than modern in what they field.
Using old designs doesn't mean that everything is outdated.
@Huckleberry
You're the guy that randomly started this discussion without nobody saying anything even remotely connected to it.
Ammunitions are all standard, some countries use the same service firearms like M92FS Berettas or the M249 Minimis and individual soldier's uniforms and ballistic vests and other means of protection don't need to be standardised, what's the point with that, it's not like some are better than others, I'm pretty sure that the armies of the entire world, at least while talking about the more developed countries, know what makes a ballistic helmet good and what doesn't.
And just to be clear, both the Italian MG42 (Beretta MG42/59) and the German one (MG3) are not the same as their WWII equivalent, they are simplified and of course use 7.62 NATO.
@Huckleberry
When the hell did I say that now.
@Huckleberry
Half is an exaggeration when all the countries in the EU who use the M74 and M43 for assault rifles that I can think of are just poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
i have a spam can of this ammunition and have gone thru most of it. its ran well enough so far cant wait to see the video :)
I heard another reason why Romania made 8mm Mauser; Yugoslavia, at that time outside the Warsaw-pact used 8mm Mauser in its MG's and sniper rifles. According to this story some ammo was stockpiled in case of war with Yugoslavia so that Romania could immediately reuse captured weapons in case of war. Seems not so far fetched, however no backup to the story found yet.
It's an interesting theory, though I don't think it's probable. There was a time in the late 40's and early 50's when Romania was ready to go to war with Yugoslavia, during the Tito-Stalin split; however, after Stalin's death and Ceausescu's ascension to power, the relations between the two countries improved dramatically. Ceausescu did take after Tito's example and started warming up to the West, and remained a maverick in the Warsaw Pact. As a result of this improvement in relations, Yugoslavia and Romania actually began working together on several military projects, such as the J-22/IAR-93 ground attack plane. If it has anything to do with Yugoslavia, it would be more probable that it was made for export to Yugoslavia in case of an invasion (Yugoslavia did maintain a huge stockpile of M-48s up until the 1990s), but that's unlikely as well, since Yugoslavia was pretty self-sufficient in small arms ammunition production. I can't give you any alternative theories, unfortunately, but I hope I gave some food for thought!
I'm pretty sure some Para-military groups in Romania still used 8mm guns in the early 70s. Even if not, 8mm guns were certainly in reserve, and since producing anything new during a 3rd World War would be basically impossible, they probably wanted to stockpile as much ammo as possible. Another example is that the Soviets also continued manufacturing massive quantities of 7.62x38mm into the 1970s, even though the Nagant revolver had left official military use 20 years prior.
Ian, when you cut these, don't bother with the standard cutter, use aviation mini snips to cut it. Comes out cleaner, faster, and a ton less hassle. At 17 20 bucks, you buy this tool once and don't ever look back. I recommend a right left hand one to facilitate your hand grip better.
Used lots of that type out on the ranch ... flood yes flood with windex type window cleaner, the hot gun will quickly dry it. Next use the regular stuff, final bore de-coppering with foam over several days. Not only cheap, but would shoot through oak trees, which is where the bad guys would try to hide. Has a little steel rod core inside. The Yugo '55 heavy ball brass case stuff had 20% hard primers, but would always go with a second strike.
We need a combined arms format. The chieftan will roll up with Sherman tank and do a small bit about its running gear, Steve will talk about the crews rations and they will all try some. Ian can describe machine guns and personal weapons, bloke on the range will be in full period correct uniform and talk battle tactics . This will happen at Demolition ranch where they procede let loose with all weapons on barrels of tannerite and titanium plates.
A few bits of Velcro on the chronograph flaps would stop it popping off (like in every video you use it lol). Great vid as always. Can't get enough of your content. ThankQ. TkEZ»UK
Pops seal on the ammo can and "Ooh, nice hiss!" Sounds like Steve1989MREInfo
WOW!!! Mostly a 40 FPS deviation, but in totality that ammunition showed a 110 FPS deviation. That’s huge even for military rifle ammunition. That kind of deviation of velocity would create a very large grouping, even with an expert shooter at 100 yards. It appears to be very well constructed for military ammunition, and I was surprised to see they used extruded powder. But, for an ammunition designed to be used in war, I think it’s very good.
A mm of steel saved per bullet seems like a worthwhile thing materials cost wise.
Hey can you look at the Orița
Is a Romania ww2 smg
As a Romanian,il be pleasuerd to see that!
🇬🇧🇷🇴🇺🇸
Vlad Alecu yuo aren’t form my county
Preaty rare gun mah dude
@@louisbeerreviews8964 im from Romania
And you are ??
@@2124dda Idk bro
But i love it beacause was made in my country
I had a couple of crates of this stuff for my Kar98k and FN 49 back in the day. I don't have either of those rifles any longer and am glad not to open those spam cans any more.
I don't want my ammo cans to be potential exciting on opening
Then don't try using a blow torch to melt the solder! (Bet some clown has tried it)
@@51WCDodge and probably blown themselves to high hell,From what i would guess is about the same blast damage from a grenade at point blank range,But im most likely wrong on that
@@Mephiles343 why don't you make a video doing that?
At time 11:00 , with bullet weight of that in the video , the manufacturer was most likely aiming toward a 10.0 gram bullet . During WW 11 the Brits used alot 10.0 gram bullets for standard weight . That nice round number worked out to 156.0 grains .
Romanian 8mm Mauser ammo is at the other end of the surplus ammo spectrum from 8mm Turk Mauser ammo...
I remember buying this for $99 per can...consistently selling for $250-$300 now on gunbroker.
The first rifle I bought was an 8mm and I was buying 70 round bandoliers for $4.75. That was in 1999. Now the only thing I can find in my area is 170gr Remington corelock 20 rounds for $35.
How times have changed.
"Robert! Cover mi I am reloading!"
7:59
I wish I had your connections in the gun world and could place my grubby little hands on an pile of 8 mil Mauser ammo today. It was about an dozen years back when I went to an gun show with an friend and came across some 8 mm Turkish surplus. 1400 rounds on stripper clips, in cloth bandoliers(of 70 rounds each), in the heavy galvanized hand soldered "spam can", wooden crate, twelve screws, and two wax seals.....for $100! I should have purchased an bakers dozen at the time. It shoots well enough for 1939 manufacture, but it does shoot dirty! I expend an good hour cleaning after throwing some lead at the range. It looks like I put an black Sharpie down the barrel. But I do clean it religiously after going to the range. If you can find an good deal, and you can afford to purchase an goodly amount, without neglecting straight up necessary everyday necessities like food and house payments...then part with those dollars so you do not have an nine pound paperweight in your closet. Have fun and be accurate.😺😸😹😻😽🙀💩
I got some pre 45 M2 ball for use in a match one time. I was so paranoid, I stripped and hot soap/water washed every nook and cranny. Got it all above dew point and painted the parts in oil. Never again unless I get absolutely desperate for some ammo to shoot.
I have a theory about the shortened case length.
DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NO PROOF OR EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER TO BACK UP THIS THEORY AND IT IS TOTAL SUPPOSITION ON MY PART. As we all know, during both world wars, Germany had arms shortages especially later in the war, to the point where obsolete, captured, experimental, "last ditch", improvised, and most pertinently to the topic, not entirely to pre-war specification weapons were issued somewhat regularly.
I suspect that it is possible that a batch of otherwise acceptable rifles with slightly short chambers may have ended up in Romania, or whomever the client organization that may have ordered the ammo in case it wasn't them, through various means, and in decent quantity. They may not have been entirely suitable for military service, but I would imagine for police or paramilitary/secret police service, where the chances of them being fired often are probably lower, this might actually not have been a big enough concern to take them out of service, but too big of an issue to not issue some sort of fix.
I suspect that this ammo may have been designed with this concern in mind, and would work well enough in properly manufactured weapons, as well as in the potentially improperly manufactured ones.
Now why not just fix the chambers, well they might still have done that, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that issuing what seems to be a minor alteration to the bullet was probably easier and faster
The corrosive primer is probably why they are so reliable. The murcury fulminate doesn't have anywhere the degradation of non corrosive primers. The lacquered cases and weatherproof sealant will keep these good for years, if not centuries.
Nice hiss!!!!!! For the love of God hook up with Steve for a video.
I've never had a bad can of Romania ammo. Every caliber I've purchase has been top notch stuff
Was not for export, but for internal use, e,g., these people: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotic_Guards_(Romania) that were equipped with VZ-24 ; this ammo was also used by the Forest Guards and for hunting (maybe some more in the 1970s). The reason for shorter round might be that this ammunition was used for a Patriotic Guards' AK-based rifle in 8 mm with a 10 rounds magazine, semi-automatic only. I've never seen it, I don't know if there was any large scale production, but I know from the source that was planned for pre-production and that a number of different hand fitted prototypes were made.
I've been watching this channel for a long time, and this is one of the only times I've seen clouds in Arizona.
that and the brass cased Yugo surplus is what I learned on when i was first getting into Milsurps. Lots of fun had and as long as you clean the corrosive salts out of the barrel.
Ian, as to the question of why they produced it, one must remember that where that beautiful part of the world begins, so too does logic end.
and remember if you have communist tetanus, everyone has communist tetanus
We're all equally miserable with it, too. Unless you're running things, that is.
But if you have capitalist tetanus, you either pay your HMO 500 times the real price of treatment or go home and die a free and independent capitalist death with a picture of Trump hanging above your death bed.
Access to the means of infection.
@@iongaztableta2260 no if you have capitalist tetanus vaccine you never get tetanus in the first place because of high quality capitalist medical treatments haha
They went through the trouble to remove and plug the knot in the wood.
In the middle of battle
Need more ammo!!!
Who has the can opener?
Dremel tool would also potentially cover a bunch of the ammo in fine steel filings. Not what you want to run through a firearm.
As far as I know, these were intended for civilians and paramilitaries. Romania and the Soviet Union didn't see eye to eye, which led to the "every citizen is a soldier" doctrine during the late 60s/early 70s, which saw a massive effort to arm paramilitary groups like the Patriotic Guard, as well as regular civilians. Old WW2 ZB rifles, still in storage during the 60s and 70s were often used to equip civilian militias and paramilitaries, at least at first, due to the lack of availability of PM-63 rifles (Romanian AKM variant), hence why this ammo was manufactured and it was stored this way because it was intended to pretty much last forever and be issued out to civilians in case of a Soviet invasion.
props to you for firing more than 5 rounds of 8mm. kicks more than a damn 12 gauge.
This is good stuff. I’m a very patriotic Romanian American. Bought two of these cans in around 2008 for my VZ24. Mine is 1972 production and comes on stripper clips. I also have the can opener. Only used about half a can. Still have an unopened one.
that clicking on the bolt action...... got to love old school stuff like that.
I enjoyed the sound of the bullet. They look like powerful bullets. In a situation of the real war it quickly induces panic.
This is a top idea for a video, Ian.
I had a Yugo stamped Mauser, and have used Romanian 7.92 ammunition, never had any issue with either, both worked great, fired every time.in my experience it was very reliable.
The case is short likely to save money. The change doesn’t effect on performance, but over several million rounds is a very significant amount of steel.
Could be wrong, but I’ve seen the same thing with other calibers of bulk packed ammunition and it makes a lot of sense.
This ammo was perfect for the belt fed MG 42 and if you have a MG 34 it LOVES this ammo . None better on the market for them and any other MG like the ZB37, ZB30 , MG15 , and the FG42 .
Thanks for the amazing videos! Watched them all!
Horrible Communist Tetanus is the name of my eastern-European themed prog band.
glove protection ,,,,!?
Hey Ian! I was fiddling around with my Turkish Mauser today and I remembered that one of the weird things about the gun is that they were converted from 7mm to 8mm which means the mag wells are just barely too small for the full size 8mm rounds to reliably feed through the gun (like literally 1mm too short) so I’m wondering if these rounds were designed for Turkey originally or a country that also converted 7mm to 8mm and had they same problem you should check it out
A P-38 or B-52 might work, also.
One's gonna take forever, the other's gonna ruin the ammo... dunno, chief man
@@beavisbutt-headson3223 if you don't have their can opener, they seem to fit the bill better than a Dremel!
I actually really want one of those wooden boxes that the ammo came in
I'm really enjoying that echo of the 8mm rounds going off.
Horrible Communist Tetanus
The name of my garage band
I thought the title was ammo evolution. I watched it again anyway. I love this channel.
On the flip side if you dont get can opener with your can you can file a larger notch into a P-51 can opener and use it in conjunction with a pair of pliers, takes alot longer but its safer than a dremel
Yes, more ammunition reviews, please. And a SteveMRE cross-over episode with it. THAT would be a fun episode, eh.
Imagine cracking these open at Rourke's Drift under pressure.
Better than Martini Henrys