Gun Talk with Harold Harton
Cartridge born after World War II

Right after World War II, an influx of German military rifles was brought back by veterans in caliber 8X57. This cartridge uses a bullet diameter of .323 inches.

The cartridge case length is 57 millimeters, whereas the .30-06 is 62 millimeters long. All the other dimensions, apart from the bullet diameter, are very similar.

A lack of ammunition existed for the 8X57. Since the war was over, there was a surplus of the military .30-06. The perfect conversion was to cut a new chamber of the 8X57 German rifle out to 62mm length. Thus, the 8-06 was born. This caliber was and is a very fine hunting cartridge.

The only thing owners of the military 8X57 conversions could do was to buy a set of loading dies, take a supply of .30-06 cases, run them through the sizing die to make the new case sized with the neck expanded from .308-inch diameter to .323-inch diameter, load that baby up with about 55 grains of IMR 4064 powder behind a 150-grain bullet, and be ready for a deer hunt.

This load gives about 2,900 feet per second and just about duplicates the .30-06 using the same bullet weight.

The Mauser 98 action used on the German military rifle is a very strong action, and the action length, bolt face, twist rate is all correct for the new cartridge. So a new wildcat cartridge was born on this side of the Atlantic.

I'm sure there were German gunsmiths of earlier days who had made rifles in what they called 8X62 -- which would have been an earlier rifle of the same caliber -- but to the G.I.'s coming back from the war, this was a great new thing.

Since the war production of military rifles and ammunition had not geared up for the post-war demand of sporting rifles and ammunition, this came at a perfect time.

Lampasas' Harold Harton has contributed outdoor writing to the Dispatch Record for more than 50 years.