EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Some might think success in life is all about who you know.
The same could be said for rifle calibers. Some cartridges ought to be more popular. Case in point—the mighty 8mm Mauser.
Like many successful American cartridges, the German-created 7.92x57mm owes its beginning to the military. (Notice that I didn’t say, “8mm Mauser.”)
According to Norma, “The designation, ‘Mauser,’ is actually a misnomer, because the cartridge was developed by a German military commission at Spandau Arsenal for a forerunner of the famous Mauser rifle, which was adopted in 1898.”
Of course, the Swedish ammunition company is right. In 1888, the German Rifle Testing Commission did develop what we commonly call the 8mm Mauser. SAAMI calls it the 8mm Mauser or the 8x57mm, and the European C.I.P. calls the 7.92x57mm the 8x57 IS (which is precisely what’s stamped on the barrel of the brand-new Sauer 100 Classic on loan to me for this story).
Back then, however, it was simply called Cartridge 88 or Patrone 88. You might even know it as the M/88. Regardless, the octo-millimeter pushed a massive .319 (groove)-caliber, 225-grain bullet at 2,000 fps down a
