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The '7.92x57mm Mauser' cartridge was designed by the German Rifle Commission for the Model 1888 Commission Rifle and later used in Mauser bolt-action rifles. This cartridge was originally adopted by Germany in 1888 as the M/88 7.92 x 57 I. (I stands for 'Infanterie' or 'Infantry'). Germany adopted a new version of the M/88 cartridge in 1905 as the 7.92 x 57 IS (IS stands for 'Infanterie, Spitz' or 'Infantry, Pointed'). The 1905 pattern cartridge was the German service cartridge in both World Wars and is now known in Europe as the 7.92 x 57 mm IS or the 8 x 57 IS and in the USA as the 8mm Mauser or 8x57mm JS (it was its widespread use in Mauser rifles that earned this cartridge its "Mauser" tag),

Contents

Background

Military use

Civil use

8 mm or 7.92 mm? I or J?

Specifications

Cartridge Drawings and Dimensions

7,92x57 I / 8 x 57 I

7,92x57 IS / 8 x 57 IS

Additional information

Derivatives

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

Background

The 7.92x57 IS cartridge was a further development of the 1888 round - the M/88 7.92 x 57 I - which used a round-nosed bullet, and was developed to be top-loaded into a rifle's magazine via disposable charger clip in the Gewehr 88 (or Commission 88) rifle. The 7.92 x 57 IS bullet was lighter, pointed, and 8.2 mm (.323 inches) in diameter instead of 8.08 mm (.318 inches) with an improved ballistic coefficient. The new cartridge allowed for far greater range and accuracy. It was mainly used in the Gewehr 98 and the later Karabiner 98k rifles and machine guns.

Military use

The highly efficient cartridge's history, loadings, and applications span well over a century, virtually every conceivable application, and extensive adoption by various governments including Turkey, China, Egypt, former German African colonies, and of course, pre-NATO Germany. Its military use continues today in former Yugoslavia in weapons like the Zastava M76 sniper rifle and the license-built MG42 copy, the M53 Sarac machine gun.
It shares an unusual similarity with the 9mm Parabellum cartridge of being manufactured and used by both the Allies and Axis during World War II, being used in the British BESA armored-vehicle mounted machine gun.

Civil use

It is tremendously popular among European sportsmen, and especially with German and Austrian shooters, alongside broadly similar cartridges such as the 5.6x57, 6.5x55, 6.5x57, 7x57 Mauser and the 6.5x68 and 8x68S magnum hunting cartridges. The 7.92x57 cartridge's performance makes it well suited to the shooting of all large European game such as deer, chamois, moufflon, wild boar and bears. It can not be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military rifle cartridges.

8 mm or 7.92 mm? I or J?

The European commercial arms standards body CIP Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives (Permanent International Commission for portable firearms testing) currently designates two 8 mm cartridges of 57 mm case length, following the original military practice. The 7.92x57 mm J denotes the original cartridge with a .318-inch diameter bullet and moderate pressure limits (Piezo CIP Pmax = 380.0 MPa). The 7.92x57 mm JS designates the later, higher pressure (Piezo CIP Pmax = 390.0 MPa) cartridge with a .323-inch bullet. The letter 'J' is actually not a 'J' at all, but an 'I' for 'infanterie'. However, at the time the German printers were using a typeface in which the letter 'I' looked like the modern 'J'. The letter 'S' stands for ''Spitzgeschoß'' (pointed bullet), and the English word "spitzer" is derived from this German term.
The American standardizing body for sporting cartridges SAAMI designates this latter cartridge as the 8 mm Mauser, also known as 8x57 mm JS. However, the SAAMI pressure limitation for this cartridge is taken from the older 7.92x57 I and is limited to (Piezo SAAMI Pmax = 241,317 MPa [35,000 psi]) or 37,500 CUP. This is done for safety, in case the .323-inch bullet is fired in an 'I' bore (.318 inch) rifle. European manufacturers generally only load to the lower pressure limit for 'I' bore cartridges; and the US based Manufacturer Hornady followed their lead in their (now discontinued) EuroSpec brand 8x57 JS load.
''To avoid potentially serious accidents, it is important to distinguish clearly between cartridges loaded for these two different bullet diameters, and only fire them in appropriately chambered/barrelled rifles.''

Specifications

★ Actual bullet (and barrel groove) Diameter: 7.92 x 57 IS = 8.2 mm (.323 in), 7.92 x 57 I = 8.07 mm (.318 in)

★ Diameter of barrel, land to land: 7.92 x 57 IS = 7.89 mm (.311 in), 7.92 x 57 I = 7.80 mm (.307 in)

Name	Year	Caliber	Weight	Length	Rim	Base	Shoulder	Neck	OAL	Muzzle velocity	Muzzle energy
7.92 x 57 I	1888	8.07 mm (0.318 in)	14.6 g (226 gr)	57 mm (2.24 in)	12.0 mm (.473 in)	11.9 mm (.469 in)	10.95 mm (.431 in)	8.89 mm (.350 in)	80.5 mm (3.17 in)	639 m/s (2'095 ft/s)	2983 J (2'200 ft•lbf)
7.92 x 57 IS	1905	8.2 mm (0.323 in)	9.9 g (154 gr)	57 mm (2.24 in)	12.0 mm (.473 in)	11.9 mm (.469 in)	10.95 mm (.431 in)	8.76 mm (.345 in)	82.5 mm (3.25 in)	878 m/s (2'880 ft/s)	3857 J (2844 ft•lbf)
7.92 x 57 IS	1934	8.2 mm (0.323 in)	12.8 g (197 gr)	57 mm (2.24 in)	12.0 mm (.473 in)	11.9 mm (.469 in)	10.95 mm (.431 in)	8.76 mm (.345 in)	82.5 mm (3.25 in)	760 m/s (2,493 ft/s)	3697 J (2,727 ft•lbf)

★ The data for the 7.92 x 57 I and the 7.92 x 57 IS of 1905 is for rifles with 740 mm (29.13 in) barrel length

★ The data for the 7.92 x 57 IS of 1934 is for rifles with 600 mm (23.62 in) barrel length.

★ This data is for standard issue German infantry rifle rounds. The stated muzzle velocities are relatively low compared to typical modern hunting loads with similar bullet weights. This is mainly because rifle cartridge propellants have evolved since then.

Cartridge Drawings and Dimensions

7,92x57 I / 8 x 57 I

The 8 x 57 I cartridge has 4.026 ml (62.0 grains) H2O cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.

'8 x 57 I maximum CIP cartridge dimensions.' All sizes in millimeters (mm). Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 19.1 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.80 mm, Ø grooves = 8.07 mm, land width = 4.40 mm and the primer type is large rifle.
According to the official CIP (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) guidelines the 8 x 57 I case can handle up to 380 MPa (55114 psi) piezo pressure. In CIP regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum CIP pressure to certify for sale to consumers.

7,92x57 IS / 8 x 57 IS

The 8 x 57 IS cartridge has 4.091 ml (63.0 grains) H2O cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.

'8 x 57 IS maximum CIP cartridge dimensions.' All sizes in millimeters (mm). Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 19.1 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.89 mm, Ø grooves = 8.20 mm, land width = 4.40 mm and the primer type is large rifle.
According to the official CIP (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) guidelines the 8 x 57 IS case can handle up to 390 MPa (56564 psi) piezo pressure. In CIP regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum CIP pressure to certify for sale to consumers.

Additional information

In 7.92 mm caliber, the Germans had many military round versions, and they never stopped development of different variations until World War II was officially over. The bullet lengths varied a great deal through the different types, but all were loaded to an overall length of 80.5 mm (3.169 in). The Germans had started using steel cases in World War I, and by the end of 1943, most German ammunition had that type of case.
The German standard sS (schweres Spitzgeschoß/heavy pointed bullet) ball bullet was 35 mm long (1.378 in) long, boat-tailed, and very well made.^[2] It was lead filled, had a gilding-metal-plated jacket, and weighed about 12.8 grams (197 grains). It offered the best aerodynamic efficiency and ballistic performance of all standard rifle balls used in World War II with a ballistic coefficient (G1 BC) of 0.557 to 0.584 (ballistic coefficients are somewhat debatable). At 760 m/s (2493 ft/s) muzzle velocity the standard sS ball bullet retained supersonic velocity up to 800 m (875 yards) (V800 ≈ Mach 1.17) under ICAO Standard Atmosphere conditions at sea level (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m³). Even by contemporary (2007) standards 800 m (875 yards) typical effective range is quite remarkable for a standard military rifle round.^[3]
German Luftwaffe (Air force) 7.92 mm high velocity machinegun ammunition loaded with the 12.8 grams (197 grains) sS ball bullets reached a muzzle velocity of 840 m/s (2756 ft/s) due to a more powerful smokeless powder charge. The regular German infantry units were not allowed to use this round; however German snipers sometimes used this high velocity round to gain an extra 150 m (164 yards) effective range.
German tracer bullets were the best put out by any country — beautifully streamlined and with excellent ballistics.² German armor piercers were also very good, being very stable and accurate at long ranges.² The most common type of armor piercer had a hardened-steel core with plated-steel jacket and weighed 11.5 grams (178 grains). Other types appeared which used tungsten carbide and combinations for cores. Sintered iron and mild steel cores also came into use in ball ammunition.
The HE incendiary, called the observation bullet by the Germans, had a pellet in it which exploded on contact with any target, however frail. The Germans maintained that it was used mainly for observation and range-finding, but observers report having seen them in rifle clips and machine gun belts.

Derivatives

This was the parent case for many other later cartridges, such as:

★ 5.6 x 57

★ 6 x 57 Triebel (wildcat)

★ 6.5 x 57

★ 9 x 57 Mauser

★ 9.3 x 57 see 9 x 57 Mauser article

★ 10 x 57 mm

★ 10.5 x 57 mm

See also

★ List of rifle cartridges

★ 8 mm caliber

★ 7.92 x 33 mm

References

1. RWS Ammunition Ballistic Data & Application Consultant
2. Enemy Ordnance Materiel
3. Sniper_rifle#Maximum_effective_range Range


★ WOUND BALLISTICS, Medical Department United States Army in World War II

Bibliography

★ Barnes, Frank C ''CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD'' 3rd Edition pgs 49, 191 1972 Digest Books, ISBN 0-695-80326-3

★ de Haas, Frank ''BOLT ACTION RIFLES'' Expanded 3rd Edition, pgs 32-38, 1995 DBI Books, ISBN 0-87349-168-8

★ Olson, Ludwig ''Mauser BOLT RIFLES'' 1976 F. Brownell & Son Montezuma IOWA, ISBN 0-88935-265-8

External links

★ The Mauser Shooting Association

★ Munition 7,9x57 IS / 7,9x57

★ Various images of 7,92 x 57 mm Mauser cartridges