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Well I made a chamber cast of this rifle and it is apparently an 8x57, the cast shows the chamber at 54.24mm, adding the 3.20mm space between the back of the chamber and the face of the bolt is 57.44. An 8X57 cartridge with a .010 shim will not close. Should I try the tie it in a tire proof firing? Below are the photos of the proofmarks, although the caliber mark is 7.9 the bore slugs 3.23 so it is an S bore gun. I wonder if this is a pre WW1 rifle?


IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e40/james-l/Mauser%208x60/P6032155.jpg[/IMG]

GSP7

Thanks for bringing up the Nitroexpress site. It was new to me and I was delighted to find the Classic Firearms forum. There is a very nice posting on a Springfield G&H and another on Cocking Piece Sights.

http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=151111&an=0&page=0#Post151111

Jerry Liles

My guess is for the firm Valentine Haefner of Cassel in business until 1928.

I would highly recommend taking it to someone with the correct go, go-no and field headspace gauges and have the chamber checked.

Done that it is an 8x57.

Which brings up the question of what are the correct 8x57 headspace gauges? My impression is that the American made gauges vary, and not because of the two bore sizes. Anyone have any thoughts or a source for European gauges?

The rifle was made prior to 1912, considering the configuration of the proofmarks. Rifles marked with only an indication of powder charge and bullet type as shown below date to 1912 or before:
2.67 g GBP
St m G

Now here's where it gets interesting - note that yours is marked 2.75, whereas most 8mm proofs (that I've seen) 2,67 grams of Gewehr Blättchen Pulver (military flake powder) and Stahl-mantel Geschoss (steel jacketed bullet).

Other possible types are "K m G" for Kupfer-mantel Geschoss (copper jacket) and "Bl G" for Blei Geschoss (plain lead bullet).

Valentin Haefner (� and ae interchangeable in German), Kassel, founded 1804. Hofbuechsenmacher = gunmaker to the court. The company existed until the 1960s.