doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Drilling question?

Brother looking at nice drilling 16x16x8mm. All the site searches for a hint as to what the 8mm cartridge came up zip, zero, nada. Obviously 8mm bore, and breech chambering is a straight case that is 3 3/16 in. in length. Any thoughts? Randy

RMC,
Could be any of may 8MM. First to come to mind is the 8X72r.
When you say a straight case do you mean a "straight tapered case"?

Is it possible to get good clear pictures of the markings on the bottom side of the barrel??? Also who made the Drilling?

Finally the "best" way to determine the caliber is to do a chamber cast or have one done by a competent gunsmith. There are a lot of these old guns that were chambered in proprietary cartridges designed by the gunsmith that built the gun. Johann Peterlongo was one that comes to mind. I ended up with one of his guns in a caliber that ammo was only available from him and not manufactured by anyone else. Wasn't hard to make up but without a chamber cast it would have been impossible to recreate..

Like I said if you can get some pics it may help answering your question..

But a chamber cast is the "Gold Standard"..

WBLDon

Need to know if the plug gauge stamp is 7,8 rounded to 8mm or if 8,7mm and someone just lifted the 8 when it should be more like 9mm. That 80-82mm given length points to something like a Nimrod. But like Don stated above the chamber cast will ferret out the cartridge demon.

Cheers,


Raimey
rse

Thanks Don and Raimey. Appears to be straight without a taper and the barrel lug has the rifle markings as 8,8 mm. Name on rib is Wilh. Hoher if this helps. Are these drillings late 1800 mfg? I haven't posted photos in years, but can send images if you get me your email address. Many thanks for for your help. Randy

RMC,
The chamber length you cited, may or may not be the case length. Absent a chambercast( and sometimes with one), it is sometimes hard to know where the chamber stops and the throat begins. It could be 8x72R( as stated above), 8x58R S&S, or even 8x57R/360( which has a shoulder, but smaller than IR). As Don said, a chambercast is required, and "slugging the bore would be helpful. To me it doesn't make that much difference, any of them can be loaded, and the "odd" ones are just that much more fun. It seems we were writing at the same time, the assessment that the drilling is an 8mm is incorrect. With the mark 8,8, it is a 9.3mm(8,8 is bore, not groove or bullet, diameter). If you look again, there should be another number, likely 72. If the drilling is a Sauer from around 1912, it might not have the second number. Even with the new info, a chamber cast is still necessary as there were several 9.3mm cartridges.
Mike

Wilhelm "Hoher" doesn't ring any bells right off; what is the town from which he hailed? My email is in my profile.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Also, the 8,8mm plug gauge stamp will date it post 1911/1912.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

B�chsenmacher Wilhelm H�her looks a little spurious?




Experienced proof in Suhl post 1912 & pre-early 1923.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

My money's on some flavor of 9.3 x 72R. And that Wilh. Hoeher I(if that's his real name; the gold looks dubious to me) was a retailer who had guns made in Suhl to a standard design.

I would have to agree with Dave, if I had to guess (which is not a good idea) my money would probably be on 9.3x72r.

Chamber cast and slug the barrel then let us know what you find. These old drillings are a hoot to shoot. I currently have 5 and am always looking for interesting ones....

Take care..
WBLDon