Cosmoline Senior Member

Join Date: March 11, 2000 Posts: 1,080

The .30'06 was designed in response to the the German's new 7.92x57 "S" Patrone, which was adopted a year before in 1905. The '06 is therefore the offspring of the 7.92x57, just as the Springfield 1903 is the offspring of the Mauser '98. In both cases, I would say the original is better ;-)



The write-up in Cartridges of the World describes how, particularly in WWI, the 8mm Mauser had a significant advantage over '06 Ball. Apparently the Germans used much better powders. I believe the power advantage held true during WWII, as well. Here are some figures:



7.92x57 JS 154 gr. Ball = 2,880 fps and 2,835 ft. lbs.



.30'06 150 gr. Ball = 2,740 fps and 2,500 ft. lbs.



For modern loadings, the major advantage of the 8mm Mauser is the fact that it copes with with 200 and 220 grain bullets a little better than the .30'06. The major drawback is that 8mm Mauser is loaded *WAY* down by domestic cartridge companies. I won't get into that here, though. __________________

"Know that the pistol has no value, we practically don't use it. We need grenades, rifles, machine guns, and explosives."

Mordechai Anielewicz, April 23, 1943