7 . 92×57mm Mauser The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser ( designated as the 8mm Mauser or 8×57mm by the SAAMI and 8 × 57 IS by the C . I . P . ) is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge was adopted by the German Empire in 1905 , and was the German service cartridge in both World Wars . In its day , the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge was one of the world ’ s most popular military cartridges . In the 21st century it is still a popular sport and hunting cartridge that is factory produced in Europe and the United States . Development . The parent cartridge on which the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser was based was adopted by Germany in 1888 as the Patrone 88 ( cartridge 88 ) or M / 88 ( along with the Gewehr 1888 service rifle ) . The M / 88 cartridge was loaded with a relatively heavy round - nosed ball cartridge with a diameter of and was designed by the German " Gewehr - Prüfungskommission " ( G . P . K . ) ( Rifle Testing Commission ) . German government driven efforts to improve the performance of the military M / 88 ammunition and the service arms in which the M / 88 was used resulted in the design by the " Gewehr - Prüfungskommission " and adaptation in 1905 of the dimensionally redesigned 7 . 92×57mm Mauser chambering . Besides the chambering , the bore ( designated as " S - bore " ) was also dimensionally redesigned . The 1905 pattern 7 . 92×57mm Mauser " S Patrone " ( S ball cartridge ) was loaded with a lighter , pointed " Spitzgeschoß " ( spitzer bullet ) of diameter and more powerful double - base smokeless powder . With the improved ballistic coefficient of the new spitzer bullet , the 1905 pattern cartridge had an improved maximum effective range and a flatter trajectory , and was therefore less critical of range estimation compared to the M / 88 cartridge . The rimless cartridge cases have been used as parent case for several other necked down and necked up cartridges and a rimmed variant . Military use . Due to the cartridge ' s high performance and versatility it was adopted by the armed forces of various governments , including Spain , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Iran , Israel , Turkey , China , Egypt , former German African colonies , and the early Bundeswehr of West Germany . During World War II it was one of the few cartridges used by both the Axis and Allied powers , a distinction it shared with the 9×19mm Parabellum pistol round . Apart from being the standard rifle cartridge of the German and Polish armed forces , it was also used by the armed forces of Great Britain in the Besa machine gun , which was mounted in some of their tanks and other armoured vehicles . Later , when Egypt decided to manufacture the Hakim rifle , a licensed copy of the Swedish Ag m / 42 , they redesigned the breech to accept the Mauser cartridge rather than use the original Ag m / 42 cartridge . Its military use continues today ( 2012 ) in the former Yugoslavia in the Zastava M76 sniper rifle and the license - built copy of the MG 42 , the M53 " Šarac " machine gun . Rifles formerly manufactured for the Wehrmacht and captured by the Allies were acquired by Israel and in 1948 played a critical role in the Israeli War for Independence . Israel , at the time , did not have a domestic arms industry and could not manufacture its own battle rifles , but it could produce replacement parts and refurbish existing weapons . Israel only used its Mauser rifles in their original configuration for a short period , however . When NATO countries created a standard rifle cartridge , the 7 . 62×51mm NATO , Israel replaced all of the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser barrels on its Mauser rifles with barrels chambered for the new cartridge . Civil use . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser is a common chambering offering in rifles marketed for European and North American sportsmen , alongside broadly similar cartridges such as the 5 . 6×57mm , 6 . 5×55mm , 6 . 5×57mm , and the 6 . 5×68mm and 8×68mm S magnum hunting cartridges . Major European manufacturers like Zastava Arms , Blaser , Česká Zbrojovka firearms , Heym , Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH and Steyr Mannlicher produce factory new 7 . 92×57mm Mauser hunting rifles and European ammunition manufacturers like Blaser , RUAG Ammotec / RWS , Prvi Partizan , Sako and Sellier & Bellot produce factory new ammunition . In 2004 Remington Arms offered a limited - edition Model 700 Classic bolt action hunting rifle chambered for the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge ' s performance makes it suitable for the hunting all medium - sized game such as the deer family , chamois , mouflon , bighorn sheep , wild boar and bear . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cannot be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military rifle cartridges , like France . The rimmed variant of the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser , the 8×57mm IRS , was developed later for break - barrel rifle s and combination gun s . The 8×57mm IRS is commercially offered as a chambering option in European break - action rifles . Cartridge naming . The naming of this cartridge is cultural and epoch dependent and hence not uniform around the world . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge is also known by the following designations : " This list is not conclusive and other nomenclature or designation variations might be encountered . " The 7 . 92 naming convention is often used by English speaking sources for the military issued 7 . 92×57mm Mauser and 7 . 92×33mm Kurz cartridges . Remarkably , both the 7 . 92 and 7 , 9 used in these and alike designations do not exactly comply to the actual C . I . P . or SAAMI cartridge , chamber and bore dimensions . All other non - military issued rimless and rimmed rifle cartridges originating from Germany having approximately 8 mm bullet diameter are connected to 8 mm namings . The widespread use in German military Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98k service rifles designed and manufactured by Mauser caused the " Mauser " tag , though the Mauser company had nothing to do with the development of this cartridge . The letter " J " often mentioned by English speaking sources is actually an " I " for " Infanterie " ( German for " infantry " ) . A stamped " I " at the cartridge bottom in writing styles used in the past in Germany could be easily mistaken for a " J " . Even in the 21st century the " I " is often substituted by a " J " in English speaking communities and German ammunition manufacturers often write " JS " instead of " IS " to avoid confusing customers . The letter " S " stands for " Spitzgeschoß " ( " pointed bullet " ) , and the English designation " spitzer " for that style of bullet is derived from this German term . Current European civil C . I . P . designation . The mainly European arms standards body " Commission Internationale Permanente pour l ' Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives " ( Permanent International Commission for portable firearms testing ) ( C . I . P . ) — an organisation for standards in ammunition for civilian use — currently ( 2012 ) designates the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser as the 8 × 57 IS . This designation has the power of law for civil use in C . I . P . member states like the United Kingdom . " Warning : the 8 × 57 IS and 8 × 57 I ( other non - military issued rifle cartridge developed by civilians after the 8 × 57 IS ) are not the same cartridge and are not interchangeable . To avoid catastrophic firearm failures that could endanger users or bystanders , it is important to distinguish clearly between these two differing chamberings and bullet diameters , and only fire them in appropriately chambered / barrelled rifles . " Current U . S . civil SAAMI designations . The United States standardizing body for sporting cartridges Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers ' Institute ( SAAMI ) currently ( 2012 ) designates the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge as the 8mm Mauser , also known as 8×57mm . Since the SAAMI has no authority to issue nomenclature rulings , the nomenclature used for this cartridge can vary in the United States . Historic military designations . The German military used 7 , 9mm as designation or omitted any diameter reference and only printed the exact type of loading on ammunition boxes during World War II . In Sweden the cartridge was designated " 8mm patron m / 39 " The Polish military used 7 , 9mm or 7 , 92mm designations ( mostly 7 , 9mm ) . The British military ' s Besa machine gun was chambered for the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser , and was used in armoured vehicles during World War II . The British referred to this ammunition as Cartridge SA , 7 . 92 . United States intelligence documents from World War II refer to the cartridge as 7 . 92 or 7 . 92 mm or 7 . 92 - mm . Cartridge drawings and dimensions . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge has a cartridge case capacity of 4 . 09 ml ( 63 grains ) HO . The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine gun s alike , under extreme conditions . 7 . 92×57mm Mauser maximum C . I . P . cartridge dimensions . All sizes in millimeters . 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 of the 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 C . I . P . ( Commission Internationale Permanente pour l ' Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives ) rulings the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser can handle up to P piezo pressure . In C . I . P . regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125 % of this maximum C . I . P . pressure to certify for sale to consumers . This means that 7 . 92×57mm Mauser chambered arms in C . I . P . regulated countries are currently ( 2013 ) proof tested at PE piezo pressure . The SAAMI ( voluntary ) Maximum Average Pressure ( MAP ) for this cartridge is piezo pressure or ( 37 , 000 CUP ) . This is considerably lower than the C . I . P . pressure limit and is done for liability reasons , in case a 7 . 92×57mm Mauser cartridge is fired in an " I - bore " rifle that has a narrower throat and barrel diameter . Most European ammunition manufacturers generally only load to a lower pressure limit for I - bore cartridges ; and the US based manufacturer Hornady followed their lead in their ( now discontinued ) EuroSpec brand 8×57 JS load . German military ammunition . " There were many German military versions of the cartridge , and Germany never stopped its development of different variations until the end " of World War II . " The bullet lengths varied a great deal through the different types , but all were loaded to an overall length " of . 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 weights and case capacities of the World War II military cartridge cases varied somewhat . The German military ammunition manufacturer Polte produced brass cartridge cases weighing 10 . 32 g ( 159 gr ) with 4 . 03 ml ( 62 gr ) HO case capacity and steel cartridge cases weighing 10 . 90 g ( 168 gr ) with 3 . 95 ml ( 61 gr ) HO case capacity . German cartridge variants during World War II . The German standard s . S . ( " schweres Spitzgeschoß " — " heavy pointed bullet " ) ball bullet was long , boat - tailed , and very well made . It was lead filled , had a gilding - metal - plated jacket , and weighed . The s . S . ball boat tail projectile was designed for long range use and offered the best aerodynamic efficiency and external ballistic performance of any standard rifle bullet used during World War II , with a G1 ballistic coefficient between 0 . 593 and 0 . 557 ( ballistic coefficients are somewhat debatable ) . When fired at the typical muzzle velocity of out of a barrel the s . S . bullet retained supersonic velocity up to and past ( V ≈ Mach 1 . 07 ) under International Standard Atmosphere conditions at sea level ( air density ρ = 1 . 225 kg / m ) . It had a maximum range of approximately Even by contemporary ( 2012 ) standards 1000 m ( 1 , 094 yards ) effective supersonic range is quite remarkable for a standard military rifle round . For recognition the circular groove between cap and brass was green , and it had a yellow colored bullet . During World War II German snipers were issued with purpose manufactured sniping ammunition , known as the ' effect - firing ' s . S . round . The ' effect - firing ' s . S . round featured an extra carefully measured propellant charge and seated a sS full metal jacketed boat tail projectile of match grade build quality , lacking usual features such as a seating ring or cannelure to further improve the already high G1 ballistic coefficient to approximately 0 . 595 ( G1 ) or 0 . 300 ( G7 ) . The ' effect - firing ' s . S . projectile had a form factor ( G7 " i " ) of 0 . 869 , which indicates good aerodynamic efficiency and external ballistic performance for the bullet diameter . Special ammunition included : British military ammunition . British cartridges included " Ball " , " Armour - Piercing " , " Tracer " , and " Incendiary " . Blanks and a Drill round were also available for instruction purposes . The Drill round was an aluminium bullet fixed in a chromium - plated case which had three deep lengthwise recesses painted red to identify it . Ammunition was supplied in belted form with 225 rounds per belt . The Ball case was filled with a charge of around 45 grains ( 3 g ) of nitro - cellulose . The British cartridge was used in only one weapon — the Besa machine gun . This was a Czech design adopted shortly before the war as a move towards rimless ammunition across the armed service . However the move was disrupted by the lead up to war . The BESA was only fitted to tanks and armoured cars of British design ( the original Czech design was also produced for German use following the occupation of Czechoslovakia ) and captured German ammunition was used when available . Polish military ammunition . The cartridges manufactured in Poland during the interwar period were mainly copies or modifications of the corresponding original German cartridge designs . The standard rifle cartridge was the S — a copy of the 1905 pattern German " S Patrone " loaded with the S bullet . For machine guns a cartridge variant loaded with the heavier SC bullet — a copy of the German 1934 pattern s . S . cartridge — was used . The armor - piercing variant loaded with the P bullet was a copy of the German SmK cartridge . The armor - piercing with tracer PS and incendiary Z cartridges were Polish modifications of the original German counterpart designs . The Polish designed a long - range machine gun cartridge loaded with the D bullet , which offered a maximum plunging fire range of to . Yugoslav military ammunition . After World War II the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia used the 7 . 92×57mm Mauser as military service round . The Yugoslav National Army ( JNA ) designated their 7 . 92×57mm Mauser ammunition as 7 , 9 mm . At the end of the 1940s the Yugoslav National Army adopted a 7 , 9 mm Cartridge , Ball M49 variant , designated as M49 , as infantry ammunition . As extra accurate ammunition for sniper and designated marksman use the Yugoslav National Army adopted a 7 , 9 mm Cartridge , Sniper , with Universal ball M75 , designated as M75 . Besides ball ammunition the Yugoslav National Army also adopted a tracer round 7 , 9 mm Cartridge , Ball with tracer M70 , designated as M70 . The M70 tracer round burns out to . For training and ceremonial use a 7 , 9 mm Cartridge , Blank was adopted . After the breakup of Yugoslavia this ammunition was extensively used in the 1990s during the Yugoslav wars . The 7 . 92×57mm Mauser as parent case . This was the parent case for many other later cartridges , such as :