The Goose
NES Member
As many of you know my passion is bringing antique or obsolete firearms back to life. So here is a current project. It is a CG Haenel made Mauser sporting rifle chambered in 9X57. It was made around 1920 give or take. At the end of World War I German gun makers were forbidden making military firearms or ammunition by the Treaty of Versailles. So a popular caliber was the 9X57 which was a necked up 8X57 (8mm Mauser) which was the German military round at the time. Basically it was necked up from .323 to .358. The 9X57 became a popular hunting cartridge. Especially for large European deer. It was also quite popular in Africa in the areas that Germany had influence. It gained a reputation as a lion rifle. It also established a foothold in North America where Remington even chambered some of their hunting rifles in it. The heavy 240-280 grain bullets made it adequate for about any game on the continent. By 1940 it had run it's course and slowly it disappeared. Today it is pretty much considered obsolete and manufactured ammunition is all but impossible to find. When I acquired mine it came with 17 rounds of vintage UMC ammo with a 280 grain jacketed soft nosed bullet. I immediately hit the range only to find that the primers were dead. Not to be deterred I managed to get a set of reloading dies. I pulled the bullets, dumped the powder and replaced the dead primers with new ones. I loaded the cases with 43 grains of IMR 3031 powder and reseated the bullets. I also acquired some new 8X57 brass and reformed it to 9mm. I had some 200 grain .35 Remington bullets which I loaded over 44 grains of IMR 4895. Today I finally got to give it a go. First up was the old cases with the 280 grain bullets. The first shot was painful. Very heavy recoil and the bolt was stiff to open. The second shot was the same and the bolt was stuck. When I finally got it open the case was split. I put the remaining 15 rds away. The good news was that at 50 yards both shots were dead center and touching. Next I tried the newly formed cases with the 200 gr bullet. The recoil was moderate and the action cycled smoothly. The lighter bullet hit a little higher. I fired a few more and then moved the target out to 100 yards and tried a few more. Once I figured out where it was hitting I had 20 rounds left and was ready to get serious. The attached photos tell the story. Three of the first 5 shots were touching, 2 were through the same hole. The second target is all 20 shots. Not too bad for a 100 year old rifle with iron sights at 100 yards (and my old eyes). I have a bullet mold that will throw a 200 gr bullet that I will try next and probably with some very mild loads. This old rifle is a classic. It displays old world craftsmanship with beautiful wood, double set triggers, an octagon to round barrel and the distinctive European style spoon bolt. It is light and well balanced. I have not hunted in a long time but this would be one hell of a deer rifle.
