From: bercov@bevsun.bev.lbl.gov (John Bercovitz)
Subject: Re: novice wants advice
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California

#In article <35897@mimsy.umd.edu> MEDELMA@cms.cc.wayne.edu 
#(Michael Edelman) writes:
#But be careful of the 8mm Mausers. It's a fine cartridge, but there
#are *two* different 8mm bores! Modern ammunition is generally sized
#for the smaller bore, which means if you shoot it in a gun with the
#larger bore you'll have pretty rotten accuracy. 

_CAUTION_
I'm sure this is t'other way round.  The earlier guns (88s) had the 
J bore which was .318.  The later ones have the S bore which is .323.  
Modern ammo is .323.  If you fire modern ammo in one of the older rifles 
with the tighter bore, something will likely give.  Even early '98s had
the J bore.  Later, most or all of the 98s were re-barreled to .323.
But the J-bore 88s are still around, waiting to be blown up by modern
ammo.  If I'm wrong, flame me.  But please check it out first.  Thanks.

     JHBercovitz@lbl.gov    (John Bercovitz)

PS: Also, the allowable chamber pressure in the 88s may well be lower than 
in the 98s making this doubly dangerous.