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Posted: 1/5/2015 4:20:33 PM EDT
| I stopped into my LGS today, they have a really nice FR8 for sale. The bluing looks 95% a little bit of wear on the bolt and the follower. Numbers match, and the stock is nice with some small dings and it has a sheen to it which doesn't look refinished. I've been looking at pictures and the sheen on the stock looks like a majority of the ones I've looked at so I'm thinking it's original. The owner said the barrel is from a HK. The little bit of research that I've done looks like HK barrels are rare if done at all. He's asking $200 and I can probably get that out the door. What do you guys think about it? I know it's hard without pics but I didn't take any in the shop. I think if I wanted to with the condition it's in I could almost double my money. |
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I doubt the FR8 has a HK barrel. The FR8 was outfitted with the barrel from a CETME, which was the Spanish predecessor to the HK G3. So he may be basing his statement off of cosmetics alone, in that it looks like a HK G3 barrel. Still, for $200 I'd grab it. An FR8 in the condition you described is easily worth 2x that. And they're a lot of fun to shoot anyway. (Just watch your knuckles when working the bolt quickly, as you can catch them on the rear sight if you aren't careful.)
And double-check to make sure it's not actually a FR7. Those are built on small ring Mauser 93 actions, and aren't as robust as the large ring Mauser 98 action on the FR8. The FR7s are generally believed to be unsafe to fire with modern ammo, though that's a point of much debate. The FR7 looks similar to the FR8, but will have a slightly different stock with no pistol grip, a bent bolt, and the receiver will be marked "FR-7". FR7 on top; FR8 below: 
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It's definitely a FR8, I made sure when I was looking at it because I had read about the FR7 being built on a weaker action. So with an FR8 I can shoot current manufacture .308 Win out of it? I'd stick to surplus 7.62 Nato pressure as a max. Sounds like a steal at two bills. |
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Really good price on that. Jump on it with both feet. Mine cost me $300 several years ago but it is a pretty one. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/johnrippert/FR8.jpg That's pretty much almost identical to the one I'm looking at, except the bolt on mine is blued. I called my friend and the shop and it's mine. $200 out the door, I'll pick it up later in the week. I appreciate all of your quick responses. When I looked at it and then saw the price I was sold, I just wanted some of your opinions first. I was looking at the ruger scout rifle but now there's no need and I saved myself about $600. Oh yeah, I told a friend two weeks ago that I wasn't going to buy any guns until Memorial Day this year. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, I'm so funny, I only lasted 5 days!!!! 
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BTW, don't turn down any FR-7's you may run across.
It's a never-ending Internet rumor the FR-7's are unsafe. They might be unsafe, but no more so than any other milsurp that could have a potential problem. HP White labs has tested other small-ring Mausers converted to 7.62 NATO, and they all survived overcharges to several times a proof load. |
| So am I good to go shooting modern .308 ammo through it? I have a bunch of federal American eagle. I'd prob shoot it when I first get it and then I'm thinkin about using it as a deer rifle. I like open sights and would keep it in it's original form. But it's so damn nice after I first shoot it and put 20-30 rounds through it I'll prob clean it and not really shoot it. |
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At the risk of riling some, the FR-8 was built using a large-ring action, and the FR-7 a small ring action. Both are, in theory, safe for shooting milsurp ball ammo.
But let's remember some things. 1) Generally speaking, milsurp NATO 7/62 ammo is middle of the road as far as .7.62/.308 ctg pressure goes. There are some civvy ctgs that are considerably hotter, and which generate more pressure. 2) While both are theoretically safe for milsurp ball, the large ring has a greater margin of robustness. It is rated to withstand higher pressures than the small ring Mauser, all other things being equal. 3) While I might have some confidence in a German, Austrian, or Swedish made Mauser being made of the best steel available at the time, and also made to high standards of workmanship, we are not speaking about such when we discuss FR-8s and FR-7s. Personally, I prefer the added margin of safety that comes with the FR-8, but that is personal preference. I haven't heard any reports of either rifle KB-ing when using Milsurp ball. Again, from personal preference, I would be hesitant to shoot .308 ammo that generated pressures higher than milsurp ball through an FR-7. YMMV |
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At the risk of riling some, the FR-8 was built using a large-ring action, and the FR-7 a small ring action. Both are, in theory, safe for shooting milsurp ball ammo. But let's remember some things. 1) Generally speaking, milsurp NATO 7/62 ammo is middle of the road as far as .7.62/.308 ctg pressure goes. There are some civvy ctgs that are considerably hotter, and which generate more pressure. 2) While both are theoretically safe for milsurp ball, the large ring has a greater margin of robustness. It is rated to withstand higher pressures than the small ring Mauser, all other things being equal. 3) While I might have some confidence in a German, Austrian, or Swedish made Mauser being made of the best steel available at the time, and also made to high standards of workmanship, we are not speaking about such when we discuss FR-8s and FR-7s. Personally, I prefer the added margin of safety that comes with the FR-8, but that is personal preference. I haven't heard any reports of either rifle KB-ing when using Milsurp ball. Again, from personal preference, I would be hesitant to shoot .308 ammo that generated pressures higher than milsurp ball through an FR-7. YMMV I'm asking about an FR8. I guess from what I'm getting is some of you are hesitant to say yes to modern .308 ball through the FR8. |
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I would have zero problems with shooting modern .308 ball out of an FR-8. None whatsoever. That's my opinion as well. It really shouldn't be a problem. Even a lot of the sporting ammo should be just fine. For the longer bullets, the one issue that might arise is the 1:12 barrel twist. The longer stuff may not stabilize, especially if we're talking about the heavy spitzer rounds. The sights are calibrated for standard NATO ball ammo. 7.62 CETME can be shot out of them as well, but I'm pretty sure the trajectory will be off from the sights. It's interesting to me for how long people were saying that's the best thing to use because of lower pressures when in fact Spanish military sources indicate that the CETME round has equal or relatively insignificantly lower pressure compared to the NATO round on account of using a faster-burning powder. |
| thanks for the replies. I'll shoot it with the American eagle that I have. Like I said I'll only probably put 30 rounds through it although I know is all it takes is one round to cause it to go kaboom but from everything I've read I think I'll be ok and take the chance. |
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thanks for the replies. I'll shoot it with the American eagle that I have. Like I said I'll only probably put 30 rounds through it although I know is all it takes is one round to cause it to go kaboom but from everything I've read I think I'll be ok and take the chance. The chances of it going kaboom with anything short of a blue pill is minuscule. You'll have other issues from failures before you get anywhere close to a kaboom. |
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