Ammo

I have tried varying types of 8mm ammo in the M-48 and found it to be able to handle most.

Note: 48s seem to have problems feeding blunt/round nose cartridges. The feed ramp is not smooth  and the lead point of the partially jacketed round lead tip cartridge catches on the feed ramp and jams.

Reloading: I usually use a 140 Grain Semi-Spitzer .323 Bullet over a Remington Brass Case. 8mm rounds are pretty inexpensive to reload, the components are easy to find, and are widely available. There are a multitude of manufacturers of both brass and .323 caliber bullets. I use IMR 4064 powder, but there are others that work just as well. The powder charge I used for this test was 48 grains.

Commercial Ammo: You can also find loaded ammo - but you will pay a premium. On average, for commercial loaded 8mm, you will pay $11.00 on up for a box of 20 rounds.

Surplus Ammo: It is available - but most, if not all 8mm Surplus Ammo uses corrosive primers. If you are going to use corrosive ammo, make sure you properly clean your rifle bolt, bore, and receiver after you shoot. If you don't - then just go ahead and bury your rifle in the back yard now. The corrosive salts over time will eat right through the metal of the rifle. Before you use any gun cleaning solvents (which will NOT remove or break down the corrosive salts deposited in your rifle by surplus ammo), make sure you clean with either soapy water or do what I do - I use plain old household ammonia to clean out the corrosive salts. It works very well on breaking down the salts and removing them. I soak the disassembled bolt in a diluted (with water) ammonia solution and then run a couple of soaked patches through the rifle bore followed by a good bore brush.  After you are finished - rinse and dry all of the rifle and then clean your rifle (using solvents) like you normally do. To me this seems like a heck of a lot of trouble to shoot cheap ammo.

Shooting

Shooting the 48 is close to shooting the Russian m44. A short barreled rifle shooting a standard large rifle cartridge. The recoil is stout - but not unbearable. The overall weight of the rifle, 8.6 lbs., helps lesson the hit. For prolonged shooting I recommend using a shoulder pad. The impact of the rifle's stainless steel, cupped style butt plate could be softened a little this way.

Unlike usual, I did not choose to shoot at 100 yards, choosing to only shoot at 50 yards for this test. The wind was very strong and I did not think I would perform well all the way out at a 100 yards. I set up my first target and shot off two full magazines. All but two rounds placed in the black. I felt  I was ready to shoot for prosperity. I set up my target for recording my shots and loaded up. I fired off all five shots in quick succession. The target below shows the grouping I made. I was able to repeat this time after time. Overall the 48s shoot really well.