8mm Mauser
The 8mm Mauser cartridge, also known as the 7.92 x 57mm and 7.9mm Mauser, first saw the light of day in 1888 when it was adopted by Germany’s armed forces for use in the Commission Model 88 rifle. The round itself came about as a result of France adopting the 8 x 50Rmm Lebel cartridge in 1886, which was the first small bore service rifle cartridge loaded with smokeless powder to be used by a major power. After various changes were made to its design in 1903, the 8mm Mauser continued on as the service cartridge for Germany’s armed forces for both World Wars One and Two. Although the 8mm Mauser round is normally thought of as strictly a German military cartridge, it was actually one of the most commonly encountered military cartridges of the 20th century with several countries adopting the round and various versions of Mauser rifles for use by their armed forces. Machineguns such as the Maxim, MG34, MG42, and ZB26 were chambered for the 8mm Mauser along with other automatic weapons such as the FG42. Egypt’s armed forces were still using the FN49 and Hakim semiauto rifles chambered in 8mm Mauser in the 1950’s so to say that the cartridge was a success as a military round is an understatement. It was also a very popular cartridge among European hunters and anyone living in or going to parts of Africa that had any sort of German influence. The 8mm Mauser is listed in both George Madis’s The Winchester Book and Philip B. Sharpe’s The Rifle in America as one of several metric cartridges available for the Winchester Model 54 bolt action rifle but it is conspicuously absent in The Rifleman’s Rifle by Roger C. Rule. There are Model 54s in existence that were made in odd calibers though and there are pictures in The Rifleman’s Rifle of one chambered for the .35 Whelen and another in .32 Win. Spl. so assuming Madis and Sharpe were correct, I suspect there were few, if any, 8mm Mauser Model 54s manufactured as I’ve never seen or heard of one. The Winchester Model 70 was, however, chambered for the 8mm Mauser in at least one instance and you can see a photo of a Class 1 Special Order:Target Rifle with the barrel marked 7.92mm MAUSER (serial #121,931) on page 269 of The Rifleman’s Rifle. An uncommon rifle, to say the least.
The 8mm Mauser cartridge, when it was first introduced, was regarded by military authorities as a small bore. Which seems odd in this day and age of the U.S. military using the 5.56mm NATO as its standard rifle cartridge and civilian shooters buying rifles chambered for the .223 Remington by the truckload. However, it doesn’t seem so odd when you consider that practically all of the military cartridges in use prior to the introduction of the 8mm Mauser were large bore, black powder rounds such as the .43 Mauser (aka 11.15 x 60Rmm), 11 x 60Rmm Murata or .45-70 Government. They fired large, heavy, lead bullets that generally weighed around 400 grains or so at roughly 1,400 feet per second with trajectories that resembled the arc of a rainbow. The black powder used as a propellant produced large clouds of smoke that often obscured the target and alerted the enemy to the shooter’s position. Recoil levels with cartridges such as the .45-70 Govt. loaded with the 405 grain bullet were usually high enough that it became detrimental to accurate shooting after prolonged firing. It was enough of a problem that the U.S. Army actually issued a .45-70 Govt. round for use by the cavalry that used a lighter powder charge to help lessen the recoil. There was also quite a bit of fouling in the bores after a moderate amount of shooting with black powder cartridges, enough to cause a drop in accuracy and difficult chambering of fresh rounds. The invention of smokeless powder (nitrocellulose) by the French chemist Paul Vielle (b.1854-d.1934) in 1884 eliminated the detrimental aspects of black powder but did so at the expense of much higher working pressures. It took a lot of experimentation to design guns that would handle the higher working pressures, along with the jacketed bullets that could be safely driven to the higher velocities the new powder was capable of producing, but the ordnance experts and experimenters of the day got the job done. I’m sure there were a lot of guns blown up along the way but the end result was a quantum leap forward in firearms technology.
The 7.92 x 57mm/8mm Mauser cartridge, as introduced in 1888, was loaded with a .318” diameter roundnose, full metal jacket bullet weighing 227 grains. Ludwig Olson in Mauser Bolt Rifles, 3rd ed., pg. 42 (the bible for Mauser enthusiasts) refers to this round as the “Commission Model 88 Cartridge.” Olson lists the muzzle velocity at 2,034 fps from a 29.13” barrel. I’ve never had the opportunity to own one but according to the available literature, the Commission Model 88 Rifle chambered in 8mm Mauser that was adopted by the German armed forces was a weapon which blended the ideas of black powder Mauser rifles, the French Model 1886 Lebel and the en-bloc magazine system of Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher. Unlike the 8 x 50Rmm Lebel cartridge, which was rimmed, the 8mm Mauser was of rimless design and the case was the basis for many of the cartridges designed by the Mauser firm during the 20th century for use in their bolt action rifles. For all you trivia buffs, Olson does point out that technically, the 8mm Mauser round does have a rim but since it isn’t larger in diameter than the case body, it is generally referred to as a rimless design. Olson may be right but I prefer to think of the 8mm Mauser as a rimless cartridge because the only cartridge I have ever heard of that would qualify as rimless according to Olson’s strict definition is the 6.5mm Bergmann cartridge, designed for the Bergmann Model 1896 pistol. The 6.5mm Bergmann cartridge had no extraction groove and relied on the pressure created by the powder burning in its case to operate the blowback action, extracting and ejecting the fired case in the process. Anyone interested in learning more about the Commission Model 88 Rifle and its accompanying cartridge would be well advised to read Ludwig Olson’s article The German Rifle 88 in Rifle #77, just as anyone interested in learning about Bergmann pistols should pick up a copy of Handguns of the World by Edward C. Ezell.
I’m sure the Commission Model 88 Rifle was a fine weapon for its day but like most things designed by committee, it wasn’t long before shortcomings in the design prompted German military authorities to consider a replacement and on April 5, 1898 the Mauser Model 98 was adopted as standard issue for the German armed forces. The .318” bullet diameter was carried over from the Commission Model 88 Rifle but in 1903, the 7.92mm service cartridge was redesigned to use a 154 grain, .323” diameter, flat-base spitzer bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,936 feet per second (29.13” barrel) and given the designation of 7.9mm S (S=Spitzgeschoss) by German authorities. General issue of the 7.9mm S round began in 1905 and while it was a definite step in the right direction, it soon became obvious during World War 1 that a heavier bullet with better downrange performance was needed, especially for use in machineguns. During the war, the bullet weight was increased to 198 grains, reshaped to include a boattail and given the designation of 7.9mm sS (sS=schweres Spitzgeschoss). Olson lists the muzzle velocity of the 7.9mm sS round as 2,575 fps from a 29.13” barrel and states that the sS round was originally intended to be used only in machineguns. Olson’s research shows the S and sS cartridges were in use up until the eve of World War 2 when the sS was made standard for both rifles and machineguns. The 7.9mm SmE (Spitzgeschoss mit Eisenkern) and SmE (lang) (Spitzgeschoss mit Eisenkern lang) rounds were also used during World War 2 with bullet weights of 178 grains and 162 grains respectively. The two rounds were created because there was an insufficient quantity of lead on hand during World War 2 in Germany and had mild steel bullet cores. There are many more specialized 8mm Mauser rounds that were made over the course of history and anyone wanting to learn more about them should invest in a couple of good references and read them thoroughly, with anything written by Ludwig Olson at the top of the list.
After the change to .323” bullets, the older .318” caliber was given the designation of 8mm J (or I) while the new .323” caliber was designated as 8mm S. Ludwig Olson describes the process of converting a J bore rifle chamber to S specifications through the use of a special chamber-neck reamer in an article he wrote for Rifle #76 titled The Confusing 8x57mm. Olson doesn’t specify the exact number of rifles converted to S specification but does note the conversion process started about 1904-1905, continued until World War One and included Model 98, Commission Model 88 and Commission Model 91 rifles. Many Commission Model 88 and Commission Model 91 Mauser rifles were converted to fire the 8mm S cartridge by only having the chamber neck enlarged with no other modification made to the barrel, resulting in the possibility of a rifle that has a barrel with a groove diameter that is designed for the 8mm J (I) round (.318” bullet diameter) that will chamber an 8mm S round (.323” bullet diameter). I would not fire 8mm S rounds in any Commission Model 88 or Commission Model 91 Mauser rifle that has been modified in this manner as it is definitely not safe to do so. Another reason to proceed with caution when using 8mm Mauser rifles is that many of the older sporting rifles were left in their original condition after the introduction of the 8mm S cartridge, with the result that it is possible to find two Mauser rifles that, while they may look the same from the outside, fire ammunition that is not compatible with either. Olson mentions in Mauser Bolt Rifles, 3rd ed., pg. 235-236 that many folks in the German gun trade referred to the 8mm J (I) bullet diameter (.318”) as the Model 88 or “Normal” caliber and that there was an effort made in 1951 to make it the standard specification for the 8mm Mauser cartridge. The idea was dropped in 1952 after large numbers of rifles with S bores came out of the woodwork and were registered with the German government. Olson also notes that in Germany, the J bore was considered the more accurate of the 2 bullet diameters by many gunsmiths and hunters, which helps explain why it lasted as long as it did.
This is one of the reasons that American ammunition manufacturers have for many years refused to load 8mm Mauser cartridges to their full potential. There are too many of the Commission Model 88, Commission Model 91 and older Model 98 Mauser rifles that can only safely fire 8mm Mauser ammo loaded with .318” bullets and the last thing any company making ammunition in the U.S. wants to face is a lawsuit after a careless shooter fires full power 8mm Mauser ammo loaded with .323” bullets in a rifle meant to be shot with .318” bullets. Olson mentions in Mauser Bolt Rifles, 3rd ed., pg. 235-236 that shortly after World War One, Remington, Peters and Winchester offered reduced power 8mm Mauser cartridges loaded with .323” 170 grain bullets that had thin jackets, which allowed the bullets to squeeze through J barrels (.318” groove) or expand to fit S barrels (.323” groove). I suppose it may have limited the liability of American ammunition companies but it was not conducive to attaining maximum performance. Which is really a shame since 8mm Mauser ammo loaded to its full potential is very similar to the .30-06 Springfield in terms of downrange ballistics, making it a fine cartridge for hunting deer and similar sized game. Most gun enthusiasts in the U.S. have seen many old 98 Mausers chambered in 8mm Mauser for sale over the years with S bores and have had the opportunity to own them but 8mm Mauser rifles with J bores are relatively uncommon here. That does not mean anyone shooting an 8mm Mauser rifle should take a lackadaisical approach to what they fire in their rifles as a mistake can result in permanent, serious injury or death. If you have an 8mm Mauser rifle and have any doubts about its chamber or barrel dimensions, have a Cerrosafe casting made of the chamber and barrel by a gunsmith before firing it.
One benefit of the 8mm Mauser’s ubiquity is the seemingly endless supply of surplus military ammunition available to American shooters. Most of the ammo I’ve seen over the last 25 years has been Berdan primed but some has been loaded with Boxer primers. I once had a batch of free 8mm Mauser ammo that came from Israel that was Boxer primed and the stuff looked like it was picked up on some long forgotten battlefield, complete with an old German ammo can filled with mud. Surprisingly enough, it all shot quite well once I pulled the bullets, discarded the powder and primers, cleaned the cases, annealed the necks and reloaded them. I didn’t take the time to weigh every bullet to see how consistent they were but I did weigh a representative sample and if memory serves, they weighed 198 grains each. I regularly shot groups at 100 yards that I could cover with a silver dollar with those bullets so I had nothing to complain about and the brass was of surprisingly good quality. I did make an effort to make sure my reloads were as consistent as possible, which I like to think helped make my reloads more accurate than most surplus cartridges, but I do that with all my handloads anyway. As for the ammo loaded with Berdan primers, most of what I have seen is very corrosive, even when the label says it isn’t. I bought some 8mm Mauser ammo about 15 years ago at what I thought then was a laughably cheap price, since the vendor assured me it was noncorrosive. I didn’t have a headstamp reference on hand when I bought the ammo but the AA headstamp is listed inside the cover of German 7.9mm Military Ammunition by Daniel W. Kent and according to that reference, the ammo is of Argentine origin. Which only deepened the mystery since the vendor told me it came from Ecuador and left me wondering if it may have actually come from a third country altogether since 8mm Mauser ammo has been made in practically every corner of the globe.
In any case, I thought there was a good chance the ammo was noncorrosive but just to make sure, I pulled the bullet and powder from one round, placed a shiny nail inside the case, chambered it in my Yugoslavian M48 rifle, pointed it in a safe direction and fired it. I made sure to clean the rifle I used for the test immediately with hot, soapy water to get rid of any potentially corrosive salts that may have been deposited in the bore and action and after letting the case and nail sit overnight, I took a look at them and lo and behold, the nail had a fine sheen of rust on it. So much for the ammo being noncorrosive! I can’t take credit for developing this technique as I originally read about it in an old issue of (if I remember correctly) Machinegun News (now called Small Arms Review) but it is the best way I know of to check if ammo is loaded with corrosive primers. The only good thing that came out of this process is that I now have a nail that, after scrubbing it with a brush and hot water, has taken on a very nice rust blue.
Naturally I was a bit perturbed when I realized that I had been sold a bill of goods but I decided that it wasn’t worth trying to track down the vendor to demand a refund and kept it all. The stuff isn’t match grade but it does print groups that measure about 3” to 4” center to center at 100 yards using iron sights, which seems to be about average for most old lots of military ball ammo I’ve tried over the last 25 years. Typical of a lot of 8mm Mauser surplus ammo I’ve shot in 98ks and other Mauser military rifles, the point of impact was about 9” above the point of aim at 100 yards. What is also typical of some surplus ammo I’ve shot over the years is the large number of misfires I experienced with this batch of (Argentine?) 8mm Mauser rounds. About one out of every 5 rounds failed to fire and after pulling the bullets (which turned out to be .323”, 198 grain, full metal jacket, spitzer boattails) it was obvious that none of the powder exhibited any signs whatsoever of combustion so the only conclusion I can come to is that the primers were duds. Some of the bullet bases showed signs of corrosion so it is possible that the ammo was stored in less than optimal conditions at some point. I decided that I didn’t want to give up on this batch of ammo just yet and as I thought about it a bit, I realized that the firing pin may not be hitting the primer with a sufficient amount of force due to leftover grease in the bolt body. I tried cleaning the bolt assembly, paying particular attention to ensuring that the interior of the bolt was clean and that all the moving parts had a thin coat of oil. The rate of misfires declined to about half the original amount but that still left me with several hundred rounds of unreliable ammo that I am not overly enthused about using. Needless to say, this batch of ammo will most likely be dismantled for their bullets with the cases and powder safely disposed of.
Some of the 98 Mausers I’ve owned over the years have been quite accurate shooters, at least as far as rack grade military rifles go, but I’ve never had one that would print a group to point of aim at 100 yards out of the box, so to speak. As I mentioned earlier, my M48 with the original front sight prints its groups about 9” high at 100 yards with the batch of AA 1955 ammo I have and as much sense as it may have made to Yugoslavian military authorities at the time it was manufactured, it is all but useless to me that way so I replaced the front sight with one made by Brownells that is specifically made to fit the metric dovetail. It also has enough excess metal on it to provide a good fit in the front sight slot and is tall enough for me to file it down to the appropriate height. The new sight’s squared-off profile also allows me to see the front post very clearly, unlike the inverted V my M48 came with originally that would become blurry in my vision and was so loose I could move it with my fingers. The replacement front sight was high enough for my rifle to initially shoot about 24 inches low at 100 yards but after filing the sight down and checking my progress by firing groups as I went along, the point of impact gradually rose till it was about 3 inches high at the same range, a process which took me several days to do. I plan to use a file to cut the rear sight’s V notch into a wider, deeper, square profile that will make it much easier for me to use the new front sight but that will occur at a later date. Windage adjustments were made initially with a small brass hammer but after the first range session with the new front sight installed, I saw the futility of trying to make accurate adjustments with a hammer and subsequently used a Williams front sight pusher instead. Which is probably what I should have used in the first place but I was in such a rush to go to the range that day that I forgot to bring several items that are normally in my range bag, one of which was my Williams front sight pusher. By the way, if you own a 98 Mauser that isn’t accurate and you know that your ammo isn’t at fault, you may want to check the bedding. German military 98 Mausers and their derivatives usually have a steel pillar in the rear guard screw hole and a steel crossbolt that the recoil lug rests on, preventing compression of the stock and allowing consistent bedding at those 2 points. There was also a specific bedding process that was used by Mauser for 98k rifles that is described by Ludwig Olson in Mauser Bolt Rifles, 3rd ed., pg. 120. Assuming that the pillar and crossbolt are in good shape and the stock is bedded properly, it should be possible to make any military 98 Mauser shoot well.
Thankfully, it is possible for handloaders to create their own 8mm Mauser rounds and in the process, get the kind of performance the cartridge is capable of delivering. That’s assuming, of course, that it is going to be fired in a suitably strong rifle with the correct barrel groove diameter. 98 Mausers that are in good condition certainly qualify as do practically all of today’s modern, centerfire rifles. Remington manufactured a short run of their Model 700 Classic that was chambered in 8mm Mauser and I’m sorry I didn’t buy one. I’m sure it would be a fine hunting rifle and I hope to find one someday that is still new in the box so I can add it to my collection. Al Miller wrote about his 8mm Mauser Remington 700 Classic in Rifle #243 and the impression I got is that it is a fine shooter and a rifle that he is very fond of. At one time, there weren’t too many good 8mm bullets available to handloaders but a quick look at the Midway USA Master Catalog #34 shows 8mm bullets being offered by Barnes, Hornady, Norma, Nosler, Remington, Sierra, Speer, Swift and Woodleigh. Bullet weights range from 150 grains to 250 grains with some tough enough to be driven at velocities more appropriate for the 8mm Remington Magnum. Sierra offers several bullet weights in 8mm but the 220 grain Sierra Gameking softpoint is just such a bullet as it was originally designed for the 8mm Remington Magnum and is constructed more heavily than is necessary for the 8mm Mauser cartridge. In fact, the Sierra Reloading Manual, 5th ed. only recommends its use on targets as it will not give reliable expansion on game at 8mm Mauser velocities and I concur with Sierra’s recommendation. I would also be hesitant to use Sierra’s 8mm 200 grain MatchKing for anything but target use for the opposite reason as it is not constructed heavily enough for big game. Hornady offers 150, 170 and 195 grain InterLock softpoints in 8mm and Speer offers a similar lineup with their 150, 170 and 200 grain 8mm Hot-Cors. The 8mm 200 grain Speer, like Sierra’s 8mm 220 grain and Hornady’s 8mm 195 grain, was designed for use in the 8mm Rem. Mag. so it may not be suitable for anything but target practice if it is loaded in the 8mm Mauser cartridge. At one time, Hornady offered an 8mm 125 grain softpoint (#3230) along with a 220 grain (#3238) but both have been discontinued for some time now. Swift and Woodleigh make 8mm bullets too but I’ve never tried them because of their relatively high cost. Woodleigh does make a 250 grain Weldcore roundnose bullet in 8mm if you need a strong bullet that will provide deep penetration but be prepared to pay extra for premium performance.
The bullet I reload the most for practice ammo is the 8mm 185 grain Remington Core-Lokt and it is usually very accurate. I can buy them in bulk packs of 500 in the U.S. for about $130.00 and they have worked well in my Yugoslavian M48, as well as my 8mm Rem. Mag. Remington Model 700 Classic, at least on paper. During one of my initial sighting in sessions with my Yugoslavian M48 using ammo loaded with Winchester 748 powder and 8mm 185 grain Remington Core-Lokts (after installing the taller front sight from Brownells) the first 3 rounds fired landed about 10 inches low at 8 o’clock at 100 yards and made a group that measured one inch. Obviously, I still had quite a bit of filing and adjustment to do on the front sight that day to bring the point of impact up but it was nice to see that this particular M48 has the potential to be a very good shooter. What little I’ve read about the 8mm 185 grain Remington Core-Lokt indicates that it was originally meant to be used in 8mm Remington Magnum ammo so their construction is probably a bit too stout for optimal use in the 8mm Mauser but I have no complaints about their accuracy and will continue to load them for both rounds. Suitable powders for the 8mm Mauser cartridge are made by every major powder company so it is just a matter of trying a few to see which one works the best. I used Winchester 748 for many years because I had a large supply on hand and while I am very happy with its performance, I have very little left and before I buy anymore, I may try Alliant Reloader 15, IMR 4064 or Hodgdon Varget.
Although most shooters and collectors associate the 7.92 x 57mm/8mm Mauser with Germany’s Karabiner 98k rifle and the MG42 machinegun, the 8mm Mauser round has been and still is an excellent sporting cartridge and many different types of firearms in Germany have been chambered for it. Some of the finest ever made were Mauser’s commercial Model 98 sporters made in Oberndorf am Neckar before World War 2 and if you own one of them, you should feel very fortunate indeed. They are some of the best sporting rifles ever made anywhere in the world and are prized by hunters and collectors, with correspondingly high price tags to match. The well known African hunter Denis Lyell used a 7.9mm Rigby Mauser and considered it an excellent choice for big game hunting. In many ways, Lyell was like W.D.M. Bell in that he preferred small bore rifles and put them to good use in Africa. Lyell mentions in Memories of an African Hunter that he bought this particular Rigby, a takedown model, because 8mm Mauser ammo was easily procured in the part of Africa he was then hunting in and apparently used it to good effect. In Lyell’s own words, “I was very successful with this little rifle, and killed nearly every species of game in Central Africa with it, from bull elephants to duikers.” His rifle was for sale at John Rigby & Co.’s old shop at 66 Great Suffolk Street in June 1993 and although I don’t know what it sold for, I’m sorry I didn’t scrape together the funds to buy it as it has undoubtedly gotten more valuable since.
As beautiful as the commercial German and British Mausers are, it’s more likely that American shooters will encounter the Yugoslavian or Czech derivatives of the 98 Mauser rifle, if for no other reason than the fact that they have been imported recently in large quantities to the U.S. I’ve owned several 98 Mausers over the years and I’ve learned that while they are all the same basic design, some are definitely keepers while others should be relegated to the scrap heap. I once had a Yugoslavian 98 Mauser about 20 years ago that was basically an arsenal refurbished 98k which would regularly shoot 1.5” groups with select handloads. On a good day, it would do a bit better and it came as quite a surprise to me the first time I saw how well it could shoot because I assumed that with 40 years or so of hard use I would be lucky to get groups twice that size. Unfortunately, that particular rifle was stolen many years ago and since then, I’ve tried the Yugoslavian M48 that I used to shoot the corrosive ammo I mentioned earlier, along with several commercial Mausers of German, Czech or British persuasion in various calibers. The Yugoslavian M48 is one of the roughest rifles I have ever owned, something I didn’t expect since I had mostly been exposed to German made Mausers in the past and as a rule, they are very well made. I realize the M48 was made during Yugoslavia’s experiment with their particular form of communism so I don’t expect much in the way of refinement but it was difficult just to work the action when I first got it and there are tool marks all over it. The stock has a length of pull of 12.5 inches, which is about 2 inches shorter than I prefer so I installed a slip-on recoil pad to get the length of pull to 13.5 inches. It’s still too short for my taste but it does help me shoot better with it and keeps the steel buttplate from bashing my shoulder to mush after a day at the range. To give the M48 its due, it is beginning to smooth up but it is definitely not in the same league as an Oberndorf Mauser or a pre-war 98k. I don’t plan to sell it anytime soon but what I would really like to have is a commercial, Oberndorf Mauser Model 98 chambered in 8mm Mauser with the S bore. I suspect I won’t have one anytime soon though as they are getting scarce and expensive but it’s always nice to hope. Bottom line, if you have a 98 Mauser rifle chambered for the 8mm Mauser round that shoots well and is in good shape, get out there and use it. You might be surprised at how nice a rifle it is and how really good the 8mm Mauser cartridge can be.
Anyone that has been around guns long enough knows that our Second Amendment rights are constantly under attack and have been probably since the founding of our country. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) have begun investigating recent allegations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) ran programs referred to as “Project Gunrunner” and “Fast and Furious” to help facilitate the illegal export of guns from the U.S. to Mexico. Sen. Grassley has also begun investigating the possibility that one of the guns ATF allegedly allowed into Mexico may have been used to kill U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. All of this apparently came to light when ATF whistleblowers gave Sen. Grassley the documentation he needed to begin a Senate inquiry. Allegations have also been made that BATFE did this to make it look as though there is a gunrunning crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, ostensibly as an excuse to keep their budget from being cut. There have already been complaints made by Rep. Darrell Issa that ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson has failed to produce documents requested by his office.
Which comes as no surprise to me since the first reaction of any agency of the government that finds itself in hot water is to stonewall as long as possible. If any of this is true, then it is the duty of the U.S. Department of Justice to criminally prosecute and imprison any BATFE employee involved. Again, if the allegations are true, then the least that Congress can do is defund BATFE, dismantle any programs they administer that have no effect on crime (of which there are probably many) and look into the possibility of transferring BATFE’s any remaining law enforcement duties to other agencies. If the allegations of illegal activity by BATFE are true, it would just be another instance of immoral, illegal behavior that seems to have occurred on a perennial basis at an agency that has had problems with this sort of thing since the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed into law, which in itself was a mistake. The danger that such an arm of the U.S. Government poses to the civil liberties of American citizens is too great to ignore and it is time for the American public to demand a full accounting of BATFE. If nothing else, let your elected representatives know in a polite manner how you feel about this issue. President Obama is alleged to have told Sarah Brady, a notorious advocate of gun control, that he will pursue the implementation of more restrictions on guns but it will be “under the radar.” If true, and I see no reason to doubt it since Obama is definitely no friend of gunowners, I would think that what has allegedly happened at BATFE would fit in well with just such a scheme. If you want to help protect our 2nd Amendment rights, the least you can do is join The Firearms Coalition and the NRA, two of my favorite gun organizations and both stalwart defenders of our civil liberties. The Tea Party movement is still active, made up of members that have a lot in common with gunowners, and deserves our support. If you don’t stand up for your rights now, you may not get the chance later and your descendants will wonder why you didn’t care enough about them to guarantee they have the same rights that we all enjoy today. -- John Swikart (June 16, 2011)
Copyright June 2011 John Swikart
