A few years ago my father in-law gave me an old rifle that was given to him back in 1967. he has never shot it because he didn’t know anything about it. from my initial observation I new that it was some sort of mauser. It turns out that it is a 1916 Gewehr98 mauser from the Spandau arsenal. it has been rebarreled and chambered for the 30-06 cartridge. when? we don't know. I had a gunshop cast the chamber to verify this. It has a sporterized stock, and a redfield peep sight. The rifle looks to be in great condition. The bolt locks up and works properly (three locking lugs). The safety works. So it seems that this rifle would be safe to hunt with. After a real good cleaning I took it to the range and fired 5 rounds of 30-06 M2 ball surplus through it. Everything seemed fine and the fired brass looked good as well. I want to get some hunting ammunition and hunt with it this year.
So, I was wondering if it would be safe to use modern hunting ammunition in this rifle? I was planning on using a standard 150 grain jacketed soft point. I’m think modern ammo is a little hotter than the M2 ball. But, is it too hot to shoot through this rifle safely? I won’t be using it as a plinker. I’ll shoot it enough to sight it in from the bench and hunt with it. I know Remington makes the reduced recoil ammo for the 30-06 (125 grainer) and I was considering using it. But, I would rather just buy some standard ammo. If the standard ammo isn’t safe to use then I’ll try the reduced recoil ammo. Any suggestions are welcome.