7.92 X 57mm Mauser - Military Use

Military Use

Due to the cartridge's high performance and versatility it was adopted by the armed forces of various governments, including Spain, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Iran, Israel, Turkey, China, Egypt, former German African colonies, and the early Bundeswehr of West Germany.

During World War II it was one of the few cartridges used by both the Axis and Allied powers, a distinction it shared with the 9×19mm Parabellum pistol round. Apart from being the standard rifle cartridge of the German armed forces, it was also used by the armed forces of Great Britain in the Besa machine gun, which was mounted in some of their tanks and other armoured vehicles. Later, when Egypt decided to manufacture the Hakim rifle, a licensed copy of the Swedish Ag m/42, they redesigned the breech to accept the Mauser cartridge rather than use the original Ag m/42 cartridge. Its military use continues today (2012) in the former Yugoslavia in the Zastava M76 sniper rifle and the license-built copy of the MG 42, the M53 Šarac machine gun.

Rifles formerly manufactured for the Wehrmacht and captured by the Allies were acquired by Israel and in 1948 played a critical role in the Israeli War for Independence. Israel, at the time, did not have a domestic arms industry and could not manufacture its own battle rifles, but it could produce replacement parts and refurbish existing weapons. Israel only used its Mauser rifles in their original configuration for a short period, however. When NATO countries created a standard rifle cartridge, the 7.62x51mm NATO, Israel replaced all of the 7.92x57mm Mauser barrels on its Mauser rifles with barrels chambered for the new cartridge.