German WWII 8mm Mauser Steel Case / Steel Core FMJ - 300 Round Battle Pack

Original WWII German ammunition — perhaps the best ever produced! This is armor piercing ammunition with a hardened steel core and lacquered steel case. All we have seen in this lot have the headstamp "hlb" and date to 1943. These come in 300 round battle packs.

The German troops first experimented with the "Reversed bullet" as an early anti-tank method against the British heavy tanks of World War I. This technique was crude, but proved effective against Mark I tank models, although it was not safe for the infantry and soon became obsolete.

As a replacement, the Germans conceived the "K bullet", purposely developed as armor-piercing ammunition. The K bullet was in use by the Battle of Messines Ridge in June 1917 and had a one-in-three chance to penetrate 12–13mm thick armor at a range of up to 100 meters.

With the British deployment of the Mark IV tank, which had greater armor thickness, the K bullet proved ineffective, leading the Germans to design highly specialized anti-tank solutions including the powerful 13.2mm TuF cartridge and the first anti-tank rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr.

This is surplus ammunition. All sales are final.