German government driven efforts to further improve on the performance of the military M/88 ammunition and the service arms in which the M/88 was used after several development steps eventually resulted in the official adoption on 3 April 1903 by the "Gewehr-Prüfungskommission" of the dimensionally redesigned 8mm Mauser chambering. Besides the chambering, the bore (designated as "S-bore") was also dimensionally redesigned. The 1903 pattern "S Patrone" (S ball cartridge) was loaded with a lighter , pointed "Spitzgeschoß" (spire point bullet) of diameter and more powerful double-base (based on nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin) smokeless powder resulting in nearly 38% higher muzzle velocity and 27% more muzzle energy. The operating pressure was . With the improved ballistic coefficient of the new bullet, the 1903 pattern cartridge had an improved maximum effective range and a flatter trajectory, and was therefore less critical of range estimation compared to the M/88 cartridge.