mgood
Beginner
- May 6, 2015
- 27
- 2
Hi. First post here.
I recently bought a used Remington 700 BDL in 8mm Rem Mag.
I also bought 60 rds Nosler Custom ammo loaded with 200 gr AccuBonds (at a claimed 3000 fps). As high as that stuff is, buying just the Nosler brass is almost as high, so I got the factory ammo to shoot up. 19 have gone down range so far. It does wallop the ol' shoulder a bit. Also have 50 200 gr AB bullets and want to get some others to try. 1000 Federal 215M sit on my shelf along with a pound of H4831SC and a pound of Reloader 22. I don't have any dies yet.
Pictured here wearing a Leupold VX-3 6.5-20x40mm that I robbed off my 22-250 just to play with. It will eventually have a lower-power scope to catch that charging grizzly.
Bullets I want to try include:
Barnes 200 gr TSX
Hawk 220 gr (maybe the 250 gr too)
Nosler 200 gr AccuBond (wish they'd make a 220-230)
Nosler 200 gr Partition
Sierra 220 gr GameKing
Swift 220 gr A-Frame
If I wanted to shoot sub-200 gr bullets, I'd have gotten a 300 mag of some sort and done it with better BC and SD. I think 200+ grain bullets are needed to make the Big 8 shine.
I hunt mostly smaller critters for which an 8 mag would be overkill.
I wanted to go on an aoudad hunt and wanted something a little more powerful than my 25-06. I was trying to decide what I wanted. I don't have the money to do a lot of big-game hunting, but I'd like to do some. A good aoudad rifle should also be a good elk rifle. And why not try to find something that'll be a decent choice for anything in North America bigger/tougher than deer? That gets me thinking about really big bears, which I'd like to hunt at least once some day. I looked at everything from 30-06 Sprg to 375 H&H, even briefly looked at some calibers that start with 4. 338 Win Mag seemed like a great choice, but I couldn't decide between that and the 300 Win Mag. Wanted something in between.
I thought a 325 WSM might be just what I needed. But I started worrying that it wouldn't launch the heavier bullets at the velocities I wanted. And with lighter bullets the 300 WSM would out-perform the 325.
I may eventually build a rifle for a 325 WSM with the bullets seated a little longer than SAAMI spec, out to maybe 3.06" COAL, so that the longer bullets are not jammed down in the case body occupying space which could otherwise be filled with powder. I think it could match 8mm RM performance, or at least 8x68S performance, which is nearly the same thing. The WSM is so close already that I think it wouldn't take much to make it a near-perfect 8mm. And I could do it on a shorter action. (Defiance Machine makes an "XM" size action which will feed cartridges up to 3.20" COAL.) That project has been put on the back burner since I got the Big 8.
Another thought was building a wildcat by necking the 375 Ruger down to .323". That may happen someday, but it too has become a low priority since I have the 8RM.
I've even contacted Nosler to plead for a 32 Nosler, promising to buy one of their Nosler rifles so chambered if they make it.
I don't dig the belted mag. The belt is just so out of date and serves no purpose today. And a shorter, fatter powder column would be more efficient. I got the 8mmRM because it was something I could get now, but it will not be my last 8mm mag. I do LOVE it's performance (though I need a better recoil pad
).
The 8x68mm Schuler gets near equal performance with a lot less powder. Unfortunately they seem un-gettable on this side of the pond.
I've been reading some old posts here concerning the 8mm Rem Mag from back in 2010 and 2012, so I know there are (or were) some people here interested in and reloading for this cartridge.
Mike
I recently bought a used Remington 700 BDL in 8mm Rem Mag.
I also bought 60 rds Nosler Custom ammo loaded with 200 gr AccuBonds (at a claimed 3000 fps). As high as that stuff is, buying just the Nosler brass is almost as high, so I got the factory ammo to shoot up. 19 have gone down range so far. It does wallop the ol' shoulder a bit. Also have 50 200 gr AB bullets and want to get some others to try. 1000 Federal 215M sit on my shelf along with a pound of H4831SC and a pound of Reloader 22. I don't have any dies yet.
Pictured here wearing a Leupold VX-3 6.5-20x40mm that I robbed off my 22-250 just to play with. It will eventually have a lower-power scope to catch that charging grizzly.
Bullets I want to try include:
Barnes 200 gr TSX
Hawk 220 gr (maybe the 250 gr too)
Nosler 200 gr AccuBond (wish they'd make a 220-230)
Nosler 200 gr Partition
Sierra 220 gr GameKing
Swift 220 gr A-Frame
If I wanted to shoot sub-200 gr bullets, I'd have gotten a 300 mag of some sort and done it with better BC and SD. I think 200+ grain bullets are needed to make the Big 8 shine.
I hunt mostly smaller critters for which an 8 mag would be overkill.
I wanted to go on an aoudad hunt and wanted something a little more powerful than my 25-06. I was trying to decide what I wanted. I don't have the money to do a lot of big-game hunting, but I'd like to do some. A good aoudad rifle should also be a good elk rifle. And why not try to find something that'll be a decent choice for anything in North America bigger/tougher than deer? That gets me thinking about really big bears, which I'd like to hunt at least once some day. I looked at everything from 30-06 Sprg to 375 H&H, even briefly looked at some calibers that start with 4. 338 Win Mag seemed like a great choice, but I couldn't decide between that and the 300 Win Mag. Wanted something in between.
I thought a 325 WSM might be just what I needed. But I started worrying that it wouldn't launch the heavier bullets at the velocities I wanted. And with lighter bullets the 300 WSM would out-perform the 325.
I may eventually build a rifle for a 325 WSM with the bullets seated a little longer than SAAMI spec, out to maybe 3.06" COAL, so that the longer bullets are not jammed down in the case body occupying space which could otherwise be filled with powder. I think it could match 8mm RM performance, or at least 8x68S performance, which is nearly the same thing. The WSM is so close already that I think it wouldn't take much to make it a near-perfect 8mm. And I could do it on a shorter action. (Defiance Machine makes an "XM" size action which will feed cartridges up to 3.20" COAL.) That project has been put on the back burner since I got the Big 8.
Another thought was building a wildcat by necking the 375 Ruger down to .323". That may happen someday, but it too has become a low priority since I have the 8RM.
I've even contacted Nosler to plead for a 32 Nosler, promising to buy one of their Nosler rifles so chambered if they make it.
I don't dig the belted mag. The belt is just so out of date and serves no purpose today. And a shorter, fatter powder column would be more efficient. I got the 8mmRM because it was something I could get now, but it will not be my last 8mm mag. I do LOVE it's performance (though I need a better recoil pad
).The 8x68mm Schuler gets near equal performance with a lot less powder. Unfortunately they seem un-gettable on this side of the pond.
I've been reading some old posts here concerning the 8mm Rem Mag from back in 2010 and 2012, so I know there are (or were) some people here interested in and reloading for this cartridge.
Mike
