8mm rem mag data

[NONYA]

Looking for those experienced with the 8mag and 180 gr bullets.Ill be shooting 180 gr Barnes TSX loaded to the Nosler books max load with IMR 4350.Does anyone have experience with this load or a similar one so i can aquire some drop table knowledge from you before I start working on this next project?Thanx Guys gun)

 

[NONYA]

Looks like I can get 3090 out of a 200 grainer,anyone ever shot that load?

 

[Hicks]

Looking for those experienced with the 8mag and 180 gr bullets.Ill be shooting 180 gr Barnes TSX loaded to the Nosler books max load with IMR 4350.Does anyone have experience with this load or a similar one so i can aquire some drop table knowledge from you before I start working on this next project?Thanx Guys gun)

Nonya,

It's good to hear that there are others out there who like this cartridge. I tried a while ago to start a thread on this cartirdge but didn't have any takers. Obviously there are bigger and better cartridges, ones that will push heavier, slicker bullets faster. But there's just something magical about the 8mm Remington Magnum. I have some experience with the Big 8, I currently own two. The first one was a present from my folks in 1990 and I bought another one just this spring. The one I got in 1990 is currently undergoing a "long range" treatment, including a pillar bedding job and a 30" Lilja bbl. Over the years I tried the 200gr Partition, the 180gr Ballistic Tip and the 220gr Sierra Game King. BY FAR the best performance I had was with the Sierra. I can't remember the load exactly but it was right at max with H4831 (or H4831 SC). I was getting right at 2950 with a 24" factory bbl, .5" groups at 100 yards and I could regularly smack a 2' gong at 500 yards. I had horrible accuracy with the Ballistic Tip which I tried with RL25 and another powder I can't recall. The Partition was just a bit less accurate than the Sierra, and one sailed completely through, front to back, the first antelope I killed. Originally this was to be an Elk gun, but of course it shot so good that I used it on everything. I killed a huge bodied Muley buck at just under 300 yards with the Sierra and that bullet struck him with a great deal of authority. In my opinion I would stay away from the lighter bullets as they are desigend for the slower 8mm cartridges, and they have poor BCs. You might look up some articles by Craig Boddington as he is a big fan of the 8, infact one of the articles he wrote back in the 80's for G&A about it swayed me toward this cartridge as opposed to the .340 Wby.

The one I bought this spring will be my "African Plains Rifle", if I ever get there. It's got a break, synthetic stock and a solid Leupold 3-9. I'm planning on loading some Woodley 250gr Round Noses for it, and until I get to Africa this will be my go to "carry around in the woods" gun. Yeah, I've got lots of pistols but there's just something about 4100 pounds of energy that makes me smile. If you're interested I'll keep you up to speed as I work up a load this winter with the 30"bbl and the 220 Sierra.

Hicks.

 

[NONYA]

My father took the 8 mag to Alaska several times for moose and griz,Russia for griz and Africa for several species,it never failed to perform as advertised,he shot the 180gr Nosler Part at everything.The round is proven just isnt popular among the light shoulder crowds,I love it.Do you have a link on the barrel?

 

[sambo3006]

According to UPS, I have an MGM 8mm Rem Mag barrel waiting for me when I get home today! I was just cutting my teeth on centerfire rifles not long after the 8 mag came out and fell in love with it. I am a lefty, so never had owned one yet. Maybe Craig Boddington could send one my way!
I live in southwest Missouri where there is absolutely no need for one but nevertheless I have two friends who have one and they just love theirs. I do trek west for elk each year, where I'm sure mine will speak with authority. I plan to handload for mine but I am getting 2 boxes of 185 gr factory loads cheap from a friend, so have to make those go bang first. A 200 gr Partition or Accubond at over 3000 fps should fit the bill nicely. I plan to try IMR 7828 which has worked well in all the other large capacity magnums I have tried it in, providing excellent velocity and accuracy.

Good luck to you guys with yours!
Sam

 

[dogdinger]

hicks, i must have missed the thread you started because i would certainly have replied. i had an 8 mag for yrs and took all sorts of game with it.....moose, sheep, elk, mulies, pronghorn, .....carried it to alaska, canada and all over the west. i was shooting a 7 mag when my brother got this gun on a trade and sent it to me....he said "hell, why would you want to shoot a 160 gr bullet @ 3000fps when you can shoot a 200 gr pill the same speed?" i couldnt argue with that so i took it out and tried it.....first elk i shot with it was a big old cow @ about 400 yds....boom...tits up! i couldnt believe the results! i was hooked! this gun was never a tack driver, but when you put the crosshairs on meat it never missed. my favorite load was the 200 gr NP's and imr 4350....they cronoed right at 3050 out of my factory bbl. i made a fantastic shot once with this gun on an elk across a canyon....this was back before the days of rangefinders and pda's.....yrs later after getting a rangefinder i went back to the spot i shot from and ranged it........853yds....my longest shot to this day. AJ

 

[NONYA]

Does anyone have a med/heavy 8 mag barrel avaliable for the 700 rem action?gun)

 

[Hicks]

Does anyone have a med/heavy 8 mag barrel avaliable for the 700 rem action?gun)

I just ordered mine from Lilja.

Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels

I talked to Daniel quite a bit when I ordered it. Nice guy. I had it made to match as much as possible the factory contour because I wanted to reuse the factory stock. The gun has lots of sentimental value to me and I wanted to keep it as original as possible.

Hicks

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I agree and am also a fan of the 8 mag. The poor selection and quality of bullets available when this rifle came out killed it, not the performance. I have had experience with it since it first came out. For a while back in the 70's and early 80's the 220 gameking in the 8 mag and the 250 gameking in a 340 wby were about the best things going for long range elk on a standard magnum case. I have several custom rifles I built years ago necking the 8 mag case to 25, 264, 7mm and 30 caliber before anybody ever heard of an STW and whatever else they were called. It is an accurate case to work with. Matter of fact I was just loading some bullets for the 25-8mag last night for an upcoming deer hunt. 100 grain barnes at 3924 fps. Point and shoot hunting.

My last experience with it was taking caribou in Alaska. We were backpacking a load of meat out when a good herd of nice bulls came over the horizon. We had his 8 mag with us for grizzly protection. We dropped our packs and ran about a mile to get in front of them. My buddy shot the one he wanted first since it was his gun. Then he handed it to me and I shot the one I wanted before they got away. Both shots about a quarter mile and two bulls dropped like a rock.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I forgot to post you my data. These loads all produced right at 3000 fps with the 220 gameking. It is a good long range bullet for this gun. 82 gr. H-4831, 83.5 gr. WMR and 84.5 gr. Norma MRP. These all were right at max in the guns I used. I get started rambling and forget what I'm talking about. I found that happens more and more as you get older.

 

[kootenay]

good to find some 8 mag fans,
used mine for over 20 yrs, on sheep, caribou,bears,moose,
hopefully a bison this winter. my go to load has been 83 gr of h4831 cci250 mag primer and just about any 200 grain bullet, speer, norma, nosler, barnes
not the max load but always less than 1 MOA. have groups of .3 with a norma dual core 196 Gr.

matt

 

[600BP]

I apologize for jumping in on this so late. I have an 8mag that shoots lights out with the recommended 'accuracy' charge of H4831sc, an F215 primer, and 180gr Ballistic tip. It chrono'd at an average of 3050fps. The nosler guide shows approx 3054 fps. Absolute pole-axe on whitetails.

Just my two cents, for what its worth.

 

[Bruce A.]

I have had the 8MM RM since the second year of production. I have never been happy with the accuracy of my rifle. If I waited 1/2 hr between shots it shot well enough, but two shots 30 seconds apart were sometimes 6" apart. I worked for months trying to find the accurate handload to no avail.

Went through bedding several times; stocks, scopes, dampers, pressure points; nothing has given me the true 1/2 minute angle I thought possible. Last December I fired a rifle that had a Douglas Premium barrel installed. Number 7 Standard target contour, 26" long. I fired 3 shots in 90 seconds and held a nickel size group at 200 yds.

My rifle left today to have the same stainless steel Premium barrel installed. I will let you know how mine develops.

 

[600BP]

Wow. The only thing I did to my 8mag was glass bed the stock. I can tell you that the only two powders that worked well were 4831sc and 7828. No matter what bullet I put through the gun, these were powders of choice for some reason.