8MM Remington Mag Questions

[Edd]

A lot of people seem to like the 300 Weatherby. It has great ballistics. I am within days of receiving a Ruger #1 300 wm, and the seller has 2 300 Weatherby's that he loves. It may be the next big caliber I buy. I'll see how much I like the 300 wm first. It may be all I can handle without a break. It doesn't have a break so I'd guess if I had a Weatherby I'd opt for a break, but then again there may be ways around that?? What is the deal with 300 Weatherby brass? Are they the only brass maker? Is it a good case design? Does it require large amounts of freebore or is that just the way Weatherby makes their rifles? The ballistics look awesome.

A 300 Weatherby and an 8mm Rem mag have identical case capacities. I never used a brake on mine but about 15 years ago I decided a 7 mag was more comfortable. I haven't shot anything bigger that a 7mm Rem mag in a long time.

 

[bullelk6]

i would follow bergers recs on setting up a load for your 8mag.i did what they suggest and got mine to shhot 1/2 moa.you need to measure youre chambers coal load some rounds of your liking at different oal length measured at the ogive and shoot to find the right spot.it is not cheap but worth the time and cost.i have taken 20 elk with my 8mag at various distance it only takes 1 hit behind the shoulder to put them down.good luck

 

[Edd]

i would follow bergers recs on setting up a load for your 8mag.i did what they suggest and got mine to shhot 1/2 moa.you need to measure youre chambers coal load some rounds of your liking at different oal length measured at the ogive and shoot to find the right spot.it is not cheap but worth the time and cost.i have taken 20 elk with my 8mag at various distance it only takes 1 hit behind the shoulder to put them down.good luck

What bullet do you use?

 

[etisll40]

Are there good high bc 8mm bullets for target and hunting available?

Does the brass last more than 5-8 firings?

All things considered, would it be better to buy or have a 300 Weatherby built?

Brass life, accuracy, good bullets considered?!

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Edd]

I've already hinted at what I think. Looking at it strictly from an analytic angle, I see no practical reason to choose an 8 mag over a 300 Weatherby. You have to pick the 8 mag because you love it, and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I'd not mind an 8mm Rem and have nearly bought a couple of them, but I already have 30's and a 338, so I'm splitting hairs with an 8mm. I really use the heck out of rl19 and rl22 in my 30's and 338, but with a 200 grain gs custom in my 338 I do use h4350. I will be switching to the Barnes 225 when the last few of these are gone, as the price of this bullet is through the roof, and these were giveaway bullets.

 

[etisll40]

Thanks, I get how good a 300 Weatherby really is.

 

[340Shooter]

I have one in a factory original BDL and it is the cats meow. Loves the 220gr Sierra with a large dose of RL25.

 

[etisll40]

Thanks for chiming in. This caliber probably is a caliber that should have been big but came at a time where people just hunted and long distance wasn't nearly as important to them. Yet it seems capable of both accuracy and power at many distances and has exceptional terminal performance. Anotherwords, the H&H case design is a good one, but manufacturers for a variety of reasons didn't see a big market after it's introduction and thus very few bullet manufacturers developed projectiles. It seems that when Layne Simpson necked it down and the 7 stw was born, it became the craze and the case stayed alive but the bullet manufacturers jumped on the 7mm projectiles. Look at the selection of 7mm projectiles today. I think this might explain why the 7mm in various forms is so popular. 280,284,mag,stw,rum,wsm. They are all together a pretty good bunch.

That being said the H&H case design of the 8mm rem mag was a winner. Just enough powder to launch heavy projectiles or light with velocity.

I was thinking about why the 7mm bullet is so developed today, much of it's accuracy and weight is maximized by it's sectional density. In fact, if it weren't for the higher weight of a 300 grain 338 bullet helping to raise the bc, it wouldn't be so popular in accuracy and terminal performance, whereas the 7mm gets it bc and terminal performance more from sectional density.

Am I all wet here?

Maybe the 8mm projectiles fall in between the 7 and 338 category? What is the sectional density and bullet caliber of the 8mm, .32? Thus that sectional density range may be awesome as a hunting and long range round. Put long range aside as attested here in surveys and 96% of all hunters shoot at 1000 or less. Most never exceed 800 yards in reality.

Maybe the 8mm rem mag with a muzzle break today is good thing.

It reminds me of how good a necked up 30-06 to 35 caliber is at 150 yards or less. The 35 Whelen...

I like the odd balls I guess.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I think one of the biggest killers to the 8mm Rem was actually the 8mm mauser, as most of the bullets on the shelf at stores were soft enough to work with that round.
I may actually start to say goodbye to 7mm soon, as I'm getting irritated with throat erosion on my 7mag(not my stw). I'm seeing a bit already, and it doesn't even have 500 shots down the pipe. I don't know on my new 7mm stw yet, but the last one did pretty well erosion wise. I can't seem to kill a 30 cal. or bigger bore, though, so I may drift over 30 cal. more.

 

[Edd]

I was thinking about why the 7mm bullet is so developed today, much of it's accuracy and weight is maximized by it's sectional density. In fact, if it weren't for the higher weight of a 300 grain 338 bullet helping to raise the bc, it wouldn't be so popular in accuracy and terminal performance, whereas the 7mm gets it bc and terminal performance more from sectional density.

Sounds like you are trying to separate weight and sectional density. You can't do that.

Maybe the 8mm projectiles fall in between the 7 and 338 category? What is the sectional density and bullet caliber of the 8mm, .32?

The bullet diameter is .323". The sectional density depends on how much it weighs. Here's the math.

SD = (bullet wt in grains X .000143) ÷ (bullet diameter X bullet diameter)

An 8mm example

SD = (200 x .000143) ÷ (.323 x .323)

SD = .0286 ÷ .1043

SD = .274

Or you could just use this.

Beartooth Bullets > Ballistician's Corner > Sectional Density

 

[etisll40]

Thanks for the information. I must of mis-interpreted an article I read on here.

It was written by one of us that worked at Berger and was in the know, and he insinuated that the 338 Sierra Matchking had a higher bc due to it's weight and sectional density more so than it's design.

I have confused something though, the sectional density part was probably another article that was emphasizing terminal ballistics.

I have to go back and find the articles. I need to clear up sectional density.

 

[Bruce A.]

The Douglas barrel you mention, can you give me some of the stats, weight, contour, twist, length etc., maybe model #, I hear so much about other Barrels but my gunsmith swears by Douglas too. I have a Broughton #5 sporter contour and I like it. Doesn't seem to foul much and it's very accurate, but that's not just the barrel, it was reamed pretty straight I'd think too. I have a 7stw, built off the same case.

Thanks,
Ed

Sorry that I have taken so long to get back to you. The Barrel is 24" with a 1 in 10 twist. It is stainless with the medium target contour.

Have fired it for a couple of hundred rounds along with a friend's rifle chambered 338 Lapua. If I were to order the Douglas barrel now I would select the Remington "Varminter" contour only because it would fit my stock without the extensive work mine needed.

My friend's rifle with the "Varminter" contour is as easy to shoot as my heavier barrel is. This was my first custom barrel and I over-compensated due to my experiences in overheating of the OEM Remington barrel. I have also seen the Douglas' light target and probably should have made that my maximum diameter barrel.

 

[Bruce A.]

Ran across a loading for the 8MM Rem Mag of 84 grains of RL25, Federal BR primer, ans the Hornady 195 gr. Interlock bullet. First day to the range, before the wind rose, first 4 shots were covered by a dime. I have found my round. Now if I could just duplicate that with a copper or copper/gliding metal alloy bullet.