U.S. & Canada, $1.50. Foreign, $1.75

Transcription

1 U.S. & Canada, $1.50 Foreign, $1.75

2 Handloader The Journal of Ammunition Reloading Jovember-December 1977 Vol No. 6 Box 3G30, Prescott, Arizona NEAL KNOX Editor and Publisher DAVE WOLFE Executive Editor RALPH TANNER, JR. Director of Sales RCK JAMSON Associate Editor DAVE LeGATE Art Director LYNDA RTTER Editorial Assistan RCHARD L. ALDS Staff Photographer JOYCE BUETER Circulation Manager TERRY BUETER Circulation WANDA HALL Accounting BARBARA PlCKERlNG Production Supervisor JANA KOSCO Executive Secretary FEATURES: Pet Loads: 8mm Remington Magnum......Ken Waters 20 Seating Cast Bullets..... A Miller 24 Patterning High-Antimony Shot..... Don Zutz 26 Workhorse.35 Remington.... Clay Harvey 28 Making.30 Mauser Brass..... Colin S. Doane 32 Complete Reloading: Pressure......Bob Hagel 34 The 223 in the Contender..... Wayne Blackwell 36 Reader Research:.45 ACP Shot Loads..... Grant Cunningham 55 Multiple Ball Defense Load..... Robert B. Rankin 56 Temperamental Donald L. Ah1 57 DEPARTMENTS: Editorial Tip to Tip Reader Bylines Loading the Old Ones Lock, Stock Et Barrel Answers, Please Cartridge of the Month ProducTests Propellant Profiles TECHNCAL EDTORS BOB HAGEL CLAY HARVEY WALLACE LABSKY AL MLLER MAJ. GEORGE C. NONTE, JR. HOMER POWLEY KEN WATERS DON ZUTZ The HANDLOADER, Copyright 1977, is published bi-monthly by the Wolfe Publishing Company, nc., P 0. Box 3030, Prescott, Arizona (Also publisher of RFLE Magazine.) Telephone (602) Second Class Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S possessions and Canada - single issue. $1.50; 6 issues, $7.75; 12 issues. $13.00: 18 issues, $ Foreign - single issue, $1.75; 6 issues, $9.00; 12 issues, $15.00; 18 issues, $20.00, Advertising rates furnished on request. All Publisher of HANDLOADER is not responsible for mishaps of any nature which might occur from use of published loading data, or from recommenda- ; tions by any member of The Staff, No part of this publication may be p reproduced without written permission from the editor. Manuscripts from free-lance writers must be accompanied by stamped self-addressed envelope and the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts. Change of address Please give six weeks notice. Send both old and new address, plus mailing label if possible, to Circulation Dept.. HANDLOADER Magazine. P 0. Box?030, Prescott. Arizona Published by Wolfe Publishing Co Dave Wolfe. President nc YOUR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER COVER All the loading equipment and components on this month s cover date from the 1930s. The press is an original Pacific from the Pacific Gunsight Co., San Francisco. t s equipped with a Spangle primer catcher. The Belding & Mull measure is nearly identical to the B&M measure of today. The scale is a Fairbanks and the primer pocket cleaner is a Wesnitzer. The 20 case loading block is made by Pacific and the metal powder funnel is a Belding & Mull. Also note the.22 caliber Sisk Express bullets, the Barnes spitzers, from Bayfield, Colorado, the Western Tool & Copper Works spitzer hollow point bullets and the Remington bullets of that era. 4 HANDLOADER Magazine

3 8- TOCK, STOCK&BARRE, T HE VERSATLTY in rolling your own ammo is only one of the many-benefits derived from handloading. ve found the occasion arises unexpectedly and the possibilities are limited only by the circumstances. ll never forget working up a cut-off, stubby, much-reduced 12 gauge load to shoot starlings inside my father s hay barn without putting holes or severe dents in the galvanized steel roof. By experimenting with a spare piece of roofing, finally got one that worked. However, the shooting angle was critical. Luckily, the pitch of the roof was quite steep and by positioning myself properly could dispatch several of the roosting pests with one shot from the sawed off scattergun. Not too sporting, but the hay they ruined was of greater concern to Father. Recently, ve had another chance to employ the loading bench for a specialized Great Companions Great Offer Here is an unusual opportunity to own or give the latest Nosler Bullet Display Board and the Limited Edition Nosler Reloading Manual Number One... and at special savings when you order both by mail. Both Partition and Solid Base bullets are displayed on a serial numbered, wood framed bullet board with a full color illustration of game animals. The 256-page, buckram-bound Reloading Manual with matching slipcase is available in limited quantities only by mail. Combined price only $50, postpaid. Bullet Board at $25 and regular edition of the manual at $5.95 also available at dealers. Nosier! 14 by RCK JAMSON purpose. My wife, Linda, is relatively new to shooting. She s been practicing since May with a Remington.243 and has become a decent shot with it. However, when she received a permit for a September elk hunt, she wanted to use a larger caliber as she knew felt the.243 was on the light side for an animal this size. She had taken an immediate liking to the M-99 Savage.358 ever since d received it. However, a.358 with stiff elk loads is no way to accustom a relatively new shooter to a rifle. The obvious route for a handloader is to utilize reduced loads. Cast bullets were the immediate choice, but time was limited; had some 220-grain Speer flat point bullets on hand and decided to use those. Reloder 7 has proven itself in cast bullet and reduced loads many times before and, unlike some of the slower-burning powders, almost any charge below maximum is safe. A Lyman manual lists 35.5 grains as i Send check or money order to Nosler Bullets, Dept. a H-8. Box 688. Beaverton. Oregon C Please ship the following: r i 1 Bullet Board and 1 Limited Edition Manual. enclose $50.00 postpaid. 0 1 Bullet Boerd only. enclose $25.00 plus $2.50 ll shipping. Total $ Limited Edition Manual. enclose $25.00 plus V), $1.50 shipping. Total $ Name Partners in Performance with ; Address LEUPOLD SGHTS City State zip- L,,-,,,------, J maximum in the.358 with 250-grain bullets, or 42.0 grains with the 200- grainer. A load of 25 grains provides excellent accuracy in the larger-case, smaller-bore with 190-grain cast bullets. Twenty grains likewise performs well in a.308. Twenty grains seemed like a nice round ballpark figure for the.358 so loaded a few with this charge and proceeded to sight in at 50 yards. was hoping for a mild-recoiling fairly accurate load. The near 1-inch three-shot groups was plenty accurate and the recoil comfortable. Linda was soon enjoying the shooting - plinking tin cans, getting the feel of loading the rifle, working the action, shouldering the gun and aiming. n fact, couldn t keep the 60 cases loaded fast enough to suit her. Just a couple of days before the elk hunt, she was ready to get the feel of the elk loads. d previously used the 51.O/W-W 748/250-grain Speer loading which felt would be just the ticket for elk. The load is maximum in my rifle and sometimes cases eject just a mite sticky - which caused a problem for Linda. The tight cases required her to reposition her hand on the lever in order to get a better grip to open the action. And, the awkwardness and delay cost her confiddence in the rifle. Although recoil was manageable for her, it certainly wasn t comfortable. After only a few rounds shooting, it was time to quit as she was getting discouraged. f time would have allowed, the logical thing to do would have been to simply back off this load until a suitable charge level was attained. nstead, in order to simplify things, checked the recommended accuracy load in the Lyman manual. They list a mild 40.0 grains MR-4064 with the 250-grain bullet. loaded a few cases and tried them at 100 yards. Three-shot groups ran under two inches. Linda also found the load to her liking; the mild loads functioned perfectly and recoil was light. To make a long story short, bugled in a magnificent six-point bull elk about 20 minutes after daylight opening morning and Linda downed him with that load. The killing hit, through the lungs, passed between two ribs going in and broke one rib to lodge just under the hide on the far side, on its way out. The recovered 250-grain Speer spitzer exhibits the classic mushroom shape and weighs 217 grains. Although my experience in handling elk is limited ( ve packed out about 15), this animal is by far the largest ve tackled. The bullet and cartridge performed perfectly for the range and conditions, but at longer range, or on an angling shot, would want a little higher muzzle velocity. Even though the bullet mushroomed perfectly, the nose was peeled back only as far as the beginning of the shank. At longer range, and hence lower velocity, expansion would most likely be minimal. 0 November-December 1977

4 THS RFLE ROUND PROVES TO BE A PSTOL HOTSHOT W HEN THOMPSON/CENTER Arms introduced the Contender pistol back in 1967, shooters were given a brand new concept in shooting. This pistol proved to be not only accurate and reliable, but included a unique feature - fast and easy barrel interchangeability! These first Contender pistols were offered in only five calibers, but today this handgun can be purchased in about two dozen calibers, ranging from the popular.22 Long Rifle cartridge to the belt busting.44 Magnum. For approximately fifty dollars the shooter can purchase an accessory barrel for the Contender and in effect have a whole new handgun. n these days of inflated prices this is a hard deal to beat. mounts for either the Lobo 1.5X scope or the Bushnell Phantom (1.3X or 2.5X) scope. My first Contender was chambered for the.222 Remington cartridge and was topped with the 1.5X Lobo scope. Accuracy was very good and it handled the lighter.224 bullets very well. However, had accumulated thousands of rounds of once fired.223 Remington cases over the years and was itching for a way to use them. t seemed that someone in just about every gun show attended had a super special price on.223 brass that was By WAYNE BLACKWELL too good to turn down (at least it seemed so at the time). Of course it s no real problem to convert.223 brass to.222 but it does involve time and effort. decided to take the easy way out and have the.22 barrel rechambered to the.223 Remington. This is an easy job for a gunsmith and the cost is nominal. t was expected that the greater case capacity of the.223 would provide greater velocity than the.222, and it did! The only thing that really bothered me about this conversion was why Thompson/ The accuracy potential of a pistol such as the Contender depends upon such factors as trigger pull, lock time, balance and sights. The Contender has an easily adjustable trigger which can be varied from a crisp pull of a few ounces for target work to several pounds for rugged hunting conditions. Rounding out the accuracy potential are excellent factory 36 HANDLOADER Magazine

5 Blackwell uses a leather glove with the trigger finger cut out for long testing sessions at the range. Only the fore-end of the barrel stock is supported by the sandbag when Blackwell triggers the shot. A Schmidt- Weston chronograph was used for velocity measuring. Typical 25-yard groups received from the Contender.223 are shown at immediate left. Center didn t offer the Contender in.223 being hard on brass, particularly the Misfires are a potential problem in Remington as a standard caliber to start rimless variety. The break-open action of using rifle cartridges in the Contender. with. An inquiry to Tim Pancurak of the pistol is not as solid, nor was it Small Rifle primers used in the.223 ThompsonXenter provided the answer. intended to be, as that of a bolt action Remington require a heavier blow from Tim said, n our testing of the various rifle. Consequently the firing of high the firing pin than some pistols can rounds (.223 Remington) we noticed intensity cartridges in the Contender will deliver. With the Contender, using considerable pressure indications, espe- produce some stretch in the case. As Remington 7% primers, experienced cially with military ammo. Due to the expected, high pressure loads will cause about one misfire for every 200 rounds of readily available supplies of G ammo we more case stretch than normal loads. Full handloaded ammo fired, assuming knew that most shooters would be using length sizing the case after each firing properly headspaced cartridges. have it. We decided not to offer this only aggravates this problem more, allow- experienced a higher rate than this with chambering as it would have produced ing the case to fail after only a few firings..223 military ammo. Other brands of untold problems with shooters, dealers primers may perform well, but find the and distributors. To illustrate this point, several oncereliability of the Remington 7% Small fired.223 Remington military cases were Rifle primers outstanding. t also repeatedly loaded at the bench and fired. happened that had a large supply of Each case was full length resized, loaded these primers on hand when started this with 25 grains of BL-C(2) powder and the project. 53-grain Sierra bullet. All cases showed signs of an incipient head separation after Since planned to handload all my ammo for the.223, reasoned that could probably avoid the problems Tim was talking about, especially if started out with light loads and worked up to full loads - slowly. did try a few military rounds in the Contender for comparison purposes as shown in the loading table. Both velocity and accuracy were good with the military ammo tried and no pressure problems were evident with the lot of ammo used. However, no extensive testing was done with military ammo. The military loads were pretty stiff and would not recommend using this ammo in the Contender as a steady diet. Handloads, however, are a different story. The Contender has a reputation for an average of only four firings. Cases loaded with the same charge and neck sized only could be fired an average of fourteen times before an incipient head separation appeared. t is obvious that cartridge cases must be neck sized only for maximum case life. found that some lots of military brass tend to expand more than others and may cause hard chambering after only a few firings. These cases can be partially sized; the full length die is backed off until only the neck is sized and then the die slowly adjusted down in small steps. The correct sizing is obtained when the Contender action just snaps closed with the resized case. prefer to neck size only, and if certain cases become hard to chamber they are discarded. The only exception would consider would be cartridges handloaded for hunting. n this instance it is more important that cartridges chamber easily, even if case life is reduced. Small Pistol primers can be used in the.223 Remington cartridge, but are not considered practical in the Contender. The Small Pistol primer cups are too soft Cast bullets in the,223 Remington- Contender often gave 25-yard groups under one inch and could be driven at speeds up to 2,500 fps with no ill effects. November-December

6 for this high intensity cartridge and partially extrude into the firing pin hole upon firing, making it difficult to open the action. All loading for the Contender was with RCBS full length and necksizing dies and Herter s Model Perfect Automatic seating die. The seating die is cut away so you can see the bullet being seated. Once-fired military brass was used for all load development in the.223 Remington. As stated previously, this brass was plentiful and quite frankly could determine little if any difference in velocity or accuracy between this brass and commercial brass. All military brass was tumbled in crushed walnut shells for cleaning. After cleaning they were full length sized, the primer pockets reamed to remove the military crimp and the cases trimmed to an overall length of 1.75 inch. After deburring, inspection, and a quick primer pocket cleaning, the cases were ready for sorting and loading. As a matter of interest, the RCBS full length sizing die easily removed all crimped-in G primers from once-fired military brass. No special tools were required to pop them out. All military brass used for these tests was sorted according to headstamp. Since had a predominant amount of TW68 brass, this was used to work up the data shown in the loading table. Other military brass used at one time or another in preliminary tests were LC74, TW67, LC69 and commercial Federal cases. n working up the load data, 10 powders were tested with five different jacketed bullet styles; three different cast bullet styles were used with seven powders. One other cast bullet, RCBS No FN, was tried but the 1-in-14 twist Contender barrel would not stabilize this bullet. Generally the loads shown in the loading table were those that produced This cast bullet illustrates the whiskers produced by alloy flowing into air groove vents of a bullet mould and are a sure sign that the bullet is well filled out. They are easily removed by rolling the bullet on a soft cloth. 38 the best accuracy. However, in a few that the overall cartridge length with cases tried to show the top velocities that bullet should not exceed that prescribed could be expected with the Contender. in the loading manuals. Powder charges for load development Maximum velocity for the.223 Remingwere taken from loading manuals and ton-contender was 3,054 fps with the adjusted up and down until either the =-grain bullet and 22 grains of W-w desired accuracy was obtained or excess 680BR powder. This is exceptional Pressure was indicated-,411 Powder velocity for a 10-inch barrel pistol. n charges were weighed. fact, can t recall seeing any information Bullets were generally seated to the anwhere on a faster Pistol cartridge. This base of the cartridge neck. is a hot load and for any other gun Bob Milek, in Handloader would suggest reducing the powder charge No. 42, p. 35, warns against by at least 20 percent and working up in seating bullets against, or half-grain increments until pressure signs appear. n the Contender, excess pressure just off the rifling of the Contender barrel. Bob claims much better brass life and lower pressures when the bullets are seated back a little. t is generally conceded.223 Remington Loads for the T/C Contender Velocities are for five shots measured at five feet, instrumental, from muzzle to midpoint of chronograph screens. Temperature was 75 to 90 F. Chronograph used was the Schmidt-Weston Standard Chronograph. Primers for all loads were Rernington 7% Small Rifle. Cartridge cases were military headstamped TW-68. These loads were safe in writer s pistol but may not be in another gun. Approach maximum loads with caution - especially these loads using W-W 680BR. Accuracy Classifications: Poor - 2-inch + groups Fair to inches. Cast Bullet Loads Good - 1-inch. - Less than -inch. Target Load - Often less than 112-inch. Charae Velocity Energy Bullet Powder [graiis] [fps] [fp] Remarks Lyman No (47.3 grains) , Good accuracy Lyman No (47.3 grains) SR , Burns poorly Lyman No (47.3 grains) SR , Lyman No (47.3 grains) MR , Lyman No (47.3 grains) MR , Lyman No (47.3 grains) MR , Maximum velocity Lyman No (47.9 grains) 2400 Lyman No (47.9 grains) 2400 Lyman No (47.9 grains) SR-4759 Lyman No (47.9 grains) SR-4759 Lyman No (47.9 grains) MR-4227 Lyman No (47.9 grains) MR-4198 Lyman No (47.9 grains) MR-4198 Lyman No (47.9 grains) N-200 Lyman No (47.9 grains) RL-7 Lyman No (47.9 grains) MR o Lyman No (56.8 grains) Lyman No (56.8 grains) SR O Lyman No (56.8 grains) SR Lyman No (56.8 grains) MR Lyman No (56.8 grains) MR Lyman No (56.8 grains) MR ,835 1,871 2,003 2,140 1,857 2,228 2,546 1,986 2,103 2,166 1,655 1,727 2,072 1,923 2,076 2, Weights shown are for sized, lubed bullets with gas checks applied. Good velocity Maximum velocity Burns poorly Good velocity HANDLOADER Manazine

7 is usually indicated by flattened primers and sticky case extraction. Pressure builds rapidly with W-W 680BR as near maximum charges are approached, so work up all charges with this powder in small increments. Winchester introduced 680BR powder in 1968 for small capacity cases such as the.218 Bee,.22 Hornet,.30 Carbine and.256 Winchester Magnum. Experimenters Jacketed Bullet Loads Bullet W-W 680BR 21.O N MR O MR RL-7 21.o MR W-W H BL-C(2) 26.5 MR MR Hornady Match HP MR Hornady Match HP MR Hornady Match HP RL-7 53 Hornady Match HP MR Hornady Match HP W-W Hornady Match HP BL-C (2) 53 Hornady Match HP MR Hornady Match HP MR Hornady Match HP H Sierra H P 53 Sierra H P 55 TW-71 Military November-December o o W-W 680BR 22.0 MR MR RL MR W-W W-W H H BL-C (2) 25.0 BL-C (2) 27.0 MR MR H W-W 680BR 21.O MR RL-7 21.o MR W-W H BL-C(2) 25.0 MR MR MR H Ball type 27.2 discovered that the new powder could deliver higher velocities than any other powder in some of the small rifle cases. This has also proved to be true in other cartridges such as the wildcat (see Handloader No. 18) and my wildcat, the.25x47 (see Riye No. 37). n tables giving burning rate, 680BR is usually listed between MR-4227 on the faster side and N-200 on the slower side. Winchester has now replaced the 680BR powder with 680. Charge Velocity Energy Powder [grains] [fps] [fpl-- Remarks W-W 680BR ,054 1,035 Maximum. Hot! N , MR , Fair accuracy MR , Good velocity RL , H , BL-C (2) , MR , Compressed load MR , Low velocity MR , H , ,925 2,707 2,623 2,888 2,514 2,471 2,321 2,381 2,642 2,248 2,358 2,472 2,727 2,441 2,041 2,237 2,346 2,318 2,359 2,257 2,983 2,472 2,718 2,424 2,391 2,182 2,481 2,274 2,600 2,385 2,600 2,208 2,168 2,300 2,876 2,684 2,413 2,148 2,239 2,565 2,419 2,341 2,252 2,584 2,161 2, , , Maximum. Hot! Very accurate Good load Velocity marginal Short range target load Acc u rat e Low velocity target load Maximum velocity. Hot! Good velocity Good accuracy Good accuracy Hot!! Load down Good velocity Fair accuracy Mild target load Fair accuracy Full case Mild target load Very good accuracy Approximately 1,500 rounds were fired in the Contender in gathering data which appears in the loading table. A surprising number of powder/bullet combinations gave excellent accuracy. Generally the best powder for all loads was MR-4198 followed closely by W-W 748, H-335, BL-C(2) and RL-7. Even H-380 and MR-3031 turned in very respectable results at somewhat lower velocities. All bullets tried gave good results, with the Sierra 53-grain H.P. perhaps showing some advantage over the rest. The 52-grain Sierra HBPT gave very good accuracy in near maximum loads but tended to keyhole at low velocities. Muzzle blast was quite pronounced when using ball powders and a ball of flame issued about 18 inches from the barrel. had more than one nearby shooter ask me what brand of flame thrower was using. As expected, the ball powders didn t burn as cleanly as the MR powders but barrel fouling was no problem. Military ammo performance was duplicated with 22.5 grains of MR-4198 and the 55-grain Sierra bullet. The type of ball powder used in the.223 Remington military ammo was unknown, but looked very much like H-335. Commercial.223 Remington ammo was not tried in the Contender. Cast bullets performed very well with accuracy approaching that of jacketed bullets at 25 yards. Good accuracy at This photo shows incipient head separation caused by full length sizing after each firing. Case life was increased when the brass was neck sized only. When Small Pistol primers were used in the.223 Remington cartridge they would extrude into the firing pin hole and cause hard opening of the Contender action. The Remington 7% primer is shown on the left and Small Pistol primer, right. 39

8 2,500 fps was no problem with these lead bullets, and no leading problems were encountered. attribute this to hard alloy (linotype) and Alox-base bullet lubricant. Bullets for.22 caliber cartridges are usually difficult to cast without flaws and even the smallest flaw can play havoc with accuracy. All bullets used were of the gas check variety, cast of linotype, lubed with Alox and sized to.225-inch diameter. All cast bullets were carefully inspected and weighed before they were sized and lubed. Any that showed the slightest imperfection or had a weight variation of more than 0.2 grain was set aside for remelting at a later date. At least 20 to 30 percent of all.224 bullets cast were rejected through tedious inspection. Bullets cast from one pot of metal were packaged and reloaded together. All bullets were cast using an electric furnace. The mould was held tight up against the spout during filling. Molten metal under pressure often produced whiskers where the metal entered the air groove vents of the mould. These whiskers were easily removed by rolling the bullets on a towel after they had cooled. A good sharp bullet base was produced by the off-center sprue method. The sprue plate was swung over the edge of The heavy-gauge, non-rusting, stainless steel pot holds a full 10 kilos (22 bs.) of lead alloy. Temperature range is from 450 F to 85UOF and is closely controlled by a snap-action industrialgrade thermostat to within 10 F. And, its heavy, laboratory-quality, insulation provides outside wall temperatures that are actually hundreds of degrees cooler than any other casting pot available. Adjustable mold guide is standard. Lead flow is controlled by valve with adjustable positive stop. May be arranged for either right- or left-hand operation. 40 the bullet cavity so that only a portion of the sprue plate hole lay over the bullet cavity during the pouring operation. This produces a bullet with a smaller, clean sprue mark along one edge of the bullet. Best cast bullet loads were obtained with the Lyman No undersize mould and the Lyman No mould. The best powders for cast bullets were 2400, MR-4227, RL-7 and MR Cartridge cases used with cast bullets were sized in the RCBS neck sizer die using an oversize expander ball. Once a case was used for cast bullets it was labeled as such and used with lead bullets throughout the life of the case. All cast bullet loads used a small tuft (approximately a tenth grain) of Dacron wad over the powder charge. This kept the powder charge near the bottom of the case and helped protect the base of the bullet against hot gases. For the pistol shooter who wants a gun chambered for a high performance cartridge, the.223 Remington Contender may be the ticket. Brass is inexpensive and accuracy is great. t can be loaded down or up to suit your needs and will even handle cast bullets well. For the handloader, the.223 Remington Contender can be a real fun gun. 0 At yozr dealer or direct from factory. $ F.O.B. Columbus. Solder pot (without bottom pour) also available. $ F.O.B. Columbus. Write for free literature. Pet Loads: 8mm Rem. Mag. (Continued from page 23) with greater efficiency. Fired 8mm Magnum empties weigh an average of grains, and when filled to the base of the neck have a water capacity of 92.7 grains. This represents an increase of about 7 percent over the.375 H&H. A more meaningful comparison, however, is with the various.300 Magnums. Here the new 8mm Magnum proves to have 17 percent greater interior space than the.300 H&H, 14 percent more than a.308 Norma Mag, and 11 percent above the.300 Winchester Magnum. Most closely comparable are the.300 Weatherby and,340 Weatherby with practically identical capacities. What this means ballistically can perhaps best be delineated by the accompanying data taken from Remington s release on the 8mm Magnum. Repeated trials with a pair of Oehler chronographs registered a muzzle velocity of 3,030 fps with Remington 185-grain factory loads, and 2,755 fps with the 220-grain - a difference of only 50 fps for the lighter bullet, but 75 fps shy with the heavier 220-grain slugs. Not bad on the whole, and it s entirely possible that another rifle might give higher velocities. As with the.300 Weatherby, it is doubtful these ballistics could have been attained had a short magnum case been used, at least not within acceptable pressure limits. ncidentally, ve seen no statement as to the designed pressure range of the 8mm Remington Mag, but in all probability it is in about the same 50,OOO to 54,OOO psi (CUP) area as other modern magnums. n the early stages of these trials we were handicapped by a lack of suitable bullets. This being the first American magnum of 8mm bore size, existing 8mm bullets had been designed and constructed with the standard 8mm Mauser cartridge in mind. Mostly weights ranged from 150 to only 175 grains, jackets were made relatively thin to insure expansion at the lower velocities to which they were driven by the smaller cartridge, and although they succeeded in holding together at speeds approaching 3,100 fps, it was apparent that new and stronger bullets would be needed in order to withstand impact on large game animals at magnum velocities without disintegrating. One possible exception to this is Sierra s 175-grain spitzer. This bullet has behaved very well indeed in our tests for accuracy and velocity, but ve been unable to recover any from our soft earth backstop, and of course there s been no opportunity to try them on game. My guess is they d do all right on the lighter big game species such as pronghorn and HANDLOADER Magazine