8mm Rem Mag Hunters

D

duckklr

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Jul 24, 2017
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This is the second year in a row using the Hornady 8mm, 170-gr. SST and the second year with a "bang-flop" (one in Wyoming and last week in Nevada. Be advised if you haven't used the SST's, they explode and do not exit, you'll be lucky to find the smashed bullet base with any lead on it beneath the hide on the side opposite the entry wound. Both deer were instantly dead with massive body cavity destruction not quite as big as a volley-ball in size. Don't hit anything you want to eat so a mid-to-low shot just behind the "elbow" is Ideal. I haven't had to shoot past 200-yards yet so I don't know how far out you can shoot and expect this bullet performance.
Before you start calling my rifle a "Hamburger Gun," proper shot placement is required! I'm old and handicapped and can't pack very much for any distance so close shots are all I'll take and a I don't wound and track or loose crips in the brush.
I've tested many combinations of powders and projectiles over the last few years and keep coming back to the 8mm 170Gr. SST with 77-Gr.'s of IMR 4350 without any signs of high pressure. I use a Caldwell Lead Sled with two 25-pond bags of shot so I can spend a long time at the range. The barrel is a 26" Bartlein stainless that was fitted-up last spring.
At .015" over a .308 and .015" under a .338, the caliber would seem to be the perfect fit for big Mule Deer and Elk in one rifle. Im still working on new having just received A box of Hornady 170-Gr. round nose with a box of Hornady 185-Gr. spire point on the way. I'll keep you 8MM Rem Mag guys posted.
 
duckklr said:
This is the second year in a row using the Hornady 8mm, 170-gr. SST and the second year with a "bang-flop" (one in Wyoming and last week in Nevada. Be advised if you haven't used the SST's, they explode and do not exit, you'll be lucky to find the smashed bullet base with any lead on it beneath the hide on the side opposite the entry wound. Both deer were instantly dead with massive body cavity destruction not quite as big as a volley-ball in size. Don't hit anything you want to eat so a mid-to-low shot just behind the "elbow" is Ideal. I haven't had to shoot past 200-yards yet so I don't know how far out you can shoot and expect this bullet performance.
Before you start calling my rifle a "Hamburger Gun," proper shot placement is required! I'm old and handicapped and can't pack very much for any distance so close shots are all I'll take and a I don't wound and track or loose crips in the brush.
I've tested many combinations of powders and projectiles over the last few years and keep coming back to the 8mm 170Gr. SST with 77-Gr.'s of IMR 4350 without any signs of high pressure. I use a Caldwell Lead Sled with two 25-pond bags of shot so I can spend a long time at the range. The barrel is a 26" Bartlein stainless that was fitted-up last spring.
At .015" over a .308 and .015" under a .338, the caliber would seem to be the perfect fit for big Mule Deer and Elk in one rifle. Im still working on new having just received A box of Hornady 170-Gr. round nose with a box of Hornady 185-Gr. spire point on the way. I'll keep you 8MM Rem Mag guys posted.
Click to expand...

I have the original lead sled by Caldwell but I do not use additional counterweight as the sled is heavy enough. Using two 25-pound bags to reduce/eliminate felt recoil is asking for trouble. The weakest point will eventually break and I assure you it is not the lead sled. There plenty of end-users that paid the price, such as cracked stock, damaged scope, etc. Lead sled when used properly can be beneficial. I still have mine and continue to use it for barrel break-in, pre-load development, and rifle maintenance. Just saying, in case you did not know.

The 8MM RMM is an excellent chambering, except for the lack of bullet support/choices. Good luck and have fun with it.
 
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I've shot the sst's in 6.5mm 270, 7mm and 30 cal. For the same reason I think they are an excellent bullet, some one else might not like them. They were perfect for what I wanted. Drop dead kills on the spot and I never saw an animal that my son or myself hit with an sst move from the exact spot it was standing in.
 
I haven't used those bullets..never will..but..if it works for your application...keep'm dropping...
Guy has to do..what he has to do.....
 
I've got a bunch of sst bullets left but I've swapped over to low drag bullets. The 7mm 162 sst had a b.c. of .550, which was pretty good compared to other bullets of it's time. If a fellow didn't like the terminal performance of an sst, he may not like a Berger either.
 
The 8 mag is good if you match it with good bullets. 200 partition is minimum. Hammers, woodleighs, barnes. Hornady sst,s don,t make the list unless small game.
 
At one time the 8 mm Remington Mag was considered the gold standard for Elk Hunting.

Nothing has changed except the new names and cartridges. These were very good at long range hunting when Long range hunting was still controversial. We have made improvements
in powders and bullets, But the 8 mm Rem Mag is still a great Elk cartridge. Its design was even use to create the 7 STW and we all know how good that cartridge is.

I would not hesitate to hunt Elk with one and would not worry about giving any performance up. 👍 👍 👍

An oldie but goodie.

J E CUSTOM
 
Remington made a big mistake. Good cartridge with poor bullets. So it died. With good bullets the big 8 is a 340 wannabe. And the way they throated it didn,t help. I bought one of the first in the BDL. With a 220 and 86 of H4831 it would test your innards. That stock is brutal lol.
 
There's been mention of lack of bullets to choose from for the 8mm. The bullets I've tested so far in my 8mm REM MAG are:

Hornady 180 GMX", 170 SST, 170 RN Interlock (not yet tested, received yesterday), 195 SP Interlock (not yet tested but expected at any time).
Barnes 180 "X" (original), 200 "X" (original), 160 TTSX, 200 TSX.
Nosler 180 Ballistic Tip
Speer 170 Hotcore HCSS
Swift 220 A Frame
Sierra 220 Spitzer, 200 Match

There are still other brands yet to test so I'd say I've have plenty of choices.
 
David Emerson said:
Remington made a big mistake. Good cartridge with poor bullets. So it died. With good bullets the big 8 is a 340 wannabe. And the way they throated it didn,t help. I bought one of the first in the BDL. With a 220 and 86 of H4831 it would test your innards. That stock is brutal lol.
Click to expand...

The 8mm is a good in-between diameter, and the 8mm Remington Magnum should have been a wildly successful cartridge. Lack of bullet selection was blamed, and that was part of the problem. Lack of marketing also a contributing factor. Your mention of the stock design on the BDL model really rang my bell - that is the absolute worst factory stock I have ever used With its knife-edge comb, a cartridge with recoil like the 8mm Magnum would be way more than most shooters are going to want. My buddy had one in 30-06, and it was painful to shoot. I can't even imagine what the next higher level of recoil would feel like on the cheek bone.
 
About two weeks ago, I took an original M700 BDL chambered in 8mm Rem Mag to Wyoming for my first elk hunt. The load work up, off a bench without the use of a lead sled, was definitely jarring. While I didn't develop a flinch, you knew what was coming every time. I thoroughly enjoyed it (and managed to scope myself on one occasion after getting lazy after a cool down period). She definitely jumps around!

I did a Satterlee style work up at 300 yards with the 200gr Partition and 200gr TSX. Starting at 78.5 and working up to 80.1 (within published data from Nosler #6) for each. The Noslers all grouped in a 4.5" circle, without any stand out groups or real level offs in velocity. The TSXs on the other hand put 79.5, 79.7, and 79.9 under 1" with 80.1 being another 1" away, with a total velocity swing of 12FPS (IIRCC).

With that said, 79.7gr of RL22 has a 200gr TSX flying at 3,120FPS and shooting sub-moa (groups tend to hover around 1.5" at 300). The 3x4 didn't take another step after that TSX double lunged him - he dropped in his tracks. The only meat loss I had were the little bits around the entrance and exit holes, as would be with any pass through shot. While my bull is no Cabela's monster, my freezer doesn't know the better nor do I. It is definitely a trophy that I'll prize for a long time.

The BDL 8mm Rem Mag has moved far up on my list of outstanding rifles that'll do what I need - and do it cleanly, efficiently, and with authority.
 
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