BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[csumerall]

So i just recieved the superior ammo price list and to get me by till I can do some more research into the handloading thing I was thinking about buying some of their ammo. they send a price list with the available bullets and I was able to find info on the barnes and swift but they offer a wood sn, north fork and a hawk and I cant find any info on them any one know where I can find the info on them or any help would be great

[Hammer1]

http://www.hawkbullets.com/

[csumerall]

one down now I just need to find out about wood, and north fork. Im sure someones going to tell me that there is a reason i have never heard of them before, but I do like knowing all my options

[JCalhoun]

Could Wood possibly be Woodleigh?

[Hammer1]

http://www.northforkbullets.com/ :thumbsup1:

http://www.woodleighbullets.com.au/ :thumbsup1:

[csumerall]

thanks a lot, Im kinda new to actually looking at bullets seperate from cartridges

[Don Fischer]

My friend, your making a mountain out of a mole hill. You bought a rifle that there's not a lot of ammo around for apearently. Now if your to use it, you need to find a source of ammo. The most reliable source will be reloading, unless, you buy fairly large amounts of custom ammo at a time. Shipping any kind of flamables or explosives requires hazmat, thats expensive. So you end up with expensive ammo with hazmat charges.

What are you going to hunt with this rifle, elk the largest? There are perfectly good bullets avaliable at most decent sporting goods stores, that are more than suitable. Nolser makes up to a 200 gr Partition and Hornady makes up to 220 gr cup and core. Either would be fine.

Lee makes a reloading kit that is under $100 that you should buy an inexpensive case trimmer with. Hammer sets his press up on the lkitchen table, you could put it in a closet. Learning to load hunting ammo takes little time. Unless your alright with spending a lot of money on what sounds like it will be expensive ammo, for elk hunting?, your only two options is to live with whats avaliable or start handloading. In an hour on a day off you can load more ammo than you'll want to shoot in three days!

[ChesterGolf]

Don Fischer wrote: My friend, your making a mountain out of a mole hill. You bought a rifle that there's not a lot of ammo around for apearently. Now if your to use it, you need to find a source of ammo. The most reliable source will be reloading, unless, you buy fairly large amounts of custom ammo at a time. Shipping any kind of flamables or explosives requires hazmat, thats expensive. So you end up with expensive ammo with hazmat charges.

What are you going to hunt with this rifle, elk the largest? There are perfectly good bullets avaliable at most decent sporting goods stores, that are more than suitable. Nolser makes up to a 200 gr Partition and Hornady makes up to 220 gr cup and core. Either would be fine.

Lee makes a reloading kit that is under $100 that you should buy an inexpensive case trimmer with. Hammer sets his press up on the lkitchen table, you could put it in a closet. Learning to load hunting ammo takes little time. Unless your alright with spending a lot of money on what sounds like it will be expensive ammo, for elk hunting?, your only two options is to live with whats avaliable or start handloading. In an hour on a day off you can load more ammo than you'll want to shoot in three days!

Words of wisedom. 100% agree. :thumbsup1:

[csumerall]

The ammo from superior is actually about 5 bucks less than what ive been paying and thats including shipping. right now Im just exploring my options. Now Im not sure what kind of money your willing to throw around don but I would like to do a little research before i go all in on something I know nothing about and when I initially asked the question in the forum i was trying to utilize the intended purpose of this forum and other forums like it, to discuss a subject with other like minded people that may know more about somthing than I. So don, forgive me if my little question was so far below your expectations of an adequte question.

[Don Fischer]

It sounds as tho I've offended you. For that I am sorry. I have no expectations of an adequate question, meerly questions looking for honest replys and not looking to bait an argument.

I looked at Winchesters web site, they don't even list the 325 WSM anymore. I checked Nosler Pro Shop. The only 325 WSM ammo they list is Winchester using the 200 gr accubond Nosler bullet. Federal doesn't list a 325 load. Superior don't list it but sounds like they will develop and load for you. If cases aren't available they will re-size from existing cases. Checked the grizzly site in Rainer, Ore, they don't list it. Woodleigh and Hawk only list bullet's.

So the only ammo I could find was the Winchester 200 gr accua bond from Nosler Pro Shop. $61.95 per 20! It's a small shop but lot's in interesting things to look at in there. Fine selection of quality rifles. Plant tours no longer available as I understand it. To bad, I went on it several years ago and it was very interesting.

Well I looked everywhere I know to look for your ammo and here's the conclusion to what I found. Your gonna have to live with hard to find, poor selection, short supply and very expensive ammo. That's the downside to getting a new cartridge like that especially in a less than popular calibre. I know a guy that has a 5mm Remington rifle. If your interested I'll see if he wants to sell it.

[Hammer1]

I don't know if this was mentioned or not but anyone making reloads for another to use would be fool hardy to load them to their maximum potential for safety and liability reasons.
Unless a persons performs the reloading himself or done by a good buddy, you will never reach(or never know for sure) the true firearm potential...regardless of what caliber it is.

[csumerall]

First things first, don, I send my most sincere apologies, I was having a rough day and I may have read into it more than I should. Ok, so superior would be developing a load and as far as i can gather(bear in mind that im new at disecting a round) the bullet is a .323 which I believe is the same as the 8 mm and then I would have to find the right sized cases or can I reuse my old cases? And I actually have about 100 winchester factory loads right now which as long as Im careful should last a while. How many time is it safe to reload the old brass.

[Don Fischer]

We all have a bad day now and again, forget it. Yes the bullet would be a .323 dia. Why they came up with 325 I don't have a clue. From what I gather at Superior is that if they don't have the cases, they don't list them, they re-size from another case. Perfectly safe but the head stamp would be wrong. I use 30-06 and 308 cases to make several others for which they are the parent round.

How many times you can re-use your cases depends. Hot loaded cases wear faster. If the loads are kept below max, you should get 5 or six loading, maybe more. I don't have data for the 325 WSM but I believe it's the same case as the 300 WSM. If so, then they could be easy to make by simply running the 300 thru a 325 full length die. You end up necking up. Possibly the 7mm is also the same case but stick to the 300 case, easier to neck it up with one pass over the 325 expander plug in the full length die.

If you do decide to start reloading your own, let us know, we'll gladly walk you thru the whole thing. It is quite simple and quick to learn. Each bullet maker has a web site where they list the bullets available. I might add that a downfall with the 8mm Rem Mag was a lack of bullets. That situation has changes but the numbers aren't great unless you go premium bullets. Beware the light 8mm bullets, they are designed for the 8x57 Mauser.

You mentioned not getting home much, are you a driver? I did it for many years and understand the lack of time. Again, you want to do it, let us know. Wish we could give you better leads on factory ammo but it doesn't seem to be anywhere.

[csumerall]

what do mean "hot load', I dont mind purchasing the premium cases and bullets, I guess im looking for a good 'jumping off point" Are there any books you know of that have lots of pictures and descriptions that I could kind of get a feel for the whole operation? I am actually a drilling supervisor and unfortunately my region consists of washington, oregon, Idaho, nevada, and wyoming. which leaves me with little time. But, I am definately interested in the handloading.

[Don Fischer]

A hot load is one that is pushing the upper limit of pressure. Assume that the top loads listed in manuals are hot for now. You'll learn more about reading pressure as you go. There are visual indicators of it and extreme pressures can be seen by measuring cases. Stay within printed guide lines and you'll have no problems.

Find a good reloading manual, Hornady or Nosler are good ones. In the front of each you'll find complete basic instructions. Seems like a lot when you first start but it's not really. Simply put, you take a fired shell and run it thru a re-size die. That brings the case back to SAMMI, Small arms institute, spec's. It will also remove the spent primer. Pulling it out of the die expands the case neck to the proper dimension to securely hold a new bullet. By the way, check and make sure your cartridge is listed. My books are not up to date so it's not in them. But data is easy to find, we'll help you.

Next you install a new primer, load data will tell you which one but the important thing is size and heat range. It's made kind of confusing with all the types out there but needn't be. You'll need either a large rifle or large rifle magnum primer. Forget about the match stuff, you'll gain little other than something to talk about with them.

You are now one stroke up and down on the press and 1/2 sec to seat a primer, windy stuff aside. The next step is to charge the case with powder. The lee kit comes with a powder measure and a powder trickler, to add small amounts of powder to finish the charge. You'll have to adjust the measure to throw a slightly light chg then trickle it up. That charge you dump into the case thru the funnel provided. All that's left is to seat the bullet. It's a simple matter to seat it well the first time. You'll have a seating die to do it with. I don't use a crimp and see no need except in lever action guns and heavy recoilers. I suspect you have a heavy recoiler. The die instructions will explain how th set it for crimping.

Let me know when your ready and I'll tell you how to easily adjust the seating depth to work in your rifle. If your near Cent. Ore, I live about 35mi out of madras, 75 mi from Bend and 75 mi from The Dalles. give me a call and I can walk you thru the whole thing right here if you have a bit of time to spare.