doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com 8x57 JR bullet news

The good news is that monolithic bullets are available stateside from two sources for the .318 fans! The newest is by Fox bullets, and was brought out purposely to help the .318 rifle owners. It is only offered in 150 grains right now, though a monolithic solid is longer than a lead based 150 gr. bullet. The profile is Spitzer with grooves somewhat wider than one would find on say a Barnes X. There should be not problem with engraved bullet material finding a place to go when moved by the lands. I cannot comment much further since mine have not been delivered, except to say that Edinburgh Rifle WILL take a U.S. order. (there are no U.S. outlets yet--business opportunity, someone?). Also, emails tend to go into their spam box, so keep trying, and thankfully they do check the spam file from time to time.
The second offering is 157 gr. by G S Custom Bullets USA located in South Carolina and willing to make up a special batch for a single customer! These bullets are turned from copper billets and run about $75 for 50. They are know for two things: GREAT ACCURACY, and LOW PRESSURES. The low pressures derive from the fact that they have drive BANDS, rather than grooves. The bands are also very thin, so thin in fact that magnum primers must be used due to such little resistance to moving up the bore. Load development usually tends to much higher velocity as the loading can be increased without raising pressures dangerously. These just may become my go-to bullets of choice, since there is virtually NO chance of overstressed rifling in the skinny drilling barrels where I will be utilizing them. Performance is on par almost any other X type projectile.
The reason I thought you all might like to know is...the last time I gave a heads up about S&B 8x57jr ammo, almost 80 boxes disappeared. Now I am having to scrounge up loading components! So, apparently the demand is there, which begs the question--why don't S&B and others get with the program and get some more over here for sale? Or maybe it is the dealers' fears of being stuck with it--definitely unfounded since they are ALL sold out... Steve

Steve,
Good info, thanks a lot.
Mike

You're mighty welcome...and if you know of other less well known sources for .318 outside Woodleigh and Hawke, let us know. I particularly like the availability of monolithic because in my opinion it almost elevates a cartridge to the next caliber in effectiveness. I really regret that I once sold off some .318 X bullets, as they are no longer made, but then again, they had no grooves or bands to lessen hardness on the rifling.

Fox bullets are made by Andrej Jane�ic here in Slovenia, for many calibers. I presume Andrej would be happy to send them directly before a US distributor is found. He can be reached at:

info@foxbullets.eu

He also has an internet site (in English):

www.foxbullets.eu

With kind regards,
Jani

Steve�

I found your post interesting; however, I am, at best, an amateur when it comes to rifles so some of your thoughts were over my head. My only rifle is a Krieghoff Neptune Drilling 16x16 with an 8x57IR rifle, which is unusual in that it was built for a left-hand shooter. My main ammunition is the .318 S&B 193 grain. https://www.buffaloarms.com/8x57-jr-rimmed-318-196-grain-sp-ammo-box-of-20-amo857jr

I was a bit surprised by the 150grain ammunition in your text. Could you elaborate � I would be interested in your thoughts about the S&B ammunition. How would you compare the two?

Thank you

Berrien

Berrien Moore,
Are you absolutely sure your gun is 8x57IR, not 8x57 IRS? The quickest way to check is to see if a .323" bullet will easily fit into a case fired in your rifle. If it does, you can use lead core jacketed bullets, If you are thinking about using monolithic bullets, you should also "slug" the bore. The reason for the question is I have recently seen a number of drillings for sale that were manufactured at a time that made IR chambering doubtful.
Mike

Mike

I am certain it is 8x57IR (or 8x57JR) since I had Abe Chaber check it out--I am a rank rifle amateur but Abe is not--to say the least.

Thank you for your concern.

Best,

Berrien

Berrien Moore: I think well of the Seller & Bellot, it is just on backorder everywhere I once obtained it. I made a 250 yd kill on a whitetail buck with it. The bullet had suffered some damage but it is so long it just kept on going and got the job done. The shot was taken with a Funk drilling from a cliff, yardage measured by rangefinder. I still suspect that penetration from an homogenous round would be improved over the lead rounds. The 250 grain bullets would probably shoot flatter at greater range. I would imagine that your Neptune will be an accurate gun, as they are very well made. There is a gentleman in Alaska who has killed about everything with a Neptune, though I don't remember the caliber. You are visiting a great site to learn everything drilling. Good luck! Steve

Gentlemen: I just received 100 170 gr .318 roundnose bullets from Buffalo Arms. It is obvious that they have been swaged down from .323. I have not tested them, but wonder if swaged bullets are likely to have any accuracy/concentricity issues. Anyone shoot them? Steve

Berrien Moore: I will go out on a limb here and guess that a point made "over your head" may have concerned the question of overstressed rifling. That is a phenomenon unique for the most part to either homogenous bullets designed without any pressure relieving grooves or bands, OR maybe heavily steel jacketed solids. The effect has been to bulge the rifling slightly to the outside of the barrel, appearing rather like the spiral on a hammer forged barrel by Mannlicher. This has occurred on certain older double rifles, and fear is that the slender barrel profile on a drilling barrel might be even more vulnerable. Many drillings, and I am sure yours is one, are marked "suitable for steel jacketed bullets" (stahl mantel gechoss) but the outcome is not guaranteed. Proceed with caution.
Pictures of your drilling would be most welcome, as well as a description. Is it equipped for scope, etc.