Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Anyone use North Fork Bullets?

I dont hear much about them these days?

I use the 225's in my 35 Whelen. (and like them a lot)

These were extracted from a bruin;



The 130's and 140's are on the "to-do" list for my 280 and 7SAUM.

YES!! Absolutely! I use the 225 gr. .338 bullet in my .338 WM. In the past, I've always used the Partition in both my .270 Win. and .338. The results have been always been fine. The only "complaint" I had/have is that IMHO, the Patrition isn't quite as accurate as I personally would like.
I had read about the NF so decided to try them in the .338. I found that it was slightly more accurate than the Partition so I went with it and loaded it to the same velocity I had with the 225 Partition (2800 fps). So far, I've taken 2 moose with that load and I can say I think it's a devastating bullet. I have a bullet taken from the 1st moose I shot with it on my desk. It's a perfect, text book mushroom and weighs 218 grs. (maybe 217 gr. - I forget offhand).
I'm aware that the Partition is designed to lose around 15% or so of it's weight and I don't complain about that but I thinkl the NF is slightly better. As a side note, I had a conversartion one day with Mike Brady, the founder and he told me that the 240 gr. .338 bullet was designed with the larger bears in mind and would not be as accurate at extended distances.
When I get my .270 WSM loads worked up, I'm hoping to use the 150 NF in that. I've always used Partitions in my .27 cal. rifles. I'm thinking/hoping that I may get even slightly better accuracy with the NF. Right now, I can get 3225 fps with my .270 WSM and a 150 Sierra ( I use less expensive bullets for load workup) so I should be able to get that with the NF.
NF's are more expensive but IMHO, cost should not enter into a decision as to which bullet to use for hunting. IF I can get a good load worked up for the WSM, I'm seriously thinking of taking it on our annual moose hunt in Sep., this after our sheep/caribou hunt up in the Brooks in Aug.
BTW, NF has a sale on right now - 15% (I think) off. I just ordered 2 more boxes of 150 gr. .27 cal. bullets.
Good luck and I hope you at least try'em. LOad work up for the NF is very easy - just follow their instructions.
Bear in Fairbanks

Other than the expense,there a dang good bullet...I use them in my 45-70 and they are tough!!!



Jayco

thinking of the 120 grain in 260 rem

Since you asked�

350g in the .45-70
180g in the .300WM
165g in the .308 Win and .30-06s
160g in the 7mm RM
140g in the 7mm RM


North Fork bullets have two flaws as far as I�m concerned. The first is that they don�t have as high a Ballistic Coefficient as some other bullets. Not bad but not great, and not that big a deal.

The second flaw is the cost. I cringe every time I write a check for them, but I buy them nevertheless. My preference is to use bullets that work as close to every time as possible and I don�t know any bullet that comes closer to meeting that goal.

Just how DO they work? My Ruger M77 in 7mm RM was never better than a .5� shooter and .9� was common. After working up a 160g load it shot a sub-caliber 3-shot group measuring .262� Mike at the original North Fork in Glenrock (?) tested some of my .45-70 loads and found them to be the most consistent loads he had ever tested. Same with me � single digit Extreme Spreads were common with some 5-shot strings having an ES under 5. And good accuracy.

On-game performance has been outstanding. A 6x6 bull elk went straight down with the .45-70 at 213 lasered yards. So did two cow elk at about 40 and 125 yards with the .30-06. After being hit by the .45-70, a forkhorn mulie made a tight circle and tried to run uphill but didn�t make it more than 10-15 feet. That was a quartering away shot, tight behind the ribs and angled for the far leg, and I�ve never seen so much blood on the ground. It looked like someone had sloshed blood out of a bucket onto the fresh snow.

On 200-yard steel the only bullet I have recovered is a North Fork. They consistently buried themselves in the steel. Every other bullet, including TSX, fragmented and sent shrapnel flying in every direction. Not saying that makes North Fork a great bullet, just reporting my experience on steel.


Below, left to right:

.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps - 500yds from dirt, 145.0g retained
.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps - ~25yds from cow elk, 133.2g retained
7mm 140g North Fork @ 3200fps - ~150yds from buck mule deer, 131.2g retained (ham to sternum)




Below, left to right:

350g North Fork, .45-70, 6x6 elk, 213 yards
160g Grand Slam, 7mm Rem Mag, 5x5 elk, 125 yards
162g Hornady BTSP, spike elk, 110 yards
180g North Fork, .300 Win Mag, 200-yard steel

Got some here;they have been very accurate in my 270's.

Have yet to use them on game,because I have Bitterroots,which are very much the same in performance,since Mike Brady designed the NF to work that way......

As BBC supplies dwindle on me,they will be replaced with NF's.

Too rich for my blood so, no, I don't use them. Originally, back when Mike ran the business and they weren't quite so pricey, I considered them. The TSX delivers all the accuracy I need and critters simply fall when hit by them.

I ran the 160's in my 7 Wby. They were 1/2 moa @ 100 yds. I liked 'em and the Mike Brady closed up shop. When the new owners took over and nearly doubled the price I was no longer interested.

My 300 WSM shoots the Nosler E Tips so well I won't look any further until they quit making that bullet or it fail to perform on game. I have yet to kill anything with it.

How much are they? I haven't checked price in awhile....

I have shot them in 358 win. They seem very accurate and thus far terminal performance has been perfect.

I like the design, and if money was no object there are several applications I would use them for. Unfortunayly money is an object and there are other bullets I have high confidance in that cost half of what the NF do.

If I was Africa bound for DG or going for big bear..I would still give the NF strong consideration

$60 per 50 +/-

Reloader: TX

Any data on what the BC is for these bullets? Look very similar to Trophy Bondeds in design.

Per 50 in 375 the cost is $70-80...

I've used them in my 340 and they are very accurate. I also bought some for my 405. Excellent bullets but I've gone to T/TSXs almost exclusively now. jorge

John Barsness thinks you are just wasting your money on North Fork bullets and that by buying them you are supporting "inefficient manufacturing". Never mind how they shoot or perform, from muzzle contact distance and velocities to way out there. He recommends 180g Ballistic Tips instead.

Still trying to figure out how to shoot those 180's in my non-.308" rifle bores and why I would want a 180g in my .308 Win or .30-06s to begin with � that�s what I have a .300WM for.

Whatever, you sure don�t want to get caught supporting �inefficient manufacturing�. You�d probably have to leave the country or something�

Say what..Inefficient..Yeah right.I have shot about every major bullet known to man since the 50's and the North Fork rates right up there with the best.As I have said before,the price is the major reason I don't use them more in my other calibers...

The 45-70 suffered big time in bullet choice(jacketed)and the North Fork was a good choice as well as the Woodleigh and newer Swift A-frame at $62 a pop now, if memory serves me.

If I had to switch from Nosler Partition bullets as my major source for my rifles,North Forks would be tops on my short list of available bullets these days.

Jayco

Inefficient.

Three bullets recovered within 2" of one another beneath the hide on a brown bear.

When I am about to take my first shot at a cape buffalo or a big brownie.. that's what I want in my rifle a balistic tip.. yeah right