I really like my 8X57 Mauser. It's got a short (19") barrel and it's so accurate it still shocks me, but it's never been fired with a factory load.
The 3 bullet I have used are the 170 grain Hornady SST, the 180 Grain Hornady GMX and the 200 grain Nosler partition. The 180 and the 200 shoot about 1 MOA. The 170s shoot so wall I won't say because no one would believe me, but I can say they are VERY accurate. I don't know if Hornady offers an 8X57 factory load or not.
I have thought I should buy some of the 196 grain PPU bullets and use them as practice rounds, and save the 200 grain Partitions for hunting, but I read enough about them in their factory loads that I may try them on elk and see how they do. I'd love to hear form anyone that have killed any game with that bullet and hear their opinion of how well it worked.Factory loaded or handloaded.
The 170GR SST is good for deer and antelope and I did kill a nice 5X5 bull with them, but I was not impressed with how they works on elk. They Shed jackets ,and gave only enough penetration to hit the things inside I needed to hit, but just barely. On deer and antelope they are just fine.
The 200 Grain Noslers are wonderful but too costly for a lot of practice. My short barreled rifle only fired them at 2300 FPS, so I don't know far away they will still expand reliably, but so far I have not had to make any longer shots, so it's not been a problem. I do wish they would make a 170 however.
I have never shot any living thing with the 180 grain GMX so I can't say yet, but I am pretty sure they will be good too. Pretty much the same kind of bullet as a Banes TSX, which I have used and seen used in other calibers and weights, so I believe it will be good but it's only an educated guess as of right now. MV for my load is 2495 FPS.
