My sister in law decided to take up hunting and was given a sporterized mauser 98 in 8x57. The factory ammo availability was pretty poor and the factory loads are extremely mild. I really had my doubts about its performance on moose and bears.
I got a set of dies and some 200gr Speer hotcore bullets. The speer book says this bullet was designed for the 8mm Rem mag so they should be plenty tough enough at 8x57 velosities. A stout load of ramshot Tac gets those 200gr speers going 2457fps and the accuracy was pretty good.
It was a pretty fun little cartridge to play around with. So much so that I could'nt handle having a set of dies without a rifle to shoot them in. I picked up a little brno that somebody had sporterized with a williams peep online for a pretty good price and set it up as a truck gun. A xs white line front blade combined with the williams peep really worked out well. The gun I got doesn't shoot nearly as good as my sister inlaws but will get the job done, 6 shots in about a 3.5" group at 100 yards.
I have been having some trouble finding data for heavier bullets in the 8x57. There are some really interesting bullets out there from 200-250gr that I think would be pretty nice for moose and bears. I will mainly use this rifle for targets of opportunity, its always a good idea to have a rifle in the truck, and would keep shots under 150 yards. Maybe 200 on moose. I would think that at these ranges a good 220-250gr bullet might be just the ticket.
Anybody have any expereince with the heavier 8mm bullts out of the 8x57? Or any experience with the cartridge on big game. Some of the specific bullets I have been looking at are the 220 and 250gr woodliegh RN, the Hawk 220 and 250gr RN, and 220gr sierra GK. Any load data for heavier 8x57 loads would be really appreciated.
