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Since 1965 I have lived and only hunt in Alaska and do it mostly with a scoped magazine fed bolt rifle. I am 69 now and want to do some hunting with my lever guns and usually me and other Alaskan's fire their first shot at a big game critter at well under 200 yards. Since my hunting is for moose and caribou and occasionally bear I lean towards tough bullets that dig deep and hold together. I am in the process of having a NIB Mirkoru Winchester Mod. 71 Deluxe converted to a .348 Ackley Improved. I have two bullets that I plan on using most of the time after my fire forming is done with 200 grain Hornady FN bullets.

Karl of Alaska Bullet Works In Juneau makes a Super Bonded Premium bullet for many calibers and Alaska's guides think highly of these bullets, especially the lever gun users. According to Karl he mostly makes a heavy jacketed version per customers request. The nose of the bullet is .025 and tapers to twice that thickness, .050 at the base. He said it holds up at close range and expands when velocity drops off. I ordered three box's of 50 from Karl for my .348 Win. and according to load data I have found I may be able to get close to 2,500 fps mv with that bullet and H4350.

After watching a You Tube video of a guy that reduced the diameter of 180 grain Speer .35 caliber bullets to .348 diameter bullets with a special die and shooting them with no problems, I ordered a bullet reducing die from Lee and plan on reducing the cheaper .35 cal. 220 grain Speer FN to .348 diameter and seeing how they hold up. I heard they have a fairly heavy jacket and if they hold up at a close 20' mv and expand at 200 yard impact velocities on a broad side moose or caribou it would be great. The Kodiak bullets have a reputation for doing that.

I have read conflicting stories on penetration on big animals with Woodleigh bullets, but, conflicting stores exist on almost every bullet! LOL But, I have not ruled out their 250 grain FN for the .348 and a friend speaks highly of them.

My .348 will wear a XS receiver sight and their front sight with the white stripe. Once I get the rifle back I will see how my old eyes do out to 200 yards on a 8" paper plate that is painted brown. The gun smith is doing a trigger job, getting rid of the rebounding hammer and cutting the barre to 22", I just don't want to have a 24" barrel on my .348. The rifle is also getting a black .800 thick Pachmayer Sporting Clays recoil pad and a cool 5 round butt cuff with bear head carving from Lever Gun Leather Works. I have two of his 5 round butt cuffs, one on a Mod. 94 Big Bore .356 Win. and a Marlin 45-70. Eventually it will wear a full length magazine tube like the rest of my lever guns, I prefer that look.

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I believe you’ll have a winner buddy. The Woodleigh is darned good, I shot the Kodiaks into jugs and they looked the same to me. Swift has an excellent A-Frame as well. Not a ton of bullets but way more than needed for killing. Can’t wait to see the finished rifle. Sounds like a hammer.


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North 61 has done penetration tests on his you tube channel with the 348.

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I have seen many of his videos and like them. I have yet to see a penetration test of the Kodiak Bonded bullet from Alaska Bullet Works and would like to see how their 250 grain version stacks up against other .348 bullets, especially the 250 grain Woodleigh.

I wish Nosler would make more flat nose bullets for lever guns, they are truly a great big game bullet. Their nose always expands, even at low velocity and the rear shank always drives deep. A 220 grain in .35 and a 220 and 250 in .348 would be a welcome addition. I sorely wish Barnes still made their 220 X bullet for the .348.

Last edited by 1Akshooter; 04/03/20.
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I had a 35/348 IMP for many years. Talked Kodak into making me some 250 grain flat nose. At 2450 they would not stay in elk no matter the angle. I suspect the 348/250 grain would do the same

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Originally Posted by beretzs
I believe you’ll have a winner buddy. The Woodleigh is darned good, I shot the Kodiaks into jugs and they looked the same to me. Swift has an excellent A-Frame as well. Not a ton of bullets but way more than needed for killing. Can’t wait to see the finished rifle. Sounds like a hammer.


Cant wait to try that 250gr ABW Kodiak on game Buddy, I think it will hang with the Woodleighs, and is a little better pried as well, plus, Karl said he'd be glad to ship more when I need them.


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What I have heard about the Kodiak's is they expand well at low velocities and hold together at high speed close in impact velocities. There was a thread awhile back where a couple of experienced hunters mentioned the Woodleigh's not penetrating as well as they wanted and not giving the straight line penetration they wanted. I don't personally know as I have no experience with Woodleigh bullets and many speak highly of them. But, I respect the opinion of the two I referenced.

Also, Kodiak Custom Bullets is an Alaskan owned and made company and I like that and want to support them. If their 250 grain bonded bullet shoots satisfactory and gives me the penetration and weight retention I want with my rather informal testing, I will lay in a life time supply for myself.

I believe a 250 grain Kodiak Bonded Bullet at 2,500 fps mv is a 300 yard moose round. I doubt I am a 300 yard moose shooter with a receiver sight. But, my distance limit will be decided by how far I can consistently hit a 8 inch brown paper plate. The good news is almost all of the moose I have shot in the last 55 years have been well under 200 yards.

The good tasting moose my wife and me took last year was standing broad side at well under 200 yards. It made me wish I had my Marlin 45-70 with the 405 grain Kodiak Bonded Bullets. But, as usual the, scoped .338 and 225 grain Barnes TTSX at 2,836 fps mv did a wonderful job.

I am going to get 150 pieces of new Starline .348 Win. brass and use it for the 250 grain loads and use my Winchester brass for the resized 220 grain Speer loads. With annealing and proper resizing the Ackley Improved brass will probably out last me. LOL

Next fall I will still have the scoped .338 Winny for the evenings hunt due to low light conditions and my old eyes, but l be will carrying a beautiful Mirkoru Mod. 71 Deluxe .348 Win. Ackley Improved when we leave in the morning. I am excited !

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Here are the Kodiaks

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]


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Here is the Woodleigh shot with the same load for comparison

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

I couldn't tell the difference between those or Kodiaks.


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Me neither, both look good.

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You bet on Karl too 1AK, I called him with a slight dilemma about my new 400 H&H build, .411 inch 400gr Swift A Frames are hard to get, may be a seasonal, or item they're about to drop from production, I don't know, I asked him if he made .411 inch 400gr Kodiaks, he laughed and said no, but I can make you some, I said, oh chit, he laughed again and said no, I will draw down some .416 inch bullets for the Rigby and Rem mag for you.

That's exactly what he did, I bought four boxes, and believe it or not, they're more accurate in my new rifle than the Swifts, always great to have another source, plus, Karl did the work, sent the bullets along with an invoice for payment inside, i'll continue to do business with them as long as they, or I live. smile



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Old school Alaskan he is. Gotta love his business model. Call and order bullets and he sends them, after you receive them mail him a check. Go shoot bullets, heck ya !

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What load are you guys using with 250gr bullets?


A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
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Originally Posted by jorgeI
What load are you guys using with 250gr bullets?


Start at 50gr RL-17 or H-4350 and a chrono to make the rifle and you happy Jorge, I ran a few of the 250's to 2350+ fps, but settled an a bolt peep accurate 2200 fps, that will cover anything i'll point a 348 at out to 200 yards.


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Originally Posted by 1Akshooter
Old school Alaskan he is. Gotta love his business model. Call and order bullets and he sends them, after you receive them mail him a check. Go shoot bullets, heck ya !


You bet!


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Thanks, Gunner. I have lots of data on the 348 and have done a lot of testing myself ( I have a huge excel spreadsheet) I started with Mule Deer's powder guidance and Varget for the 200gr Hornadys and H-4350 for the 250gr Barnes or Woodleighs works great. I think Betetz once posted some good loads with RL-17 but I can't find them


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[Linked Image from i723.photobucket.com]

These were shot at 100 yards with WW Cases, CCIBR2 primers and the 250 Woodleighs and RL17 from my M71 Browning Carbine. I believe the 56 grain charge went around 2350'ish if I remember correctly.

I love that rifle a bunch. Very accurate and the 250 Woody's are plenty for the deer and bear the rifle hunts. I have been tempted to try other bullets, but with them shooting like that, I can't bring myself to mess with it.

Last edited by beretzs; 04/08/20.

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You're welcome Jorge.

And hell yeah beretzs, Woodleighs are gold, ABW Kodiaks there in case Woodleighs are not available and vise versa.


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Originally Posted by gunner500
You're welcome Jorge.

And hell yeah beretzs, Woodleighs are gold, ABW Kodiaks there in case Woodleighs are not available and vise versa.



Yeah, it's the choice when stuff is close up and I am not worried about hunting to the last minute of the day.


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Thank you guys. I have some RL-17 on hand!


A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
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