Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Anyone still use North FORK's?

i dont hear much about them anymore....i know they were sold to new owners a little while back...

Last I heard they were now being made in Philomath Oregon, haven't used them that's all I know about them now.

Have used them in 375 and larger rifles. Great bullets - one of the best. Their cup point and flat point solids are perfect for DG in Africa. I haven't used them in smaller calibers since I have not used all of the Noslers & TSX bullets in the inventory.

Never have as I could not justify the cost.

i got a box new for 40$ from midway, 23$ off the normal price

350g in the .45-70
180g in the .300WM
165g in the three .30-06s
165g in the .308 Win
160g in the 7mm RM
140g in the 7mm RM
140g in the .280 Rem

Haven't had to purchase any for a while because I don't use them for plinking. Also, kind of saving the ones I have and have been using a lot of TTSX, AccuBond and Scirocco II the last several years.

Mike sent me a pile of 7mm 140g blems when he sold the business and I'll probably never have to buy more of that type.

With regard to the North Fork, I think they are one of the two best lead core bullets on the market, the other being the Tipped Trophy Bonded. The North Forks meet my performance requirements which are as follows:

1. Accurate. The North Forks have been very accurate in all my rifles. My 1982 7mm RM, at age 20+ years at the time, turned in its best 3-shot group ever, .262�, with 160g SS North Forks.

2. Consistently consistent. Both on game and over the chrono. The .45-70 loads often run under 10fps extreme spread for 5 shots and have done under 5 on multiple occasions. Mike Brady said my .45-70 loads were the most consistent loads he had ever tested, as they were and still are for me. I had a cow elk make it 25 yards or so after being hit with a 180g from my .300WM. A 6x6 bull went straight down after being hit with a 350g NF from my .45-70. A mulie buck made a 5-foot circle before collapsing a few feet further after being hit behind the ribs on a quartering away shot. (I�ve never seen so much leakage, looked like someone had sloshed blood from a bucket.) Two more elk and another mulie buck went straight down to 165g/.30-06 and a 140g/7mm RM respectively.

3. Reliable but controlled expansion across a wide range of velocities. I trust these bullets to hold together at high velocity impacts and still expand at low velocity. They don�t always provide an exit due to their expansion, but they have always penetrated deeply.

4. Affordable. Yes, they are expensive bullets, but compared to my other annual hunting costs the expense for North Fork bullets isn�t anything I get excited about. A few years ago, after filling my antelope, deer and elk tags, I calculated that it would take several years of such success using cup-and core bullets to save enough money to buy a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out. When handloaded, North Forks are still less expensive than many common factory hunting loads that I consider much inferior.

Absolutely!!!
I use 'em in my .338 WM and have gone to them in my .270 WSM. I've found them to be slightly more accurate than Partitions and they don't lose as much weight. Load workup is easy & straightforward too. As mentioned above, they do cost more but I can't, for the life of me, understand the concern about the cost of a hunting bullet. You don't take a box of cartridges loaded with them to the range to plink. Also, as noted above, they are made in Philomath. We were passing thru several years ago & stopped to take a look at their facilities. No one was around so we left town. In short, I think they're a great bullet.
Bear in Fairbanks

I love their concept
Hate the crappy BC's.

A Partition will do the same for a lot less money.

But maybe not as accurate........

While I agree that partitions will kill about anything as reliably as it can be killed. They do loose a bit of weight as they often shed the front core. Every picture I have ever seen shows the NF retaining almost all of its weight.

I have shot some NF's in 35 cal and am giving some thought to trying some in my 338RCM. We have had bullets that kill real well for quite sometime. a plain old hornday 180 driven at 2700FPS seems to kill most everything dead as far as I can tell. We are on a trend where we now pay more, not for a more dead animal, but for better looking mushroom. Well North Forks do have real nice looking mushrooms.

I never had a problem getting NP to shoot in my rifles. Then again that was in my rifles and without the cast bullet BC.

I killed a Brown Bear last October using 300 grain North Forks out of a .375 H&H. Shots were at 60 yards, 1st shot broke both shoulders and was found inside the hide, 2nd shot double lung pass through as the bear was spinning, and 3rd shot(bear was dead, just paying the insurance)between the shoulder blades, bullet recovered against the hide in the chest. I'm really happy with the accuracy and performance. Large mushrooms, especially at close range, not always going to pass through, but on a big critter, with a lot of soft tissue like a bear, I think they are about perfect, though the 270 grain TSX is an excellent choice as well.

The 7mm 140g NF blems Mike sent me were pointed like a Barnes X bullet. They shoot great in my rifle.

Would sure like to see the Tipped Trophy Bonded released as as components, similar construction but better BC...

Include me in the group waiting to see these available as a component.

I have a load worked up for my 338 RUM, useing the 225 grain bullet.
Shoots real nice, great groups.

Killed a nice Bear in BC useing them. Then again any other bullet would have done the same thing.

Cost: Very high.

Probably will not purchase anymore, I still have about 100 left..

I have used them in .30 and .375. Excellent bullets and accurate in my rifles. Only problem has been getting them up here in Canada, but there is now a distributor. I do not worry about the cost too much............. they look like a bargain compared to filling the tank on my truck.