I am planning on using my 8mm mag on eland,hartebeest,and zebra. I will experiment with either Swift A-frames or TSXs,depending on what gives the better combination of accuracy and velocity.Has anyone used this cartridge on large plains game and what were your results? Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions you can give.I will be hunting in Namibia.

Fine choice. There's a well used Mauser in 8x68S residing at every other farm in Namibia and your magnum is right there+.

Thanks for the reply, my PH says my old 30/06 is too light for eland and marginal for other large plains game. Does anyone have some reccommendations for a 30/06 load for leopard? I have used both 165 and 180 gr. Noslers with great success on plains game , deer, and elk. My feeling is that either load should be more then adequate for Mr. Spots and smaller plains game. Some suggestions please? Half of the fun of going to Africa is the planning. Jerry Hoover

I use a 40 year old .323 Hollis Magnum with 200 grain Nosler partitions ... Certainly big enough for all the large plains game .. and my wife borrowed it last August and killed a big eland bull with a single shot .. I love that ol' 8 Mag with a passion. I bought it in about 1971 ...

I used an 8x68 a couple years ago in namibia, but I;ve also used a .375 H&H, .338, 30-06, 45/70 and .405 win. You no what, there wasnt a nickles worth of differance on anything I shot including eland when the bullet was placed where it should be.

Jerry

I don't have first hand 8 MAG experience but if the 300WM works great with the 200gr. bullet and the 338 works great with the 210gr. the 8MAG logically would be an excellent choice. Personally if the gun liked the 200 NP I would use it for everything.

If you use the '06 for leopard either the 165 or 180 NP should work perfectly. I'm scheduled for my fourth leopard persoally and from client and PH feedback it is obvious that a well placed shot is way more important than horsepower. I would recommend a good quality light gathering scope though as very important.

Mark

8x68S (and 8mm RM) is a fantastic cartridge! As mentioned, well used and liked in Namibia.
I had the pleasure of shooting one a while back in the form of a Sauer 90, really accurate and comfortable to shoot.

Stick with 220gr bullets in my humble opinion and no need to make the loads screamers! I reckon a 220gr 8mm bullet at about 2750fps is awesome, with less recoil, longer case life etc etc and lots of oomph!

Craig Boddingtons favourite rifle according to one of his articles (and his most accurate) is his custom 8mm RM.

Get hold of Mangnum magazine in RSA and ask for back issues about the 8x68. Articles by Ben Lavin (10 years ago now?) and recently Karl Stumphe have excellent info, abviosuly pertinent to the 8mm RM too.

I can't imagine why the 8mm Mag wouldn't work as well as the 338 win Mag which is an outstanding cartridge for laerger plains game and the big cats. I think the only caution is if you can find ammo if your luggage is lost or delayed.
As far as the 06 goes, I think th 180gr nosler was made for the 06 and will do a fine job on leopard

Thanks for all the good advice. I have some handloads with 220 gr. Swift A-frames loaded up and if I can figure out a way that they don't kick the living snot out of me, I think this is the load to use. I have added a Limb Savers recoil pad to my 700 Classic and hope this will increase its accuracy and not have it boot me as hard. As an inexperienced big bore shooter, it seems to me that my 8mm Mag has more perceived recoil than my .416 CZ550. It would seem to me that a good deal of practice is in order and I am grateful that I have some time to practice and make the dream a reality again

I used a 8mm Mag 700 Classic loaded with 220 grain Barnes Xs on zebra and gemsbock in 2003.

Last year I used a Model 70 in 8mm Mag with 220 A-Frames on zebra and impala.

I have also used the 8mm Mag on elk and about a half dozen whitetails.

All one shot kills.

It's certainly my favorite "middle magnum"!

A freind of mine takes a 416 Rem for DG and an 8mm Rem mag for all else and loves it. He has been on five or six safaris and the 8mm has made every one.

JPK

Thanks for all the responses and opinions. This confirms what I thought. The Swift A-frames show good potential, but I think I will also try some TSXs just for the fun of it. all this means is that I will have to spend a lot of time at the range. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Remember it's not the years, but the mileage.

I have used an 8mm Mag up here in Alaska since I was 12. IT is awesome! I have retired it and have went to a .300 wsm (mainly for the weight-sheep hunting). I used the 8mm on everything and it was great. I personally would go with the 200 barnes triple shocks. I am hooked on them as I used the 180's out of my .300wsm this summer in Namibia and had one shot kills and TOTAL penetration. We never recovered a bullet. My PH was impressed to say the least.

I appreciate all the response re. the 8mm Mag. What bothers me is why this excellant cartridge never gained any popularity and is almost dead. I have read the hype on the new .325 short mag and it does not seem to offer the potential of the original 8mm Mag. The 8mm Mag. case is huge and offers the handloader an opportunity to seriously safely exceed factory ballistics anmd have a real thumper for thin skinned game. Given good bullets such as the Swift-A Frame, TSX, and Nosler Partition,etc., why is this cartridge withering away? Yes, I know it does recoil a bit, but if you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler. Fortunately, I have a Large supply of cases and bullets and will continue to play with my 8Mag and have fun with it. Someone did mention that if my ammo was lost by the airlines I would have a hard time finding 8Mag. ammo in Africa. Good point and what I will do is divide the ammo between my two hunting partners and myself and enough of it should get through to enable me to shoot what needs to be shot. Life is good and anothe r African adventure awaits and I can hardly wait. Jerry Hoover

Either a .30-06 or a 8mm will kill all the game species you mention.

If I had an 8mm already and shot it well, I would probably take it. Also seeing the PH has certain opinions.

I can send some pictures of some barnes x's that I retrieved from bull moose shot out of my 8mm mag. They are perfect flowers. Total penetration and were bulging on the skin on the opposite side of the moose. Absolutely beautiful bullets and expansion. Almost 0 weight loss.

Thanks Northway, Iwill send a PM with my email address. I would still like to hear opinions in why the 8mm RM never took off. Anyone have some ideas?

Hi Jerry
Since kayaker mentioned my article in the Magnum magazine, conserning the 8x68, I will post the link to it here.
http://www.huntingsafaris.net/pdf/germanysgreateight.pdf
I love my 8x68 with 220gr Swift A-frames, and consider it the ideal caliber for general plains game, especially in Namibia.

jerry...i don't own an 8mm mag so take my opinion for whatever you figure it's worth. what i read about the 8 mag, and i tend to agree with, is that it didn't take off because it's an in-between cartridge. for big stuff the 375HH(with 270-300 grn bullets) does it better and for medium animals, you can get the same bullet weights for the 300 mag family but with better SD's. while all this may be true, it seems like splitting hairs to me. i'm sure it's a damn fine cartridge.

bud

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Hoover:
..... I would still like to hear opinions in why the 8mm RM never took off. Anyone have some ideas?

Thats a good question, and i suppose we may never know the exact answer. THe 8mmRm seems in the same boat as another cartridge that is not getting the recognition it deserves...the 9.3x64Brenneke.
Strangley enough, in FrankBarnes COTW book, he say the 8mmRm is beaten on both sides by the 300magnums and the .338magnums. Then on the 8x68s,he speaks of its advantage over the 300mags.... .
Id aways wished they had made a.308&.338cal version(especially the.308cal), cause I much prefer the 25* shoulder to that of to the weatherbys.Im not saying they would have made an enormous commercial success, but they would have given weatherby a run for the money cause the ammo/gun would have been much cheaper.

I've always admired the big 8 but never owned one. It does require a long action but probably its most limiting factor is bullet selection. The 338 will do just about everything the 8MM will do but in a standard action with good bullets available. If you want to use your 06, think about 200 grain bullets. They are magic in a 300 Win for elk so I'm sure they would work on everything you are hunting!

Jerry,

You will crush whatever you shoot at with the 8mm mag...

Mike

The responses have confirmed what I have thought and read. I have always liked different cartridges and the 8mm Mag. is certainly different. FWIW it is a tweener, but it will do as much as a .300 mag. but shoots flatter than a .338 mag. I wish someone would make a premium style bullet that weighed 250 grains. Wishful thinking, but I can still hope. Let's see what the trigger job and new recoil pad do for its accuracy and my ability to shoot it. Next is a new 3.5x10 Leupold and lots of practice. If I have problems,I will post again. Thanks to all who posted and good hunting. 17 more months and it's off to Namibia. Jerry Hoover

Jerry,

I got your pm, I will take some pictures tomorrow and send. Barnes made a 250 for the 8MM mag. I may have a box of bullets if you want them. I know you won't find them anymore. I will not be loading them, so if you want to give them a try, I am willing to part with them. I will have to check if I have a box. They HIT very hard! I shot a lot of bears and moose with them and they pack a wallop! Add a little thump to the kick also! They tend to compress the load as the bullet is long, but they are hard hitters!