I'm trying to shame Mike Brady into updating his web site to show flat points, cup points, and softs, with reviews, photos and trophy shots for each.

I went to buy some bullets for this year, and there is almost no info on his website. There are hundreds of posts about them here, though.

Will anybody who's interested post their photos and reviews here, along with whatever name they want used for attribution?

This may be wasted effort, but I thought I'd give Mike a Word document to use as input to his webmaster.

If you are photo-posting-challenged (like me), you can PM me to send me the photos by email.

Anybody who's talked with Mike knows he is a real enthusiast, as well as a manufacturer.

I get no discounts/rewards/fees for doing this, now or in the future. It'd just be nice to get all the info in one place.

I haven't taken any pictures of mine, but I've been using the North Forks for most of my big game for a few years. They will shoot on a par with the Sierras, etc. and the ones I recovered from my .375 H&H at various distances averaged like 93% weight retention, but will expand well on smaller game. This is the real tough part in my opinion, especially for an African plains game hunt. There are some good bullets for really big game, usually not top accuracy, but when in Africa, you may need a long shot on a 80 pound springbuck and want it to expand. The north forks will expand on a small animal at 2-300 yards and still penetrate, plus shoot sub-moa which always does a lot to build confidence. Mike is also constantly seeking input from common shooters and hunters like myself and trying to improve his product and that's why they work as they do.

I have not recovered one yet

North Fork Cup nose .474" bullets recovered from giraffe and buffalo, IIRC.

I used the 9.3 250-grain on a Kudu and a Gemsbok cow (Leopard bait). I did not recover any of those as they went all the way through. I did recover some from the riverbank, though.

Thanks, guys.

Anybody else have bullet pics, trophy photos, opinions, etc?

Don,

I'll need to take new pictures, as these are the only ones I can find on ImageStation. Like I mentioned to you before, they're not full-size here.

My memory is not all that good.

I do believe this 370gr .416 NF came from a 7ft black bear shot at 170 yards with my 416 Taylor...



This one traveled through a 7ft brown bear, at appoximately 80 yards, same style bullet and same rifle...



I'll try and get some better pictures in a couple weeks when I get back from work.

Don,

Tell your friend we have trouble in Europe to get any bullets from the importer.
The Norwegian importer, member of AR, is refusing to deliver abroad.
Wink (AR member) and me are really infuriated.
We are trying to smuggle NF bullets thanks to an Englisman (AR member) who is using a GI in Germany. To no avail, we are still waiting.

Will You tell Your friend he has to find a trustworthy importer in Europe, not a guy who is not knowing the European regulations and thus is only delivering in his own country, perhaps Scandinavia, period.

Thanks a lot, Don.
This would permit us to proceed at some tests, to report them in the hunting press and this way to advertise for your friend for free.

Thanks

JB,

I e-mailed Mike Brady about this just the other day actually. And was informed by him that the Norwegians who imported NF's are no longer doing it. Or at least, they have not ordered anything from him for 2006.

I gave him an alternative company to check out, and hopefully this will work better for the European market.

I hope someone over here in Europe picks up his product, as I like his bullets very much.

Jean and Erik,

I'll tell Mike about the issues, but I would not hold my breath awaiting changes!

This is a 50 yard zero comparing two bullets, the North Fork Cup point to the Barnes XLC: All components the same except the bullet, same rifle.

Which one is probably more accurate?

To be fair to Barnes, the TSX is replacing the XLC and seems to be more accurate than the XLC.

I have a recovered North Fork Soft .423/380gr that was a one-shot-quick-killer of a bison bull, 95% weight retention, 2528 fps MV (.404 Jeffery, M70, 10" twist 24" barrel), impact range about 75 yards, breaking the off-side shoulder on a quartering shot, ripping up the lungs and the great vessels over the top of the heart:







In the Iron Buffalo penetration tests, the North Fork FP Solids would go twice as far as the Weeble-Wobble round nose solids of any other make.

African game bullet recoveries to follow ...

The cerrated sides of the North Fork's are very interesting. Do they serve any particular purpose, and would they cause pre-mature wear on a rifle?

quote:

Originally posted by MAU MAU:
The cerrated sides of the North Fork's are very interesting. Do they serve any particular purpose, and would they cause pre-mature wear on a rifle?

From North Fork's Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the purpose of the grooves?
The purpose of the grooves is twofold. First, whenever a bullet passes down the barrel, the lands of the rifling must engrave the bullet. The material that is displaced by those lands must have a place to go. In a conventional bullet, with a thin jacket and a full-length lead core, the jacket and core can easily yield to the lands. In a monolithic bullet or one with a monolithic rear section, the only route of escape for the displaced material is to make the bullet longer. Considering the material in this area will not yield, as easily as if there was lead underneath it, the stresses, between the bullet and the barrel, will exceed the sheer strength of the jacket material. This increased stress sets up a galling action, which is one of the major causes of jacket fouling. What the grooves do is to allow the material that is displaced by the rifling lands, an easy escape route. This allows the stresses between the bullet and the barrel to stay below the point at which galling (fouling) occurs.
The second advantage of the grooves on the rear section is that they allow the bullet to be more forgiving to variations in bore dimensions. The dimensions of different barrels commonly vary by, plus or minus, .0003â€, and it is not unheard of that they can vary by more than .0010â€. If you put a solid sectioned bullet down a barrel that is over standard size, you probably won’t have too much of a problem; accuracy may suffer but, generally, it won’t be dangerous. Unfortunately, the reverse is not so benign. A solid sectioned bullet fired down an undersized barrel can cause, dangerously high, pressure spikes as well as increasing the probability of severe fouling. The grooves lessen this problem, as they are designed to receive more than the standard amount of displaced material.

Thanks, RIP. That's a nice group!

don...

we need a 45-70 flat point too!

Don G ----- Mike Brady is a busy man, making the best bullets I have ever shot while hunting. I consider his hunting bullets as accurate as the Sierra Match Kings, only as tough as the Mono Metals. He will update his web site someday, in the mean time let him proceed on his own schedule. I would rather have the bullets to use than a new web site. ----- That said, I have given my reasons for using North Fork many times here on AR. I have sent Mike many one hole or close group targets and have many more I have not sent. I congratulate RIP on his groups, he even used the same targets I use. I have shot one holers with a .416 Rem and .416 Rigby, two .358 STA's, a .340 Wby, a .338 Lapua, a 7mm
STW, and have come very close with a .270 WSM. I also shot very good groups with my .300 Winny and the following rifles belong to buddies of mine. A .300 Ultra mag, 7mm Ultra mag, .270 Weatherby, .300 Weatherby. I head up a group of crazy Elk hunters that hunt Colorado each year on our own. We also hunt Alaska, Canada and occasionally Africa. We need accurate, tough hunting bullets. I have recovered bullets from Cape Buffalo, Elk and a Kongoni in Africa. A buddy recovered a 200 grain North Fork from a Trophy Bull Elk he killed in New Mexico that he shot with my reloads at 418 yards, that bullet is shown on the web site. My recovered 370 grain bullet from the Cape Buffalo weighed 366.8 grains, or 99.1 per cent retention with perfect mushroom. My recovered 270 grain bullet from one of my .358 STA's that passed through a Bull Elks shoulders at 125 yards then killed a cow bedded 20 yards behind the Bull, weighed 249.3 grains or 92.4 weight retention with perfect mushroom. ----- To say we like Mikes bullets would be an vast understatement. The day we discovered North Forks we still remember. I had the previlege of meeting Mike Brady in 2005 in Dallas and he was just as gracious in person as he is on the phone. Thanks Mike for an excellent product, keep up the good work. Good shooting.

phurley,

If the website was better Mike would spend less time on the phone, and more time making bullets.

I'd like to settle on one load, and not have to revise it every other year because the bullet maker is out of business -- and this is my way of trying to ensure that.

Mike told me that there were a lot of bullets out there that he'd never heard back from. I figure he's lost or forgotten about a lot of the info he has received, so I thought I'd make it easy for him by handing it over in one document. He may lose or forget it, too, but I figured it was worth one shot.

This is the last time I'll bring this thread to the top.

Thanks, all.

quote:

Originally posted by Don_G:
Thanks, guys.

Anybody else have bullet pics, trophy photos, opinions, etc?

Kudu bull, Namibia 2005, 9.3x62 and 250 grain NF softs (click for larger image). I took a Gemsbok cow (for bait) with the same load but the pictures are not trophy quality.



original size (large file)

you are a fortunate fellow, Charles. congrats on the Kudu. Kurt.

quote:

Originally posted by kweber:
you are a fortunate fellow, Charles. congrats on the Kudu. Kurt.

Thank you. He is not a monster but I am pleased.