8X68S

05 November 2003, 23:03

Hawkeye47

8X68S

Has anyone on this forum had any experience with the 8X68S round? I was talking with a chap in Spain and he was very high on this round. He says it shoots really flat and penetrates well.

06 November 2003, 01:14

montero

first of all, Hawkeye, congratulations for your hunt in Spain.

the 8x68S is a fantastic cartridge. It shoots a .323" bullet at high speed.

among the us cartridges it is almost identical to the 8mm remington Magnum. not being the latter an extremely popular or well knowned cartridge, I would compare it, both trajectory and energy wise, to the more common 300 weatherby magnum.

regards,

montero

06 November 2003, 01:26

jrslate

Gentlemen,

I've seen the 8x68s used by numerous German and Austrian hunters in Namibia, and it is incredibly effective on all manner of plains game. I'm sure it could work on bigger creatures too, but I haven't seen that, so I don't feel qualified to comment.

I think with the RWS H-Mantle or Nosler Partition, etc..it is an incredible round.

06 November 2003, 03:27

dan belisle

Snowman who also posts on here was hunting with his this year, I believe. I'm still putting mine together. The 8X68S is in line ballistically with the 8mm Rem Mag, USING FACTORY AMMO. If you handload, the 8 Rem Mag is a whole step ahead. It's a good cartridge though, certainly better ballistically then the 30-06, about close to the 300 H&H, I guess. FWIW - Dan

06 November 2003, 03:34

Lee Martin

You may want to try Hodgdon's Retumbo in the 8x68S....I've been working with it all year in an 8mm Rem Mag and it groups well (also produces outstanding velocity out of 26" barrel). To date, my best shooting load has been 87.5 grains of Retumbo behind a 220 grain Sierra GameKing (vel = ~3,020 fps)

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

06 November 2003, 05:05

montero

dan belisle,

if you handload, then the 8 Rem Mag is a whole step ahead of the 8x68.

even if you handload, the 300 H&H is a whole step behind.

giving credit were it is worth. [Wink]

regards,

montero

06 November 2003, 11:15

snowman

The 8x68 is closer to the 338 in effectiveness than it is to a 300 mag in my opinion. If you want to handload 200 gr bullets IMR 4831 ,RL 19 and RL22 are all very good. I would suggest Retumbo would be too slow in a 8x68. The 8mm Rem mag with handloads will best the 8x68 by about 100 fps with any bullets weight.The beltless case also feeds like a dream. Say Dan When will you be shooting your 8x68??

06 November 2003, 11:42

dan belisle

Hey Snowman, how you doing? Work has kept me a little busy lately, but I'm back now, so I hope to get a little more work done. With any luck, I'll have it all ready to go by Christmas. Maybe I'll wrap it and give it to myself, I can finally get EXACTLY what I wanted (joke). Yeah, another month should do it. How's your hunting season been so far? - Dan

06 November 2003, 14:24

shayneC

My biggest complaint I have with my 8x68 is the brass. If you get it from RWS it is fantastic quality but man you have to pay. The stuff from old western scrounger works ok but does not have much of a life, and I am not one to try to get the max out of a case. I took mine to S Africa and left it laying on the ground with shoulder splits after 2 loadings. It looks like an 06 on steroids and feeds really smooth through my 98 action. Not many of your friends have one and it is fun explaining to them what it is!
shayne

12 November 2003, 08:39

<Safarischorsch>

quote:
Originally posted by shayneC:
My biggest complaint I have with my 8x68 is the brass. If you get it from RWS it is fantastic quality but man you have to pay. The stuff from old western scrounger works ok but does not have much of a life, and I am not one to try to get the max out of a case. I took mine to S Africa and left it laying on the ground with shoulder splits after 2 loadings. It looks like an 06 on steroids and feeds really smooth through my 98 action. Not many of your friends have one and it is fun explaining to them what it is!
shayne

RWS 8x68S brass is one of the most stabil brass that money can buy, of course it is a little bit expensive...but it works for many loads...
For your cheap stuff:Try a little bit case lube in the neck! You will see even with "hot" loads at least 10 reloads should be possible! 8x68S brasses are extreme thick so do not forget trimming the brass from time to time... For all 8x68S Users: 76,4 grain R 905 196gr Brenneke TIG OAL: 87mm, Primer RWS 5333 or CCI LRM. A good load for boar or red deer...

[ 11-11-2003, 23:44: Message edited by: Safarischorsch ]

13 November 2003, 06:42

Fritz Kraut

quote:
Originally posted by Safarischorsch:
For all 8x68S Users: 76,4 grain R 905 196gr Brenneke TIG OAL: 87mm, Primer RWS 5333 or CCI LRM. A good load for boar or red deer...[/QB]

The only thing I donï¿½t like with this cartridge is the AOL: 87 mm - and a standard M/98 magasine is 84,5mm. You have to lengthen the mag.

The 8x64 Mazon is thus a nice idea.

Fritz

15 November 2003, 03:06

<Safarischorsch>

quote:
Originally posted by Fritz Kraut:

quote:
Originally posted by Safarischorsch:
For all 8x68S Users: 76,4 grain R 905 196gr Brenneke TIG OAL: 87mm, Primer RWS 5333 or CCI LRM. A good load for boar or red deer...
The only thing I donï¿½t like with this cartridge is the AOL: 87 mm - and a standard M/98 magasine is 84,5mm. You have to lengthen the mag.

The 8x64 Mazon is thus a nice idea.

Fritz[/QB]

hello fritz!
of course you must lengthen the magazine but that is not really a big problem i think.

15 November 2003, 04:47

Fritz Kraut

quote:
Originally posted by Safarischorsch:
hello fritz!
of course you must lengthen the magazine but that is not really a big problem i think.

How much must you lengthen it? Other suggestions?

Fritz

17 November 2003, 05:36

<JOHAN>

Fritz kraut

A Brno zg-47 will handle it well, it has a couple of millimeters more lenght than the standard mausers, at least mine has [Big Grin]

There is also a fantastic 8,5X64 wildcat made on the 9,3X64 Brenneke case [Smile]

/ JOHAN

22 November 2003, 02:18

Twinn

Will the Remington 700Bdl handle the 8 x 68???
Or does it only fit in the Magnum version?
/Twinn

22 November 2003, 03:20

dan belisle

The Remington 700 only comes in two lengths, short and long. An 8 X 68S can be fitted to a long Remington action. - Dan

22 November 2003, 03:22

ALF

25 November 2003, 13:00

wildcat junkie

quote:
Originally posted by dan belisle:
The Remington 700 only comes in two lengths, short and long. An 8 X 68S can be fitted to a long Remington action. - Dan

Correction:

The Remington 700 comes in two lengths TOO SHORT, and TOO LONG! [Big Grin]

25 November 2003, 23:49

Frank Johnson

I was considering the 8x68 also as an elk cartridge for these big beefy coastal Rooseveldt elk,a couple others I had in mind were the 8x338 and the old 323 Hollis , but I can't find any info or gunsmiths who chamber the Hollis or any specs. Any of you people had any experiance with the 8x338 or information on the Hollis?