Sorry for the poor quality scans.

Here are a pair of 240gr 338cal North Forks I recovered from my Newfoundland moose last month. Fired from a 338-378 Weatherby @ 3175fps.

Both are 208gr and .650 in dia. Bullet on the right was from 75yd, angled thru the neck and was found along the hide on the opposite shoulder, about 36" of penetration. The one on the left was from 3' thru the top of the neck. It was a unneeded finsher.

Picture perfect, couldn't ask for anything better.

and the moose and a pic of my buddy and I.

Thanks fellas for letting me share these with you.

Congrats on a fine moose! Those mushrooms look like they could be an advertisement for the company.

I shot some test loads of 165gr North Forks out of my 300WSM yesterday. At 100 yards the groups were .52" & .55". Got my attention. They were just work up loads so hopefully I'll see the same groups when I work up to full power loads.

Perfect performance!

I have used the North Forks enough to GUARENTEE that if you shoot another 1000 moose and recover every bullet they will all look about the same.

I have shot them into Buffalo and Eland trying to smash them up on the heavy spines that will destroy most premium bullets and the worst bullet I ever got was two perfectly expanded North Forks with a petal missing, thats the worst I ever got...A most perfect bullet, the search may be over. drive them a little faster and you won't recover any of those perfectly expanded bullets they will exit and leave big holes....they work.

What do these things run, anyway? Say, oh, for a box of 20... oh, I guess .375s and .416s (I don't know what weights are available).

Russ

Russ,
a box of 50 416's runs 48 buck i believe, got the flier here somewhere.

Thanks, KevinNY, that gives me a ballpark idea. For performance such as above and, God willing, loads could be worked up with little fiddling... the cost could justify the end, I think.

Thanks again.

Russ

Hey Al, Congratulations on a fine kill.

Just wanted to say a BIG Thank You for posting the pictures of the "recovered" bullets. That really speaks well for them.

How accurate have you found them to be? I realize each rifle can be picky about whether or not it likes a specific bullet. But your thoughts on what your impression is in comparison to other Premiums would be interesting.

Congratulations again!

Hot Core...2 words. VERY ACCURATE. I've always been a die hard Bear Claw fan, but when Mr. Carter passed, Speer was just too slow in their offering.

Pat and Ray had high praise for the North Forks so I tried them in this 338-378. Doesn't matter what you feed this gun as it's very accurate with anything.

I have some 140gr 7mm for my short Ultra mag, to try one of these days when time permits, and expect they will be as accurate.

HI,

I have been asking this question alot about Northfork bullets and still have not heard,but does anyone know the BC of the 370 grain .416 bullet??. Thanks,Kev

I really wish they'd make bullets in .264. I really like them.

Kev, I asked Mike Brady about BC, and he hadn't did no caclulations. Too busy making bullets.

I don't know for sure, but maybe you could compare the profile with a different manufacture to ge a ruff idea?

Kev,
I do not know the exact BC or SD on the 370 gr. 416 but it being half monolithic and half Nosler sorta, the 370 gr. will equal if not better the 400 gr. Nosler or Woodleigh PP for SD and BC because the monolithic portion lenthens the bullet considerably..A quick comparison shows the 370 to be the same over all lenth as a stanard 400 gr.

That's the long way around it, but the results will be the same, and that equates to about .338 SD and .375 BC for the North Fork 370 gr. bullet..bit I'm not off .10 one way or the other.

I bought a couple of boxes of these myself, 140 gr. 7mm and 180 gr. 30 cal. I haven't shot the 140's yet, but my first and only time to the range with the 180's was disappointing. In my .300 Wby Sako I got groups ranging from a one hole cloverleaf to about 2.5". Not the consistency I was hoping for, but I will keep trying. Maybe I'll just load up several with the same powder charge that resulted in the cloverleaf and see if that's the magic load.

Them Wyoming boys still seem to have a lot of good ol American inginuity. Thats how a hunting bullet should work. Now if they could just figure out how to make them more affordable. A few boxes of them would make a nice down payment on a new rifle!

Nice Bull by the way Al, Great pics!

Hey Al, Thanks for the info on the accuracy you experienced.

I was looking at the pictures a bit closer and it looks like the bullet-grooves (cut around the bullet circumference) are deep enough that the "Lands" of the barrel do not reach the bottom of them. Is that true?

Mr Ray, Have you noticed that on any of the NorthFork bullets you've managed to recover?

Also curious if the design allows them to produce higher Velocities for an equivalent pressure in comparison to another bullet? For example, over the years I've found that "some" Hornady bullets allow you to either have them run at the same Velocity as other bullets while having a lower pressure. Or, you can load those same Hornadys to a similar pressure and the result is a higher Velocity over other bullets.

Now, let me put in a disclaimer that whatever the actual "Velocity" of a bullet happens to be just isn't all that important to me as long as the cartridge in question is loaded to a SAFE MAX. I do want the actual Performance that the specific cartridge can provide, but a few FPS one way or the other doesn't concern me at all.

That said, it looks like the NorthFork design lends itself to reduced barrel-drag (surface friction) since the contact patch is reduced by half(?). If that is the situation, they may even be better than the Hornady bullets for lower-pressure and higher-velocity.

So, Al and Mr.Ray, what are your observations along those lines, or have you all thought about it?

Thanks for your time to satisfy my curiosity.

Hot Core, there is still a little groove left under the rifleing, but not much.

I never did try and max these things out I use to shoot 250gr Nosler Partition Golds, moly free, and got the same vel, with 3 less grains of powder the first time out. The first trip to the range, I thought it was a fluke as far as the accuracy went. But 2 more trips produced the same thing and I stopped right there. 3175fps is plenty fast for me.

Before I left for Newfoundland, I would go out and shoot 1 shot at 200yds. No fancy rest, just a bag of shelled corn on the bench and after 7 nights, I had a honest 2 1/2" group. So for the 1st time in my life, I'm going to leave well enough alone.

Deltahunter,
If you are getting little one holers then 2.5" groups it is in the gun or you not the load...Perhaps a hot barrel, a dirty barrel or some other cause..that has been my experience...

The North Forks do get into the bullet but not by much..The depth of the rings is very critical..I have found that the North Forks develope less velocity and pressure over a regular bullet, same with the ringed GS Customs..You will get less pressure with a given load, better accuracy and perfect expansion everytime..That has been my experience and the experience of everyone that I have talked into trying these wonderfull bullets. I have rung them out for accuracy and performance on game from Impala to Cape Buffalo. I posted the bullets on this forum and they all look the same, if you have seen one then you have seen them all, 100% consistency...they would also surfice for a target bullet IMO....

Here's one of mine, with not quite the 'perfect mushroom' of the bullets posted above, but the result was the same.

These are .416 370gr North Forks. I'd have to look it up again, but I beleive the retained weight was around 335grs.



Kev, I also asked Mike about you 'B.C. question' and he didn't know the answer.

Al,

I was talking with Mike the other day, and he related your moose experience with me. That was enough to cause me to change my order from two boxes of 225gr .338 bullets, to one box of 225gr and one box of the 240 grainers.

Ray, I know it's not the two things you mentioned. The barrel was clean and I never let it get too hot. I'm extra careful when it comes to those things. I'm not blaming anything on the bullets. I'm quite sure they're top quality.

One thing does comes to mind, though, and that is that maybe the action screws were torqued too much. I remember one day at the range having accuracy problems with Speer Grand Slams. I loosened the action screws somewhat and proceded to shoot some of the best groups I've ever shot. I don't know, it may be something else, but I'll try that and see what happens. This rifle (a Sako) has always been a good shooter. Of course, there's always the possibility that the problem was, dare I say it, me.

Great pics! I wish they made them in 264.

Delta Hunter,
The point I was trying to make was the if a gun will shoot small groups one time and then a bad group the next time with the same brand of bullet, then the problem is in the gun, not the bullet, something is moving inside that puppy..when you find it then all will be as good as the best group you shot.

Loose screws could certainly be the problem for sure so maybe your on the right track...Loose scope screws, faulty scope, bad bedding, are some of the varibals to check....

Al -- great pictures buddy, those mirror what my test medium has revealed. Congrats on that Moose, the hunt must have been lots of fun. I just got back from Northwest Colorado, and I took my second Bull Elk with the North Fork bullet, however I am yet to recover one to inspect, after complete penetration on both animals. My performance both trips was, one shot, one dead Bull. I have shot both of those Bulls with a .358 STA and a 250 grain bullet at 3100 fps. I also shoot the 225, 240, and 250 grain North Forks in my .340 Wby, all with good pinpoint accuracy. I did load a buddy a 200 grain North Fork load for a hunting trip to New Mexico. He shoots a 300 Ultra Mag and the load was very accurate at 3000 fps. He hit his Bull at 418 yards, then used a put away shot at point blank range. He recovered both bullets and I plan to send them to Mike. Those North Forks are some kind of awesome, in everything I have shot them in. I am loading the .416 Rem 370 grain at up to 2700 fps, hope to use it in Africa someday. Good shooting.

Nice bulls and bullets. Do they make them in 308 diameter? What outfitter did you use and what part of Newfoundland. I went the first week of October also. Not as nice as your bull. Great pics.

fetch, North Forks are avaiable in 30cal. I know 165gr and 180's for sure, might be something heavier.

We went with Moose Valley. He flys out of Deer Lake or Pascedina. 2nd time with them and couldn't ask for a better outfit. He's booked solid for the next 2 years, and sorry to say, we're not in that picture, but 1st on the list if someone backs out.

Thanks for the info. We went with Rack Lake outfitter out of Daniels Harbour. They also are booked up a few years. Congrats again. Brian