I know this has been discussed before but I will ask the question again.

Are North Fork Solids safe to use in a double in particular for the 470 Nitro?

The North Fork site claims they are safe, however are there any good or bad experiences out there?

After reading a discussion on the Big Bore forum there seems to be some better options than the Woodleighs.

Thanks for any help.

Not much experience but they are just the berries.

BTW I am not so obtuse as to not heed advice or try new things such as the North Fork bullets, but after testing I will shoot another elephant with my Krieghoff next year.

Also worth your effort to learn about:

www.gscustom.co.za

NF's are fine for your double. When preparing for a hunt a few years ago, I put 100 or so of them thru a Merkel 470......only thing that happened was I hit the freakin' target on a very regular basis....and then the buff too. Best bullets (FP and CP) you can run thru a double in my mind. I like FP solid bullets and the cup solids...just like the FP's but with a slight "cup" in them. The cups are the best buff bullet out there IMO....but I HAVE NOT shot any GS bullets...just to be fair.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
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Garby,

Thanks, that is what I was looking for.

Did you load them to the same OAL as Woody's?

Is the powder weight for the NF the same as the 500 Grain Woody's?

The Woodleighs work well in my K-Gun but it would be fun to see if the NF shoot any better.

Mike, yes...same OAL. I loaded my 500 gr NF's over 89 gr of RL 15 with a foam wad. Velocity was 2170 fps and they shot to the exact same POA/POI as 500 gr Woodie softs over 90 gr of RL 15 with the same foam wad. Best loads I shot in my 470 Merkel....I loved those rounds...did great.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

Gary,

Thanks again, I will probably start at about 86-87 grains of RL 15 to be safe and go from there.

I will back in Africa in less than a year for elephant and buffalo. This gives me something to do until then.

Mike

For elephants, I would load the Woodleighs for the first shot and then the NF's for any subsequent shot.

In my experience, the Woodleighs penetrate bone better, with less chance of veering or deformation. But the NF's penetrate better. Since your first shot is your option, and likely a brain shot - so through some bone, go with the Woodleighs first. Since your second and subsequent shots are either insurance shots or shots where you may need all of the penetration you can get, go with the NF's.

JPK

It'll be interesting to be able to compare these NF's and GS's with the new Woody solids/mono's when they make it over to these shores.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:
It'll be interesting to be able to compare these NF's and GS's with the new Woody solids/mono's when they make it over to these shores.

The new bullets marketed by Woodleigh appear to be similar to Barnes in their construction as far as their bands and their shank. Barnes aren't for double rifles. The new bullets marketed by Woodleigh appear to fall into the same "not in a double" catagory.

JPK