In recent months we have enjoyed a true privilege; rarely in guns enthusiast life happens to be able to test a new calibre, even more rarely it happens to enjoy the trust of a company as famous as Mauser and to be the first to receive two new rifles for hunting field’s trial. It was a unique experience for us, the one we awaited in our wildest dreams, and obviously we worked hard to produce best possible results in three months trial, testing weapons and caliber intensively in several fields.
We often hear that cartridges’ design and development heydays are long gone, ammunitions’ market is oversaturated and self-proclaimed experts claim that everything that could be tested and invented has already been explored in the last century, and then resumed and reworked several times. Nothing new can be invented, or at least nothing new that could revolutionize our knowledge. True or not, profound changes that hunting world is going through in recent years are undeniable. For decades the need to promote our image in public opinion has been growing, aiming to dismantle the theses of those who would portray us as bloodthirsty troglodytes, certainly manteining roots and traditions that we have proudly handed down for centuries. The need to establish hunting ethic, a discipline “environment linked” (not to living room environmentalism), venison enhancement as a healthy drugs free food, the creation of a certified venison supply chain, this is the third millennium hunter’s backbone, standing with one foot in the past, with traditions and wisdom, and the other in the present taking attention to rules, hygiene, safety and image. Very easy in words, very challenging and difficult to achieve. If you try to discuss this transformation with an elderly hunter, he will almost certainly give you an austere look, and you will clearly hear epithets that his mind is dispensing; But this process is inevitable and perhaps even necessary not to remain steadfast on certain positions and indeed rushing forward and finding adequate solutions before the usual self-proclaimed experts pose ridiculous problems, forcing us to run after absurd adjustments. In many European countries, for example, suppressors have become common in hunting, to avoiding nuisance to other animal species or to citizens residing in the area. If it seems a marginal necessity, try to think that in many european sub-urban areas hunting and varmint control is allowed during the night employing thermal visors. Most countries in Europe have taken a very pragmatic and efficient path: many wild animals represent a problem, they damage crops, producing economic damage that is no longer sustainable; Ungulates population without control cause thousands of road accidents, with unacceptable social cost; at the same time very contagious diseases such as African swine fever find an easy expansion way in wild boars risking to contaminate livestock farms, causing incalculable economic damage. There is a growing need to control wild ungulate population, in a simple, very effective and low profile way. Night and his gloomy robe therefore seem to be the perfect allies for the modern hunter, called to unravel the tangle of problems produced by wild boar, fallow deer and roe deer.
Recent trend wants this, use technology to see at night, mount suppressors to kill harmful and unwanted species even near inhabited centers or livestock farms without causing concern and alarmism. This challenge poses new needs, new parameters and establishes a new standard to comply with.
Pay attention, and you will be impressed: look at the latest scope generation: you will no longer find long scopes with wide lenses, you will see compact, rather short ones with slightly extended eye relief. Why? applying a latest generation Clip On sight to an old generation scope, as well as being uncomfortable, makes it almost impossible to operate controls without moving from the shooting position. What’s the sense of large diameter lenses if you can see better with a compact scope mounting a thermal clip on? capturing last light’s tears is no longer so vital.
Similarly, try to think what could be to screw a suppressor on a 65cm barrel typical of magnum caliber; imagine a 85 cm barrel that transforms our favorite carbine into a Renaissance arquebus, uncomfortable, long, unbalanced and useful only to get us damned. And then how to handle the noise produced by such an artillery piece?? You need a short barrel, a caliber working well with full and reduced charges and even designed for night shooting. Hunting suppressor is not a silencer, it does not entirely drop the noise, but limits and disperses it making it less intrusive.. subsonic charges and zero noise are not needed, those are parameters necessary for other activities that don’t belong to us. A 50 cm barrel with suppressor mounted become 60-65 cm long, comfortable and suitable for the purpouse. It goes without saying that we need a specific caliber, able to burn all the powder in a short time, still achieving enough energy to put at bay every European ungulate. Almost everything needs to be redesigned: weapons, scopes, calibers; And none the less charges, projectiles and trajectories must be redesigned. We are witnessing the birth of new loads intended for short barrels, equipped with bullets capable of working perfectly in the new context. A good example are Norma’s “Suppressor” series cartridges, exquisitely designed for this task and damn e ffective. Every adaptation, anyway, is always a compromise, something that get the job done quite well but certainly fails to excel. A new calibre, designed to perform this particular task but obviously also efficient in other contexts, a completely new and ultra-modern cartridge, is the turning point. This evolution requires a complete revision about everything we know, an adjustment to changed conditions. This does not mean that we will have to scrap our beloved rifles with long barrels, nor that calibers in use today and perhaps a century old are destined to be forgotten. No… it just means that a new scenario is opening up, an extremely particular hunting application that requires special equipment. Not everything, therefore, has already been invented and tested.
Not every day happens to work on a completely new caliber, it’s every reloading enthusiast’s dream. Being able to experiment on something never seen before is pure lust, true exploration. Months ago we began the complex search for components. If when developing 7×66 Vom Hofe loads finding cases was difficult, obtaining Dies and brasses of an almost unknown brand new caliber was even worse. As soon as Mauser confirmed the possibility of testing the newborn 8.5×55, I ordered the only standard size Dies available. All 8.5×55 Dies available have 1 1/4″-12 diameter, therefore, unless it was screwed directly onto press thread, a different solution was required. After a few hours on the web I found a Lee Dies set with 7/8″x 14 diameter, the common standard. I ordered the Set but the dealer, Reimer Johannsen, immediately told me that it would take some time. And it took months, but in the end Dies arrived, a few days before the rifles. Since ammunitions were not available at the moment, we began to look for new or spent cases. Difficult task, since no one had them available and not even spent cases were available. We risked seeing the weapons arrive without being able to test them and take them hunting, the worst of defeats. But in need and emergency, no one knows more than an Italian how to devise a solution… We began to study all the cartridges from which shells could be fire formed, and after some experiments we had obtained some encouraging results from .300 WSM cases. Clearly work was long, arduous and very boring.
In the past we had already get unobtainable cases from the excellent SHM, Süddeutschen Hülsenmanufaktur, and it cost nothing to try. When asked, they replied that they had 1,500 available for prompt delivery. We didn’t need that many, and we had solved the problem. In 3 days we were ready to start handloading. We had three different bullets to start range tests. A true classic, honest and cheap: Speer Hot Cor 200 grains destined to drive hunt and blood trailing. A medium weight Lead free, the excellent 185 grain Fox Classic, and finally a massive 225 grain Swift A-Frame, the most reliable bullet ever when it comes to Big Game. All that remained was to process virtual loads on Quickload. Something far from simple since obviously, there is no bibliography on this calibre, there are no articles, no tests; Basically this is what we were looking for and we wanted to compete with.
We started with Speers, the ones we needed first; developing a recipe was not complex, we were careful and we immediately obtained a good result. Grouping was good, muzzle energy bouncing on4600 joules for just 3700 bar.. we still had huge room for improvement. Maximum operating pressure is 4300 bar, but it was not necessary to push further: energy is more than enough, muzzle rise manageable and recoil decidedly smoother than the good 9.3×62 one. Everything wroked well, even if that “Leopard at great maneuvers” style muzzle flash was really unwatchable and denouncing incomplete combustion and scarce efficiency. Without changing dose we just swopped to Magnum primers with amazing results: decidedly narrow grouping, with holes touching, and flatter trajectory. Powder residues’ smell and muzzle flash total absence confirmed what had been hypothesized. Wasting just about fifteen cartridges we already had a cartridge good enough for hunting. Only the most important response was missing, the field . Everything suggested that we would get excellent feedback: the bullet is a classic Soft Point with core welded to jacket; From previous experiences we knew that Hot Cors are prone to shredding part of their mass inside game, while low sectional density value only increass expectations of an excellent stopping power on medium and large game. Seen projectile’s mass however, deep penetration was to be expected: 200 grains have inesorable inercy and even in angled shots or on fast-moving games we wouldn’t suffer lack of penetration. At the same time, rifle’s compactness and short action immediately allow excellent harmony and rapid shot repetition. When hunting, finally, all our theories founded confirmation producing extremely rapid and clean killings on large and small games. Even if placement was not perfect, epilogue was always the same: a quick brutal death. In many wayswhat we witnessed with this caliber closely reminded us what we had seen using the good 8x68S. A few years ago we spent a driven hunts season with an M03 chambered in this powerful Teutonic thoroughbred, obtaining astounding results; I have never seen faster, more brutal and without appeal kills. Huge games, shoted in the boiling room had extinguished in a few moments, not before having torn forest’s silence with a chilling scream. A smooth handload, close to 4800 joules and topped by the classic 200-grain Alaska, had proven to be damnably powerful and lethal. On the other hand, however, weapon’s mass, long barrel and heavy action imposed several limits. It was necessary to anticipate game’s moves, since repeating the shot would have been almost impossible. During that season we had thought that a caliber developing that energy and speed in a compact, agile and light ballistic system, could be perfect for setting a new standard.
It seemed quite impossible, but after a couple of years we have to say that we were wrong: 8.5×55 fill this gap with cruel efficiency. It easily produce same performances in a lighter, shorter, more agile rifle; If that’s not enough, .338 ogives of same weight have lower sectional density than 8mm ones, producing truly lightning-fast kills. Compared to the evergreen 9,3×62 it has gentler recoil, less muzzle rise and obviously higher reloading speed. Far from wanting to oust these elderly champions, it stands exactly in the middle: it doesn’t have to fill any gap between the two, since none exists, but it certainly represents a new standard: if chambered in a semi-automatic weapon the mighty 8,5×55 would probably sweep away many competitors,
Project’s heart, as always, is the case. Observing dimensions you can only admit similarity with short magnum calibres: substantial differences are in shoulder and neck quotes. Blaser technicians certainly worked hard to ensure that the short case could house enough powder to spit light and heavy bullets at high speeds. 8.5mm bullets, or .338 if you prefer, pose uncommon difficulties in such a short case. In addition to achieve optimal combustion rate, designer must in any case take into account ogives lenght and maximum cartridge lenght. A long bullet will inevitably seat deeper, occupying a lot of space inside the case, limiting room for powder. Maximum cartridge length is rather limited, 74.5 mm, not for Freebore value as by magazine’s size. Never before like in this caliber bullet’s choice is so crucial. Probably 230 grains represent the maximum employable weight without sacrificing performance. Bullets generating high ignition pressures, such as bonded or monolithic, obtain optimal operating pressures and complete combustion even in short barrels. Developing handloads, particular attention should be paid to combustion ratio, especially if intended for night hunt and thermal vision. Bullets with lower starting pressures such as classic soft points or lighter ones, will partially sacrifice caliber performance, or at least will not squeeze all the potential, never reaching complete powder combustion before the muzzle. This happens for the relationship between case internal volume and bullets length: we will almost always have close to compression or even compressed loads. Our tests were realized with some interesting bullets. Developing didn’t posed any problems. The evergreen RS60 once again has proved to be up to the task, while magnum primers were even indispensable to achieve best ballistic efficiency.
Speer HotCor 200 grains.
We tested the classic 200-grain Speer HotCor in driven hunt. As always happens with Speers, we have found good quality-price ratio: despite really low cost, performance in typical close and badly placed shots have almost always lived up to expectations.
All the games collapsed on the spot even when placement was not sublime. Energy dump has always been brutal, massive, producing extensive internal damage. We have never recovered even a part of the bullet but seen nature and extent of internal damage we believe that partial fragmentation inside game is highly probable. We have witnessed incredible terminal results, very similar if not superimposable to the striking ones achieved by 8x68S, but using 20 cm shorter barrel and a light short action all matched in a proverbially compact and instinctive rifle. Duplicating these performances on such a light and high-performance platform is incredible: it easily achieve 4800 Joules without any problem, counting on reliable bullet with optimal sectional density (.250) better than the 8mm bullets of the same weight usually have. Accuracy was really satisfactory; While load development we settled on values considerably lower than the maximum pressure values: seen the peculiar purpouse, required performances were not extreme, we sought and obtained best compromise between comfort, energy, precision and safety.
The hunting season was not our best one: a torrid summer reluctantly gave way to a dry and dusty autumn; only in last weeks copious rains allowed easier herds tracing andfinally a large number of specimens came back on the hills. First wild boar we shot was a sixty kilograms young male, wounded by the adjacent hunter and trying to sneak away. After being hit by a bullet in the shoulder, had passed trough our line, taking a steepdescending trot, heading towards a ditch. Waiting for the right shooting angle we finally were forced to hit the only visible portion, its bottom. Unhappy shot that usually doesn’t get brilliant results. The boar, while fatally shot, was still able to walk away, a classic scenario leading to game’s loss unless you have a trail dog. Hitted into right ham, boar collapsed to the ground without making a moan. During the dissection we saw how the first shot, fired from a .308 Winchester, had affected a lung with certainly lethal effects but without anchoring the prey to the ground. The 200-grain Speer, on other hand, had penetrated the thigh muscle, shattered the femur and finally penetrated abdomen producing a real debacle. Exit hole was a deep and jagged gash a good part of the entrails were slipping from. Not what you call a “meat saver”, but certainly a real stopper. We would have preferred that our first game could have been a solemn boar that silently slipped out of the thicket, stopping on forest’s edge to listen and smell the wind. But as always in this hunt, things happen hastily and never following imagined script. After a few days, however, it was a decent sow, close to 60 kg, caught running at 50 metres. It was a gray November day and the most beautiful hunting of the year was underway, in the less frequented area which represents our district’s lung, where wild boars are always present in large numbers throughout the year, far from human disturbance and land agricultural. After few hours, finally a pack of hounds begins to push a small herd of boars towards our line. Suddenly we see two animals running along a trot, a hundred meters away, inside the wood; they come galloping and we just have time to aim the second boar and take a good shot. Lightning bolt the boar collapses to the ground, howling and grunting. In a fraction of a second we reload and aim other one; we might have time for a second shot but it’s almost in front of the adjacent hunter; we hesitate for a moment and our neighbor’s express crackles twice.
It was a good hunt, fun, clean, the games caming without being forced by dogs but pushed from far away;When Finally we reached the boar we were able to observe result produced. Speer bullet had reached the shoulder, shattering humerus and penetrating ribcage.Egress hole was quite generous and left little room for imagination. Projectile had lost much of its mass, generating secondary projectiles and causing game’s sudden death . What we had observed for years using 270 grain HotCors in 9.3×62, seemed to recur without changes even in .338. These bullets don’t take prisoners, and all in all they are the best possible to ask in an hunting that demands striking stopping power. We used 74.5mm OAL because it turned out to be the best possible compromise. Over time we have been able to experiment how half millimeter shorter cartridge would have avoided damage to the apical part of the bullet. Accuracy produced, however, discouraged us from changing anything. During the season we have collected a couple of bad errors, one really indecorous and tacky. We were in a corner position,where usually biggest and smartest boars try to break trough. Specifically, we were in elevated position above an abandoned forest road, in front of a dark trot with a narrow shooting angle. We therefore had only one chance to hit the boar as it left thicket’s safety to cross the road. Despite M12 Trail’s instinctivity, a burly sow managed to fool us: arriving with soft step and without dogs to press her, she managed to cross the road with a single leap, her hooves never leaving the soft mud of the forest. She was faster, smarter and stronger than us, our shot missed inexorably. Taken by discouragement that follows every missing shot, we scrupulously checked the anschutz, but neither us nor Otto’s nose managed to find any blood trace.
On the last hunting day, when hopes were dwindling, a nice corpulent boar let us to enjoy the best kill of the season. We luckilly had an open sight, on a raised position from which we had any advantage on game. In front of us, a forest cut 4 years ago and now in full regrowth, adorned with dense arbutus stumps and brooms continuing well beyond forest’s edge. shaked off hounds a couple of times, our boar emerged from thicket’s shelter boldly trotting , stopping for an instant out in the open range. Wind breath that lightly blew from behind us didn’t just bring to its bristly nostrils undergrowth smell , and the crafty boar was about to spring like lightning towards the thick; Hesitation however gave us time to aim the shoulder and gently squeeze the trigger. Extremely rare thing in driven hunting, usually featured by burning and angry shots, we were able to enjoy the sight of our prey at perfect distance, even distinctly distinguishing shot’s bang from the devastating snap of bullet impacting the game. Clean, immediate and extremely satisfying kill. Or not… after a few seconds of hesitation, the big bristleboar got up, trying walk along the trot towards the old wood behind us. A second shot to the neck, this time calmly aimed, had slammed the boar heavily to the ground. Far from giving up, the boar stillfound a few energy to get back on its legs and take a few more steps. Incredulous and alarmed by hawling hounds arriving, we shot two more cartridges on now partially covered game; One bullet reached a paw, while in meantime internal bleeding put an end to the agony. The hunting action, lasted about ten seconds, left a bad taste in our mouths. If on one hand we were pleased with the first good shot , on the other game’s reaction aroused dismay.
How could it have happened that he got up after a shot in the shoulder? and after a second in the neck? The suspicion that we had overrated the fragile Speer bullet was beginning to grow. Once we got close to the boar it was possible to look at the first entry hole on left shoulder and the second at the base of the neck. A single egress hole of reduced dimensions, was present on the right hemicostat far behind. Truth came overwhelmingly out while butchering. First bullet had penetrated the left shoulder, breaking the humerus above the elbow and penetrating the ribcage, producing an entry hole as large as a 2 Euro coin. Somehow bullet had continued its journey and exited the right side shattering two ribs. Internal damage was devastating, lungs, stomach and liver were reduced to bloody pulp. Seen hematoma’s extent it was evident that bullet dissipated most of its mass, seeding a myriad of secondary bullets. Egress hole’s small size reveal modest residual mass, jacket and core had probably separated. The second bullet, the one that hit between shoulder and neck, literally disintegrated in the ribcage. There was no exit hole and it seems likely that it ended in the stomach, full of indigested food, stopping its run there. It was a satisfying action, therefore, surely an excellent test for our Caliber and Weapon; However, 200 grain Hot Core shown all their limits.
It seems quite evident that these honest bullets are suitable for light and medium games, while can easily reach theyr limit on heavy game. We don’t want express a negative judgment, since our first shot produced extensive and certainly fatal damage. Anyway if we want immediate effect on light games, bullet must dump its energy to less stout structures, while on more corpulent games we must achieve adequate penetration. Light .338 bullets aren’t designed with driven hunts’ purpouse in mind: they are almost all made in the United States, a country where this hunting is not practiced. Classic Soft point bullet weighting 215 or 225 grains could perhaps be a valid alternative. Norma should soon produce new ammunition topped by excellent 210 grains Alaska, tossed at 4800 joules: probably the best you could ask for. I have always had enormous faith in these bullets, especially if heavy weight.
We also dedicated ourselves to some blood trails, especially in the cooler part of the season, the one that usually collect the highest number of injured animals. We only were successful on two occasions, always recovering games already died for bleeding. We bitterly note that wolves, at night, carry out an excellent service, recovering wounded and death games, leaving only shreds of fur and some well-cleaned bones. Being profound connoisseurs of the forest, I think they have begun to follow hunting battues from afar, waiting for hunters departure to start a precise research work. They are predators and opportunists, tracing a wounded animal is certainly more productive than hunting. A warm meal is tempting for everyone.
Fox Bullet 185 Grains.
It’s absolutely no secret that monolithic bullets are not our favorite. It is not a preconception, nor distrust versus progress; Anyway in hunting form that we prefer, at present, a good soft point bullet or a bonded one, are still the best Choice. When Still hunting, however, lead free bullets easily find their place. They usually produce good external ballistics, and if well placed they generate clean and extremely respectful kills.
Among non-toxic bullets we have tested over time, we certainly appreciate the excellent Fox Bullets; they have absolutely remarkable qualities: they always produce an excellent grouping, never generate dangerous overpressures, do not engage rifling too much and finally they are capable of excellent terminal ballistic with rather low residual speeds. We don’t like lead-free bullets in driven hunts, but we found them excellent for roe deer and fallow deer; We started developing from experience gained with Speer Hot Cor. We immediately reduced total length to 74 mm, despite Fox have a pleasant rounded tip in apical part. As in previous experiment we used RS60 Powder, obtaining exceptional result. As always happens with monolithics, whatever material they are made of, initial pressure is higher than classic cup-core lead bullets; This is a very important factor: if we would try to load a light lead bullet, we would be forced to use faster powders, sacrificing energy and speed. The 185 grain Fox, on the other hand, really seems to be perfect for this brilliant cartridge. Our recipe reach ideal proportions: filling is close to 90%, and using a long drop funnel we obtain optimal powder sedimentation: bullet skims powder without touching it. Powder reaches complete burning , well before the muzzle; As main consequence we have no muzzle flash, so that it’s easy to observe game’s reaction after the shot even with low light, at sunset, or even better at nightwhen using an infrared sight. We cared bullet’s speed, trying to obtain perfect barrel time. Operating pressure is abundantly below maximum values and anyway achieve respectable muzzle energy. Accuracy produced is truly satisfying. Using a sandbag and a low magnification hunting scope, at 100 meters we had three holes touching. An excellent result, perfect for hunting roe deer in winter manteining the same setup in our M12 Trail. On a cold January morning, shortly after dawn, we had fire baptism of our recipe; From our Blind we shot a female roe deer at about 150 meters.
Leaving the woods to cross a strip of open land, she collapsed to the ground when hitted, then got up and walked a few metres. To our partial disappointment we had not achieved a lightning kill; Anyway with great trepidation Otto, our faithful Jagd Terrier, easily followed the blood path reaching the dying prey. Partially delayed kill, to objective analysis, is due to unperfect placement. A faithful furry collaborator, in these cases, is truly irreplaceable.
For the end of the season we optimized our recipe for M18 Wald Jagd too, the other 8.5×55 rifle that we had to test in this hunting season. This weapon’s fine-tuning , arrived a few weeks after the M12 Trail, required a few more days. We achieved perfect efficiency when fox hunting was Still open on Asiago plateau. Thanks to extreme accuracy achieved by our cartridges we have shoot down several foxes, skilfully exploiting terrytory orography and winter climate. We also had the opportunity to thoroughly test this recipe using a Clip On Liemke device, and field confirmed what we had only hypothesized at the desk: perfect combustion grants optimal target vision, smooth manageable recoil allows following fluid shot, grouping remains constant. It seems pleasant to us to share sharing our recipe with our readers, reaffirming that it has been optimized for the short M18 Wald Jagd barrel and that it may not produce same accuracy in different barrels.
Swift A Frame 225 grains.
We must admit, these beautiful and infallible bullets are surely excessive for European games. Unless you run into a Danubian deer or a huge big bear, a good 225-grain soft point bullet, or at least a bonded one of same weight is more than enough to end any diatribe; there is no game living in the old continentable to survive an heavy bullet tossed at velocity we can easily obtain.
Nonetheless, as you have learned following us, we cannot resist A Frames’ charme, we have been using them for years and we always had satisfaction. When penetration and weight retention are required, few bullets can match tough Swift. As already stated, they have peculiarity that makes them unique: they have dual core, both the front core, softer, and the rear one, harder, are strongly welded to the thick copper jacket. The front core tends to deform after impact even at moderate speeds, releasing energy and ensuring extensive tissue damage; Rear core ensures deepest penetration, while unlike other dual cores available it’s prone to deform upon devastating impacts without losing mass, without deviating from original trajectory and amplifying tissue damage. Years ago we worked out a powerful load in 8x68S, using 220-grain A Frames. We tried them for a couple of seasons just for pleasure. As hypothesized, they were excellent both on light and huge games. It was damned respectfulon roe deer, while onheavy wild boars it was a sentence without appeal. Our recipe was obviously extremely exuberant for our hunting theaters, good to find a bad headache at every shooting session at the range. We also gladly used them in 8x57JS and 8x57JRS, and by extension we continued trying them in 9,3mm, discovering how accurate and lethal they can be over a wide range of speeds. We had to try them in .338, thinking about how effective they could be on African and North American prey. Always keeping in mind case’s internal volume and limits imposed by bullet’s lenght, A Frames seemed to be, on paper, the best candidates for a perfect big game cartridge. Quick Load software, great ally, assigns these bullets high initial pressure, much higher than monolithic and FMJ. The reason is easy to tell: they have a stout structure, very thick jacket of exceptional workmanship. Their squat shape tenaciously engages rifling and it is never aa good idea to push pression to extremes, uless you are looking for accuracy loss and unnecessary stress for weapon and shooter. In our case, however, this aspect is by no means a disadvantage: elaborated recipe, in fact, achieves optimal filling, with bullet seating far enough from powder.
Total burning is well before the bullet exits the muzzle, achieving excellent accuracy and considerable energy, enough to overcome large and tough games. We tested our recipe using both regular and Magnum primers. We expected the standard primers producing larger groups, and they did.
We tried to obtain maximum accuracy and constancy, even employing short barrel; Grouping, as expected, was really good. We hope to test this cartridge in the field during next hunting season, perhaps on a huge male deer during the rut. This would probably be the best possible test.
SAX MJG SX 8,44 GRAMS
Our ultimate in-depth trial test involve Sax MJG bullets, 8,5mm. As far as we have seen in this short period, 8,5×55 Blaser is extremely powerful, intrinsically accurate handsome and modern. Limited time didn’t allow us to try the bullets that most intrigued us, the incredibly light 130 grain Sax, promising flat trajectories and sidereal speeds. It wasn’t easy to get the right powder, and when it finally arrived, temperatures in Italy had rised up to african values. Not the best conditions to test a new cartridge.. So we decided to wait cooler temperatures and ideal weather. When autumn finally arrived we were ready to go and full of aspectatives. With hunting season approaching, our setup on the mighty M12 trail changed, shifting to the Minox RV1 red dot. We couldn’t imagine how accurate our rifle could be in this configuration, although we employed this Red Dot two years ago with outstanding accuracy.
At the range our recipe striked greatly. We had previously zeroed the RAt the range our recipe striked greatly. We had previously zeroed the RV1 with Speer 200 grains bullet, obtaining a good grouping at 50 meters. We then tried Sax Mjg at 100 with same zeroing. Point of impact was quite different, while accuracy was simply amazing. We were speechless, 6 shots in rapid fire, using a front simple rest, a classic sand bag. We had never achieved a group like this at 100 meters mounting a red dot. Mild recoil, burning ratio close to 100%, great Stock’s ergonomy, lenses brightness, all contribute to achieve this fine result.
We employed Norma 202 powder, probably the best one to toss our light bullet out of a 47 cm barrel, the only that could achieve sideral speed and fine burning ratio. We used magnum primers as usual, and the little muzzle flash witnessed that this was the best choice. Unfortunately roedeer season is over here, so we have to wait until January to test this bullet on light framed games. For trailing wounded boars we still prefer rounded heavy lead bullets, but we have endurance to wait for better time.
CONCLUSIONS.
At this time we are currently testing the good 8.5×55 in varmint control with Liemke thermal sight that will allow us to explore folds of the night improving our skills. What we can assert, at present, is that this excellent caliber represents an absolute novelty, showing impressive flexibility and extraordinary ballistic efficiency.
The hunting context it was conceived for is something new, dynamic, constantly evolving: innovations are constantly being perfected. Suppressors and sights could already be something antiquate, since some Blaser and Sauer recent rifles are equipped with short suppressed barrels (epochal evolution destined to have great succes) and surely able to squeeze 8,5×55’s enormous potential. We are only at the beginning.
MAUSER FANATIC 
Hello, there is already something self-made for this caliber. From the Blaserbuds and Robsoft forums and posted by Swiss Reload customers.
"Mi piace""Mi piace"