8mm Remington Magnum - The 8mm Remington Magnum in Field Use

The 8mm Remington Magnum in Field Use

The 8 mm Remington Magnum as a pure civil cartridge can be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military ammunition.

A powerful cartridge like the 8 mm Remington Magnum has its drawbacks. Like every other big game cartridge it presents a stout recoil. Since there are not many factory loads available, the 8 mm Remington Magnum is often used by reloaders. They can use this cartridge to create powerful loads by handloading, while staying within the 448 MPa (65000 psi) SAAMI piezo pressure limit. Combined with bullets with jackets designed for magnum cartridge muzzle velocities, and barrels of 650 mm (25.6 in) or longer to promote high muzzle velocities, the 8 mm Remington Magnum offers the flattest trajectory and best long range performance of the commercially available 8 mm rifle cartridges.

From 8 mm caliber upwards the rise of sectional density and penetrating capability of practical spin stabilized rifle bullets (bullets up to 5 to 5.5 calibers in length) tends to flatten out.

This means that loaded with light, short and soft nosed 8 mm bullets the 8 mm Remington Magnum can be used on remarkably small game. Loaded with heavy, long and hard (solid copper) bullets the 8 mm Remington Magnum offers enough velocity derived power to penetrate heavy and dangerous game. With developed handloads, the 8mm Remington Magnum is capable of driving a 220 grain boat tail bullet in excess of 3,000 ft/sec, and delivers as much energy at 500 yards (457m) as the .308 Winchester has at the muzzle. Lighter bullets of 150-180 grains can be driven to velocities of 3,300-3,500 ft/sec, putting it in the same class as the larger cased .300 Remington Ultra Magnum; Such loads offer a very flat trajectory, making it an optimal choice for deer and elk sized game at very long range. The 8 mm Remington Magnum is suitable for hunting almost any game animal on the planet, though certain sub-Saharan Africa countries have a 9.53 mm (.375 in) or 10.2 mm (.40 in) minimum caliber rule for hunting Big Five game - i.e. leopard, lion, cape buffalo, rhinoceros and African elephant. In the Central African Republic, where there are no ammunition limits for hunting Big Five game, the 8 mm Remington Magnum’s somewhat smaller sister cartridge the 8 x 68 S is used successfully for hunting African elephant. At equal chamber pressure and 650 mm (25.6 in) barrel length the larger 8 mm Remington Magnum produces 3 to 5% extra muzzle velocity.