Anyone reloading 8.5x55 Blaser?

[stokesrj]

I think that moose are powderpuff easy to kill. Based on my vast (pun intended) experience perhaps a dozen snd a half or so) moose. I've killed them with 30-06, 308, 270 Win, 338 Win Mag, 375 H&H Mag, 350 Remington Magnum and even 38 Special and 45 ACP along with several more from my 12 gauge 3" magnum using 00 buck. They all died and died relatively quickly especially the head shot 00 buck at 3 feet. So I am certain that a 8.5X55 with a heavy for caliber bullet is more than enough.

[hv]

Done that too over 30 years with 308, 30-06, 45-70 and 375, but never with 8,5x55. Yet. This is not about less being enough. Why I have taken this is entirely my own business, and I will no longer be involved in those discussions. I do this because I can and I want to.

I’m not at all upset if we try to stick to the caliber itself and especially to charge it.

[Vaughan]

I think that moose are powderpuff easy to kill. Based on my vast (pun intended) experience perhaps a dozen snd a half or so) moose. I've killed them with 30-06, 308, 270 Win, 338 Win Mag, 375 H&H Mag, 350 Remington Magnum and even 38 Special and 45 ACP along with several more from my 12 gauge 3" magnum using 00 buck. They all died and died relatively quickly especially the head shot 00 buck at 3 feet. So I am certain that a 8.5X55 with a heavy for caliber bullet is more than enough.

jokes aside I don't think they are particularly bullet proof either, unlike sambar. The "problem" is this odd habit of taking broadside heart/lung shots with hard bullets and avoiding shoulder shots all in order to minimize meat loss, which is very bad form..... I've found they can run a surprising distance with a 9.3mm hole in or near their heart. Doesn't really matter with tracking dogs. Really fast seems to make a difference as do very frangible bullets. But when you make a mistake, which you inevitably will, living it down after the moose has been butchered can take a while....

[stokesrj]

Same here, some of my fastest kills were with a 270 and lightly constructed deer bullets but good judgement and discipline are required to place those lightly constructed bullets on a path to the vitals that doesn’t require penetrating heavy muscles or the paunch. Whereas heavy jacketed or mono bullets provide the latitude to take more angled shots where deeper penetration is needed.

[andychas]

First I tried a 210gr TTSX bullet with a powder N550. At a charge of 62.5gr, the muzzle velocity was 858mps. Maybe I could still raise it, but I decided to try the RS60 powder and it would seem to work perfectly. For this season, I serve this bullet to the side of the moose at a charge of 64.6gr (870mps, coal 78.0mm).
I also loaded 185gr TSX with N550. At a charge of 66.0gr, the muzzle velocity was 915mps. Coal was 76.0mm. But this bullet seems to break up too easily.

That’s all great info! Thanks for posting and doing the hard work. Very interesting results on the expansion too.Ive (finally!) received some brass so about to start some load developing. My initial plan is for the 200gn Peregrine VRG3, powder wise its a toss up between RS60 and N550 but based on this I’ll start with RS60 I think.
Out of interest, what was your approach to COAL?
Best
Andy

[hv]

I’ve loaded Barnes bullets into multi-caliber ones and noticed that they like to jump. Barnes says the bullet should be left out of the .03 "- .07" grooves. In my experience, even more than 2mm works. I always try to set it so that the groove in the bullet and the mouth of the case do not make a pocket that collects dirt. I’ll make one choice in terms of length, I will load and if there is a good enough result, it will go so far, especially when the season hits on just about any time. There is plenty to do anyway.

Reload Swiss said they do not recommend compression charges on their powder. That is, if you use a shorter length, be careful with the amount of powder. That charge of mine just fit in the case when put in by the Forster's drop tube. It really helps.

tip: RCBS:n Precision Mic Cartridge Headspace Tool in caliber 300wsm is so close to this that I've found it useful.

[andychas]

I’ve loaded Barnes bullets into multi-caliber ones and noticed that they like to jump. Barnes says the bullet should be left out of the .03 "- .07" grooves. In my experience, even more than 2mm works. I always try to set it so that the groove in the bullet and the mouth of the case do not make a pocket that collects dirt. I’ll make one choice in terms of length, I will load and if there is a good enough result, it will go so far, especially when the season hits on just about any time. There is plenty to do anyway.

Reload Swiss said they do not recommend compression charges on their powder. That is, if you use a shorter length, be careful with the amount of powder. That charge of mine just fit in the case when put in by the Forster's drop tube. It really helps.

tip: RCBS:n Precision Mic Cartridge Headspace Tool in caliber 300wsm is so close to this that I've found it useful.

Agree with you on Barnes liking a jump! Peregrine are pretty clear with their seating guidance but I’ll make up a case for checking where the bullet touches anyway. I’ll post details of the load once Ive done some testing.
Best
Andy

[338man]

I reload for the .338 RCM with 225 grain Woodleighs. The 8.5 x 55 case is marginally wider so should hold slightly more powder. I get excellent accuracy and velocity of 2720 fps in a 20" barrel using Reloder 17 seated at 2.86". I would think in the 8.5 x 55 you could get close to 2800 fps with Reloder 17 in a 20" barrel with 225gn projectiles. Also, the 225 grain Barnes TSX and TTSX will not break up like the 185 grain Barnes in previous post.

[hv]

I managed to recover the bullet I shot from a elk/moose bull. A hit in the left front corner and a bullet was found on the other side next to the last ribs. I'm not sure if that should be said to be an elk or a moose. Here it looks similar to a North American moose, but is only smaller. And if you put the elk on google, you'll get a wapiti. Yet everyone here says it's elk. Strange.

But so I found this. Barnes 210gr TTSX.

870mps ~2354fps
790mps ~2592fps
118m ~129yd

Oops!
Correction: 870mps = 2854fps

[TheoR8]

Very thorough. Thank you. 8.5x55 would be a great sambar cartridge, but I don't think we will ever see it in Aus.

That's what I'm thinking Iain.

[stokesrj]

The elk vs moose name is an interesting mistake made by the Lewis and Clark expedition. They started that expedition in the east moving westward along the Mason Dixon line headed to the Pacific Ocean. They came across the Wapiti first and some of them being from Europe mistook them for the elk of their homeland and made that tragic mistake of naming the wapiti an elk. Then when they came across what we now call a Shiras moose they had already used the name elk on the wapiti so made up the name moose which in Europe is an elk. An 8.5x55 is good for either no matter what you call them. I’ve killed several Alaska/Yukon moose which are the largest with .308, 270 and 30-06 with regular cup and core bullets with no problems whatsoever.

[hv]

Well, that's okay.
I don’t really spend time thinking about the name of the species when I’m hunting. It just came to my mind.

[Vaughan]

So if a moose is an elk and an elk is a deer, what was the now extinct Irish elk?

[stokesrj]

Fossilized?

[Vaughan]

Fossilized?