8x68 S Owners opinions are welcome

[Gert Odendaal]

Some quotes in regards to this bullet and the 8mm bullet in general..

Well, those who know me are aware of my "love" for the German magnum 8x68S. It is still delivering an outstanding ballistic performance, but it's a child of the 1930 - ties, and we shouldn't forget about this fact. Its performance is shopped with a disturbing unpleasant recoil due to the case's ancient and obsolete geometry. The outdated geometry is a nightmare, and I will never understand that RWS, the owner of this cartridge, never has done anything about it and overhauled the case completely. 8x68S is still going strong on the Old Continent and is quite popular. I'd like to see people like @Swamplordwith their expertise, experience and skills taking care of this fantastic cartridge. Shorten case length by 2 - 3 mm, removing the extreme tapering, "blowing it up" and given it a bench rest shoulder would be just 3 easy steps to improve this magnum and making it more shootable. Keep the throat as it is, because then one can still load all the new ultra long projectiles without issues. Rate of twist should be 1 : 9,5 for hunting purposes and bullet weights up to 230gr, for more 1 : 9 or even 1 : 8,5 would be required. I'm knowing a bunch of people, who would be extremely grateful for anyone doing something about this famous cartridge, making it modern again. The effort would be worthwhile.

There's plenty of great 8mm bullets available for hunting and target use and I've shown some of the best in the comparison photo earlier

BUT .....

We are talking about higher bc long range hunting bullets !
The only bullet we had in 8mm that fits that description is the Sierra 220 gr SBT but the bc on that bullet is not that great at .521, the other Sierra bullet is the 200 gr Match King with a .520 bc ....

The goal here is to spur bullet makers to start respecting the 8mm (.323) caliber and produce bullets that we can use for hunting game at long range,

Cutting Edge Bullets have responded with this fantastic bullet that has bc's similar to the Berger 30 cal. 210 gr ...... and that's saying a lot !

Following this great advice I was fortunate to received a .338 Umfezi barrel and dies from Wollie. This is a 8x68S case neck up to a .338 bullet...and will be the first chassis platform I will build for this caliber into a long range shooting rifle...The designer Chris van Niekerk send me some re-loading data to share with me . Here are the data I received from Chris van Niekerk

[Gert Odendaal]

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[Gert Odendaal]

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[Gert Odendaal]

Feedback:
The Weaver Grand Slam 5-20x50 , I used tis rifle scope on the 8x57JS Mauser recently in Namibia, Aranos visiting Wollie . I perceive this scope as the best I ever used on a rifle.
A knowledgeable/skilled shooter re-loader, long range shooter like Wollie was much impressed with this great rifle scope.
I asked my friends in the USA to find me three more of these scopes since they are discontinued currently. I am sure they will find me these scopes in a rifle/gun shop that still has some old stock left.
This rifle scope was as good as to give me a clear view at at 120mm gong at 500 meters. It has incredible clear glass as well as tracking beautifully, the side adjusting pararalax setting is a real winner for sure..

I would highly recommend any member to purchase such a scope ..you will never be disappointed..

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[Gert Odendaal]

I spend some time today to work the 8x68S rifle stock down to size on the butt stock and the cheek piece..here are some photos, I used a rasp, back-saw and a ruler to do this work. It really is hard work to remove all this wood from the rifle stock using a rasp only....

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[Gert Odendaal]

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[Againstthegrains]

Haven't used a rasp in ages. I would have had a go at it with a grinder and a flexidisk with sandpaper.

[janfred]

Haven't used a rasp in ages. I would have had a go at it with a grinder and a flexidisk with sandpaper.

As someone that has done that before, great care is required. To avoid overheating and burning the wood, you have to stop very frequently to let things cool down. Or you need to use a very rough disk, in which case you have to be very careful not to remove too much wood.

[Gert Odendaal]

Janfred, the reason I do not use electric hand tools is that I can make easily a mistake, taking too much wood way form a certain spot will ruin this stock. When using hand tools, I still work fast but has more time to think on what I am doing while I am doing it..

I work non stop for two hours , then take a break to contemplate what I completed and what the next step is..

I usually work for four hours a day on the stock when possible..
Then I still have to work on my other projects too.

Making a rifle stock from a blank piece of Wall-nut wood is rewarding in itself...

[Gert Odendaal]

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cused

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I already removed a lot of wood around the pistol grip area to complete the pistol grip as well..here are a few photos, removing wood around it using the back-saw and chisel.

I also made the palm-swell on the right hand-side of the grip cap . I like to add a palm-swell to all my rifles I build.

I did measure to fit the recoil-pad as well and will cut it tomorrow , and move the steel recoil-pad to it`s new position to enable me to fully complete the butt stock /cheek piece /grip cap.

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