Cosmoline
Member
Woodleigh 215 grain .312" .303 bullet over 50 grains IMR 4350, deep seated by hand press.
It took six long months of experimenting, but I finally found a really good load to launch the 215 Grain Woodleigh .312" thwappers out of a Mosin-Nagant. The extreme length of the round and its very high ogive presented problems and made the bullet more sensitive than usual to variations in load types. Most of my test handloads went far afield--by as much as a foot off center and in a pieplate group. But this one has given me a high 1" group dead on center axis out of my Tikka 91/30 and also a good group out of my M-91 PTG. I use 50 grains of IMR 4350 and set the bullet into the powder by hand press with as low an ogive as possible.
I have not chronographed the round yet, but the charts indicate I should be getting about 2,350 to 2,400 fps out of a long Mosin, which calculates to over 2700 ft. lbs. of impact energy at the muzzle.
These big RN woodleighs have racked up an awesome kill record on big game worldwide out of the .303 British, but are not well known stateside. They have an exceptionally high sectional density and are specially designed to mushroom at moderate velocities out old military rifles. There is no, repeat *NO* comparison between these bullets and the 200 grain SP Wolf bullets. The Woodleighs are world-class big game bullets designed to do the job and have been getting great reviews. The Wolf bullets are little more than FMJ's with their tips shaved off and there are a number of on-line reports of them exploding on impact. Fine for deer, for sure--but if you're going after bruins, elk or moose the Woodleighs are a better bet.
I plan on using these as a moose and black bear load, but they would work well for any North American big game inside 200 yards. At close range I'd trust them more than most magnums against brown bear.
It took six long months of experimenting, but I finally found a really good load to launch the 215 Grain Woodleigh .312" thwappers out of a Mosin-Nagant. The extreme length of the round and its very high ogive presented problems and made the bullet more sensitive than usual to variations in load types. Most of my test handloads went far afield--by as much as a foot off center and in a pieplate group. But this one has given me a high 1" group dead on center axis out of my Tikka 91/30 and also a good group out of my M-91 PTG. I use 50 grains of IMR 4350 and set the bullet into the powder by hand press with as low an ogive as possible.
I have not chronographed the round yet, but the charts indicate I should be getting about 2,350 to 2,400 fps out of a long Mosin, which calculates to over 2700 ft. lbs. of impact energy at the muzzle.
These big RN woodleighs have racked up an awesome kill record on big game worldwide out of the .303 British, but are not well known stateside. They have an exceptionally high sectional density and are specially designed to mushroom at moderate velocities out old military rifles. There is no, repeat *NO* comparison between these bullets and the 200 grain SP Wolf bullets. The Woodleighs are world-class big game bullets designed to do the job and have been getting great reviews. The Wolf bullets are little more than FMJ's with their tips shaved off and there are a number of on-line reports of them exploding on impact. Fine for deer, for sure--but if you're going after bruins, elk or moose the Woodleighs are a better bet.
I plan on using these as a moose and black bear load, but they would work well for any North American big game inside 200 yards. At close range I'd trust them more than most magnums against brown bear.