Q: I’ve been using a Remington Model 700 in 8mm Remington Magnum for several years now and it is such a great cartridge that I can’t understand why it never gained more popularity.
I’ve found it to be an emphatic one-shot killer on everything from deer up to buffaloes. I know you used one on all manner of game including African plains game, moose and buffaloes.
What are the reasons you think it never became popular?
Arthur Flanagan
A: I played with a rifle like yours at Les Bowman’s ranch in Ocate, New Mexico just prior to it being announced at the Remington Seminar held at the Vermejo Ranch in 1978. Later, I was probably the first hunter to shoot a wapiti with it.
Why did it fail? Well, I think the first reason was the 7mm Rem Mag had become too solidly entrenched and had less recoil. The 8mm Rem Mag needed a full-length magnum action and had the fastest, sharpest recoil I have ever experienced.
Although these days I prefer the .338 Win Mag, the “big eight em-em” was a real performer. It would drive 180gn bullets over 975m/s (3200fps), and the 220gn at over 900m/s (close to 3000fps).
That last load churned up about 5916 Joules (4363ft-lb) of energy, putting it in the heavy game category. The lighter bullet made it a super‚ long-range rifle for deer the size of sambar, elk and moose, and plains game like eland and sable.
I’d rate it as the being without equal for any North American big game and adequate for the largest plains game on the dark continent. Just another one of my rifles I hated parting with.
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