The good news is that monolithic bullets are available stateside from two sources for the .318 fans! The newest is by Fox bullets, and was brought out purposely to help the .318 rifle owners. It is only offered in 150 grains right now, though a monolithic solid is longer than a lead based 150 gr. bullet. The profile is Spitzer with grooves somewhat wider than one would find on say a Barnes X. There should be not problem with engraved bullet material finding a place to go when moved by the lands. I cannot comment much further since mine have not been delivered, except to say that Edinburgh Rifle WILL take a U.S. order. (there are no U.S. outlets yet--business opportunity, someone?). Also, emails tend to go into their spam box, so keep trying, and thankfully they do check the spam file from time to time.
The second offering is 157 gr. by G S Custom Bullets USA located in South Carolina and willing to make up a special batch for a single customer! These bullets are turned from copper billets and run about $75 for 50. They are know for two things: GREAT ACCURACY, and LOW PRESSURES. The low pressures derive from the fact that they have drive BANDS, rather than grooves. The bands are also very thin, so thin in fact that magnum primers must be used due to such little resistance to moving up the bore. Load development usually tends to much higher velocity as the loading can be increased without raising pressures dangerously. These just may become my go-to bullets of choice, since there is virtually NO chance of overstressed rifling in the skinny drilling barrels where I will be utilizing them. Performance is on par almost any other X type projectile.
The reason I thought you all might like to know is...the last time I gave a heads up about S&B 8x57jr ammo, almost 80 boxes disappeared. Now I am having to scrounge up loading components! So, apparently the demand is there, which begs the question--why don't S&B and others get with the program and get some more over here for sale? Or maybe it is the dealers' fears of being stuck with it--definitely unfounded since they are ALL sold out... Steve
