PM's DL1 bullets arrive from France and Phase 2 of the reloading adventure begins

Pine Marten

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone.

Those who have been following my path towards reloading my own 7mm-08 cartridges may have picked up that I've almost immediately gone off the beaten track and decided to be the first person in the UK to use DL1 bullets, made by Degol in Belgium on behalf of Freyr in France. The first obstacle was laying hands on said bullets, as it appears that supply isn't just a problem with US bullets. However my man at Freyr just received a massive consignment, I confirmed the order on Monday (haven't paid yet, must remember to do so), and a man in a van just delivered them half an hour ago. So in an attempt to make you share the excitement, here are some pictures of the box and its' contents. As I know you'll want to jump into the ballistics stuff, the last one shows one the 150gr DL1 bullets (RHS) next to the Sierra HPBT of the same weight that I've been loading for practice. Not the same profile and the DL1 is ever so slightly shorter, but the ogives appear very similar, as I suspect will be the seating depth.

Stay tuned for more developments, with first tests planned for October 26th.

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No, they're a hollowpoint with a bonded core and a thick copper jacket at the back with a pronounced shoulder below the ogive for controlled expansion.
 
Happy days mate. It's fantastic how you can just get them delivered to your door. I'll be getting some Hornady bullets off Kynoch and it's a pain having to have them delivered to an RFD. I'd give them a try if they went up to .458
im looking forward to seeing how they shoot :)
 
I've no doubt missed something here as you appear to have successfully imported and taken direct delivery of expanding projectiles suitable for hunting? Thus bypassing a RFD.

Well done. I guess!

K
 
I've no doubt missed something here as you appear to have successfully imported and taken direct delivery of expanding projectiles suitable for hunting? Thus bypassing a RFD.

Why would there be a need to involve an RFD? It's only within the UK with our ridiculous classification of expanding hunting bullets/projectiles as S.5 prohibited items that we have to suffer the 'face-to-face' RFD transfer. Elsewhere in most of the world, (including our EU neighbours who have correctly interpreted and implimented the Firearms Directive), these inert lumps of metal can be bought, sold and sent relatively freely. So if you have a source who can supply said "extremely dangerous" :rolleyes: items without contravening their own domestic laws, then there is no reason why you can't have them sent direct to you through the post or via a carrier, UPS/DHL etc.

Provided you have authority to possess and don't exceed the quantity stated on your FAC for that calibre, then once you take delivery you commit no offence. No need to even enter them on your FAC either - even though some FEOs have a bee in their bonnet about it.
 
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Why would there be a need to involve an RFD? It's only within the UK with our ridiculous classification of expanding hunting bullets/projectiles as S.5 prohibited items that we have to suffer the 'face-to-face' RFD transfer. Elsewhere in most of the world, (including our EU neighbours who have correctly interpreted and implimented the Firearms Directive), these inert lumps of metal can be bought, sold and sent relatively freely. So if you have a source who can supply said "extremely dangerous" :rolleyes: items without contravening their own domestic laws, then there is no reason why you can't have them sent direct to you through the post or via a carrier, UPS/DHL etc.

Provided you have authority to possess and don't exceed the quantity stated on your FAC for that calibre, then once you take delivery you commit no offence. No need to even enter them on your FAC either - even though some FEOs have a bee in their bonnet about it.


OKIDOKI that is great news. Do you think PM's French RFD would be happy to send me 1200 35g V-Max in accodance with my FAC allowence for 22 exapaning projectiles if I supply them with a copy of my ticket?

They seem to be in short suppply in the UK at the moment.

Cheers

K
 
In principle he'd be fine with it except that he only sells his proprietary DL bullets. But if I do well with them, he may acquire a load of new curious British customers!
 
Shouldn't be a need to provide any overseas supplier of expanding bullets with copy of your FAC - they'd usually have no interest in internal UK restrictions over what is freely available in their own country - provided there were no export requirements at their end, (witness current conditions in USA as an example). It would be your responsibility to ensure you didn't contravene UK laws once they landed on your doorstep.
 
Ladies and gentlemen of the SD, I give you what I believe to be the first ever cartridges in the UK loaded with DL1 bullets, and the first in the world in 7mm-08! Just part of my test batch for 26th October.
 
Are you crimping? And if so by how much does your optimal seating depth, already pretty much determined during your last load testing I believe, put the use of this funky bullet's crimp engagement channel out of reach if wishing to so seat?

K
 
PM how did they stack up to 150 pro hunters with the cost's etc are they cheaper do they work? are they as good tight groups and nice hard hitting also interested in 6.5 bullets as well ,keep us posted feller .you never know you could end up with a nice little gig getting them in first and showing them off ;)



Ladies and gentlemen of the SD, I give you what I believe to be the first ever cartridges in the UK loaded with DL1 bullets, and the first in the world in 7mm-08! Just part of my test batch for 26th October.
 
Are you crimping? And if so by how much does your optimal seating depth, already pretty much determined during your last load testing I believe, put the use of this funky bullet's crimp engagement channel out of reach if wishing to so seat?

K

Actually as it happens, the ogive is almost the same but the actual bullet is about 1mm shorter because the HP tip is flattened earlier than on the Sierra HPBT, so I didn't even have to adapt the bullet seating die. So I don't crimp, the canelure is placed where it is by coincidence, but it's all working out beautifully and simply.
 
PM how did they stack up to 150 pro hunters with the cost's etc are they cheaper do they work? are they as good tight groups and nice hard hitting also interested in 6.5 bullets as well ,keep us posted feller .you never know you could end up with a nice little gig getting them in first and showing them off ;)

No idea Paul, they're broadly about £1 each including P&P, and they clearly work because lots of deer and boar in France are dead because of them. As regards groups, we shall see in a fortnight! I'm not in this for commercial purposes but if on the back of my experiments M. Freyr's bullets develop a British cult following, well so much the better. I will have a story to tell.
 
Cannelures - if they don't correspond to your seating depth and the rounds still shoot well then ignore them with a smile, recognising that their visibility is a sign of your reloading competence winning out over your knee-jerk desire for neatness.

Oh, and congrats on your UK/World(?) first!
 
Cannelures - if they don't correspond to your seating depth and the rounds still shoot well then ignore them with a smile, recognising that their visibility is a sign of your reloading competence winning out over your knee-jerk desire for neatness.

Oh, and congrats on your UK/World(?) first!

Thank you! I hope it goes well, but we shall see. I was never fussed about the cannelure, it just ended up where it is by chance. I actually left the seating die on the same setting as it was on for the HPBTs, seated the bullet part way, tried in in the action, a bit more, a bit more, and then in the end I just pushed the lever all the way the same as the FMJs and it ended up just right. Well I like simplicity so if both the target and stalking rounds like the same seating depth, so much the better. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they like the same load too. Then I could essentially superglue my powder scales and seating dies to a single position for ever....
 
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