Thread: Nathan Foster

Some of you are probably familiar with him and his website: https://www.ballisticstudies.com/

Nathan Foster tests cartridges and researches ballistics (as it pertains to hunting in field conditions) for a living. He's a walking encyclopedia on how various projectiles/loads perform on various game, at various distances. He's also a proficient long-range shooter.

Well worth buying his books, or spending some time talking with him. Wish I'd done it sooner, as I've wasted a lot of money trawling through online forums and cherry picking advice from random people - sometimes it works out, but often not. Generally people will recommend whatever they're using themselves, as opposed to what will work for somebody else. Or in the case of online/magazine gear reviews, they'll lick their sponsor's balls for the sake of making some coin.

Nothing beats learning via trial and error, but if you want to fast track things by taking on other people's advice, going to somebody who actually walks the walk can save some frustration.

Of course, there are plenty of knowledgeable people out there who haven't made a business out of providing information. But if you aren't lucky enough to have a reliable mentor, I'd recommend Nathan's books. Good place to start.

Totally agree, he is a legend!

Just remember to cross reference some of what he has to say about specific cartridge and projectile behavior/performance with personal experience, he isn't always right about everything.

Yep, agree - ultimately it's everyone's responsibility to test things out for themselves.

Errrr, I dont know if I would advocate for him....

Pretty average knowledge base in my experience. I would be more inclined to use one of the OEM reloading manuals than anything he puts out.

He writes very favourably about 270's and that's good enough to get my vote. He is far less praising of 308's which may upset a few ?

Originally Posted by Proudkiwi

Errrr, I dont know if I would advocate for him....

Pretty average knowledge base in my experience. I would be more inclined to use one of the OEM reloading manuals than anything he puts out.

?? he hasnt written a reloading manual?.
he might say the powder range he typically loads in and likes this projectile or primer. other than that I dont think anyone would say that is a substitute for a reloading manual.

He lost some credibility with me when suggested you can anneal a soft point jacket with a candle and change expansion characteristics to make a hard bullet soft.

Originally Posted by bully

?? he hasnt written a reloading manual?.
he might say the powder range he typically loads in and likes this projectile or primer. other than that I dont think anyone would say that is a substitute for a reloading manual.

actually he has....but its more a how to and doesnt have load data.

Originally Posted by Dicko

He lost some credibility with me when suggested you can anneal a soft point jacket with a candle and change expansion characteristics to make a hard bullet soft.

well Dicko....have you tried it to see if it works before scoffing at it????metallurgy 101 I would have thought.....different strokes for different folks.
go back 20 years...to when most of that knowledge base was written and your Vmax was still reasonably new...long long range was too..go back a further 10 years and rangefinders n dialing was a VERY rare thing indeed.....times have changed and projectiles have caught up...back then they hadnt.

Originally Posted by Dicko

He lost some credibility with me when suggested you can anneal a soft point jacket with a candle and change expansion characteristics to make a hard bullet soft.

Not sure about the soft points, but after reading this info I have annealed the 168vlds I was using in my saum carefully with a small gas torch until they colour up, then quenching (opposite of annealing steel). I believe, comparing on animals, it works. Might be bs, by my experience it works imho.

Originally Posted by jono7

Not sure about the soft points, but after reading this info I have annealed the 168vlds I was using in my saum carefully with a small gas torch until they colour up, then quenching (opposite of annealing steel). I believe, comparing on animals, it works. Might be bs, by my experience it works imho.

not being cheeky at all but what are you hoping to achieve by doing this ?
Is this to increase close range performance or long ?
please excuse my naivety

Annealing any Projectile is just crazy . Lead melts at 330 Celsius and Copper anneals at 400 Celsius. I cannot imagine what that means .

i beleive the part he anneals is the tip which is hollow. The lead being a bit lower. The tip will have annealed before the whole copper will have melted . He does it in a metal pan with some water on the bottom I believe (?)
Maybe try it for your self and then come back with a conclusion.( positive or negative)

Originally Posted by Phil_H

And yet in his book The Practical Guide to Long Range Hunting Cartridges, 2nd Edition, his first two sentences in the section .308 Winchester are, and I quote...

"Some readers will already know that the .308 Winchester is one of my favourite cartridges. The .308 is what I call a hack because of its utilitarian qualities and versatility."

The way I read his book is that he very much likes the .308 cartridge, he just doesn't get all religious about it and is quick to understand and point out that many other cartridges do many things a lot better. But that said, he likes the .308 as it is a good all-rounder.

My take on it ( the bait ) at least.

Cheers
Phil

Ahrr Phil, why did it have to be sensible you who took the bait ??