338 win mag

[brasskeeper]

Im interested in finding a load for a 338 to be used on elk. The info I'm most interested in is 1. bullet weight 2. bullet design (spitzer, soft point, solid ect. 3. bullet brand 4. what powder you have had good luck with.

[Ron T.]

I used a 210 grain Nosler Partition bullet in front of 75.0 grains of IMR4350 sparked by a CCI#250 primer in once-fired Winchester cases.  This combination gave me 3020 fps out of my pre-'64 .338 Winchester Magnum Model 70 "Alaskan's" factory 26-inch barrel... a standard length for the Alaskan model.

The bullet hit the moose in the neck @ 125 yards, shattering a fist-sized vertabrae into small bone fragments, then turned and went down the neck into the off-side shoulder and stopped just under the skin on the off-side shoulder.

The shot produced a "bang/flop" one shot kill on a 1500 lb. Canadian moose, so it would undoubteedly do a good job on an elk.  

The recovered bulllet "mushroomed" perfectly back to the bullet's famous "belt" and weighed 148.6 grains which means the Partition bulllet retained slightly over 70% of its initial weight.

This load is a MAXIMUM load, work up to it carefully.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

[aulrich]

My elk medicine is the 225 partition,  but the 210 or 250 will do just fine. I would definitly go 210 if it was a mixed bag hunt. Also the 225 accubond should work well.  Really most any 338 bullet over 225 should work well  but any thing ligher should be a  partition or other priemium bullet.

[Randy Flowers]

I am more than happy with the performance of the 225 grain Nosler Partition in my .338 Win Mag.  I load it with a max charge of H 4350 over a Fed 215M primer in W-W cases.
I get about 2880 fps and groups of about 3/4 inch.

Of course, I used to shoot elk with a 250 grain Sierra loaded over a max charge or IMR 4350 and sparked by a CCI 250 primer.  It gave about 2780 fps and even better groups.
It darned sure did not bounce off, but I just decided the Nosler Partition might be a little insurance in some cases.  This Sierra bullet has a great Ballistic Coefficient.  For long range shooting it is tops!  I shot one elk in Wyoming that was every bit of 500 yards, worked great.

The .338 Win Mag is a perfect elk rifle.

R F