.338 Win Mag Loads

[MarkM]

At long last I have at last aquired a Win 70 in .338win mag  :-D .
Now the process begins of finding out what it likes to eate. What bullets do you guys recomend for a .338? I have heard good things about the 250gr Nosler Partition for an elk bullet. I would also like to use this for a mule deer gun. What bullet would be good for longer deer shots? What powders does the .338 seem to like?

Thanks for any help!

Mark

[Rmouleart]

I have found using my scoped Ruger Mark II all weather 338 win mag, Noslers Ballistic-tip 200gr/225gr, Hornadys SST 225gr,BarnsX 225gr, Speers grandslams 250gr, Hawks 300gr bullet, all of these bullets mentioned shot perfect, All known good big game getters. The powder that seemed the most suitable was RE19/H4895, CCImag primers, Lee Factory crimps. I also noticed using the 338winmag that you can shoot starting from a 200gr- 300 gr bullets at 100 yards and keep them in a pie pan without changing anything on the scope, thats impressive, not many carts can maintain a grouping like that using different weight bullets and loads. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[longshotmiller1]

i got a ruger mark II 338 mag. i like that 225 hornady and try starting load at 70 grains accurate 3100. my rifle fell in love with 73 grains but that was right close to maximun. but alot of magnums like the maximum loads but id still work up. only smart to do

[Sixgun]

My Ruger MKII likes the Speer 225grbt over 73 gr of IMR 4350.  They go over my Chrony right at 3000fps and I get sub 2" groups at 200 yards.  The trajectory chart for this load matches the one for a 7mm mag, out to 500 yards and when the bullet gets to 500 yards it still has over a ton of energy.   Everything I have shot with this load died right in its tracks.  It is also a good deer load and every deer I have taken with this load had very little bloodshot meat.

I am of the opinion that if you are useing a 338 win with a 225 gr or bigger bullet you don't need a premimum bullet for game the size of elk and moose.  It is when I go after elk and moose with my 243 that I go for the expensive bullets.  A 338 will do just fine with standard bullets.

Sixgun

[Moose-Hunter]

I have a Model 70 classic ss 338 Win. Mag. that simply bugholes paper at 100 yards with those 225 grain Nosler Accubonds that I reload for it. I used RL-22 for powder and non-magnum CCI primers.

[JC]

I have to agree with Longshot, My 338 loves it. My 338 likes 68.8 grains of REL-19 with a 250 Sierra and Federal magnum match primers. It will shoot .5 moa in my rifle if the nut behind it hasn't frunk to much caffine.

[Rmouleart]

I worked a good load using my Ruger 338 Mark II all weather, shot really well with Nosler Ballistic tips using 74gr RE19, CCI mag primers, Lee factory crimp, Remington nickle plated cases, I like the nickle cases, they come out the same as they went in, one hole at 100 yards, I was impressed with the balistic tips. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[gwindrider1]

Mark,  I've tested Partitions, from 210 through 250 grn. in my Mod.70, and found that it really had no preference between the 225 and 250 grainers.  210's just didn't shoot that well in my gun.

After trying every suitable powder out there, mine preffered IMR4831, giving me 2880 fps with a 225grn.  I'm damned happy with that!

You'll just have to experiment with yours.  That's the fun part anyway!

Best of luck with it!

[aulrich]

I have been struggling to find the one bullet for all with my 338.  The 225 partition was great on elk but too hard for deer. The 200  BT kill deer like lightning but I think they may be too fragile for elk and they do alot of meat damage (I had a 10 pound exit hole this year in one of my deer).  My gun never liked 250's or is it me I have a older ruger 77 all-weather  the recoil in that gun is bad

The 225 gr accubond may be the ticket or the Barnes triple shock but I do not have any experience with those. I am leaning towards the accubond since my gun has liked every other nosler product I have run though it.  

The 210 partitions are another option I have shot a deer with it and it did OK still a touch tough but with just one animal down it's hard to tell.

The powders I have used have been imr 4350 and 4831 and by summer I may have some practice rounds made with blue dot  I am thinking about  200 gr speer and 30 gr of powder doing around 2200 fps, but that is another thread which I'll be starting soon.

[old06]

In my Winchester 70 I've used the speer 250 Grand Slam and the 225 Hornady with equal results. WW case,  Fed 215, and H4831. Good luck and happy hunting.

[Lone Star]

The best combination of velocity and accuracy in my short-barreled Savage 116 has been RL-19.  It pushed Barnes 200X-bullets clear through one moose, two caribou and one black bear....not all with the same shot however.   :roll:

[while99]

I use the 250 Nosler Partition or the Combined Technologies Partition Gold for all of my elk hunting.  I've killed three bulls and one cow with that bullet and it expands enough on broadside shots and shoots all the way through on quartering shots.  My pre-64 Alaskan likes W-W cases, F-215 primers, and IMR 4350 powder.  It works fine on deer, too.

[allcamo]

My Ruger MarkII stainless steel .338 Win. really like 72 Gr. of R-19 w/ 225GR nosler Accubond bullets. I'm getting 3/4" -7/8" 5 shot groups at 100 yards with this load. I went to Nova Scotia this past November on a white tail hunt and was lucky enough to bag a 224#(field dressed) 9 point with this load and it was very impressive. The deer was looking directly at me at 110 yards when I shot. I hit him dead center in the chest, the bullet destroyed the heart, one lung, broke three ribs and followed the skin all the way down into the hind quarter. After weighing the bullet when I got home I found out it retained 70% of it's original weight and almost double in diameter. Needless to say I believe these accubonds are going to be a great "all around" bullet.

[Jim n Iowa]

I have a Ruger 77 mk2, and have been working out with bullets from 200 to 250 with IMR 4831 and IMR 7828. Has not shown any deviation from a ave 1.75" at a 100 off a rest.  I have found one magic bullet combo in my time and then the gun was stolen. This group is ok for me, but I am sure it can get better, factory ammo shoots the same.
Jim

[simplicity]

I have a remington 700 bdl bedded stock I haven't found many loads it won't shoot, I've had really good luck with seirra game kings at 2650fps, pretty much any 225 grainer at 2750fps, and 180gr BT at 3281fps. All my loads use IMR 4350.  One thing I've found that works well in my 338 is to seat the bullet just deep enough so the action works. The last deer I shot with my 338 was with a 180 at 3281fps. The load is 76 grains of IMR 4350. I shot the deer at 300 yards, the deer was hind quarters faceing me I sent the bullet up through the spine. Bullet penetrated 14 inches and stopped only the base of the bullet was found. One thing I've found with my 338 is it likes heavy loads. The best group I've shot was a three shot group the size of a quarter at 250 yrds. with a 225 grainer at 2750fps. Hope fully this has helped some.

[Robert357]

In my Winchester 70 I've used the speer 250 Grand Slam and the 225 Hornady with equal results. WW case,  Fed 215, and H4831. Good luck and happy hunting.

I did a search on "338 Win" since I am trying to figure out what to load for my Win Mod 70 Sporter XTR Magnum I bought at the last gun show.  I have my dies, a collection of bullets and a couple of powders that I want to try.  

Historicially, my favorite powder for rifles has been H-4895 and that had a number of loads listed for the lighter Win .338 Mag.  Based on other advice I had seen on this post, I a bought a pound of H-4831 to try.

Could I ask what amount of powder (I recognize that I will need to do a careful load work-up) you are using on your 250 grain bullet?  

I have a box of 100 Hornday 250 grain Interlock bullets and a box of 50 Nosler 210 grain Partitians and am trying to figure out load work-ups for each using either H-4895 or H-4831.

Anyone else who has advice?

I have done a fair amount of reloading but never with a belted magnum case, but from what I have read, that shouldn't be that different from the other reloading I have done.

Thanks