Recently bought a rem 700 bdlss .338 wm. In a hurry to go hunting, I worked up to a load from alliant. win case, 75.3 gr rl 19, 225 hornady sp pt. fed 210 (substituted for win wlr). This load chrono's around 2835 to 2850. decent accuracy 1.1 in @ 100. bullet seated just off the lands, maybe 5 thou. max load as listed by alliant powder. No press. signs in my gun. My question from you 338 reloaders is: Am I gettting the potential from this cartridge? What kind of velocity can you expect from the 338 wm? I was of the mind that about 2900 w/ 225's and 2750 w/250's was about all the 338 will muster in a factory gun w/ 24 in barrel. What bullet and powder combo do you suggest for elk hunting where shots range from 50 yds to far enough to know that you shouldn't shoot? 400 yds plus,plus. Thank you in advance.

I use a 210 Nosler Partition and 72 gr of IMR 4350 with a Fed 215 primer. I get .75 MOA and 3050 fps with this load from MY browning A-Bolt (26" barrel)

You are right about where you should be, you might squeeze 50-75fps more vel. out of your load, but if it's shooting 1moa, it won't matter much in the field.
I like the 225gr bullets for all round elk hunting, especially the 2254grNP. The 250gr bullets @ 2700fps+/- give great penetration & a lot of guys favor them. The 250gr bullets give me better accuracy than I can get from the 225gr weights. I like RL19, other good powders to try are H4350 & IMR4831. Pick your poison, but you're on the right track.

I have always prefered 250 gr. premium bullets in this cartridge and 250 standards for practice. I have used 200s, 210s, 225s and even 300s, but, I consider this to be a medium velocity, "all-around" cartridge and just prefer the bigger bullets for my B.C. uses.

IMO, if there really is ONE cartridge that can be legitimately termed the "all-around" one for North America, this is it. It has substantially more thump than the superb .'06 and shoots flat enough for realistic shooting at living animals. You also have the Grizzly stopping potential that is more and more important in contemporary hunting. I have always been a fan of the .338 Win. as have some very experienced hunters/bushwhackers I have known.

I definitely concure with Kutenay's assessment of this great cartridge. Over the past few years I've really come to appreciate it more and more.

In my .338 I average about 2750 fps with 250 gr. Partitions using RL22, Norma brass and Win. primers. With the 230 gr. Fail Safe I average about 2850 fps using RL 19 with the same brass and primers. This is out of my rifles 25" barrel. But I wouldn't be to concerned with squeezing every last fps out of the .338 win. A 250 grain bullet at 2700 fps is certainly devastating. I also don't see the point of using less bullet than the 225 grainers. In my estimate the whole reason for the .338's is the medium bore brawn they provide with heavy bullets.

Thanks for the input guys! This gives me some choices and logical direction to go. Since I already have a couple RUM's (300 & 7) I primarily am going to take this gun hunting for elk where there is alot of cover. Long shots would be the exception rather than the rule but yet possible. Maybe I'll start tinkering with those 250's. Thanks again!