I will soon be joining you folks shooting the .338. I am considering a one bullet/one load. Any general impressions of the Winchester 225gr Failsafe? This will be for BIG Kansas Whitetails, and hopefully (if I can find a spot to go) a Cow Elk hunt in 2006. Any load suggestions woulod be welcome.

Thanks!

My load concerns a 210 Partition and some IMR4350, somewhere's around 71-72 grains if memory serves me right!! I get .75 MOA and 3050 fps from my 26" barrel A-Bolt. It's dynamite on elk, shoots flat, and puts mulies down right now !!!

225 Accubond, H4831SC 73 grains, Norma case, Fed 215M primers, @ 2880 fps

or

225 Barnes TSX, IMR4831 72 grains, Norma case, Fed 215M primers, @ 2770 fps


A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have

My best load for my Ruger 77 .338 Win. Mag., (1974 mfg.) is a 210 grains Nosler Partition in front of 72.0 grains of IMR 4350 and CCI Large Mag. Rifle Primers. I use new Win. brass for my hunting rounds and that rifle and load consistently group off the bench, 1 3/4" at 200 (two hundred) yards.

I've killed five bull elk and two Mule deer with that load, and it works great for me. Hot or cold, rain or shine it is a fine gamegetter.

Good luck. L. W.

quote:

Originally posted by bowhuntrrl:
My load concerns a 210 Partition and some IMR4350, somewhere's around 71-72 grains if memory serves me right!! I get .75 MOA and 3050 fps from my 26" barrel A-Bolt. It's dynamite on elk, shoots flat, and puts mulies down right now !!!

Yep! ....There's always a sweet spot, right about there. If you can't get a .338 to shoot somewhere within about a grain of that, I'd be real surprised. Kills everything from Jackalopes to Heffalumps just dandy!

If you want to shoot really big nasty things that might bite back, try 250 Partitions in front of 70 gr. of H4831. If those were the only two .338 bullets on earth, I'd never feel hard done by.

Not this again, 73grs. RE19, WLR primer, 225Interbond/SST. This should give you a nice group, like 3 shots touching if your barrel likes the bullet, and 2800fps., and will knock down anything on this continent, even them big Kansas deer I've heard about. Jay

PS. RE19 is the first powder I'd try, if it don't work, nothing will.

Jay, not all Kansas deer are that big, but last year I had to get the wife (thank god for cell phones) to help me load a big bruiser. 258 pounds, ready for the cooler. OOPS, THAT WAS LIVE WEIGHT!, they are big but not quite 400!!I'd already loaded two does in the pick-up, and REALLY did not want to call one of my buddies. They might have banned me from the macho-man club

Even given the unusual size of your KS whitetails, a 225 grain Failsafe would typically be too "hard" a bullet to provide optimum expansion and trauma (though that's certainly not to say it won't work on a whitetail). The Nosler 210 or 225 Partition provides a rapidly-expanding nose that brings down sub-400 pound game quicker, but also provides plenty of penetration for 500 to 800 lb elk, so I would prefer one of those.

But the fact is that there just aren't any .338 bullets of 200 grains or over that are inadequate for elk or deer, so just shoot whatever performs best in your rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by acsteele:
. Any general impressions of the Winchester 225gr Failsafe? This will be for BIG Kansas Whitetails. Any load suggestions woulod be welcome.

Thanks!

Please use anything, except, the 230 Fail Safe for Deer. It is far too tough, and works much better on BIG Bears.

OK, Partitions and interbonds it is, glad I didn't waste the money on Failsafes. As for powder, I have H1000, RX22, H4831, but out of 4350 right now.
Guys, I really appreciate your suggestions, I now have a starting place.

Don't miss out on the Accubond bullets by Nosler, they shoot incredible groups for me.

All of these loads are very accurate in my rifles.

210 Nosler
Federal Cases
CCI 250 Primer
70.5 gr. IMR 4350
COL 3.31
Fps Average 2916
“Great Loadâ€

225 Nosler Partition:
Rem Cases
CCI 250
69.5 gr. H4350
COL 3.34
Average fps 2793
3898 foot pounds energy
Very Accurate

225 Hornady
Rem. Cases
70 gr. H4350
COL 3.34
Velocity- 2773fps

225 AccuBond
Rem. Cases
70.5 gr. IMR 4350
CCI 250
COL 3.35
2827fps
Probably the best load I’ve developed so far...

The 210 Nosler load will probably be slow in Winchester or Remington cases. The Federals have less capacity than the others. If I could only have 1 rifle, and 1 load for all of my hunting in North America, it would be that 210 Nosler load. I wouldn't be hesitant about using it on all the big game in America, including Brown Bears. I'd just pick my shot carefully. I've shot deer with it, and they literally fall where they're standing, incredible! Complete penetration on Elk, recoil isn't bad. My favorite load.

For me, I like bullets of 225 or heavier in the .338. If I want a 200 grain class bullet, I'll use my .300 mag. 225 gr bullets that have worked well for me ar the Nosler Partition, Hornady Interlock and Barnes X. All shoot great in my Tikka over a max load of IMR-4350 or RL-22.

quote:

Originally posted by acsteele:
OK, Partitions and interbonds it is, glad I didn't waste the money on Failsafes. As for powder, I have H1000, RX22, H4831, but out of 4350 right now.

http://alliantpowder.com/products/reloder_19.php

You best get some RE19, the canister even says "Powder of choice for 30-06 and 338 Win. Mag." What more do you need to know? Good shootin'. Jay