338 Powder

06 August 2006, 11:44

Snowwolfe

338 Powder

My new 338 WM sports a 24 in Lilja barrel. I plan to start load developement with a Barnes TSX 225. What is a good powder to start with?

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My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost.

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07 August 2006, 21:29

cndrm

I use RL-22 pushing 225gr SST's. I think the RL-22 will work well for you, but my experience with Barnes bullets, is that they like flying fast, so RL-19 might be a better choice.

Best of luck with your load.

mike

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08 August 2006, 06:51

jstevens

RL19, RL22 4350 and 4831, in that order. If it won't shoot with one of those and have good velocity, best sell it. The .338 is usually a piece of cake to get to shoot well under the inch mark.

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08 August 2006, 10:40

seafire/B17G

If you can give up a 100 to 150 fps, MV... don't overlook RL 15 as a powder for the 338... it works great in mine... IMR 4064 is also a very very accurate powder in both of mine...

I go for accuracy over max velocity any day...

cheers
seafire

08 August 2006, 17:08

djpaintles

IMR-4350 is the best starting powder for the 338 Win Mag. If a 338 Win Mag won't shoot well with 4350 something is wrong with the gun. With 225's 69-71grs should do it. I've used this in at least 1/2 dozen 338 Wins....................DJ

....Remember that this is all supposed to be for fun!..................

08 August 2006, 17:14

M 98

for the 338 with the 200/210 proj H 4350/R 19 is real good, for the 225 tsx try R22 or if you are luckey enough to have some NORMA MRP try that it is a far superior powder than R 22
regards daniel

My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost.

09 August 2006, 05:06

Jay Gorski

quote:
Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
My new 338 WM sports a 24 in Lilja barrel. I plan to start load developement with a Barnes TSX 225. What is a good powder to start with?

RE19, WLR primers, and don't even think about using anything else. Oh, 73grs. will do the trick. And the can says "Powder of choice for the 30-06 and 338". That might tell you something of the powder. Jay

09 August 2006, 05:23

jjmp

looked in my barnes number3 manual they really like RL-19 VARGET,H414 and H-4350 thats useing their 225 blue xlc coated x bullets they don''t show their new tripple shocks in this edition,note between RL-19 and RL-22 start loads are 1 grain apart and max loads are 1 grain apart , regards jjmp

09 August 2006, 20:03

cndrm

Yep, RL-19 does say powder of choice for the .270, 30-06, and .338, though Alliant lists it's Primary purpose as Standar Rifle, and it's Secondary Uses as Light Magnum Rifle.

Alliant lists RL-22 as being great for .270, 7mm Mag, and .300 WM, with it's primary purpose as Magnum Rifle, and Secondary uses as Heavy bullet stand rifle.

I personally opted for RL-22 so that I could use it to load for 225gr, 250gr, 275gr and 300gr bullets without having to change powders.

It all comes down to personal preference.

mike

09 August 2006, 20:49

buckshot

Given the larger expansion area (read bore) one would think the 338 would be at it's best with powders like 4350, however, over the years I've found that the 338 Win mag shoots just about everything well. IMHO, this is a most forgiving cartridge, and one of the easiest to make shoot well.
In my experience the only bad load I had was with the original Barnes X bullet -it just wouldn't shoot for me. My best results were with 210 and 250 grain partitions along with Sierra's 250 grain BTSP. Even the little Nosler 180 BT shot well, but it isn't my bullet of choice.
With that said, my best loads centered around IMR 4350 and RL19 fired by F215s. My worst load was H4831 and the X bullet, but I don't blame the powder.

10 August 2006, 02:25

cndrm

.338 has definitely been an easy cartridge to load for. I personally use RL-22, but I've also loaded it with IMR4350, and even IMR4895 (just tried it out for the heck of it. shot like a big .308

) For me/ my rifle, IMR4350 didn't provide results any better than IMR4895.

, about 2 MOA at best. But with RL-22 I easily cut my group down to .5 MOA.

In the end, each rifle is different. Each will have it's own preference of bullets and powders. The challenge is just finding the right combination. (but that's what makes it fun too)

mike

10 August 2006, 23:50

stinkers

My 338 Tikka likes I4350 better than RL22, havent tried RL19 though. I shoot 200g NBT which do the trick on all game in the continental US just fine.

19 September 2024, 00:37

Karoo

I dug up this old thread through a search for help with my 338 and 225gr Hornady Interlocks.
My Sako 75 shoots rather average groups with the Interlocks and IMR4350 (1.25")
Any new opinions on the RL19 or RL22?
Also, I am told that with bigger cartridges like this, small changes in overall length will make little difference and it is rather a situation of your rifle liking the chosen bullet or not.
Agree?
Thanks in advance.

19 September 2024, 18:48

cgbach

Long ago I found that H450 worked really well in the .338. It seemed to be a very dense ball powder that acted about like H4831. With a standard chambered rifle it let m use 250-275 gr. bullets without the heavy compression of H4831. For unknown reasons Hogddon discontinued it so I switched to Re22. There still seems to be quite a bit around so if you can find some you might give it a try.
C.G.B.

20 September 2024, 02:45

Stonecreek

quote:
For unknown reasons Hogddon discontinued it

H450 was a surplus military powder marketed by Hodgdon. When it was gone it was gone. Acted very much like a spherical H4831.

24 September 2024, 17:49

sep

I've owned five .338 WMs which shot well with 225 grain Barnes bullets and IMR4350. Your rifle just might not like Hornady interlocks.

Just had that happen with 7mm-08. I had an Abolt II which wouldn't shoot the Interlocks but my Sako 85 shoots them into small groups. Try switching bullets if you can.

26 September 2024, 01:56

Gale Johnson

H4350, I just killed a big NE bull elk with 71.0 gr and a 225 North Fork soft at 2800 fps

I have tried RL 19 with some different loads also and it seems to work ok, H4831, IMR 4831 and ImR 4350 work also

Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com

27 September 2024, 04:46

tsturm

quote:
Originally posted by Karoo:
I dug up this old thread through a search for help with my 338 and 225gr Hornady Interlocks.
My Sako 75 shoots rather average groups with the Interlocks and IMR4350 (1.25")
Any new opinions on the RL19 or RL22?
Also, I am told that with bigger cartridges like this, small changes in overall length will make little difference and it is rather a situation of your rifle liking the chosen bullet or not.
Agree?
Thanks in advance.

IMR 4831 for 225 - 250g

02 October 2024, 21:35

Atkinson

I read a add or post stating RL-22 has been discontinued! that bad news but RL-19 and 17 will do as well..Hard to say where Reloader is going so it mght be a good idea to try other powders..

Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com

04 October 2024, 07:40

sambarman338

... and get a stock of those powders, if you can find them.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen Reloader powders here for a long time.

BTW, I found an old article by Nick Harvey reviewing the first 'Mulwex' AR2213 here in 1987.

He compared identical powder weights in various calibres with the original surplus H4831 and Hodgdon's Scottish version of the same time.

In these tests, the Australian powder tended to give much higher velocities but also higher pressures, so I'm not sure what it proved other than that ours would seem to have been faster burning.

Anyway, Nick said ADI were sending a ton of it to Hodgdon for evaluation and manual-load setting. I don't know where that went but it seems our AR2213 eventually became H4381.

05 October 2024, 22:18

Wstrnhuntr

Can someone explain to me why Hodgdon still includes Norma MRP in their 2024 burn rate chart?

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/wp...te-Chart-WEBSITE.pdf

I think they just like to tease, I would love to score a few lbs of it, but I haven't seen it in years.

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30 October 2024, 02:18

loud-n-boomer

My Ruger No. 1 shoots that bullet 3/4-M.O.A. at 200 yards with a middle of the book load of IMR 4350 lit by a WLRM primer. I seat 0.065" off of the lands.

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04 November 2024, 22:57

Atkinson

The 338 is a miracle caliber as to powder, it just handles a lot of different powders well indeed, never overlook RL-17..and a dozen or so others.