I just purchased a Remington XCR II in a 338 Win Mag. I want reload 210gr nosler partitions or barnes TSX. I live in Colorado so my primary use will to for elk and black bear. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some plains game hunting in Africa as well.

Any suggestions on partition vs TSX?

Likely to get similar results on game. I would try both and shoot the one that's most accurate in my rifle.

I would opt. 210 TSX for the sub 225 grain choices and use the Partition for 225 grainer plus.

I wouldn't choose anything less than a 225 grainer for the .338 Win. Mag. unless it was a Barnes bullets because they are the only bullet to offer greater BC and terminal SD out of a lighter bullet.

My m70 classic loves the 210 Partition in front of 72g of Imr4350, Fed 215 in Win brass. Shoots great , chronos 2900.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
Likely to get similar results on game. I would try both and shoot the one that's most accurate in my rifle.

The Barnes bullets have the randon one that don't open up...not the case with partitions. Partitions just plain work.

I have opted for the 250 grain partition for everything. It just works great!

Thanks for the advice. I'll start with the partitions and see how my gun likes them.

I'm gonna be the odd guy out hear & recommend a bullet you didn't mention and that is the 225 gr. NorthFork. I've always used Partitions in my hunting rifles but several years ago switched to the NorthFork for my .338 WM. I found it to be slightly more accurate and it doesn't lose as much weight as a Partition. I realize the Partition is designed to lose some but IMHE, the NF loses less. I have on my desk a 225 gr. NF taken from the 1st moose I shot with it. It's a perfect, text book mushroom and weighs either 217 or 218 grs. (Off hand, I forget).
I get the same velocity with them that I did with the Partition with slightly less powder. 2800 fps w/ 73 grs. of Rldr-22. They do cost more but I don't consider the cost of a hunting bullet in my calculations for going on a hunt. I'd rather have the confidence in my equipment and know that if I do my part, the freezer will be filled. It's more expensive to have an empty freezer than have bullet failure and lose an animal.
If you want to practice, use an accurate, less expensive bullet. In my .338, I use Hornady's for that.
Just my thoughts/recommendations.
Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

Originally posted by aliveincc:
My m70 classic loves the 210 Partition in front of 72g of Imr4350, Fed 215 in Win brass. Shoots great , chronos 2900.

Bingo. I used that load in my old 338, very accurate. I also used the 250 Partition for years, allways works great. This year I'm useing the 225 TTSX at 2800, shoots great just haven't killed anything with it yet.

One Colorado Elk hunter to another, I'd suggest the 200gr BSST's or the 200-225gr Accubonds. It's easier to get them to shoot then the Barnes or the Partitions, and they leave big holes in elk.

i have only shot 210 noslers out of my 338. both the 338 i have owned, they both shot extremly well using the 210 partition. i get .25 inch groups or better with imr 4831 or 4350.
of 10 elk, all went down with one shot from a 210 partition and no huge holes. the bullet stopped judt under the hide on the opposite side.

They're both good bullets whichever shoots best in your rifle would be a good choice.

I've been shooting the Barnes 225 X bullets since the late 90s with great success. Since I've exhausted my supply I'm now loading the 225 TTSXs. Haven't killed anything with them yet but I suspect they'll work as advertised.

My best loads for two 338s are 67.5 and 68.5 grains of IMR 4350. This summer I'm gonna experiment with H4350 and see if it shoots as well simply because it is reported to be less temperature sensitive.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
The Barnes bullets have the randon one that don't open up...not the case with partitions. Partitions just plain work.

Point well taken. The Barnes monometal bullet can be cantankerous to reload to achieve acceptable pressures and accuracy, also, sometimes requiring a certain amount of freebore to avoid pressure spikes. It is also long for weight and is thus crowded in some '06-length magazines found in many .338's.

The 210 Partition has a long history of outstanding performance on elk-sized game. You can use a heavier bullet if you wish, but you'll find no better terminal ballistics than with the 210 Partition.

I found that I can drive the 225 Partition about as fast in my rifle, so that's what I took to Africa and used with total success on large plains game like Kudu and Zebra. Subsequently, I've found that the very slick Accubond, which retains velocity and energy even better (and is a bit less expensive), is more accurate by a tad than the Partition in my gun, so I've switched to it but have yet to veryify its terminal performance on actual game.

Regardless, if all that were available to me were the 210 Partition, I would happily and successfully use it.

All good advice. Thanks!

I just bought the 338 win mag dies and should start reloading soon.

I used 210Part in my 338wmag and 340PDK for ELk and larger. I switched to 200accubonds for everything in my 340 and couldn't be happier.

quote:

Posted 24 November 2010 06:57 Hide Post
Likely to get similar results on game. I would try both and shoot the one that's most accurate in my rifle.

This is what i would do, start with the partitions first

Don't forget to try the Swift A Frame. Retains weight better than the partition, and has an excellent reputation. I haven't heard the occasional horror story on them like I have the partition- and if you are using a 210 grain bullet out of a magnum, you will be pushing them on the fast side.