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I am new to the forum and need some advice. I have reloaded .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield and .300 Win Mag for years but always "go by the book" on loads. I am eagerly awaiting a new .338-06 back from the shop. I want to load 210 grain Barnes TTSX with Varget, one of my regular powders, but can't find any published data for that particular bullet and powder. Do I have to use the powders that Barnes shows for that bullet? Can I use data for say the Partition 210? I hunt whitetails when it's 15 degrees and pigs and coyotes when it's 100 degrees and really like the temperature stability of the Varget. Help | ||
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I didn't have the best accuracy w/ Varget in mine, but you can certainly use any powder you like, just work the load up regardless of bullet manuf. Data for the 210grNP is a good starting point. My rifle prefers RL15 w/ any 200-210gr bullet or H4350 fo all bullet wts. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Duurmeehr, Congrats on your 338-06...I think you will really like it. Try this link for varget data from hodgdon: http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp I have had good luck w/ Varget and the 210 TTSX...also have used RL15 w/ great results. I think you will find the 338-06 very easy to load for and you should have no trouble finding a powder and bullet combo that will work well in your rfile. Cheers | |||
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I would not simply substitue 210Part data for the Barnes bullet. A simple swap of the bullets in QL Barnes yields about 10,000 more pressure. I happen to prefer RL15 as well. Went back to the Hodgdon site. Using their data for the 185gr Barnes and Varget I adjusted the Varget burn rate by about 2% that gave me a match within about 50psi of the Hodgdon data. Then swapping to a 210 barnes using the max 210part data QL calculated a pressure of 71,239. Compared to the 62400 pressure listed for the part. As usual just my $.02 Paul K | |||
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I've had good luck with Norma 204 with this caliber. You should try it. Regards, AIU | |||
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I use IMR 4320 for all bullet weights in mine, I get exceptional accuracy from 200 gr Nosler Partitions and have shot everything from coyotes to Blue Wildebeests with them. I can get 2830 fps out of my Shilen barrelled .338-06 with no pressure signs even in the "warmest" Texas summer. Karl Evans | |||
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Whoops...should be 210 gr Nosler's..... I shoot better than I type. Karl Evans | |||
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I started w/ IMR4320, worked really well, then went to RL15, also works well. When I tested H4350, it was like magic in my rifle. Nice round groups, slightly tighter, less SD. It's now my powder of choice in the 338-06. Fav. bulllet, 210grNO, but I am working on some new loads w/ the 200grTTSX since eventually, lead bullets are going to get banned on public land IMO. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Mine also shoots best with RL15.  Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
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Barnex actually lists the IMR4320 and the RL15 in Manual #4 with the latter the most accurate. I'll try them first and then the H4350 since it's one of the "Extreme" powders. Clearwater is reboring my Model 700 barrel and I still have another month or so wait that is killing me. Patience is not my virtue. Thanks for all the advice. You guys have a GREAT forum. | |||
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Well worth the wait IMO. It was my first serious big game rifle & I have taken all size game w/ it from DUiker to Zebra & elk. Almost all w/ the 210grNP. The Speer 200grHC @ 2800fps works great for deer & smaller out to 400yds. For heavier animals or deer closer, I love the 210grNP. The only reason to go to the monometal are EPA regulations that are starting to show up in some states like Kalif. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Several years ago Clair Rees wrote an entire article about rebarrelling a rifle to 338-06 and that prompted me to do the same (Guns & Ammo I think) and he had good results with IMR 4320, I guess RL 15 wasn't aound back then (it was 1986 I think...man, I'm gettin' old) aso that is what I used with great satisfaction, Finn Aargaard also wrote quite an article about this cartridge in The American Rifleman some years later. I could probably find and scan these if you want them. Karl Evans | |||
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Hey bigguy458, I would like to read those if it' not too much truble. | |||
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Rl-15 works the best for me, when I use the 210 grain Partition. IMR or H- 4350 work with 225 grain bullets. Hope this helps. | |||
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I used H414 in my 338-06AI with 225gr Accubonds and TTSX's. Going to try RL15 and maybe another powder to compare to. Congrats on your new caliber !! | |||
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duurmeehr, I would start at 49.5 grns of Varget with 210 TSX and work up in 1/2 grn increments to a max of 53.0 grns At the first sign of the slightest pressure back off at least 1 full grain. I would then start 1.4 grains below that and work up in .2 increments looking for an accuracy load. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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