CEB ESP raptor anyone?
175, 200 and 225 grains.
I would use the 200 for an all purpose bullet.
You can load it a a solid and use the same load.

225 grain Barnes TSX.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
225 grain Barnes TSX.

Dave--I assume you mean the TTSX with the .514 BC? Wonderful bullet.

It is a do everything bullet and I would even take buffalo with it where legal.


Boomstick--
Thanks for the reminder on CEB. I just ordered a box of 175's for NorthAmerica.

On the 225 gn A-Frame--they are about the best of the old school. Great bullet. (They could use a little streamlining for a better BC. For lead based they are the best.)

I'm surprised there's so little love for the Woodliegh Weldcore.

The weldcore is a good, premium bullet and holds together very well. Their 300 grainer is great as a slow roundnose. I've got a bunch but they are not 'the' all-around bullet choice. The 250 grain PP only has a .431 BC, virtually identical with the Swift 250 at .427 BC. Both fall short of the faster, sleeker 225 grain TTSX at .514 BC.
The weldcore construction can overexpand, too, resulting in a reduction of penetration.
Pictured below is a weldcore shot into sand (admittedly a biased test medium). Though the picture is not a .338" it shows an ability to (over)expand and hold together.

I would use them on anything short of buffalo, and I would use them there, too, if I did not have a choice. On a big bear, too, I would probably go with more guaranteed max penetration of the TTSX's over max expansion of the Weldcores.

416T, why not the 225 Nosler Accubond with BC=0.56? AIU

416T, I'm curious to know what caliber and the details of the bullet you are showing. Judging the .338 bullet based on some other caliber isn't really an accurate assesment.

I have not recovered a single .338 250gr Woodleigh from anything yet. I have only used them for elk and if an unlucky deer comes by while hunting elk.

I do have one I also recovered from sand, fired at about 60 yards, that looks to be a textbook mushroom about half way down. I'm moving but if I run into it I will weigh it. It was fired from a .338 Win Mag at approx 2800fps.

I personally don't think I've ever shot at a game animal far enough away to have BC even begin to play a roll in performance. If anything, I am more concerned with bullet performance on close up shots.

High BC bullets have been, from my experience, more difficult to load accurately when compared to flat base bullets. Especially in a hunting thumper like the 338, the BC is the very last consideration i would have when chooing a bullet.

You absolutely cannot go wrong with the 225 grain Partition.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
CEB ESP raptor anyone?
175, 200 and 225 grains.
I would use the 200 for an all purpose bullet.
You can load it a a solid and use the same load.

I wonder how fast you can push the 175 out of a 338 Federale.

quote:

Originally posted by BigNate:
416T, I'm curious to know what caliber and the details of the bullet you are showing. Judging the .338 bullet based on some other caliber isn't really an accurate assesment.

I have not recovered a single .338 250gr Woodleigh from anything yet. I have only used them for elk and if an unlucky deer comes by while hunting elk.

I do have one I also recovered from sand, fired at about 60 yards, that looks to be a textbook mushroom about half way down. I'm moving but if I run into it I will weigh it. It was fired from a .338 Win Mag at approx 2800fps.

I personally don't think I've ever shot at a game animal far enough away to have BC even begin to play a roll in performance. If anything, I am more concerned with bullet performance on close up shots.

Details on picture above:
.510" 450 grain Woodleigh Weldcore fired at 2537 fps into brown paper shopping bag of sand 98 yards downrange. Remaining weight, 303 grains, 67%. A second bullet fired that day flattened even more and retained 258 grains 57%.

BC helps performance by getting the bullet on target. At 300 yards a differnce in .100 BC at speeds of 250 grain bullets can result in an extra 2/3" drop and 1.5" sideways drift in a 10mph crosswind. That is not unmanageable, but it is extra slop that can be cut out and retaining 240 extra footpounds of remaining energy.

quote:

AIU wrote:
416T, why not the 225 Nosler Accubond with BC=0.56? AIU

Hey, that sounds like a great bullet. Wonderful elk/deer bullet and great choice for lower-48. i'd go back to TTSX for plains game, though, because of buffalo option.

A bigger question comes with the 300 grain Accubond at .720BC. Wow!

416T, is there a place in Africa where the .338 is legal for DG, such as buffalo? Maybe Namibia? I'd love to take my 338 RUM to Africa for everything - I'd have total confidence in it. Regards, AIU

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Details on picture above:
.510" 450 grain Woodleigh Weldcore fired at 2537 fps into brown paper shopping bag of sand 98 yards downrange. Remaining weight, 303 grains, 67%. A second bullet fired that day flattened even more and retained 258 grains 57%.
QUOTE]

So they do as well on weight retention as the beloved Nosler Partition!

Not knocking any choices, it's up to each person. I just have had great performance, both accuracy & wound/penetration, from the Woodliegh and will continue I'm sure until I run out. At that point I will consider my choices again I'm sure.

My experience with Woodleigh Weldcores is that if you push them faster than recommended, then they expand significantly, and even though they hold a good percentage of their weight they may not penetrate as far as desired. The 250gn PPSN in 338 cal has a recommended impact velocity of 1800 to 2500fps, and if you keep within that range it will work as intended and keep 90% or more of its weight. If you drive it at 2800fps it will over-expand. This is fine for smaller game, but may not be ideal for bigger animals. For example I shot a 3 pigs with my 505 Gibbs, using the 525gn Woodleigh RNSN at 2500fps, (300fps more than recommended), and the 2 recovered bullets both expanded to 1.1 inches, completely devastated the pigs insides, and retained around 80% of their weight. I posted this some time ago with photos. If for example I has loaded down to 2200fps (the recommeded velocity) then I doubt I would have recovered anything. They are great bullets if you use them within their design parameters. I would use the 525gn RNSN on buffalo, but I would load down to 2200 fps to ensure I got the desired penetration. Last week a friend and I shot 44 pigs out west, and we recovered three 400gn Woodleigh PPSN 458 cal bullets fired from his LOTT at 2600fps. (recommended velocity 2400fps). The mushrooms were big and perfect in shape, we haven't weighed them yet, but I am willing to bet that they will be 90% or more of their original weight. Two were recovered from under the skin on the back leg after a frontal (quartering on) shot, and the other under the thick fighting shield after a side on shot. All three (an numerous others shot with that load where no bullets were recovered) died in their tracks. If they had been loaded to 2400fps the end result would have been the same (i.e for the pigs), but we may not have recovered any bullets.

The Barnes TTSX is also a great bullet, but it has a wider range of application, mostly you seem to be able to drive them as fast as you like, and they just performe better (although there is probably a limit). They are a lot more expensive than the Woodleighs though, at least in Australia.

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
225 Barnes TSX

You can make that a +1.



I must also say my favorite 338 is the 340 Wby. The nice thing about the TSX is it's extremely wide velocity range, unlike the Woodleigh. I've witnessed several 225gr 338 Partitions come completely apart separating the rear core from the jacket similar to the way a Corelokt bullet does.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BigNate:
I have been using 250gr Woodliegh Weldcore PP in mine with great results. Would not hesitate to recommend it for everything from Griz down.

Exactly what I've been using for 6 years now. Anything from Impala to Kudu & wildebeest out to 250y. Nothing has gone more than 10y. 1/2" @ 100m, 2500ft/s. Only recovered 2 bullets both 90%+ weight retention.

Cheers
Johan

Just recieved a box of CEB Raptor .338" in 175 grain. They will fit in a magazaine and look like they will take things to the next level.

Nosler 225 partition backed by RL-19.

The Barnes 210 grain TSX. It makes good velocity and there is only a few inches of real world penetration between it and a 225 grainer. My 338 loves it. It shoots well under an inch, most times very close to 1/2 inch, and it gets 2900 fps.

Pictured below is an accurate load in my rifle in the 225grain bullet weight. I'm sure with very little tweaking I could substitute a Northfork, Barnes or a Nosler of some form with similar results. The CEB's have my interest too.
The load as stated in the picture is 70.5 grains of IMR-4350 and a 225 grain Sierra just over 2800 fps. Very accurate for me and I think with the right bullet the 225 grain weight bullet is a great choice for range and knockdown in the .338 Win Mag.

I have found that for an all around bullet, it is hard to beat the 250 Nosler Partition and H4350 in the 338 Win Mag. In my 338/06 I use the same bullet with H414.

quote:

Originally posted by dwheels:
The Barnes 210 grain TSX. It makes good velocity and there is only a few inches of real world penetration between it and a 225 grainer. My 338 loves it. It shoots well under an inch, most times very close to 1/2 inch, and it gets 2900 fps.

For NorthAmerica, fine.
If buffalo may lurk behind the bush and around the hill, then 225 TTSX gives those extra inches and I want them in my pocket.

IMR 4350 and 225 grain TTSXs have worked well in both my 338 Win Mags

225 TSX I have used 250gr partitions, 250 gr Swift A frames as well but have settled on the 225 tsx because of flatter trajectory, better accuracy and equal to if not better than penetration.

My 338 WM really liked the old 225 Barnes X, so when they were phased out I bought a bunch. Rifle gives me 2" at 300 yards which is certainly minute of Elk! I will use the TSX when they run out.

Have also had good luck with the 250 gr Woodleigh PPs. Still have a pile of those too.

It may horrify some, but my partner has shot 4 grizzlies, untold numbers of moose, caribou, sheep, goats, elk and African plains game with the 215 grain Sierra BT, a case full of IMR 4350, and a left-handed Browning that doubles as a walking stick.Oddly a small group of his friends use the same load so they can swap ammo on a mountainside.

Intrigued, I loaded some for my Kimber and ended up with a under max 2900 fps, coyote crushing, moose killing, zero to 500 plate smacking 7 pound rig that doesn't know how to miss.

I like a A-Frame or TSX just as much as the next guy, but suspect that we make this stuff a lot more complicated than it has to be. A .338 isn't likely to bounce off of much.

Dogleg,

I'm glad to hear that your friend has been successful on grizzly. People routinely shoot cape buffalo with a 30-06, too. The problems come on the marginals and unexpecteds.

In the 80's I used to use Sierra .338" 250's in Africa, also 300 gr Sierra's in 375. They were accurate and collected game most of the time with a nice mushroomed souvenir under the skin on the far side. However, sometimes they disintegrated into a scragily copper shell and a missing lead core. So I would strongly advise NOT USING these on dangerous game. Maybe such events are only like Russian roulette with a 50-chamber gun, a 1 in 50 chance on serious bullet failure putting someone's life in danger, or maybe 1 in 20 or 1 in 10, but that is why the Noslers, A-frames, bondeds, and monometals were invented. (and the bondeds may overexpand and not penetrate sufficiently if driven too fast=not the best for dangerous game.)

I don't shoot the 338 Mag but have been using the 338-06 since '95 in a lightweight M700 I put together, primarily on elk. I have used the 210 gr Partition, the 185 gr TSX amd the 225 gr Accubond, the latter on black and grizzly bear as well. There have been no disappointments to date but I have settled on the AB at 2650 fps as it shoots extremely well in my rifle, has yet to be recovered and shoots pretty flat out to the 400 yards I have run it.

quote:

Originally posted by BighornBreath:
Hello,

Looking for one bullet, one powder, one load for a 338. This would cover all medium game from pronghorn to grizzly to moose. I'm not wanting to try 50 different bullets and 50 different powders. Would appreciate the input of those familiar. Thanks in advance.

H4350 / Nosler 210 Partition.

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
I don't shoot the 338 Mag but have been using the 338-06 since '95 in a lightweight M700 I put together, primarily on elk. I have used the 210 gr Partition, the 185 gr TSX amd the 225 gr Accubond, the latter on black and grizzly bear as well. There have been no disappointments to date but I have settled on the AB at 2650 fps as it shoots extremely well in my rifle, has yet to be recovered and shoots pretty flat out to the 400 yards I have run it.

Like how you have the scope mounted. I like the scope in the same place with the end basically lined up with the trigger, not further back.

I am seriously looking at buying a CZ 550 and my only concern is the scope rings. I want a Leupold to fit exactly like your 338-06 does in this picture. Low and forward.