I know this has been beat to death, but.... I have been using 250 Interbonds to fireform for my 338-06AI. Accuracy is very good. I was wondering about terminal performance. What bullets do you all recommend. I am torn between, 225Triple SHock, 250 Partition, 250 North fork. I want one do everything load. I do not want to have 3 or 4 loads for the gun. Primary is whitetails, with hopefully elk and moose on the menu with in the year. My deer gun is a 280AI, this will be my big gun and back up until I get a 416 Taylor/Ruger or 330/416 Dakota built. This gun is not a high volume shooter so price for bullets is not a concern and yes I reload. I will be ordering bullets monday so please hurry.

225's in North Forks, don't think you can justify the cost of the use in 250 weight with them velocities, they are more for the higher case capacity rounds. Now on the other hand 250 Partitions would be a good bullet up close and out to 150 yds. Overall the 225 TSX would deliver what accuracies and field performance you would want and expect and still be affordable. make sense?

I like and have had good success with the 225gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, too bad they are not available in a 250gr version anymore.

If you want the heavier weight and super accuracy, try the 250gr Sierra Spitzer Boattail. It's tougher than an Interbond and it's match grade quality.

I think your Interbonds are just fine for your 06 Vel. you need to be sure the bullet will open up at the lower vel. The Partition will open up good also . I would be afraid the other two would stay a solid at any distance beyond say 200 yd.

My hunting partner and I've been shooting .338-06s for a number of years, and built up .338WSMs (wildcats) just for grins. The 210gr Nosler Partition has become our do-all bullet in the .338-06. We can get adequate velocity for deer/elk/moose and the front half definitely expands. Recoil isn't as high as with the 250gr bullets. Penetration has never been a problem with the Partitions, either. If you'd like a little more weight, go up to the 225gr Partitions.

Unless it is a big Alaskan bear, or equivalent, I haven't seen the need for the expense of premium bullets in a 338 bore, in my 338/06.... It does anything my 338 Mags can do...

Premium bullets certainly are a good investment, but in 338 bore, I don't see the need for the extra expense.. unless one's ego tells them to spend it... like the shampoo commercials slogan.... 'Yeah it costs more....but I'm worth it!'....

A 200, 225 or 250 grain Hornady SP and 250 grain RN work just fine for my needs and uses...and were reasonably priced...

have found the 225gn interbonds too be soft on even medium game hunted here in australia, using a 338win. would imagine they may preform better at slower velocities, they are harder than the 250gn sierra. there would be nothing wrong with the standard hornady 225gn sp, or if you wanted a premium projectile, then the 210 nosler would be the shot.



cheers cc

quote:

Originally posted by cc:
have found the 225gn interbonds too be soft on even medium game hunted here in australia, using a 338win. would imagine they may preform better at slower velocities, they are harder than the 250gn sierra. there would be nothing wrong with the standard hornady 225gn sp, or if you wanted a premium projectile, then the 210 nosler would be the shot.



cheers cc

Yep. I like the 225 grain Hornady spirepoints too! Noslers for the really big stuff, though.

Anybody tried the Barnes bullets. I understand
they hit harder?

I like the Hornady 250gr in the .338-06. It's sturdy enough to give good expansion & penetration. I agree w/ Seafire, you don't need a premium bullet in the .338-06 at 250gr. Another good choice in 250gr is the Sper GS. THE bullet though IMO is the 210grNP. It's designed to hold together at .338wm vel. & performs so well @ 2700-2800fps that I rarely use anything else. Wetpack test:
250grHI @ 2400fsp imp.vel.=19" pen./0.62"exp./152gr ret.wt.
210grNP @ 2700fps imp.vel.=16 1/2" pen./0.72"exp./185gr ret.wt.
I've only recovered one of those 210grNP & I've shot several elk/elk size animals w/ it. They just plain "getterdone". You can even get them at reg. bullet prices by buying the Nosler blems at 1/2 price

Since WW is discontinuing the 230 gr .338 Fail Safe, I guess i'll go back to the 210 NP. Never got to look at an expanded slug, they always exit, even on elk and Kudu.Don't know how they could work any better than they do.

How about the 338 Accubonds 225gr. How do they
hold up?

I'll admit that I'm biased. For everything except the big brown bears then it's the 225 gr. Northfork. I find it more accurate than the Partition but would choose it as the next for terminal performance.
This past moose season found me putting a bull down at about 200 yds. with a quartering front shot. Upon dressing him out, we noticed that the bullet entered the left front quarter and was found under the skin of the right rear quarter. The bullet is a picture perfect mushroom and weighs 218 grs. as I recall.
I've tried to photograph it to post here but no luck as of yet. I might try again sometime. Can't seem to get a good photo. Anyway, that's my opinion. Bear in Fairbanks

I have 225 Barnes and 250 Partions coming. The cheapo Hornady 250 shoots really well. Thanks for the info.

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
Unless it is a big Alaskan bear, or equivalent, I haven't seen the need for the expense of premium bullets in a 338 bore, in my 338/06.... It does anything my 338 Mags can do...

Premium bullets certainly are a good investment, but in 338 bore, I don't see the need for the extra expense.. unless one's ego tells them to spend it... like the shampoo commercials slogan.... 'Yeah it costs more....but I'm worth it!'....

A 200, 225 or 250 grain Hornady SP and 250 grain RN work just fine for my needs and uses...and were reasonably priced...

Seafire nails it here. You certainly don't need premium bullets for deer - I don't see ANY advantage. I have shot 5 bull elk and an AK moose with the old 225 Hornady, along with a pile of African stuff. However, my last bull was whacked with a triple shock. Worked well.

I have used 200gr Horn SP's on deer and Nosler Partition/ TSX 210gr for elk out of my 338-06.

I haven't seen the need to go to anything more. But I do have a a bunch of 338 bullets from 180-300gr waiting to be played with. Just for the sake of playing of course.

tell you what i would try, call me crazy if you like, but the most experienced knowalagable hunter i know uses the .338 185 gr tsx in hais .338 win mag and simply loves it,
In a .338 06 you shaold be able to aproach 2900 Fps or mabye more, I bet it would do the trick on an elk real well. And certainly a deer...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
Unless it is a big Alaskan bear, or equivalent, I haven't seen the need for the expense of premium bullets in a 338 bore, in my 338/06.... It does anything my 338 Mags can do...

Premium bullets certainly are a good investment, but in 338 bore, I don't see the need for the extra expense.. unless one's ego tells them to spend it... like the shampoo commercials slogan.... 'Yeah it costs more....but I'm worth it!'....

A 200, 225 or 250 grain Hornady SP and 250 grain RN work just fine for my needs and uses...and were reasonably priced...

Seafire nails it here. You certainly don't need premium bullets for deer - I don't see ANY advantage. I have shot 5 bull elk and an AK moose with the old 225 Hornady, along with a pile of African stuff. However, my last bull was whacked with a triple shock. Worked well.

Yep!

I've used the 250 Sierra's, 225 Hornady, 210 NP, 250 Woodlieghs and liked them. I tried the 200gr Nosler BT out of my .338 WM and it was not enough bullet for the velocity though they may be great a little slower. Nate

Seafire,

I ran some calculations on 338 Federal 200gr vs say 350 rem mag numbers.

BTW, I bet the 225 Hornady would be a thumper on closer shots with 338F but it will intrude in powder if using std. short action/throat.

The 350 thumps way out there with say 225 partition, for some reason BC is said to be higher than Sierra, I wonder about the accuracy of the BC numbers on Noslers, are they that much better? It seems even their partitions show higher numbers, wonder if the numbers are not just black and white since they change at various speeds.

It seems the 338F looks good/solid to 300 yds or so, while the 350 mag is neck and neck within 50 lbs to 400 yds of a 338-06, but using a short action and slightly shorter bbl-225 @2670 or so. Splitting hairs but I wonder how much more penetration you might get in game with a 338 vs 358 in a 225 partition, since SD changes? It does seem all Whelen users knock down what they hit so it may be moot in a 350RM as well.

In a way I kind of wish I would have made a 338-06 instead of 35 Whelen. Why? Because if I did I would just load up some 225 gn interlocks and go hunting. Unfortunatley they dont make a 225 for the 35's.

6.5br, BC means very little out to 300yds, at least not enough to worry about.