I now have in my possession (a gift) a .330 Dakota dressed in a custom walnut stock with all the bells and whistles. Beautiful looking rifle (see photo) but being an African I am not really familiar with the calibre.

I would be keen to get the lowdown on its capabilities and strengths for taking fairly long range game such as Lechwe and Sitatunga. As the picture indicates it drops large antelope with ease but this was within 100 meters.

The ammunition I currently have are 225 grain A frames.

while I don't own one I suspect you could place it into the 340 weatherby class and that is certainly a capable long range machine.

Andrew,

It is a great killer. I had one and it's performance on game was spectacular. I expect it will drive your 225 SAF at about 3,000 FPS. Drawback is that the ammo is frightfully expensive and it may be problematic to find it in Zambia. You don't commonly see it on shelves here in America.

Mark

+1 on that. I have a Dakota .330 that I built when Don Allen was still alive and running the show. It's basically the .338 on steroids. I found that I really did not need the additional fps as my .338 WinMag always got the job done. As bluefish says, it's pretty much a 340 Weatherby ballistic twin.

I never worked up loads with Somchem powders, but the additional case capacity might work. Then again, RUMs don't work worth a flip with Somchem so who knows. But trying to find a box of factory loaded .330 Dakota in Africa would be about as easy as capturing unicorn farts in a tornado.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you might have been gifted a lot of headaches.

He could always rebarrel with fairly small amount of work to 404J would he not as the round is a shortened 404J. Wouldn't the mag geometry be correct?

Yep, but rebarreling is never easy in Africa. Not sure the laws in Zambia but it's a freakin mission to rebarrel a rifle in many countries. And then again, 404J ammo isn't raining out of African trees either and I have never seen .404 (.423) bullets on any shelves. At least finding .338 heads isn't too difficult.

Great picture! It appears to be a fine looking rifle. That is a grand gift !!
The cartridge itself should be an excellent performer. As others have stated, pretty much on par with the 340 WBY.
I am a 338 Win fan, and think the cartridges in the 330 Dakota / 340 WBY / 33 Nosler offer a bit extra to a very useful bore size.
The 225 Swift should give great results on about anything you choose to shoot with a 338.
If concerned about B.C. / wind drift, I would load or try and find ammo in a mono type tipped bullet. I would still stick with the 225 grain weight. Otherwise, I would shoot the A-Frames and still be very happy and confident in performance.

Andrew, that is what I shot my sitatunga in Zambia with.

It’s a .404 case shortened to work in .30-06 length.

Performance wise it’s a match to the .340 weatherby or maybe a bit hotter if you run the pressures up a bit. Ammo in factory format can be hard to get, but it’s easily reloaded. I think that’s not an option in Zambia, but most US users reload.

It’s very versatile in that you can get some really fast 185 grain loads (like the TTSX) that give long point blank range, or the 250 grain A Frame which will stop buffalo if needed.

It does tend to have a bit of recoil as they are lighter rifles.

You will really like it for plains game if you can keep it fed. I have shot everything from brown bear to tompson’s gazelle with mine.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
+1 on that. I have a Dakota .330 that I built when Don Allen was still alive and running the show. It's basically the .338 on steroids. I found that I really did not need the additional fps as my .338 WinMag always got the job done. As bluefish says, it's pretty much a 340 Weatherby ballistic twin.

I never worked up loads with Somchem powders, but the additional case capacity might work. Then again, RUMs don't work worth a flip with Somchem so who knows. But trying to find a box of factory loaded .330 Dakota in Africa would be about as easy as capturing unicorn farts in a tornado.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you might have been gifted a lot of headaches.

Thanks and a packet of ammo is about $100 and dealers here can bring it in. I own a .500 and that ammo is seriously expensive.

Congratulations. You’ve been gifted a very nice and expensive rifle in a useful chambering. The expense and trouble of feeding it are a minor inconvenience in comparison. Enjoy your new rifle and relish the sentiment of the man who thought so highly of you that he gave it to you.

Also, having a top quality rifle and scope is a boon to your clients who would prefer to travel without the hassle of bringing their own. The rifle can be a moneymaker for you.

Congrats Andrew! That's a fine looking rifle. And you know how much I like Dakotas. All of the animals I have taken with you have fallen to a Dakota: 404 Jeffery, 35 Whelen, & 338WM. And this year, I bring two more: 458 Lott & 375 H&H. I can't wait to see yours! I almost traded a guy in Wyoming for his Dakota 330 last year, but it didn't work out.

And that Sable is a beauty as well!!

I have a 33 nosler..it is right I between a 338 win mag and a 338 RUM...I think you will find 225-250 grain bullets the most useful in it...also I might suggest norma MRP powder--I have found it very consistent. Congrats on your rifle

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Yep, but rebarreling is never easy in Africa. Not sure the laws in Zambia but it's a freakin mission to rebarrel a rifle in many countries. And then again, 404J ammo isn't raining out of African trees either and I have never seen .404 (.423) bullets on any shelves. At least finding .338 heads isn't too difficult.

Which country can you not find .423 in Africa Opus? I own a .404 and never have any difficulty with bullets, cases and factory ammo.

I stand corrected. I've never seen loaded 404J ammo in Namibia or Botswana or Zim. But since I do not shoot one, could have easily missed it.

What is the ammo manufacturer you get in SA?

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Also, having a top quality rifle and scope is a boon to your clients who would prefer to travel without the hassle of bringing their own. The rifle can be a moneymaker for you.

It was an extremely generous gesture but will be reserved for a few one being the original owner.

The Somchem S385 works quite well in the 300 RUM by the way and is okay in the 340 Weatherby. My friend (now resident in Texas) used a Sendero in 300 RUM for some time here and it was fast and shot very well. I do think slower propellant would have been preferred, but to say that it doesn't work is a bit of a stretch. Somchem S365 works extremely well in the 338 Win Mag, making the benefits of a 340 Wby using S385 a bit less attractive. Yes, I do have both calibres.

As a reloader I don't really look for factory ammunition in hunting rifles, but 338 (and 423) projectiles are available here in component form. I doubt I would shoot most brands of factory DG ammunition anyway.

South Africa now has VV and some Hodgdon available, so whilst I cannot comment on Zambia, in South Africa a 330 Dakota would be a very usable chambering if you had dies and brass.

That is a great looking rifle and I certainly hope you get to use and enjoy it as it deserves to be. Quite a big (is it an S&B?) scope though!

I agree that Somchem works well enough in the 7mm, .300, .338 standard magnum cases. But I have tried Somchem S365 in the .300 RUM and quickly ran into pressure problems long before I could get velocity from it. I would imagine the larger Dakota case would exhibit the same challenges.

I've got the .300 RUM load and chrono data somewhere on my laptop. I'll have to dig it up but pressure problems were enough to curtail attempting to get any more out of it.

Question - Where are you finding Hodgdon powders in SA? I know 30+ shooters who would give their teeth for some.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
I stand corrected. I've never seen loaded 404J ammo in Namibia or Botswana or Zim. But since I do not shoot one, could have easily missed it.

What is the ammo manufacturer you get in SA?

Opus,

I buy norma and hornady,

I can’t answer for leadwood but I usually get hodgdon at Dave sheer.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
I agree that Somchem works well enough in the 7mm, .300, .338 standard magnum cases. But I have tried Somchem S365 in the .300 RUM and quickly ran into pressure problems long before I could get velocity from it. I would imagine the larger Dakota case would exhibit the same challenges.

I've got the .300 RUM load and chrono data somewhere on my laptop. I'll have to dig it up but pressure problems were enough to curtail attempting to get any more out of it.

Question - Where are you finding Hodgdon powders in SA? I know 30+ shooters who would give their teeth for some.

S365 is similar to IMR4350 so it's a bit like saying IMR doesn't work in the RUM when one has IMR7828 etc. S385 is more in the IMR4831 type of class. B12.7 was developed for the 50BMG but not everyone liked it and lot variations were troublesome.

I've even seen Hodgdon and VV in Hoedspruit! Yes Dave Sheer also carries Hodgdon.

Very nice! Thanks for that pic.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Andrew, that is what I shot my sitatunga in Zambia with.

It’s a .404 case shortened to work in .30-06 length.

Performance wise it’s a match to the .340 weatherby or maybe a bit hotter if you run the pressures up a bit. Ammo in factory format can be hard to get, but it’s easily reloaded. I think that’s not an option in Zambia, but most US users reload.

It’s very versatile in that you can get some really fast 185 grain loads (like the TTSX) that give long point blank range, or the 250 grain A Frame which will stop buffalo if needed.

It does tend to have a bit of recoil as they are lighter rifles.

You will really like it for plains game if you can keep it fed. I have shot everything from brown bear to tompson’s gazelle with mine.

Mr. Butler next time in Zambia we need to make a plan!

quote:

Quite a big (is it an S&B?) scope though!

Yes S&B 3 - 12x50 and would have been handy in low light conditions however the Leopard came in well before dusk.