My question is for all who have used this caliber for Plains Game. Will a Barnes TTSX reliably expand at 200 yard range max or would i be better off just using a partion or Swift A-Frame. According to a ballistic calculator should be traveling at 2175-2361 fps max at 200 yards. I am leaning towards the lower speed. Right now my gun will only shoot 50 grains of IMR 4320 before showing pressure with a Fed 215 and a Sierra 215 SBT. Haven't ran it through a chrono but has to be around 2500 fps. The good news is that it shoots less than half inch during break in with out any fooling around.

Eland, Kudu, Wildebeast and Zebra being the largest animals we will be hunting

Any discussion is welcome, is the TTSX the right bullet or should i be looking at a Nosler or Swift

I have not used the caliber but a nosler partition is never a mistake. Gregor Woods in his book, Rifles for Africa" cited a study done using live game animals using TSX bullets and in both 22, 30 and 375 calibers max penetration was achieved with muzzle velocities at approx 2450 fps. Impact distances were not provided. The conclusions were that at those speeds the petals of the TSX peeled back to 90 degrees from the shank allowing the bullet to act like a scythe.

I should be good with the 225 ttsx, going at 2500-2700 fps at the muzzle, just checking other people's thoughts. I just got the Perfect Shot II in the mail friday and haven't looked at it yet, might have my answer in there.

I should think so.

Last year I used a 338-06 and shot 250gr Partitions. The muzzle velocity was 2460fps and this combo worked really well. I was hunting the KZN province of RSA and shots were all relatively short with the furthest about 130 yards. I have used the 225gr TSX in my 35 whelen and that performed out over 300 yards. So I beleive your choice is a good one.
Though, truth be told, any premium bullet in that caliber will kill plains game without issue.

And BTW I settled on 58.5gr H414 with the 250gr. partitions and FED GM215M primers in my rifle. With 225gr Northforks, I used 61.0gr H414 and attained 2603 fps.

Several years ago, I used the .318 Westley Richards(.330/06) on plains game with a 250 grain Woodleigh SP @ 2460 fps. I was using Reloder 15 powder. I am a fan of Swift A-frames but there are way too many folks on here whose opinion I respect, who swear by the Barnes. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the aforementioned bullets. You have all the gun you need for plainsgame and you will be pleased with the results! All my shots were broadside thru and thru's, Zebra included.
Years ago, when I was going bear hunting, I used an 8/06 with 200gr. Nosler Partitions. My goal was 2700 fps out of my 20" barrelled Mauser. I never quite got there with 4320 or 4064(high press.) and I ended up with H-380. I got 2740 with zero pressure signs, I don't think you could get enough of it in the case to get high pressure, and I was neck sizing and using a drop tube. There are many more powders available now, Re-17 could be a good choice also, or H-414 like BB said, too bad its so damn hard to get powder nowadays. Good Luck!

Can't speak for the Barnes. The 200 Accubond is now my go to for my 338s. Used 210Part before. For me the Accubond performs just as well and shoots better in my rifle.

Barnes listed RL-15 as a good choice, I would like to try Varget also, might work good and it is an Extreme powder. H380 would be fine but i have heard of pressure spike's in the heat. I started reading the Perfect Shot II today. He extensively talks about all of the mentioned bullet's, I am going to try the 225 ttsx and see how they shoot in my gun.

210 gr Nosler Partitions out of my Weatherby UL took Black WB, a BIG Waterbuck, a Zebra a Mountain Reedbuck and a very nice Blesbok.....longest shot was 265 yds on the Black WB and 255 on the Mountain Reedbuck. All 1 shot kills. Awesome combo and mild recoil considering gun and scope weighed 7.2#.

I carried my .338-06 most days on trips to Namibia and Zambia and have almost complete confidence in it for pg. It was deadly on everything from springbok and sitatunga to kudu and roan. I use 225 gr NPs and RL 15. The only bullet that didn't give complete penetration was one that broke the neck of a zebra from ~125 yds. The PH who borrowed my rifle to make that shot said he'd use it on buffalo. I'm sure that could work, but it doesn't sound smart to me.

I do have some small reservation when it comes to eland. My concern is that eland are really big and a visiting hunter might only get one chance at one in their entire life. Everyone works for a broadside presentation and that's what you'll probably get. But you might draw an awkwardly angled shot, especially in heavy cover, where a bullet will have to penetrate a couple of feet of critter +/- some heavy bone to reach the vitals.

When I finally got my eland, he was facing us with his head held low to look under a bush. It was 3 pm on the last hunting day and the bull was about to take off. I slipped the shot a touch high and it broke the spine where plunges down at the shoulders. The bullet penetrated almost 2 ft. Had I placed the bullet an inch lower, the bullet would have had to penetrate another foot to reach the top of the heart. No problem for the .375 I was using and probably not a problem for the .338-06.

I'd happily hunt eland with a .338-06, but I wouldn't reach past a 9.3mm or .375 to do it. I know lots of people are confident that a 250gr .338 will out penetrate a 300gr .375 all day every day so maybe the above opinion says more about my limited experience than anything else.

Enjoy the hunt,
Dean

maki

do you hunt in alberta with the 338-06?

Bluefish,

No, I've only used my .270 here. If I draw an elk tag this year I'll take the .338-06.

Dean

is it blued and walnut or ss synthetic that gets used up there given the cold?

Perfect caliber for all african plains game. Took mine and had one shot full penetration kills on sable, zebra, bushbuck, bushpig, waterbuck and impala. Mine built on pre 64 fwt, '06 bored out to 338. Shoots the 210 TTSX (as big as needed for plains game) to 1/2 inch at 100. RL 15 , 51 gr at 3.38. Scoped, loaded rifle a smooth 7 1/2 lbs in mcm stock. Caliber is far and away my favorite for all NA and all plains game. Enjoy.

Why I like the 250 grain partitions especially in the heavy bush.

gale, h414 and imr 4350 work great in my 338-06,i tried h380 and imr 4320 but no accuracy with them. good luck

was that shot lucky or good??

Pure luck! This was a last day of a 12 day hunt but, it was either this shot or nothing.

I have been using the 338-06 since 1995 on all manner of critters including a number of bull elk (stouter than the African antelope to eland that I have thumped IME), grizzly and black bear and a handful of deer and hogs. Never an issue using the 185 gr TSX (elk), 210 gr Partition (elk) and 225 gr Accubond (grizz and black). The lesser critters taken with the 210 gr Partition which was my go to load for years. Looking back, the 210 gr Partition would be the pick.

just funnin' ya bigbullet. amazing how a heavy for caliber bullet at non-warp speed can do amazing things and still kill game.

Don't see you having any trouble with the Barnes, but haven't used them in anything other than 7mm Mag.

I used a 210gr Swift SCII over 52.0gr of RL-15 in my 338-06 last summer on my RSA trip. Don't know the exact velocity but know that was a mild load. It performed outstanding. One bullet recovered and that was in my kudu. It had 90% weight retention.

I picked up a couple pounds of RL 15, will try it out and report back

You could also try VN N540 in your rifle Gale...usually gives a little more speed than RL-15. And burn rates are virtually interchangeable.

I've never used a 338-06 but a friend of mine has one and he loaded the 210 Swift Scirocco in front of N540 and it gave perfect performance on PG in Namibia. Beautiful big mushrooms with no break ups and the bullet set up well as it of course has a polymer tip like the Barnes TTSX.

I had loaded with Reloader 15 in the 35 Whelen and 9.3x62, so I thought it would also be fine for the 338-06. Well with the light bullets it did work well(great velocity with 185gr TTSX) but as I wanted to shoot the 250grainers, I found the pressure built too quickly and I wasn't able to attain good velocities without building excessive pressure. So I started looking at slower powders and settled on H414. With the other powders of this burning rate I couldn't get enough powder into the case. I topped out at 2550 fps with 250gr partitions and H414. More than that and I began to see some pressure signs. So, R-15 great with lighter bullets in this caliber, not so hot with the heavier bullets and I would recommend H414. Good luck with your reloading.

BB I actually dropped down to h4350 with the 250 AFrame for my brown bear and had great results in my 338-06 at around 58.5 or so. Did you try the H380?

Muy,
I did try H4350 (one of my favorite powders), but I could not get enough into the case without excessive compression at 60 grs and the velocity I attained was 2350fps. Since these loads were going to KZN with me and in the past I have experienced the bullets pushing out, getting stuck in the rifling 10 miles from the truck. Had to use a stick to get the stuck bullet out. I decided that if I wanted a more reliable load the level of compression needed to be reduced. So after the H4350, I went to H414 which due to its density and about the same burn rate of H4350. I settled on 58.5 gr of H414 with a max load of 59.5gr.

I have been loading my 338-06 24in barrel since 1999. Rl15 is a very good powder but I have better Accuracy and Vel with N150. Start lower but 55gr is a max load with 225gr accubond at around 2650. I have also used the 200gr Accubond with great results on Elk.

my gun seems to build enough pressure with 50 gr of IMR 4320 and a Sierra 215, tried 51 gr and the primer started to come out, so on the advice of BB i am trying some H414 next, i loaded 57, 58 and 59 gr test loads with the Sierra 215 and will see how they work

I would also look to a different Primer. Any of the LR primer will work with the 338-06 no need for a Mag primer.

Gale,
I look forward to hearing your results. I went to 62 gr H414 with the Sierra 215 gr bullet and obtained 2660fps.

A 210 grain nosler-partition will work fine on all plains-game.

The 338-06 was my favorite caliber for many years and I shot a lot of stuff with it, mostly I used the 210 Nosler and never had a complaint..I like the IMP version a bit better but that was probably just in my mind!!

I later went to the .338 Win. and I liked it and still like it best of all, its my all time favorite..

I also have found a fondness for the 9.3x62 and its a better round than the 338-06 IMO, and by a considerable margin..

All that said if I had to go back to the 338-06 for whatever reason, I would never feel deprived of a suitable caliber for African Plainsgame or even Cape buffalo in a pinch for that matter. Same for the 35 Whelan, but I'd opt for heavyier bullets than the 210 Nosler for anything larger than Kudu, say Eland on up I would want a 250, 275 or even a 300 gr. Woodleigh.

Like you, I got my highest velocity and best accuracy with IMR-4320 at the time. That was before RL powders. I have not tried them and really see little need to, should I ever go back to the 338-06

Try Ramshot Big Game in the .338-06 with 210's and 225's. It has worked well in all of mine, and great speed, for a .338-06 at least.

I can't find any Big Game here locally.

Tell Bob Barnes hello if you see him around metro Gallatin, MO

57 gr H414 produced a slightly over half inch group with the Sierra 215

58 gr H414 looked like a 3 shot machine gun burst across the paper and also flattened the primer's badly

didn't try the 59 gr loads, i will pull them

My gun must have a fairly tight chamber, this powder showed pressure way below max loads, i need to get the chrono out and check them.

I have found in my 30-06 and 7x57, 8x57 and the 9.3x62 that I could load considerably over max with H414!! Thats just in my guns, so I'm not recommending it to anyone unless they are adapt at developing max loads in their rifles.