What do you think are the best bullet weights for the following cartridges?:

1. .338 Federal
2. .338/06 or .338 RCM
3. .338 Win Mag.
4. .338 RUM or .340 Weatherby

For no. 1&2, I would opt for the 210 Nosler

For 3x4 I would use the 210 Nosler and 300 gr. Woodleighs, that covers all the bases and thats why I love the .338 Win.

What Ray said + the 200 gr Nosler Accubond.

I use 210 partitions in my 338 Federal. I don't have a 338/06. The 338 Winchester gets 225 grain bullets in several different makes. My 340 gets 250 grain Swifts.

338 Fed is best with 180 to 210. Any bullet will work well due to velocity. The 2nd two add 225 bullets bullets to the federal.

The win mag is 200 to 250. The big boys 225 to 250.

Just my thoughts. For my federal I like 180 and 200 ballistic tips, 200 hot core and 210 partition..

If I had to go with one bullet it would be the Barnes' 300 grain original circa 1968 in each cartridge. roger

Of those listed, I only shoot the .338 Win. Mag. I use only 225 grain premium expanding bullets. Good loads will drive them to 2,900+ fps.

If I want more power, I move up to .375.

Of the 4 mentioned, I only have the Win. Mag. My preferred bullet is the 225 gr. NorthFork. It plays hell on moose and holds together very well. IF I were going after the large bears, I'd go with the 240 gr. NorthFork. As I recall, Mike Brady @ NF told me years ago that he designed the 240 gr., .338 bullet specifically for the large bears.
My second choice would be the Partition in comparable weights.
Bear in Fairbanks

I only have the .338 Win and I i shoot the 200,225 and the 250 grain in it (hornady).

I cant make my mind up as to which one I like best.

From a .340 I used to shoot I shot only 250 grain bullets out of it.

Cal30

Dave,

I'm a big fan of the 338 caliber and I've shot the 338 WM, 340 WBY, 338-06 and most recently the 338 Ultra quite a bit. The 210 NP just seems to hammer game in 338-06 and 338 WM. For the larger capacity 338's the 250 NP should be the ticket. I have a 225 ACB load clocking 3200 FPS for the 338 Ultra that I'm itching to unleash on something.

Mark

I'd use 200-225 grain bullets in the .338 fed and 338-06, and 250+ in the bigger rounds. Sub-200 grain bullets seem pointless in a 338 to me, you may as well just use a .30 caliber instead.

I shoot 250 gr hornadays I both my 338wm and 338-06

I think the premise of your question is flawed.

It is not a matter of matching bullet weight/type to the cartridge, but to the game for which it is intended.

For deer-sized game in any of the cartridges, just about whichever bullet in the 180-200 grain that shoots well in the particular rifle is a good match. The lighter bullet will give you more velocity and a flatter trajectory regardless of which caliber you're shooting.

For larger game like elk and African plains game bullets in the 210 to 225 range work great. Some people like to step up to a 250 for this category, which is fine, also.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
I think the premise of your question is flawed.

It is not a matter of matching bullet weight/type to the cartridge, but to the game for which it is intended.

For deer-sized game in any of the cartridges, just about whichever bullet in the 180-200 grain that shoots well in the particular rifle is a good match. The lighter bullet will give you more velocity and a flatter trajectory regardless of which caliber you're shooting.

For larger game like elk and African plains game bullets in the 210 to 225 range work great. Some people like to step up to a 250 for this category, which is fine, also.

Very good point. However, I kind of like to get one load working and use it for everything. Right now, I most often load 225 Hornady's in my .338 RCM and 225 Barnes TSX bullets in my .340 Weatherby. I don't usually use a .338 to shoot deer. I think it's more of an elk, moose, bear, African plains game gun. For deer, I just use a .257 Bob.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
If I had to go with one bullet it would be the Barnes' 300 grain original circa 1968 in each cartridge. roger

We actually used to shoot warthogs around waterholes with the .338" 300 gn Barnes originals. Just laid them flat with no bullets to recover. Ever.

But honestly, we have better bullets today that allow longer ranges and better BCs for slipping through the wind.

Nowadays I use the 250 gr. A-Frame in the .338 WM, but for a long time I used the 230 gr. Failsafe.

All I shoot in my 338 w/m is the 225 grain X bullet.


Nothing on the planet I wouldn't trust that load to take.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

I think the premise of your question is flawed.

It is not a matter of matching bullet weight/type to the cartridge, but to the game for which it is intended.

For deer-sized game in any of the cartridges, just about whichever bullet in the 180-200 grain that shoots well in the particular rifle is a good match. The lighter bullet will give you more velocity and a flatter trajectory regardless of which caliber you're shooting.

For larger game like elk and African plains game bullets in the 210 to 225 range work great. Some people like to step up to a 250 for this category, which is fine, also.

Everything depends on the game and the accuracy in a particular rifle.

Yes, for deer in the US, I would guess that the 185 TTSX would should as flat as the 270Win with 130gns.

Then again, the 338 really starts to shine with the heavier bullets. For Africa, I have a simple one-bullet recommendation: 225 TTSX. It provides guaranteed penetration and it has a .514 BC for straight shooting 300 yards across forest openings.

I used to use 250 grain Nosler partitions for the same all-around performance. They worked great, but they did lose a little of the front nose, so the newer monolithics in 225 grain can be called upon to penetrate where the older lead core 250 grainers were used. To be honest, I've taken plains game with most of the old bullets in .338, including the likes of 200 Speer, 250 Sierra (great BC but not recommended for guaranteed penetration), and 275 Speers. They pretty much all worked. Even 250 Nosler and 275 Speer on buffalo.

But today I prefer the 225 TTSX bluetips. If I found that the TTSX wasn't shooting very well in a particular gun, then I would consider spending twice as much money for the GSCustom 225 HV. (Now available in the USA.) Their 'driving band' technology may fit a particular rifle if the TTSX didn't work out. The GSC 225 grain HV has a .502 BC, so it too could be used up close or over 300 yards. The Barnes 225 TTSX and GSC 225 HV are two fantastic options for anyone who would walk the African forests with a 338 Win Mag in hand. I would probably choose the same bullet if I had the next level up of rifle (340 Weatherby, 338 Campfire) or even more (338 RUM, 338 Lapua). These rifles with energy levels over the WinMag look very nice and I would choose one if given a choice at the same price between a 338WinMag and a 338Lapua or 338 Campfire. However, for the money, the 338 win Mag can be found in many production rifles at "standard factory" prices (under $1000). They are a lot of rifle for the money, and one just doesn't need to spend twice or triple the price for an extra 200 fps. The 338 Win Mag is already shooting flat enough for most anything in Africa. (2800+fps with 225TTSX.) Now, if one wanted more gun, I would think hard about the 375 Ruger for elk and the 416 Ruger or 416 Rigby for plains game. However, even with a 416Rigby for walking around the bush, a 338 WinMag makes a lot of sense as a 'guest gun.'

Since the thread deals with other cartridges, I suppose that I would step down to the 210 grain weights for the 338 Ruger Compact Magnum (which is the ballistic twin of the 338-06, having virtually identical capacities. The 210 TTSX would allow the 338RCM to shoot the same trajectories as the the Win Mag with 225 TTSX. They (225 in WinM and 210 in RCM) would probably perform equally in about 98+% of the situations. Even with the Federal, I would probably stay with the 210 TTSX if anything larger than a deer was on the menu. One just hunts in closer. For deer only, then the 185's can be checked out.

My son, grandsons and myself shoot a .340 Wby, and a .338 Lapua. We hunt game larger than Deer with them. Over the years we have settled on the Northfork bullets in 225 and 240 grain, the later used for the larger animals and those that bite. Like "Bear in Fairbanks" in our opiinion after hunts in Alaska and Alberta and several animals taken, there is no better bullets offered for sale today. We also have enough to last us until the great grandsons want to hunt. Mike Brady made a hell of a bullet and the new guys are continueing the tradition. Good shooting.

I shoot .338WM 250gr Woodleigh's @ 2500ft/s for bush hunting everything from Impala to kudu drops within 20y, one shot. I'm in the process of developing a load for some 225gr TSX's at approx. 2800-2850ft/s.... That is until my chronograph got in the way!!!???

Cheers
Johan

For the 338 federal I like the 185 TSX. Shot only one elk with it. Hammered it at about 225 yards. Shoots decent out to 400 yards give or take.

I notice a lack of mention of the 300 gr. Woodliegh for the .338 Win...

I have used that great bullet on Bison, elk, Cape Buffalo and some varities of Plainsgame like Kudu, Eland, Hatebeest and Zebra...

It is an outstanding killer on everything I have shot with it, fully the equal of the 9.3's and the .375 as far as I can tell..

The more I use it the better I like it, it simply hammers game. PP seems to shoot about as flat as I can hold. Much to do is made of trajectory but in a specific caliber, regardless of the caliber, the difference is much less than most folks tend to believe..I have studied this over the years and its really a matter of silly millimeters or a few inches as a rule, at least at reasonable shooting ranges. I notice the long range sniper shooters tend to use long heavy for caliber bullet of steamlined design.

Thus my choice of only two bullets in the .338 Win. the 210 Nosler and the 300 gr. Woodleigh PP..In my rifle the 210 strikes 3 inches high at 100 yards and with the same sight setting the 300 gr. Woodleigh is 1.5 inches high at 100. I have found most .338 will do this to one degree or another..

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
If I had to go with one bullet it would be the Barnes' 300 grain original circa 1968 in each cartridge. roger

Wish we could still get them.

I wonder if the ones made back East in a similar manner are as good. (Can't think of the company at the moment.) Hawk, I am thinking.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Of those listed, I only shoot the .338 Win. Mag. I use only 225 grain premium expanding bullets. Good loads will drive them to 2,900+ fps.

If I want more power, I move up to .375.

+1

For what its worth I noticed the 210 Nosler appeared to be penetrating more on game than the 250 Noslers in my .338 Win, thinking that was odd I have done nemourous tests in magazines both wet and dry and the results were were the same, the 210 penetrated more than the 250s...I suspect that since the 250 opens up to a wider cross section, combined with the fact that Nosler open up fast on impact may be the reason for this..further test revealed the 210 Nosler penetrated about the same as a 300 gr Woodliegh but without that massive cross section of expanded bullet of the Woodeigh. That woodleigh 300 gr. bullet is a penetrating sucker and it makes a huge hole in the process, its simply devastating on everything including buffalo. So I shoot the 210 pushed to the limit and the 300 at about 2400 FPS and in my gun its a perfect combo with the 210 2.5 inches high at 100 and the 300 dead on..