While digging thru some stuff trying to clean up my reloading bench and shop.. I found an article by Ken Waters' Pet Loads.. in the 338/08..

Since this has been a source of discussion on here lately, with Federal introducing the round commercially... I thought there might be some interested in it...

The Article was in Handloader Magazine, the October 1995 issue, Number 177....pages 20 thru 23...

The 200 grain Ballistic tips were out at that time.. so they are included in the article..

Highlights with that bullet are :

46 grains of AAC 2495/46 grains... 2722 fps and listed as ' best all around load'

for accuracy:
42 grains of Rl 15 was listed as most accurate, but with only an MV of 2338 fps

46 grains of W 760 was listed as second most accurate with an MV of 2316 fps...

VV- N 150 45 grains was listed as 3rd most accurate with an Mv of 2499 fps

H335/ 46 grains for an MV of 2679 was listed as very accurate

H 4895/46 grains for an Mv of 2693 fps was also listed as very accurate

IMR 4064/45 grains with an MV of 2577 was listed as very accurate

IMR 4320/44 grains at 2537 Mv was also listed as very accurate..

for the 210 partition...

RL 15/43 grains was listed as very accurate for an MV of 2391

RL 15/45 grains for an MV of 2516 was listed as the best load with that bullet..

VV-N 135/ 43 grains at MV of 2470 was listed as the best recommended load for that powder with the 210 grain bullet ( which is the same as being said for the RL 15/45 grain combo??)

That is the highlights... the rifle was a BSA U 9 Action... it had a 24 inch barrel...which was from Chick Donnelly, right here in Grants Pass Oregon!

Hope this is of some interest to some of you sweathogs out there!


:cheers
seafire

Actually I do like it! I'm heading back up to huge caseville again and maybe something like this can keep me grounded. I believe that I will give it a try.
Thanks seafire!

Great post, had ordered that old issue from publisher years ago for the data.

Really wish I had the info that was in a RIFLE magazine or similar say about 2003-2005, there was an article perhaps by John Barsness where a couple of guys had 338-08's, one on a Winchester bolt, another maybe an M88. Had some good loads in that article, seems like one shooter preferred the 185x. I bet it does fine up to elk to 300, of course Layne Simpson proved that.....but he was not the first. LONG ago an article was done.....hmmmmm memory, ROY SMITH maybe? Precision Shooting, designed it for a M88 as there was no 358 225 partition for 358 Win, so he did a 338-08 to shoot the 210 PT.

Thanks Seafire......ALMOST ordered a T3 this week, but held off, waiting for Shot Show to see what new products/rifles are in 338F this year.

That LTD production 700 LSS (standard barrel I believe) would be a less expensive alternative than a Sako with real bottom metal vs Tikka. Ruger has the Scout, but not sure about other models, I want a 20-22 standard or magnum contour barrel, stainless if possible. Would not be surprised if there is a 338F BLR.

try this:

http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_printable.cfm?me...icid=463&MW=&PM=&PT=

Yeah Ken has done a lot of practical work over the years. Pet Loads is about my all time favorite shooting/reloading reference.

He also did another interesting piece(among many) on the .263 Express aka .260 Remington many moons ago. Plateau Hunter

quote:

Originally posted by 6.5BR:
try this:

http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_printable.cfm?me...icid=463&MW=&PM=&PT=

6.5 BR...

That is the same load data... I have been on that web site a couple of times on Google Searchs.. but I use it too infrequently to be able to find any real value in it, for the cost...

Typical me, I would just rather gather a few parameters and do the work myself....

If I do a 338/08... I was looking at doing it on a Ruger 77 Mk 2 action... with an 18 to 20 inch heavy magnum barrel on it for stiffness.. which will also absorb any excess recoil...

I actually have a 22.250 on that contour and since I am starting to do the switch barrel world... it is already to go.. just need to get a barrel...

It has a Boyd's Grey Laminate stock on it...and would probably go with a 2 x 7 Leupold with that Turkey Reticle that they have available thru the custom shop....

Actually it would be kinda cool in the field tho, to have a switch barreled 260 and 338/08 in the truck....

My choice of bullet would be the plain jane 200 grain Hornady SP..

I think for the handloader, a 260/6.5x55 and 338F would be an ideal 2 gun battery from varmints to moose to 300 yds, for someone needing factory ammo, a 7/08 and 358 getting the 35's from http://www.cpcartridge.com/

Conley precision-pricey, but for a few boxes of BIG game ammo, no problem.

A switch gun is very viable/practical for you, would it be a Pac-Nor from your neck of the woods you use? They have done all my work except my first custom, a Hart 338-06, just saved a good bit of $$ with Pac-Nor and they have shot great for me.

BTW, the 200SP would be my 'go to load' for most game, it would do it all if pressed, at the velocity window used in this round, eliminating concerns of bullet failure at mag speeds, so there are some pros about this round.

Oh, the 18 would work ok ballistically but I would do 20-21 for muzzle weight, less blast, and another 30-50fps added bonus. Looking at my 243 Mannlicher #1 yesterday thinking REBORE but I would love for Ruger to chamber it and some 6.5's, then I would be content!

quote:

Originally posted by 6.5BR:
I think for the handloader, a 260/6.5x55 and 338F would be an ideal 2 gun battery from varmints to moose to 300 yds, !

FWIW; forget the 338F in that two gun battery and put in the 8mmx57mm. Been here a while and can handle heavier bullts a lot better for a handloader.

I doubt that there will ever be a commercial 338F with a long enough magazine and deep enough throat to adequately handle heavy bullets. roger

Hey, I have to toss in my two cents worth now, How about a battery of a .260Rem/6.5x55mm and a plain old .30-06? Proven, working, and they even have good factory ammo available !!

LLS

Sierra....

I still think of the flexibility of having a switch barreled rifle in 260 and 338/08 as a good idea....

However, I never consider the 30/06 as part of a rifle battery....

the 30/06 is a sacred cow... especially in a Model 70, with a 3 x 9 Leupold on top of it...
The same with a Model 94 or Marlin 336 in 30/30....

If a shooter/hunter doesn't own both of these... well them he just isn't ONE...

rifle batteries are toys... the 06 and 30/30 are just 'essentials' if you are an American hunter......

I kind of like the 6.5X55 and the 8X57 combo.

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:
I kind of like the 6.5X55 and the 8X57 combo.

If the 03 rifle had been originally chambered for the 8X57 that cartridge would begetting all the accolades the 06 now gets, and rightly so.

The 30-30 is revered because everybody wanted to be a cowboy and the Mod. 94 allowed us to realize our boyhood dream at a low cost.All the early western movies we grew up on had just a little to do with it I'm sure. It would seem to me that maturation dictates that we move on to what we know to be more adequate performers. Sentiment is good but logic feeds the bull dog. roger

How long was the COL for that rifle? If it was way over the 2.82" Saami for the 338 Fed. the article is not relevant.

Hey, if I like the ballistics of the 338F, I cannot argue on the 8x57, never shot one, likely mild mannered, now Seafire, I owned just 1 30-06 and it was a ruger SS laminate and it kicked me too much, yeah I guess I have been shooting to many BR's, etc. and don't like it but go figure, I tolerated my 338-06 and shot it very well. The stock was synthetic and had a good pad.

BTW, does a 357 Marlin 1894 qualify as a substitue for a 30/30 if you sling 158's about 1900-2000? It sure is fun! Waiting to drop a deer with it, put a peep on-4 out of 5 in about 1-1.5" at 50 yds.........offhand! Just have to time the trigger break and sight picture just right, might not repeat it, but I sure surprised the heck out of myself. About like when my TC contender 30/30 shot a 3 shot group same distance in a cloverleaf! Literally 1 hole, it had to be 1/4" spread or so, still have the target, and guess what, it was a 10" barrel, either 2x leupold or 3x Burris and I was using factory 150 core-lokt's!

Go figure, it would outshoot many rifles!

Something triggered my memory btw and it may have been Wayne Van Zwolle that had a write up on the 338-08 a few years back also. Some writer like him had Charlie Sisk in Tx build it if not mistaken.

quote:

BTW, does a 357 Marlin 1894 qualify as a substitue for a 30/30 if you sling 158's about 1900-2000?

No. Because everyone in the pistol forum tells me time and time again that you can't kill a deer safetly with a .357 mag


Seriously though, I don't believe there to be enough difference between a 338/08 and 8x57 for me to change over. But, for someone, especially a handloader, who's looking for his first do-it-all rifle, I'd say a 338/08 would do nicely. And have a .260 Rem or 6.5x55 to go with it.

quote:

Originally posted by sierra2:
Hey, I have to toss in my two cents worth now, How about a battery of a .260Rem/6.5x55mm and a plain old .30-06? Proven, working, and they even have good factory ammo available !!

LLS

...all you really need is a .30-06...and a sharp knife....
Admit it - everything else is a 'Iwanna'....

Tumbleweed, I may the exception, and you are 100% right, as could be said for a few other cartridges, but DANG the '06 is just too common and boring for me, as it is a known entity!

I want something different, so long ago went to 7mm08, then 6.5x55, then 6.5/308 before the 260 came out, then 6 BR, did a 7BR, wanted a 6.5BR and now the 6.5 Grendel has come out, just about the same in capacity/performance, and believe it or not, I stuck a 200 Gr ballistic tip in a federal 308 case and put it in my drawer here about 10 years ago, about the time I owned a 338-06, and now all the calibers I had been shooting are getting interest, except the 7BR -very little, so I am really thinking about a 6.5x47 Lapua, something I can shoot that FEW people know, or ever heard about.

The Federal 338 will be used by either experimenter/wildcatters, newbie hunters looking for a rifle with power that the recoil is tolerable, but not at the expense of happy 30-06/308/358/708/7x57 users I am sure......and that is ok.

We ALL can kill cleanly with whatever we have confidence in, if we put a decent bullet in the right place within a reasonable distance. The rest as a MD friend of mine said long ago is just 'mental masturbation'.....so I guess many of us have a little fun mulling it all over, reminding me LONG ago of an article Jack Oconnor wrote in Sports Afield or something like that, say in 1977 or so, the first page of the article showed DOZENS of drawings of various cartridges conveying the 'nightmare' we can have deciphering what we need or should choose in the world of so many choices. I think each ctg. had the caliber written on them and may have had 'facial expressions' unique to each one IIRC. OConnor must have done 30 years ago what we still do today, PONDER new ideas! Thank Goodness for new options!

That page in Oconnors article may ring a bell with many of us debaters of 'what is the best ctg. for a given application'

Yes, I hate to admit, that 100 year old round could do it all, the Springfield.

but gee, the Swede's figured that out too, about 108 years ago......with the 6.5x55!!!!!

quote:

Yes, I hate to admit, that 100 year old round could do it all, the Springfield.

but gee, the Swede's figured that out too, about 108 years ago......with the 6.5x55!!!!!

Which is why I own both. And a Smith .357 Mag too!

Way to go!