Which is most accurate? I can't see the need for a 338 with anything lighter than a 225, and lean towards the 250 but anyone have very accurate 225 loads?
Thanks, Peter.

My favorite 225 grain bullet load for my .338 Winchester Magnum uses Winchester cases, Fed 215M primers, a max load of H 4350 and a Nosler 225 grain Partition.

Accuracy in my stock Remington 700 Classic is about 3/4 inch, good enough for anything I might point a .338 at.

On a still morning, not too much coffee, I've gotten 4.7 inch groups at 600 yards with Barnes Vor-TX ammo in the 225 TTSX. This is off a bench in a lead sled. I think the 225 grain TTSX is the equivlent of a 250 grain cup and core bullet.

Oh, my ugly duckling Ruger 77 stainless (canoe paddle stock) just loves 225 grain Hornady Interlocks, 73 gr. Re19, WLRM, R-P cases.

(This is — or was — the cheapest M77 I could buy 15 - 20 years ago. I bought it because it was cheap and I didn't think I'd need pin-point accuracy for an elk hunt I had planned . . . elk are pretty good size, after all. But I did want robust glass, glass that would survive great temperature swings, snow and drenching rain without failing or changing its zero. So I sprung for the old VAR-X 2.5 - 8 Leupold. Imagine my delight when I found this combination shot 0.75 MOA! During inclement weather, I use this rifle when I hunt blacktail deer. Over gunned? Yeah. But I love that unsightly creature.)

Your rifle will tell you which is best.

I use both, see no reason to limit myself to one bullet weight in any rifle..I like those rifles that tend to put most weights and makes to the same POI...Most .338s that I have owned or built will shoot 225s and 250s to the same POI or very close.

Mostly I shoot the 210 Nosler partition at 3000 FPS for elk, deer, and bear, its one heck of a killer even on Eland..I like the 250 Nosler or 300 woodleighs in Africa where ranges seem to be shorter for the most part, and that depends on where I hunt there. The GS Customs monolithics sure work well in the .338...

Bottom line is the .338 is about as versital as a big game rifle can get, so match the bullet to where you hunt, and what you hunt, unlees you don't want to mess with it, then the 250 Nosler would be my choice for a one bullet gun..

My "go to" bullet in my .338 WM is a 225 gr. Northfork with 73 grs. of Rldr-22. While not a max. load, I get 2800 fps which is good enough. I've found the Northfork to be slightly more accurate than the Partition and it doesn't lose as much weight either. No flies on the Partition and I realize it's designed to lose about 15% of it's weight. I can say the NF is hell on moose. We found a textbook perfect mushroomed NF on the underside of the hide on the right rear quarter of the 1st moose I ever shot with one. That bullet weighs 218 (maybe 217 grs - I forget) and sits on my desk as I write. I'd estimate the range at about 150 yards and I was aiming behind the left front quarter. We found the bullet under the hide on the right rear quarter. How it got there I still can't figure out.
Although they cost more, you don't shoot a box at the range just plinking and load workup is very easy. If I were to go after a brown bear, I'd use the 240 gr. NF since as I recall, Mike Brady told me one time that was what he designed it for. Good luck and use a less expensive bullet for range time.
Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I use both, see no reason to limit myself to one bullet weight in any rifle..I like those rifles that tend to put most weights and makes to the same POI...Most .338s that I have owned or built will shoot 225s and 250s to the same POI or very close.

Mostly I shoot the 210 Nosler partition at 3000 FPS for elk, deer, and bear, its one heck of a killer even on Eland..I like the 250 Nosler or 300 woodleighs in Africa where ranges seem to be shorter for the most part, and that depends on where I hunt there. The GS Customs monolithics sure work well in the .338...

Bottom line is the .338 is about as versital as a big game rifle can get, so match the bullet to where you hunt, and what you hunt, unlees you don't want to mess with it, then the 250 Nosler would be my choice for a one bullet gun..

The 338 is versatile and I've taken a bunch of game in Africa with the 250 Nosler back in the 80's. It's a great combo.

Check out the accuracy. You should probably test the 225 TTSX, too, because of its .514 BC. It will fly through wind nicely and deliver alot of energy out at 300-400 yards should the need arise. And it will penetrate. So take the most accurate.

Gentlemen, thanks for all the replies. I have not had good luck with the original TSX's but based on your recommendations will try the TTSX bullets. Meantime I have loaded up some 225's to try at the range next time.
Peter.

Peter,
I had great luck with the Barnes Vor-tx ammo with 225 gr TTSX's out of that Tikka. If I don't take my .375, I'll be taking those same bullets back to Namibia in August.

Mike

I'm surprised no one mentioned the 225 Nosler Accubond. It performs very much like the Partition, but has better aerodynamics and is very slightly more accurate for me. No flies on the Partition, either, whether it is 225's or 250's you're shooting. I used a 225 grain Partition to take a large Hartman's zebra in Namibia at about 275 yards. Out like a light.

I've had good accuracy with the 225 Nosler Partition, but it's hard to beat the 250 partition for terminal performance, very terminal performance!

The 210 Barnes TSX has done everything for me that I've asked it to do with exceptional accuracy. H4350 @ 2900 fps. Someone who used to work at Barnes told me that Connie Brooks used to shoot a 338 win. with 185's in it for everything but Alaska. In Alaska she used 225s.

Here's another vote for the 225 TTSX. Shot two tiny blacktails with em this year and they expanded and penetrated just fine.

I've killed blacktails, goat, caribou, moose, black and brown bear with the 225 grain Barnes Xbullets and they always did the job for me.

Currently, my 338 likes 68.5 grains IMR4350 with a fed 215GM primer. I don't see the need for a 250 grain bullet...at least in my experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Sagebrush Burns:
Your rifle will tell you which is best.

Second that.

These loads are pretty accurate.

I would call both those pretty good groups!
Thanks for posting. I hate to pay close to a dollar a bullet, especially for a 338!
Peter.

Snellstrom, were those holes made by 225 gr. or 215 gr. Sierras? I didn't know Sierra made a 225 gr. .338 cal. bullets.
Just asking.

They are 225 Sierra's.
I bought them in bulk, they were manufactured for ammunition manufacturers by Sierra. I know Federal loads them in their .338 Win Mag Blue and Silver boxes.
They were not in Sierra catolog or manual however they may be now.
Yeah they shoot pretty good and those loads are in my 21" barreled Win M70.

quote:

Originally posted by Snellstrom:
These loads are pretty accurate.

First of all, nice groups. A guy could do some serious hunting of non-dangerous game with those. 2800fps, 3950 ftlbs and a decent BC is a nice niche and very versatile.


Any thoughts on the velocity discrepency? Different cases? Once fired?

A half grain of powder will usually get one 16fps more, not less.

The velocity had me curious as well. As I increased past 71 grains the accuracy fell off some and velocity spiked back up. I was only shooting 5 shot strings while testing these loads.
Although I was very curious about the velocity dip between 70.5 and 71 I didn't pursue it because of the accuracy and velocity I found at 70.5.
All brass, primers, bullets and powder were identical in every way.
BC is .462 on these bullets

There was no velocity "dip". Short strings over the chronograph often do not show the "real" average velocity, especially if the ES is above 30-40 fps. You are falling for the false statistical AV of the loads due to low sampling. As suggested, more than 5-shot strings would show a higher velocity with the heavier load. One-half grain is just a 0.7% difference, not much. There are clearly overlaps in velocity between the two loads, that's all.


.

Thanks Tx Nimrod.
I did realize that but I never wasted the powder to prove the theory because I was satisfied with the groups and velocity at the 1/2 grain lower load. I knew that If I ran 50 shot strings it would disprove the short 5 shot strings velocity "problem".

One thing rarely brought up with heavy bonded and mono-metal bullets is that they struggle to open up at extended ranges or extremely low temperatures. As the .338 Winchester is by far the most popular chambering in this calibre most bullets are designed around its performance parameters.

Find a load that works and get used to it. Most non-dangerous game can be had with a 225 grain slug. If you are after eland or animals that are large and dangerous such as one of the great bears or even a lion, stick with 250's.

I got significantly better groups out of 225gr factory Hornady Interbonds loads than I did the Barnes Vortex TTSX 225grn factory loads in my sako AV.