Just wanted to post my experience. This not meant to be a 338-06 discussion. It just happens that this is the cartridge I was shooting.

I shot a 4 year old 6X6 elk on Monday night.
I shot him twice and par for Barnes bullets, I didn't recover either one.

The first shot was quartering to and the bullet took out the back lobe of the right lung and absolutely destroyed the liver. The entrance to the liver was about 50 cent size with 1/2 dozen fissures radiating out. The back was absolute hamburger.

The second shot was severe quartering to and I put the cosshairs on the point of the right shoulder.
This is what amazes me. The bullet hit the head of the humerous, the ball that fits into the cup at the bottom of the shoulder blade. It broke the head (ball) off the humerous and broke it into four pieces. The bullet then cont'd on through the heart and exited at the very front of the left hindquarter.

This example is one of the reasons why I am a big fan of Barnes bullets.

The load I am using pushes this bullet @2850fps.
Both shots were betweeen 150-175 yards.

My next bullet that I work up for my 338 Win Mag is going to be the Barnes TSX. I've heard way to many folks "wax eloquent" about them, so I'm going to give them a try.

Congrats on the Bull.

quote:

This example is one of the reasons why I am a big fan of Barnes bullets.

There are two bullets folks sing the praises of all the time.....and neither of them are what I use. I use the Swift A-Frame because I've had such good luck with them......but you Barnes fans and the Nosler Partition fans are the best sales people in the world. Posts like yours just tell it like it is......and I read them a lot.....sooner or later I'll move over.

shhhh! dont let out one of best combos around...geeeez everyone will have moderate recoil more down below in a handy rifle if you keep talking about it

sd thanks for the report, which slug were you using? I'd be for guessing the 210.

Mark D

quote:

I use the Swift A-Frame because I've had such good luck with them......but you Barnes fans and the Nosler Partition fans are the best sales people in the world. Posts like yours just tell it like it is......and I read them a lot.....sooner or later I'll move over.

Why?
I admit I have great success with Noslers, but they aren't the only bullets made. I am perpetually pissed at Barnes over the death of the originals except in screwball calibers, and wasn't impressed by the first generation "X" bullets. But I am rapidly approaching last of some secret stashes of non replaceable bullets.
Swifts, Northforks, and Woodliegh's are my current intersts.

Noslers work well and are the most cost effective, and I have never been disappointed with their performance on game. I admit that some rifles don't like Noslers, and I have run across a couple of these. I am stubborn on a detail I guess and there are some cartidges I am not very flexible about, example a 30 Mag that doesn't shoot 200 grain bullets, is trading material, my 7mm's must shot both 150 gr and at min one heavy load of 160 or 175 gr. And if a 375 H&H doesn't like 300 gr bullets its broken in my book. I have zero flex on certain combo's either the rifle/ammo combo cut the grade or they are gone. Brand loyality is nice but sorting out my picky details is all that really counts, whichever bullet gets me the performance I want gets bought in quantity, cause a favorite load of mine takes a while to get sorted out ( couple of years and hunts ) and I have had several that bullets were discontinued.

Yes, they were 210gr.
Sorry I forgot to put that in.

quote:

There are two bullets folks sing the praises of all the time.....and neither of them are what I use. I use the Swift A-Frame because I've had such good luck with them......but you Barnes fans and the Nosler Partition fans are the best sales people in the world. Posts like yours just tell it like it is......and I read them a lot.....sooner or later I'll move over.

If you are happy with what your shooting, by all means keep shooting them. I am not one of those people who say this is the "chosen one and only".

As hunters we are blessed with many quality bullets to choose from. If your gun doesn't like brand X, try brand Y, if that doesn't work try brand Z.

I had given up on Barnes X bullets, I absolutely loved their terminal performance, but they were so darn finicky. They would shoot or they wouldn't. So I threw my hands up in disgust.

A gentleman gave me some TSX's to play with and I really liked them. They shot really good groups, were very consistent. So I am now back in the saddle so to speak.

SD, I've thought the 210 TSX is just the ticket for the 338-06 (and 338 WM) since it came out... great to hear your results! I'd like to hear your load. I could only reach 2,780 (ish) in my 22" bbl'd 338-06 with H4350. I'm guessing you probably have a longish tube?

Thanks,
BA

Brad,
It is a 24 inch barrel.

SD, mind sharing the data?

Thanks!

Brad,
I'll have to get the info at home, but I'll get back to you.

SDhunter, I used my 338/06 with the 200gr Barnes X @ 2840 fps to kill 9 of the large African antelope. I've also shot two elk with this same load. I love the Barnes X's. Will have to try the new Triple Shocks as the 200gr bullet has been discontinued. The 338/06 is an awesome round.

I have 3 loads worked up for my 338-06's
210 Barnes TSX: WLRM: Varget 57gr: 2850fps
210 Nosler Par: Fed 210M: Rel 15 56.5gr: 2725fps
200 Horn SP: Fed 210M: Varget 57gr: 2720fps
all brass is Rem 30-06 necked up to 338

I have a model 700 and a model 7600 pump in 338-06. The bottom two loads shoot extremely well in both guns.

The TSX load is right under max for my 700. So I would suggest reducing the powder and working up per usual procedures.

Hey SD tell me a bit about your 7600 in 338/06. That is a project I've always wanted to do.

Thx

Mark D

quote:

model 7600 pump in 338-06

i am soooooooo jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a 30-06 rem 7600 and have considered that project. details please

Fairly simple project. I actually got the idea from the Big Bore Cartridges Book. That is what turned me on to the 338-06, then a little research on who could rebore the barrel and off to the races.

I picked up a 7600 in 270 win and had Randall Redman rebore the barrel to 338. I had my local gunsmith run the reamer through it to clean up the chamber. That's all there was to it.

Randall Redman is out of Washington or Oregon. I would have to check my info at home.

The gun is one of the most consistent shooters I have ever owned. Doesn't matter what I put through it.

It will always shoot 2-2.5 inches or a little less. It won't shoot as tight of groups as my 700, but I had some 6 inch plus groups with my 700 and Barnes 210gr XLC's and 4 inch groups with some Failsafe 230gr. The 7600 just dropped them in to 2-2.5 inch groups.

Right now I have it set up with a peep sight and fiber optic front sight. It sure is fun to
play around with. I normally just carry it around in my pick up and plan on taking to Alaska the next time as a back up/camp gun.

I am going to try and shoot one of my deer with it this fall.

Needless to say, I am a pretty big 338-06 fan. It has worked wonderfully on 3 elk in 3 years so far, and I hope many more.

Disclaimer: So as not to start an argument, I should clarify that the 338 WM, 35 whelen and 9.3x62 and a slew of other cartridges would do
the job also.

I also am a big fan of the tripple shock bullets. I think I will buy some 210s for my .338 Win. Iam glad to see they are comming out with a 175 grain for my 7mmSTW. And a 225 for my whelen. If you check my post over on samll calibers I give good detail about the .257 100 grain tripple shock in my .257 roberts, and a small mule deer buck that I took with one...tj3006

quote:

should clarify that the 338 WM, 35 whelen and 9.3x62 and a slew of other cartridges would do
the job also.

damn...take all the fun out of life

whats the matter...dont want to tie up a perfectly good thread with "my cart is better than your cart for pages and pages

There is a very good thread started bt Allen Day about TSX bullets in 338 caliber in the big game forum.

L

The most impressive shot that i ever made was with a .30/338 & a Barnes 165 gr X bullet. Hit a big mulie quartering away through the last rib on the left side & exited the right shoulder. Pure hamburger all the way through. The impressive part was that deer cut a end over end flip in the air.

quote:

whats the matter...dont want to tie up a perfectly good thread with "my cart is better than your cart for pages and pages

I just wanted to provide some actual field experience without trying to come across as the 338-06 is the one and only.

I feel some of the "bashing of cartridges" that goes on is counterproductive. I have mentioned many times before that the fit, feel and practice with the rifle of your choosing is way more important than the actual cartridge.

I think YOU should shoot what you have, like what YOU shoot, but most importantly HIT what you shoot at.

These boards are great sources of information for new and old alike.

I have learned a bunch from sites like these, but the most important thing is the different ideas and perspectives that are presented. While trying to sift through the: "mine is bigger,better than yours mentality". When in reality they are just different.

I used Nosler Partition 250gr in my 338 Lapua for many years and had very good results on elk. To try something new I loaded up some Barnes 210 TSXs for this years deer and cow elk hunt. Great accuracy (<.75") with my first load at 3100 fps and due to a time crunch I just loaded up more of this load and went hunting.

My first shot on the cow elk was very bad (my fault totally, didn't correctly follow through as she was moving laterally) and at 250 yards I hit her through the hips. After she got up I got a quartering frontal shot that took her on the left chest/shoulder juncture and exited the rear of her right ribs. The second shot was good and instantly folded her. The second shot exited but I recovered the first bullet that went through the hips as it came to rest under the hide. I was happy with the performance of the TSXs and will continue to use them with further load development.

John

quote:

Originally posted by SDhunter:
I have 3 loads worked up for my 338-06's

thanks for posting this SD