Well I just booked a bull elk hunt for this fall. Going to use my .338WinMag that Ralf Martini put together on a ZG-47 action and a 210gr Barnes TTSX bullet. I have taken two bull elk with this rifle/load and really don't think I could find a better load. Shot one bull at 405yds and the other at about 120yds. I also shot a whitetail deer behind the shoulder taking out the lower half of the heart to see how it would preform......impressive blood trail. The deer went about a 30 yards and the blood trail looked like a Texas interstate (impressive).

My rifle also shoots the 250gr Nosler Partitions into one ragged hole at a chronographed velocity of 2770fps. Either load will do the trick.

Ready to go to the range and get some trigger time.

Great caliber for elk.

Good luck on your hunt!

According to my wife, the best “all around” cartridge for North America. Who am I to argue with the wife? The load for her rifle, 225TTSX’s @ 2950 muzzle velocity. Great BC’c and velocity for the longer shots, great weight retention for the big stuff! memtb

Probably my favorite caliber. Sounds like you found some great loads. I've shot the 210 Nosler, 225 Hornady, 225 Barnes X, 250 Nosler and the 275 Speer. The 275 was surprisingly accurate but I pretty much finally settled on the 250 Nosler.
Enjoy you 338 and good luck on your hunt.

Good luck on your hunt. The 338 is my favorite too.

Okay, I'll pile on too! I love my .338. It's accurate and with lots of oomph. I've been known to hunt deer with it . . . just because!

I wish you the best of luck!

I have always had a .338 Win since day one..Ive hauled it to Africa, shot all the plains game, shot two buffalo with it, one with softs and one with solids. both worked, witnessed a head shot on an elephant and it worked and know of big bears stopped cold with it...It is truly and all around caliber, much preferred to the big thirty calibers, at least for me..Kinda like a 30-06, it just does its job no matter what..Penetration is its primary focus, and it outdoes about every other caliber out there.

The 338 Winchester and 225 TSX is a favorite moose combination for me. I could interchange that 225 TSX with a TTSX or a 210 TTSX or TSX without a second thought.
The 338 Winchester impresses me with its versatility and effectiveness.

Pretty much to all the above I say:

On choosing a bullet for elk for the 338 WM I will upload two tables showing things like wind-drift and bullet drop at various yardages 0 to 500 yards.

The tables assume a 2.1" maximum height above line of sight. The speeds of 2930 fps and 2835 fps were chosen because that's what I get in my rifles and they are reasonable hunting loads, generating just a smidgin over 4000 ft-lbs at muzzle. Also note where the various energies are downrange and especially where the bullets stay over 2000 fps, the recommended minimum for TTSX type bullets.

The first table is for the 210 grain TTSX


The second is for the 225 grain TTSX


Both of the above can take about anything on the planet with careful shooting, though the 225 grain will outpentrate the 210 grain if someone wants added insurance for a raking shot. In Africa we prefer the 225gn. Most shots are between 100 and 300 yards so it really doesn't make much difference, whether looking at drop or windage. The 225 grn easily goes through hartebeests on a diagonal.

Enjoy the hunt and the preparation!

You make the shot and you will have horns and great venison.

Happy hunting.

quote:

I have always had a .338 Win since day one..

Ray, but back then, they were Black Powder, weren't they? :-)

Love a 338WM ( or any other 338 cal!) I've used only Barnes in them. I used a friends WM in Namibia with the older 200X and I was using the 340W with the 210XBT. I later had my rifle rebarreled to the WinMag and killed a big cow elk with the 185XLC. From the penetration I saw, on kudu, zebra, big Nammibian Gemsbuk, Hartebeast and such, I never shot anything heavier than the 210. I just never played with the 225s, though I hear great things about them. I'm one of those that really feels like a 338/180-185 cuts a bigger hole than a 180/30 cal. I would still have a 338WM if my last one I tried ( an older Mod 77) had shot worth a flip. It must have had one of those "farmed out $17 barrels" Ruger used for awhile back then! Anyhow, they are excellent calibers, especially for elk!

I knew a retired game warden in WA state who said to me..."A .338 kills elk like a 30-'06 kills deer." And he had shot a lot of elk, both hunting and on control work.

Yes Biebs, but the .338 isn't particular about powder or bullets!!

My elk load has been the 225 gr Accubond at about 3000 FPS With RL-19 and RL-22 for the last 5 or so years..Its as good as a 30-06 and maybe a little better, the 06 is the caliber I shot more elk with than any other..I used the 210 and the 250s, but the 225 Accubond seems to be the best of all so far..I still like the big heavy 250s but actually the end results with a well placed shot is good with most calibers today, and bullets today are great.

Took my 338 Win Mag to south Africa.

Shot an Eland, Kudu, Waterbuck, Gymsbok, Impala, and warthog.

All one shot kills shooting 225 gr Barnes TTX except the Eland. Hit him behind the shoulder. Guessing another one shot kill if hit properly on the shoulder.

Only complaint was the TTX's don't leave much of a blood trail. But all animals were found dead.

LRich

I had Brown Precision build a custom 338 WM in '87. I used it for almost everything in Alaska and Africa. To my mind it is the only rifle you need until you're hunitng cape buffalo or elephant. I've used many calibers since that time because I like guns but none is better in my mind for all around use than the 338 WM.

Mark

I found a Model 700 Classic on GB that looks as if it had never been fired/used! I had a Limbsaver pad added, pillar bedded/floated and a Trigger Tech Primary put in. So far, I have only shot 200gr NBT, 210PT and 250 ( AB & PT). It shoots all of them very well! I am particularly happy with this rifle as it is about as light as I want in the 338 ( with its 3x9 scope on to help) and it is very handy. The rifle I had back in '98-2002 was just too light. It was hard for me to shoot it well, one reason why I fell back tot he 185xlc then. I like this Classic as I shot 30 rounds off the bench w/o flinching or feel beat up. I knew it when it went off with those 250 NAB at 2800, but it was still easy to shoot. About like a 30-06 with 200PT. Really, a 338WM is not a super magnum at all, just a good, solid "Medium Bore" hunting round. Like the Whelen, only more of it.

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A 338WM is . . . just a good, solid "Medium Bore" hunting round.

I can't understand why anyone would use a 338 Win. when there are so many superior .338 bores like the RUM and the Lapua mag.

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Originally posted by lee440:
I can't understand why anyone would use a 338 Win. when there are so many superior .338 bores like the RUM and the Lapua mag.

I can answer that one. I own a .338 WM Rem 700 SS. Plastic stock that I bedded myself. No muzzle brake.

I also own two Lapuas, both extremely accurate - one is custom on a Stiller action/Brux bbl, the other a Savage that is off the shelf. I also own two .338 Edges, one of which is extremely accurate and shoots 300 Bergers at 2820.

I have never killed a single head of game with any of these rifles except the .338 WM. That rifle has taken African lion (in Tanz, not a fenced hunt), two leopards, a pile of plains game, four moose, 8 bull elk, a grizz, brown bear, mule deer and whitetail deer.

Don't get me wrong: the big .338s totally outclass the WM at long range; they shoot high BC bullets much faster and I think the case designs are both "naturally more accurate" if there is such a thing. That said, I did kill an elk at 640 yards with my WM, but not the best choice for that shot. For everything else, it has been plenty good enough.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
I can't understand why anyone would use a 338 Win. when there are so many superior .338 bores like the RUM and the Lapua mag.

I can answer that one. I own a .338 WM Rem 700 SS. Plastic stock that I bedded myself. No muzzle brake.

I also own two Lapuas, both extremely accurate - one is custom on a Stiller action/Brux bbl, the other a Savage that is off the shelf. I also own two .338 Edges, one of which is extremely accurate and shoots 300 Bergers at 2820.

I have never killed a single head of game with any of these rifles except the .338 WM. That rifle has taken African lion (in Tanz, not a fenced hunt), two leopards, a pile of plains game, four moose, 8 bull elk, a grizz, brown bear, mule deer and whitetail deer.

Don't get me wrong: the big .338s totally outclass the WM at long range; they shoot high BC bullets much faster and I think the case designs are both "naturally more accurate" if there is such a thing. That said, I did kill an elk at 640 yards with my WM, but not the best choice for that shot. For everything else, it has been plenty good enough.

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I've often wanted a large capacity 338, but a person needs to carry them around. And I tend to use 338 for most everything, even smallish blacktail mule-deer. I could be talked into a 338-"375Ruger"/PRC pretty easily (ballistically like a 340 Weatherby in a smaller platform) if it was on an easy-carrying rifle. I've had a couple of 338WM Tikkas. They are very light and a delight to carry. They do surprise the shooter at times with a little extra jump, but my eye-brows haven't been touched and the 338WM is comfortable to shoot. Basically, out to 400 yards the 338WM does what is needed. By all means get a Lapua or Norma or Edge/RUM if planning on over 500 yards. Otherwise, and that is 99% of hunting, the 338WM just plain does a great job.

I would love to learn long range shooting with such awesome calibers as they use today, but for hunting I don't need anything more than my 338 Win or 30-06, its not a contest of ballistic power with me..

I enjoy the hunting as much as the killing, and to crawl up to within 300 yards or 50 yards of a big bull elk is about all the rush my old worn out heart can take, that's the part I like best..The chase is what its all about always has been and always will be.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I would love to learn long range shooting with such awesome calibers as they use today, but for hunting I don't need anything more than my 338 Win or 30-06, its not a contest of ballistic power with me..

I enjoy the hunting as much as the killing, and to crawl up to within 300 yards or 50 yards of a big bull elk is about all the rush my old worn out heart can take, that's the part I like best..The chase is what its all about always has been and always will be.

Amen, Ray.