I was considering loading Swift's Scirocco 210 grain .338 for elk and was wondering if anybody has had experience with that caliber/bullet combination. My current rig is a .338 Sako with 24 inch barrel.

I've loaded the 210 Partition for the last couple of years but I hunt some pretty big country (300 yard shots common) and was hoping to flatten out my trajectory somewhat. Not interested in the 180 Ballistic Tips.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Graff, I also shoot the 210NP, been wanting to try the Scirocco but haven't gotten around to it. You would only see about a 11" diff. out to the 400yd mark, so that isn't enough to make me run to change. If your .338 likes the NP, you're in good shape.

I don't shoot a .338, but I have had experience with the 180 grain Scirocco out of a .300 Win Mag.. I was underwhelmed. I have switched to the 200 grain Accubond from Nosler. If you are really wanting to go the bonded/poly carbonate tip route, I would give the 225 grain accubond a serious look. Seems like everyone is giving the accubonds praise, and there are even some posts on this site showing terminal performance on moose. The b.c. of the 225 grain .338 is something to behold as well. Have not run the numbers, but I would bet that the decrease in velocity from the extra gain in weight would be offset by the increase in aerodynamics.

Just my .02

300, I am running the 225grNAB thru my new .338x74K. It is shooting well & I am going to try to whack something w/ it this fall. The increased BC just isn't going to get you much @ normal hunting ranges, say out to 400yds. IT is a great looking bullet though & tests in wet phone books show it to run right aling w/ the NP for penetration & expansion.

Fred,

With how tough a MT tag is to get, and the short time you have out here.....I'd leave bullet experimentation to some one else. And instead use whats worked in the past.

FN in MT

I shot Scirocco's in Africa on plains game and had great success and had destruction and pass throughs...

Mike

[ 10-16-2003, 06:20: Message edited by: retreever ]

Frank, I'll shoot my proven .338-06/210grNp for elk, but I would like to take a deer w/ the new rig just to christen it.

My assumption is that the Scirocco is better than a Nosler Ballistic tip, but not quite as good as a Nosler Accubond. If that is the case, then I see the Scirocco as a good deer bullet in open country where a long shot may be taken, but potentially on the short side for Elk. Am I thinking in the right direction, or ?

The elk is a fine game animal and deserves a super premium bullet, why chance it, the bullet is the cheapest part of any hunt...

Stick with the time proven Nosler Partition. If you want something different then use a Northfork, Woodleigh...Try the 250 Nosler, they are an exceptional elk bullet or the 300gr. Woodleigh as its a hammer...

play with the good bullets and you won't have the misery of trailing a bull elk down some horribly steep and deep canyon..Thats where they go you know...I learned this the hard way long ago...Let the other guys test the bullets.

I do not know if it will be of any help, I �ve been shooting the scirocco in a 7 rm.

Have recovered three bullets ; two of them mushroomed well ( one of them perfect mushrooming); the third one was recovered from a roedeer shot at 100 m., only kept some 30 grains ( original weight 150).

I am loading the accubond 160 but still have not tried it on game.

The 210 Partition will do the deed for you!

The difference in bullet drop and wind drift is fairly insignificant between the 2 bullets.

The Scirocco is a deer bullet in my opinion.

Jamie

My father and I have been shooting the 338 Scirroco's for a while now, and they're much more than a deer bullet. If we were talking about the plain old Ballistic Tips, then I'd agree, but the Scirroco's are tougher. My father just got back from SA on a plains game hunt and the Scirroco's performed well on everything from Blesbuck, to Wildebeest, to Kudu. We've been using them out of his 338/416 Rem. Mag, and our 338/378's. All of which have custom barrels and are pushing the bullets a lot harder than something like a 338 Win mag, and they hold together just fine. Accuracy wise, the Scirroco's have been great, but that's on par with all of the polymer tipped bullets that I've tried.

On a side note, I don't think there's enough of a difference between the Scirroco's, Interbonds and Accubonds to speak of. They're all essentially the same design, so if you have a mfg. preference then get the one you like, but if you do choose the Scirroco's you wont be disappointed.