Hi all. Little brother is off to Alaska in a couple of weeks with his newly muzzle braked 338 RUM. This kinda happened rather fast and we aren't set up for reloading it or load development at this late hour, so we're looking for factory ammo choices. My browsing found that federal makes a 210 gr Nosler partition, 225 gr accubond, and a 250gr trophy bonded bear claw. I've never used bear claws before but have had great luck with partitions, but never on a grizzly so I'm leaning towards the 250 gr bear claws. Remington makes one with the 250 A-frame too.



Anyone have more informed opinions or experiences?



Also, there is moose and wolf on the list too, I suggested 180 gr for the wolf but he just wants to use one bullet, which makes sense to me too.



TIA Mark

Mark:

I'd have to agree with Russ on this one. Of the bulllet weights listed, I too would go with the heaviest available bullet. You never know if the chips will fall & I'd want the heaviest, quality bullet I could find. One of the things I try to look at and seldom see taken into account is momentum. I could give up a bit of accuracy on a heavier bullet in exchange for increased momentum.

BTW, if you ever begin handloading for it, I'd highly suggest you look at the Northforks too. I find them very accurate in my .338 Win. and have never heard anything negative regarding their performance. I might also add that if your brother gets anywhere near one of these guys, he's gonna think the hole in his barrel is WAYYYY to small. Hope this helps some. Bear in Fairbanks

Thanks for the responses guys, we ordered 4 boxes a little while ago (Ouch!)

I'll keep the northforks in mind, don't know when we'll start reloading for this one, need to have a bit of brass first and this gun doesn't get shot enough to build up a brass collection that quickly. At any rate, with a hunt a couple weeks away and a full plate with the rest of the hours in the day this is the best option for now.

Thanks!

Mark,

I would have personally opted for the Rem. Factory A-Frames in the 250 gr. From what I here, they are the tried and true in Africa and also very well respected in AK. I have heard excellent things about the Bear Claws but have not used them personally. I don't know if they are considered as "tough" (penetration wise) as the partition, X-bullet, or the A-Frames.

The rights to the TBBC were sold to Speer a couple of years ago. Up until that point, I know their reputation was pretty good, but they were really expensive and more difficult to obtain.

I also have a 338 RUM that I bought for AK Brown Bear. I was going to get a 340 Wthby, but the 338 RUM was in a pawn shop and the previous owner fired 5 shots through it and sold it because of recoil. The rifle was not even on the shelf yet, and I got a screamin' deal. I bought it just a day later than the guy who sold it to the pawn shop. I took it to my friend at the local outfitters store in MT, and he remembered selling it to this guy the week previous, so know I got it brand new and about 250 dollars off of retail. Of course, when I bought it, I didn't even take it to the range until I had a KDF break put on it. Now it fires like a "stiff" 30-06 and the recoil is totally manageable. I currently shoot handloaded accubonds (225 gr.) but would go to the A-Frame, X, NorthForks, or Failsafes if I was going after Browns or Grizz.

By the way, what is he going after? Browns or inland Grizz?

Best of luck to him. That 338 RUM is a fun gun to shoot. Although, mine is a little heavy to be packin' up the mountains with after elk. My 300 win. or my 7mm are a little more palatable for that. And since I can't yet afford the bear hunt, the only action that the RUM has been getting is at the range.

Take Care,

Autumn Pulse

The 250-grain TBBC would be better than the lightweight one.

If you ever reload for him (to hunt the big bears), keep in mind that the 275-grain A-Frame is an outstanding bullet. That one would be my first choice.

Ray, if this hadn't popped up so soon we would have done that, he was supposed to go on a business trip that fell through so he's doing this instead now, and we felt that we might be painting oursewlves (well, him actually!) into a corner trying to work up a load at the last minute.

I find it interesting that factory ammo only has a 340 FPS spread between a 180 grain bullet and a 250 grain!