Working up a load for my "new" 1992 Browning Bar 338 Win Mag.

[walkinhorseman]

FWIW, I have found that for loctited screws, applying a soldering iron directly to the screw usually works. I would go this method first before using a torch.

 

[BankWalker316]

I'm afraid that a pressure cooker wouldn't help one bit.

Not at all, lol.

 

[BankWalker316]

FWIW, I have found that for loctited screws, applying a soldering iron directly to the screw usually works. I would go this method first before using a torch.

I tried that to no avail so I reluctantly had to take it to a gunsmith. Watching the gunsmith heat my pristine 1992 Browning Bar 338 to the point that smoke was boiling out of causing me to have flashbacks from my firefighter days. There's NO WAY IM HƐLL that I could have done that to my gun. At one point the very old GS sporting gnarled drawn up fingers with thick glasses and an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips says to me to. "Let me know when it starts smoking?" With a lump in my throat while fighting back projectile vomit I replied. "It's been smoking for 10-15 seconds." He said, "good, that means the LocTite is turning loose." My guts nearly turned loose in my trousers. That was an AWFUL AWFUL experience that I have no desire to ever see again. Sorry for the delay response. I've been working on get the mounts and scope on the new rifle and loading ammo and doing what we do. Load, fire, write down results, rinse and repeat.

 

[BankWalker316]

Bank
Welcome to the 338 Club. Not a bad place to be. FWIW, there’s no such thing as overkill. I use a custom 700 338 RUM as my main crop damage deer rifle. The 250 AB absolutely crushes those bean bandits.
The 210 PT at 2900-3000 fps is an excellent bullet that opens up well, even on deer and penetrates deep. You are able to hunt most anything in NA. Keep an eye out for the 200 gr AB and/or BT (Ballistic Silver Tip seconds).
The 210 PT and 200 BT/BST shot to the same POI in my 338 RUM.
RL19, IMR4350 and H4831SC would be good powders to start with. The 225 AB is another good option that won’t disappoint.
You shouldn’t have any issues sizing up 7mm Rem Mag cases to 338 but I would recommend annealing the cases first and neck up to .308 and than .338 to prevent splitting the necks.
I’m my experience the 338 hits hard and kills fast.

JD338

I have had single digit extreme spreads and standard deviations with this 338 and several different powders and powder charges. Is than normal with this caliber? Ive never loaded anything close to these type numbers before. However, sadly, 63 grains of H380 underneath a 225 grain AccuBond at an ave of 2,512 FPS has been the clear winner. A 6-shot group was really tight especially when you factor in these temperatures and starting with a warm barrel. N-560, IMR4350 & H4831SC have produced unacceptable accuracy thus far. However, the ONE group that I shot with H4831SC was pretty good but barely 2,500 FPS. My new gun does NOT seem to like speed.

 

[BankWalker316]

Good show!

JD338

Good show!

JD338

This is my private little rifle range. Reckon how many rifle balls it took to shoot all these big oak and sweet gum trees down? There's multiple trees on the dirt including two that would have been hard if not impossible for me to reach around. I've been shooting at this particular place for 6 or so years now. I tried to get down yonder and get you a picture of the huge hole in the ground that has been blown out. But I am wearing a pair of Alabama Crimson Tide Crocs and a pair of sleeping shorts.

That center target was shot with 73 Grains of H4831SC under the 225 Gr. Nosler AB. That group average less than 2,500 FPS and 1¾". Not great but it gives me hope considering some of the, what I call hubcap sized groups, that I've shot between yesterday evening and this morning.

I've just finished up cleaning, resizing and priming my brass with Remington Magnum Primers. I bought them a couple of years ago but I've always used WLRM. Any thoughts on the Magnum Remington Primers?

Ive been shooting my rifle as it came to me up until now. I cleaned the bore up good with solvent and such and a brash then a few cleaning patches. I'm about to go fire a fouling shot. Then I'm just waiting for the mail to run and hopefully load some 210 NP and get back at it.

 

[BankWalker316]

Bank
Welcome to the 338 Club. Not a bad place to be. FWIW, there’s no such thing as overkill. I use a custom 700 338 RUM as my main crop damage deer rifle. The 250 AB absolutely crushes those bean bandits.
The 210 PT at 2900-3000 fps is an excellent bullet that opens up well, even on deer and penetrates deep. You are able to hunt most anything in NA. Keep an eye out for the 200 gr AB and/or BT (Ballistic Silver Tip seconds).
The 210 PT and 200 BT/BST shot to the same POI in my 338 RUM.
RL19, IMR4350 and H4831SC would be good powders to start with. The 225 AB is another good option that won’t disappoint.
You shouldn’t have any issues sizing up 7mm Rem Mag cases to 338 but I would recommend annealing the cases first and neck up to .308 and than .338 to prevent splitting the necks.
I’m my experience the 338 hits hard and kills fast.

JD338

Well, I have shot nearly 200 rounds thru that aforementioned 338WM. (100) 225-grain Nosler AccuBonds and (85) 210-grain Nosler Partions. I've shot both Peterson and Premium Nosler brass. I've ran 8 difficult powders, 2 different magnum primers, different powder charges with each powder, and a few different seating depths. I finally broke down & loaded 150 rounds of the 210 Partions. I guarantee you that I haven't shot under a 1¾" group. I have been so disappointed. We'll on a whim I purchased 50 160 grain Barnes TTSX 160 Grain last week. I loaded up 3 rounds using 69.0 grains of IMR4895 in Nosler brass with WLRM Primers & seated at 3.279". I haven't had the heart to even shoot them because I couldn't take the disappointment. We'll a few minutes ago I finally broke down and bit the bullet and walked out back and shot the test group. 3,342 FPS Ave. with 8.4 standard deviation and 19.7 extreme spread. (Those #'s behind the decimal might not be exact exact. ) Anyway, I finally found a 1", maybe less group. I can hardly wait to hammer one now. I've been utterly disgusted up until now. The bad thing is that I only have about a ¼ lb of IMR4895 and of course it's not in stock anywhere.

 

[Blkram]

Honestly, with the grouping you got with 6 rounds of the 225 gr AB load with 63.0 gr of H-380 at 2512 fps, I would hunt with that accuracy out to reasonable distances (300 yards or less).
It still shows potential, and I would shoot several groups and determine what the average 3-shot group size is.
(I would also ask which holes were which shot numbers, as if any three were clustered close to together consecutively, you would have a pretty nice 3 shot group.)
That bullet at that speed will get you over 3100 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle, and approximately (*not exact as I extrapolated from my 338 Federal data with the 225 gr AB at 2528 fps, as I could not recall the barrel length to run QuickLoad) 2350 fps and 2780 ft lbs of energy at 100 yards, 2200 fps and 2425 ft lbs at 200, and at 300 yards, over 2000 fps and 2100 ft lbs of energy. Still good velocity for relaible expansion, and enough power for reliable penetration and to break heavy bone.
While you may not need that much performance for your smaller whitetails, it is more than enough for elk and bison, or any moose or black bear you may get to hunt out to 300 yards. And in that heavier BAR, being a semi, you should have relatively mild felt recoil from that 338 Win Mag.

While speed is sexy, it is not necessary to kill game. Case in point, all the animals shot with primative firearms and slower cartridges and lead or cup and core bullets before the advent of slower burning powders.

Your 160 gr TTSX should be a lazer flat trajectory in comparison at 3342 fps!
Just my opinion though, being that its sectional density is below 0.250, I would tend to keep it to the smaller end of the big game species list, due to its limited penetration capacity. Being a mono metal bullet should give it an extra edge in this department.
But on deer, black bear and antelope, should be a real killer!

 

[RL338]

I found that if all else fails fall back onto Barnes if nothing pans out.
Those 160s are going to be killers.
I shoot the 210gr TTSX in my 338 WM.