All i want for X-Mas is.... .338 load info

[FreshAir]

Hey guys I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
I am trying to get a head start on my Christmas shopping this year rather than waiting till the last minute like I normally do . My brother in law shoots a Browning A-Bolt in .338 win for deer and elk and has been wanting to reload for some time…..So I am going to get him a starter pack of items to get him going.

I have not owned, shot or reloaded for a .338 before so I wanted to see if I could get a good recommendation for powders and bullets. His rifle really likes the Federal premium with 210 gr partitions but it wastes a bunch of meat when used on deer( big shock huh :lol: ). I was thinking I might try the 180 grain Accubonds or something on the lighter side to try and fix that somewhat. Also, I have a pretty big stash of CCI No. 34 primers would these be suitable for this cartridge?
Thanks for the help!

 

[jmad_81]

It has been my experience that the smaller bullets going faster do more meat damage. I would reccomend the 225 AB, RL-19, and some fed 215 primers if you can find them. I have taken elk, african plains game, deer, and a few yotes with them. They do a good job. the 200 gr Etip is one heck of a bullet as well.

 

[JD338]

FreshAir

Take a look at the 225 gr PT or AB as an all around bullet for the 338 Win Mag. RL 19 is a great powder with Federal GM215M primers.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

I have successfully hand loaded the 338 win mag not too long ago.
With IMR 4350 and RL 19 I got 3030 fps from the 210 Partition in a Ruger #1S and 3175 fps from a 180 AccuBond.

 

[str8meat]

73 gr. rl 19 with anything 230 and lighter in my browning. u will love the power.

 

[R Flowers]

As usual, I agree with JD 338 on this one.

The only light weight bullet I was totaly satisfied with in the .338 Win Mag was the 200 grain Ballistic Tip which is not produced any more. Yeah, I know they make the 200 grain AccuBond, but I am not sold on the AccuBond line of bullets, not at all.

My favorite load for the .338 Win Mag uses a 225 grain Partition with a maximum load of H 4350. I have shot a few elk with it and it works great. I have to admit I have not shot any deer with it. It has also dropped a number of wild hogs in their tracks.

Actually, I had great success on deer with the 250 grain Sierra boat tail. It drops them on the spot and the meat damage is minimal. I was hunting with a guide in Wyoming back in the 80's and he was all concerned that I would not have any meat left using a .338 Win Mag on deer. He was shocked at how that 250 Sierra hammered the big buck I shot and was simply amazed at how little meat damage occurred. (The Sierra has also worked well on elk for me, good bullet.)

In regards to powder, my first choices would be IMR or H 4350 and RL 19. They have all given me good accuracy and velocity in this cartridge.

In regards to primers, I am not familiar with the CCI product you mentioned. I use Federal 215M primers with either of the 4350 powders, BUT have had better performance when using RL 19 with standard primers, such as the Fed210M or WLR. I do not know why, but I tested RL 19 with Federal and CCI primers and got better velocity and standard deviations when using a standard primer than when using magnums. I do not known why, I just proved this a number of times.

But again, I agree with JD 338, get some 225 partitions and don't look back, you will not be dissapointed.

 

[SJB358]

I totally concur with the RL19, mag primers, and 225gr bullets. I have done really well with them in my 338. It has shot every 225gr bullet really well. The 225gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, the AccuBond and Hornady SST. I really think the 338's shine with the 250 and heavier bullets. They have alot of powder space and will minimize meat damage on smaller game and will penetrate through about anything you would ever hunt with a 338. Overall, I imagine you will find a very suitable load with a 225-250 and RL19! Scotty

 

[Richracer1]

I'm another one using 73gn of RL-19, Fed GM215M primers and the 225AB.

 

[FreshAir]

Hey guys thanks for the great info and advice! It sounds like RL19 is to the .338 what Varget is to the .223. Now all I need to do is get stocked up on powder and figure out what bullet to try first.

R Flower-
The CCI No. 34 is suppose to be a harder Mil type primer designed to be used with the auto loaders to prevent slam fires( or so they say). I have heard from a few people that they are hotter than a standard LR primer and are basically a magnum . I might try and load up a few and see how they work I had a friend give me 5-600 and I had no other use for them .