RELOADING 338 WIN MAG SEMIAUTO BAR

[mr_wapiti]

I WANT TO RELOAD A BROWNING BAR IN 338 WIN MAG WITH 210 GR
NOSLER Partition BULLETS. I BOUGHT A SET OF RCBS DIES FOR THE
SEMIAUTO RIFLES. NOW I WAS WONDERING, WHAT POWDER WOULD WORK THE ACTION, NOT WITH TO MUCH PRESSURE, BUT IS ACCURATE?
PLEASE HELP! MR_WAPITI[/quote]

 

[SJB358]

I am not sure what powder would need to be used special for the 338 Win Mag in a BAR. It is a pretty high pressure cartridge, so I would think most of the 4350's and the similar Medium/Slow powders would do pretty decent. Not sure though. Can't be something too hard, as it is designed to work with factory ammo, and most of it is loaded to pretty decent speeds. RL19 is my favorite with the 338, accurate and great speed. Scotty

 

[JD338]

Take a look at H/IMR4350, RL 19 and RL 22.

JD338

 

[Teknys]

I used RL-22 and a 210gn bullet in a BAR 338 that I had with good results.

 

[OU812]

I don't know about the 210 but I used H4831 with 250 partitions in my bar with excellent results.

 

[TBASTIAN]

I'm shooting 225 grain TSX's in my BAR over 72.5 grains of RL 19 and it's shooting really well for an automatic. I'm getting groups around 1.5" at 100 yards.
This same load shoots between .5" - .75" in my Browning A-Bolt.

 

[mr_wapiti]

Thanks for all the different powder information. But I also need the amount of powder to use. :? Mr_Wapiti

 

[JD338]

You might want to pick up a copy of Nosler's RG #6 and look at the most accurate powder tested as well as working up to most accurate load tested.

You can also cross reference load data that you get on the internet with the Reloading Guide. Having 2-3 loading manuals is great for cross referencing load data as not all powders are covered by any one source.

Nosler also has load data here-
http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=15&b=338cal

Make sure you start low and work up. In a semi auto, I would shy away from MAX loads to ensure your rifle cycles properly.

JD338

 

[Alaska]

All the BAR gas system is basesd on IMR 4350

Reloader 17 should be good choice for the BAR.

30-06/7mm mag/300 win/338Win

Make sure you know how to clean the gas piston system per operator manual

Also suggest RCBS Small Base Dies for your BAR.

 

[Alaska]

I WANT TO RELOAD A BROWNING BAR IN 338 WIN MAG WITH 210 GR
NOSLER Partition BULLETS. I BOUGHT A SET OF RCBS DIES FOR THE
SEMIAUTO RIFLES. NOW I WAS WONDERING, WHAT POWDER WOULD WORK THE ACTION, NOT WITH TO MUCH PRESSURE, BUT IS ACCURATE?
PLEASE HELP! MR_WAPITI

[/QUOTE]
RCBS Small base sizer die
IMR 4350 @ 71.0 with 225 gr Nosler Part
WW brass
I like to crimp using a Lee factory crimp die

 

[TEXASforLIFE]

Just go to "store" on this page, select load data and go from there. Having a BAR and/or a BLR in long action magnums would be awesome!

 

[assasinator]

I WANT TO RELOAD A BROWNING BAR IN 338 WIN MAG WITH 210 GR
NOSLER Partition BULLETS. I BOUGHT A SET OF RCBS DIES FOR THE
SEMIAUTO RIFLES. NOW I WAS WONDERING, WHAT POWDER WOULD WORK THE ACTION, NOT WITH TO MUCH PRESSURE, BUT IS ACCURATE?
PLEASE HELP! MR_WAPITI

[/QUOTE]
thats nice. i have a ar-10 in 308win. when i bought the bolt and carrier, i ordered a .534 bolt for my favorite 350 remington magnum i shoot in a pistol.

i intend to buy a 350 rem mag upper/or barrel and figure out how to get many rounds into a MAG. so i feel safer with a semi auto belted mag. i have hundreds of brass/molds/loads. want to be able to shoot through a 18" tree. just sayin. 24" barrel.

i like the idea of a belted mag semi auto. a 338 win mag semi auto IS JUST NOT KIDDING AROUND LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

you know, speaking about the BAR gas system, it might be prudent to simply load the bullets at whatever LEE or other data(loaddata) loads keep it at .03-06 stock pressure levels. IMO.

 

[TEXASforLIFE]

thats nice. i have a ar-10 in 308win. when i bought the bolt and carrier, i ordered a .534 bolt for my favorite 350 remington magnum i shoot in a pistol.

i intend to buy a 350 rem mag upper/or barrel and figure out how to get many rounds into a MAG. so i feel safer with a semi auto belted mag. i have hundreds of brass/molds/loads. want to be able to shoot through a 18" tree. just sayin. 24" barrel.

i like the idea of a belted mag semi auto. a 338 win mag semi auto IS JUST NOT KIDDING AROUND LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

you know, speaking about the BAR gas system, it might be prudent to simply load the bullets at whatever LEE or other data(loaddata) loads keep it at .03-06 stock pressure levels. IMO.
[/QUOTE]
I feel the opposite about belted brass in an AR. The chafing/rubbing of the belt doesn't seem to be good? I know there are AR style firearms produced, but decided to go with beltless on my AR magnum builds (6.5prc & 7saum).

 

[preacher]

I think R17 is your huckleberry in that BAR, if you can find any. Hodgdon or IMR 4350 next.

Years ago, my recently deceased ( dang, all my friends are going to Heaven) fellow Minister ( then he was over in WY) and really was like a brother to me started bugging me. He kept talking of going elk hunting with me, him and his two young sons. He was pretty recoil sensitive with a Mod 700 Mtn Rifle 280AI that I tried to give him, but he wouldn't take it as a gift. Yes, he was a hardheaded Swede! So I sold it to him cheap. That Fall, last minute, went with a guy in his church on a private ranch (over here in Utah) He killed a cow, neck shot at 60 yds, with my 160 Speer Hot Cor load. That same year he took over a church over in MO and didn't want to keep the rifle so sold it back to me.

So, as a Christmas Gift a few years later, (admittedly the Looney in me wanted to see how it turned out, ha) I bought him a 338 Browning BAR with a BOSS and side bolt release lever. I had my gunsmith friend smooth, lighten the trigger a bit ( man he was good!) put on a Decelerator pad , cut that BOSS off, recrowned/ and sent off to be Mag Na Ported. I also had him remove that funky side bolt release! Yes, I know some guys love that BOSS...not me! Boo, Hiss! It turned out Grrrreat! It was a kitten in recoil. The gas operating/porting combo/ Decelerator pad was perfect.
I put a VXII Leupold 3x9 on it and broke it in right. All I could find in ammo with a lighter bullet, was the then new Winchester 200 Ballistic Silvertips. It shot like a very, very good bolt gun, 3 shots, always 1 1/4" and under....rain or shine, clean or dirty! , never changed zero! So I bought him 5 boxes of it, same Lot#.
He was pleased, shot it a few times, then , in less than two months his health begin to fail. Real bad. Turns out he had the beginnings of Congestive Heart Failure. He lived a long time, miraculously it seemed, 15yrs w/o a transplant! But his elk hunting days were gone. His oldest son took it, shot some Missouri deer with it, now he just took a great job in Colorado Springs. So "maybe" he will take his "Surrogate Uncle" on a Hay Field Cow Elk shoot, I mean "hunt"! lol All that to say those BARs can shoot! Too heavy for me to pack, but I wanted to share what I had done to it. Turns out it was a great way to tame a 338WM. Rifle Looney signing off!

 

[BankWalker316]

I think R17 is your huckleberry in that BAR, if you can find any. Hodgdon or IMR 4350 next.

Years ago, my recently deceased ( dang, all my friends are going to Heaven) fellow Minister ( then he was over in WY) and really was like a brother to me started bugging me. He kept talking of going elk hunting with me, him and his two young sons. He was pretty recoil sensitive with a Mod 700 Mtn Rifle 280AI that I tried to give him, but he wouldn't take it as a gift. Yes, he was a hardheaded Swede! So I sold it to him cheap. That Fall, last minute, went with a guy in his church on a private ranch (over here in Utah) He killed a cow, neck shot at 60 yds, with my 160 Speer Hot Cor load. That same year he took over a church over in MO and didn't want to keep the rifle so sold it back to me.

So, as a Christmas Gift a few years later, (admittedly the Looney in me wanted to see how it turned out, ha) I bought him a 338 Browning BAR with a BOSS and side bolt release lever. I had my gunsmith friend smooth, lighten the trigger a bit ( man he was good!) put on a Decelerator pad , cut that BOSS off, recrowned/ and sent off to be Mag Na Ported. I also had him remove that funky side bolt release! Yes, I know some guys love that BOSS...not me! Boo, Hiss! It turned out Grrrreat! It was a kitten in recoil. The gas operating/porting combo/ Decelerator pad was perfect.
I put a VXII Leupold 3x9 on it and broke it in right. All I could find in ammo with a lighter bullet, was the then new Winchester 200 Ballistic Silvertips. It shot like a very, very good bolt gun, 3 shots, always 1 1/4" and under....rain or shine, clean or dirty! , never changed zero! So I bought him 5 boxes of it, same Lot#.
He was pleased, shot it a few times, then , in less than two months his health begin to fail. Real bad. Turns out he had the beginnings of Congestive Heart Failure. He lived a long time, miraculously it seemed, 15yrs w/o a transplant! But his elk hunting days were gone. His oldest son took it, shot some Missouri deer with it, now he just took a great job in Colorado Springs. So "maybe" he will take his "Surrogate Uncle" on a Hay Field Cow Elk shoot, I mean "hunt"! lol All that to say those BARs can shoot! Too heavy for me to pack, but I wanted to share what I had done to it. Turns out it was a great way to tame a 338WM. Rifle Looney signing off!

I have two 1996 Bar II Safari Grade one in 270 win & one in 7mm magnum. I've hunted almost exclusively with BARs since 1996. I just bought a 1992 Bar I 338 Winchester magnum off GB the other day. Delivery date is Monday 07/06/26 at my uncles little local gun shop. It's nice having an uncle who's also an FLL holder. I LOVE the way that you set that BAR up for your friend. I'm NOT recoil shy but I am older and I refuse to get beat up every time I decide to shoot.

The reasons that I chose those BAR IIs all those years ago are as follows.... We ran deer with dogs so I had a lot of opportunities to shoot at running deer crossing open fields, cow pastures, hay fields, and transmission power line. A buddy of mine had a BAR II 7mm magnum. For years he'd shoot it empty at running deer without a single jam. He rarely connected but that was his shooting abilities and definitely not the Brownings fault. I would shoot his rifle every year to check that it was still sighted in or whenever he changed ammunition. I noticed that the recoil was extremely soft for a magnum caliber and the accuracy was exceptional considering it was an automatic. I had always wanted a 338 but I decided to go with the 270 & 7mm for their addiction velocities.

I killed a deer back in 1991 with my uncles 375 H&H magnum using a 270 grain bullet. He had purchased that rifle and built that load for a Colorado elk hunt he was going on. To date as far as I know that one 8 point buck shot a night on a crop damage permit back in "91 is the only thing that rifle has ever killed.

Now with all that babble out of the way I'd like to ask you a question. How is the recoil from a 338 in a Bar rifle. It's completely stock without a Magna Port and has a factory butt pad. BTW, we are in complete agreement regarding that garbage BOSS system. It is good for one thing. Blowing out ones eardrums.

My intentions are to work up loads using IMR4350, H4831SC, or N-560 with 225 Nosler AccuBonds and 210 grain Nosler Partions. I'll be doing all my load development using a Lead-Sled held in place with 25 lb bags of shot. Regardless of the recoil it won't be an issue. Also, we haven't ran deer dogs since 2008 so I shouldn't have any "power shooting" opportunities, lol. I have 67 deer stands with 19 of those being fully enclosed insulated heated shooting houses. I've never shot a 338 Win Mag in any make of gun. I'm not looking to get blown out of my chair and bounced off the rear walls of my shooting houses.

Since you have both extensive experience reloading and reloading for BARS do you have any recommendations on powders and possible good loads for my new/old BAR 338?

Most of my shots will be under 150 yards. I do have a couple of places that I can deliberately set up one of my portable shooting houses that I built on trailers so that I can shoot deer anywhere from 300 to 540 yards. Those are the places that I plan on utilizing the 338. I enjoy hearing my 150 Grain Tipped Sierra Gamechangers splatter on a deer at 400 yards. I can hardly wait to hear the WHOOOOP of a 210 grain NP hit the front shoulders of a 120 lb doe or a 180-200 buck at 300 to 500 yards.

I named my daughter Sierra, after the legendary bullet company. She's a 1998 model. Until 3 years ago I'd never shot a single animal with a Sierra bullet. I like polymer tipped bullets. So when I found out that Sierra had added the polymer tip to their hunting bullets I decided that it would be fitting to start reloading all of my deer rifles with Sierra bullets.

 

[Alaska]

I WANT TO RELOAD A BROWNING BAR IN 338 WIN MAG WITH 210 GR
NOSLER Partition BULLETS. I BOUGHT A SET OF RCBS DIES FOR THE
SEMIAUTO RIFLES. NOW I WAS WONDERING, WHAT POWDER WOULD WORK THE ACTION, NOT WITH TO MUCH PRESSURE, BUT IS ACCURATE?
PLEASE HELP! MR_WAPITI

[/QUOTE]
IMR 4350 all the BAR’s from 270 Win/ 30-06 / 7mm Mag / 300 win and 338 Win were based on IMR 4350.
Use RCBS small base sizer Die and Lee Factory Crimp Die .
In 338 Win I had very good luck with 71.0 of IMR 4350 with 225 Nosler Part in WW Brass with Fed 215GM primers.
Knowledge yourself how to clean the piston in the gas system it’s in the operating manual. 338 Win Mag is clearly an elk rifle and makes a dandy moose and Grizzly gun but you might be alittle overgunned for deer with the 338 Win Mag.

 

[preacher]

Agreed, Imr 4350 and you can't go wrong. The recoil in a BAR is not bad at all, even w/o the Decelerator/Porting! That gas piston is your friend! I loaded the Speer 200 for a friends 338WM bolt gun ( an evil, wickedly recoiling 80's Moodel 70, Boo, Hiss) and he shot a small Texas deer with it, and yes, its a bit much. However, stick with double lungs and with the 210NP it wont be bad. I read somewhere that 338 users in the NE upstate were using the Hornady factory load with the 200 SST with terrific results on those deer. Dead is dead, and Man has to use any opportunity ro use his "Elk/Moose/Bear" rifle! ha Have a Ball pard!