Vince's .338 Hand Loads

[DrMike]

Vince has worked with his new .338. Here is a picture of his first effort at loading for the rifle.



Pretty good effort, I'd say. Vince should be along shortly to give us an explanation of his work.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice.. Looks very consistent to me. I would imagine a tiny bit of seating work would have it about as good as any 338 needs to shoot.. That is great stuff. Glad your liking that 338 Vince.

 

[DrMike]

These are Vince's comments on another thread:

"Went to the range today and started working up loads. Shooting the Hornady 250 Grain SP with IMR 4350. 7/8" groups and I think a little seating depth adjustment and they'll settle right down."

 

[Hegland]

Yep, great work with an outstanding cartridge.

 

[Vince]

Thank you Dr. Mike for posting that for me.
After I sent you the pictures my wife took this troglodyte by the hand, got the neighbor's twelve year old out of bed, and had him post those pictures in the other thread. I think he taught me how to post pictures from my phone and I taught him two new words. Not to worry they aren't words a twelve year old should say. :grin:
Troglodyte and Conundrum.

I started at mid-range and worked my way up in half grain increments. At first I thought this was going to be another exercise in frustration as I was lucky to keep the rounds on paper. The .338 with some of those loads makes a pretty good shotgun pattern if you are looking for dispersedness. As I worked the loads up, once I got to 65 grains, 67.8 is book max, I shot the left sided group.

Funny thing is when I shot the 65.5 grain load it went right back to the previously mentioned shotgun pattern. At 66 grains it shot the middle group. 66.5 grains gave me another shotgun pattern. I should mention that 63.5 grains was the widest load shot, and the lowest charge. Think one bullet on target and the rest in the berm. 64 grains kept them on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper at least and showed the typical triangle pattern.

I was trying to stay away from max loads as the weather gets hot here and it's a customary practice for many reloaders to have a summer load and a winter load, what little winter we have, due to the increase in pressures in many rifles due to the high summertime heat. I'll have to see how these do in the summer.

This has been the easiest I've ever had it for working up a load. Usually I have to try three powders, or more, due to bad groupings or pressure, and finally work in to something. Since I already have a 25-06 that shoots "lights out" with a very mild mid-range load using IMR 4350 I was in hopes that I could get the IMR 4350 to work in the .338 Win Mag. It helps that I have about twelve pounds of it sitting around too. :grin:

The reason for using mid-range loads is due to pressure. It'll be interesting to see how this rifle shoots in the summer.

Vince

 

[gerry]

Yes us troglodyte's often get ourselves into conundrums looks like it will be easy to tweak that load since it is going well already.

 

[Vince]

What amazed me was how well the muzzle brake worked.
That and a fitted stock made all the difference in how I felt shooting that rifle. The real test was that of 24 rounds fired the best group was the last three rounds.
The day after my shoulder is not sore, nor bruised, and I want to go back to the range instead of going to work today.

Vince

 

[DrMike]

Ah, yes, every twelve-year-old boy should learn that troglodytes are frequently confounded; in fact, most of us troglodytes live in a conundrum! :mrgreen: And every troglodyte should keep a twelve-year-old boy on the hook to help set up computers, smart phones, DVD recorders, ice makers and whatever else has been invented to make our life easier! I'd say your load work came together quite nicely.

 

[sask boy]

See just another reason why I like this forum :mrgreen: it makes me use the online dictionary almost every day!!!

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Vince]

Having been a troglodyte since the day I was born I am often confounded and fear I was misplaced in the wrong century upon birth.

I just call Daniel Webster when I need a word. :grin:

 

[DrMike]

Webster is a good one to consult--a veritable lexicographer if ever there was one (well, I guess!).

 

[Vince]

Hang on while I call Daniel to see what you said. :grin:

 

[DrMike]

I said, "My, that .338 is shooting quite nicely." :grin:

 

[JD338]

Good start. You may also want to look at RL22 and IMR4831. Both are slower than IMR4350 and should drive a 250 gr bullet at around 2700-2750 fps in a 338 Win Mag.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Good start. You may also want to look at RL22 and IMR4831. Both are slower than IMR4350 and should drive a 250 gr bullet at around 2700-2750 fps in a 338 Win Mag.

JD338

RL19 is another. I have tried a bunch of others as well, and RL19 is magical in the past few 338's I have worked with.. From 200-275's, RL19 just works.. RL22 is really nice with the 275's though.

 

[Vince]

Tonight when I came home from work I decided to load the remaining eight rounds I had prepped. I decided to seat the bullets at SAMMI COAL, 3.340" and not book COAL for this bullet after measuring where my lands are. I'm in hopes that I can get out next Monday or Tuesday to test them.
Vince

 

[DrMike]

They do look pretty, Vince. I'll be looking forward to the results of your shoot.

 

[SJB358]

Real nice Vince.

Just something I do, I write vital information on the side of the case with a sharpie. Usually the powder and the charge, the rest of the info is pretty easy to get if I forget or drop them from the storage containers. The sharpie will also come off nicely in the tumbler, leaving you with a clean slate.

Your 338 Win Mag's look real nice though buddy. That is a classic 338 load. I know there are a few on here that swear by 4350 for the 338.

 

[Vince]

I sort loads by the Ziploc bag method. :grin:
Inside the bag is my piece of paper with my load info, as depicted. I do this because I don't have enough ammo boxes to keep all my loads separated. I then put the Ziploc bags in my shooting bag for transport to the range. Once I get a load worked up I'll load up a box or two and be good for a while.
I'm fervent to try this load with this seating depth.

 

[gerry]

Fervency is good I like that.

Looks like you are so very close to finding the perfect load.