338 RUM 265gr. ABLR load testing

Ok, this is far from pretty and very far from done, but I had a box of the 265 ABLR ridding around in my truck and I had to shoot some. I was a bit rushed to get it done on my work lunch, but I was able to gather some basic load data. All shots had Nosler brass with a WLRM primer. The goal was to start with a .020" jump, but case capacity on a few of these just wouldn't allow it, so a few ended up in the lands. A drop tube would solve this I think. This is far from professional and is meant only to provide some very rough data for anyone considering the 265 ABLR. Please start low and work up in your rifle. This was done out of a 26" tube.

I loaded up some test loads with RL-26, RL-33, and Retumbo.

I shot the RL-33 first. I had 2 shots of 97 gr. First shot did 2898 fps and the second did 2886 fps and cut the first shot. I LOVE it when load development starts like that. 98 gr. was 2923, and 99gr did 2949 fps. Both 98 and 99 were closer to the lands than the 97 gr load as I was running out of case capacity. A drop tube would help here, but I think that RL33 might just be a bit slow to get the most out of this combo. I never hit any pressure here, just ran out of case capacity.

Next up was RL-26. I have had great luck with this powder with the 250 VLD (89 gr). I thought it might be a bit fast for this bullet, but I knew case capacity wasn't going to be an issue. I started with 85 gr and worked up to 87 in 1 gr. increments. 85gr. did 2913 fps, 86gr. did 2923 fps and cut the 85gr shot, and 87 gr did 2989 fps. 87 gr was hot, sticky bolt lift and ejector marks. I feel that 86 was safe in my gun. All of these were about .020" off the lands.

With the Retumbo I started at 96 gr. And with that charge I couldn't get the powder so settle enough to get the bullet seated to the same depth as the other rounds. So I took the one load of 96 gr and shot it with the bullet touching the lands.....3016 fps and hot. I'll try 94 and 95 gr in the near future. I think that Retumbo might be able to produce more speed than RL-26 in this case.

Here is an ugly pic of the results. When I get some time I'll do some more work and not be rushed about it.

Thanks for the update Jake.
I'll try Retumbo this weekend and post my results

JD338

Certainly a step up from when I was reading about your .243! The Retumbo is looking pretty good. Worth some more investigation I'd say. I'm sure you will get it figured out. Maybe change the primer and back it .005" off the lands?

Pretty cool Jake. I think it might even be decent in my 338. I would bet I wouldn’t lose much speed over a 250 since the 265 probably has less actual bearing surface.

Got a chance to play around with these some more. I backed the Retumbo off as 94 gr was still to hot. So I loaded up 93 and 93.5 of Retumbo and then 86 and 86.5 of RL-26. I ran out of case capacity with Retumbo to the point that if I want to seat the bullets any deeper I need to drop the charge ( I'm only about .010" off as it sits now). I'm not super happy with the ES on the 93 gr Retumbo load, but think I can get it a bit better with some tweaking. I have some loaded up with 92.5 and 93 gr and set them back another .010" into the case. I'll try to get them shot today at lunch and see how they do.
If the Retumbo doesn't work out, it looks like I can do a seating depth adjustment to the RL-26 and be in pretty good shape. The 86 gr RL-26 load is the bottom RL-26 load in the middle of the target and shot about .6" ctc. If I can get the Retumbo to shoot under .5" and keep the extra 40 fps I'll be very happy.

I might play around with some H1000 later on in the winter. I have an elk hunt coming up and would really like to get this narrowed down so that I can poke an elk with one of these. I'm pretty interested to see how they preform.

Man, it looks like RL26 at 2900 is a sure thing. That bullet has to carry some mail Jake. Not any of those that won’t hammer elk. Good luck, can’t wait to hear how they shoot for you.

Looking at the numbers, it sure caries some energy for a long ways if the advertised BC is accurate. Time will tell on that.

In all honesty, it doesn't really do anything much different than my 250 VLD load does at hunting distances, but gets me back to shooting Oregon made bullets. That's a good enough reason for me to switch if I can get them dialed in good.

Played with Retumbo a bit more today. Bottom is 92.5 gr and 3.7550". The top is 93gr. and 3.760". Both 4 shot groups.

I also set up four 2.5 gal chem jugs to try to catch one. It blew clear through the first one with some shratnal blowing out the backside. The second jug it pretty much punched a whole through and slpit the jug. The backside of the 3rd jug was dented. I'll try to get a weight tonight.

93gr is looking good to me! How thick are the 2.5gal jugs?

The way I had them set up they were each about a foot of water. They are pretty heavy plastic chemical jugs so it's pretty rare to get any bullet out of the third jug.

.......and JD338 asked me to post these. He smoked this whitetail with them! So apparently they work on game as well. Not sure he used enough gun :lol:

Thanks Jake.
My load in the 338 RUM with the 265 gr ABLR is 92.0 grs Retumbo Nosler case Federal GM215M primer for an avg MV 2915 fps. Accuracy was just over an inch so I need to do some work next spring. But the 265 gr ABLR definitely works on WT deer.

JD338

NIce work Jim

Great shooting fellas.

I think I'm done. This was 86.5 of Rl-26 on top and 87 gr of Rl-26 on the bottom. Should be around 2920 fps. Ill get some more over the chrony and down the range tomorrow. I'm pretty dang happy. Hopefully I can get on into an elk soon.

Great work Jake. Excellent accuracy and the velocity should be right there. Can't wait to hear about the elk.
Best of luck!

JD338

Excellent! That should make a great hunting round for you. Good luck on finding an elk to field test it on.

Dan

Well, they work on elk.......

That is the exit on a slightly uphill 620 yard broadside shot. It blew clear through and did a fair amount of damage on its way through. There is a second shot in her and you can see the blood running out of her right on the front edge of the shoulder. After the first shot she was flopping around more than I like so I gave her another as she was quartering towards me. I'm a firm believer that you shoot elk until they aren't moving any more. No critter with that much muscle and lung capacity should be taken lightly!

A 265 gr ABLR at those speeds has got to be a sure enough hammer!


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