Who's tried casting for the 338 win mag

[glockky]

Last week I traded for a savage 116 alaskan brush hunter in 338 win mag. I really dont need the rifle but you know how that goes. I just could not resist the all stainless rifle with 20" barrel. I have yet to shoot the rifle but am sure with full power jacketed loads its gonna kick quite a bit.

So I am thinking of trying to cast for it but havent found much info on casting for the 338.
Whos done it? What powder and bullet did you go with? The rifle has a 1-10 twist if that helps.

I have read that most all jacketed bullets wont expand on deer size game. Is there any truth to that?

[dh2]

I cast a 220gr. Boolit and size it .340 from an Accurate mold, in years past I did .338 Win. Mag. in a win model 70 it was the hardest kicking rifle I have ever owned ,But a great pig hunting gun none ever run a way from it . That rifle was traded for not making the min. .375 dia. to go to Africa and replaced by a .375 H&H Mag. But just because I wanted one I build my first custom 98 Mauser in .338-06
The Lyman cast bullet hand book does have data for it, I prefer IMR4198 for cast boolit pushing.
I was a fan for years of the Serria 250gr BTSP that did not help the recoil part, Combined Technology Ballistic Silvertip Hunting Bullets 338 Caliber 200 Grain Boat Tail does work well if you are after J-words for thing less than 500 lbs.

[glockky]

I looked at the NOE 230gr bullet. To me it looks like a bore rider. Anyone used that bullet? Would I be better off with something different?

[quilbilly]

I am casting for my 338 WM with the Lee mold. I found my rifle would not stabilize the boolit below 1600 fps so I am loading it with 5744 powder for about 1800 fps and it shoots accurately out to 400 yards with iron sights. The only problem I had was getting an iron sight with enough correction for the CB's. Years ago that 338 became so expensive to shoot that it sat in the cabinet. Now it is fun to shoot often. My rifle has a ported barrel but the effect of the ports don't kick in until about 1900 fps so with the current load, the gases don't blow my hat off with every shot.

[glockky]

I was hoping to find a good cast load around 2000fps or even trying paper patching and going up to 26-2700 but I have never ventured into the paper patching world

[Slow Elk 45/70]

With a ranch dog mold, made by Lee for RD...you can play with the alloy and bore fit to get your 2,000FPS . I like mine @ +-1600 FPS will shoot very well , if fed the right diet.:cbpour:

[winelover]

I had Tom, at Accurate Molds, clone the discontinued Lyman 200 grain FP boolit. My hunting load is 27.2 grains of SR4759 in the neighborhood of 1900FPS in a Model 70 Winchester. I settled on this load because I found it not to be temperature sensitive. I tried IMR 4198 and I had delayed ignition until I switched to magnum primers. Found it to be temperature sensitive, also.


Winelover

[glockky]

Doesnt look like the 338 win mag casting is very popular. I was hoping to get a lot of casters info. Thanks for those who have taken the time to post that will give me a good starting point.

[Love Life]

Quilbily has it figured out. I shot his rifle and it was very consistent to 400 yds. Easy shooting load that still put the smackdown on steel. I sure wouldn't want to be down range with a catcher's mitt.

[glockky]

Quilbilly what twist barrel does your rifle have? What alloy are you using? Is the recoil pretty mild at 1800 fps.

I guess I am gonna have to break down and do a pound cast to pick a mold. I am wanting something with a little more meplat than lee to hunt with.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Quilbilly what twist barrel does your rifle have? What alloy are you using? Is the recoil pretty mild at 1800 fps.

I guess I am gonna have to break down and do a pound cast to pick a mold. I am wanting something with a little more meplat than lee to hunt with.

Look on page 4 of Accurates catalog and the 34 - 200A.Robert

[glockky]

Believe it or not I actually have it pulled up looking at it. Looks like a the 34-200S is the same bullet without a crimp groove. That looks like a good bullet. Kind of has that rcbs 35-200 look to it.

[rockrat]

I have shot the Accurate 34-240 in my 338win mag. Rem 700, over 4759. One of the most accurate cast boolit rifles I have.

[glockky]

Hardcasttaylor I see you are a paper patcher too. Me not being familiar with paper patching at all would the 34-200 be a good bullet for that too if I decided to go that route.

[Bjornb]

Quilbilly what twist barrel does your rifle have? What alloy are you using? Is the recoil pretty mild at 1800 fps.

I guess I am gonna have to break down and do a pound cast to pick a mold. I am wanting something with a little more meplat than lee to hunt with.

Now I cannot speak for Quillbilly but I have not yet sen a .338 Win Mag in anything but 1:10 twist. That's what the cartridge was specified for when introduced in 1958.

[glockky]

I wasn't sure I'm new to the 338 thanks

[Hardcast416taylor]

Hardcasttaylor I see you are a paper patcher too. Me not being familiar with paper patching at all would the 34-200 be a good bullet for that too if I decided to go that route.


If I were to make a paper patched boolet from an existing lube groove boolet in the Accurate catalog for .338, I would pick the 34 - 205R. I would contact Tom and request this mold be a body dia. of .326" and leaving the tumble lube grooves ( only slightly shallower) to grip the paper patch better. I selected this mold for this discussion due to the fact you should select a straight walled body for the boolet and a flat non GC base for the wrap. As different alloys used will give both a different weight but also a different dia. a talk with Tom At Accurate can resolve a lot of your concerns. I have a custom mold for my .338. It was made back in 2010 and drops a 245 gr. boolet when using wheel weight alloy. When wrapped and sized it is just under 248.5 gr. I use copier paper, wet, for the wrap and let air dry for a day before push sizing them thru a custom sizer with a small amount of JPW on the outside only of the patch.Robert

[glockky]

If I were to make a paper patched boolet from an existing lube groove boolet in the Accurate catalog for .338, I would pick the 34 - 205R. I would contact Tom and request this mold be a body dia. of .326" and leaving the tumble lube grooves ( only slightly shallower) to grip the paper patch better. I selected this mold for this discussion due to the fact you should select a straight walled body for the boolet and a flat non GC base for the wrap. As different alloys used will give both a different weight but also a different dia. a talk with Tom At Accurate can resolve a lot of your concerns. I have a custom mold for my .338. It was made back in 2010 and drops a 245 gr. boolet when using wheel weight alloy. When wrapped and sized it is just under 248.5 gr. I use copier paper, wet, for the wrap and let air dry for a day before push sizing them thru a custom sizer with a small amount of JPW on the outside only of the patch.Robert

Thanks for the info. What kind of velocity and accuracy are you able to get in the 338 paper patched.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I load this wrapped boolet and load it in my .338 Win. Mag. I started the testing using 250 gr. jacketed manual listings. I started with the bottom listed load for each powder I tried and worked up using the "ladder" load system. I have never run any loads over a chronograph to know the actual fps. I can say I am satisfied with a 1 1/2 - 2" group for 3 shot tests at just over 100 yds. If I had to guess a velocity for this bullet and H - 4831 powder with std primer I would guess 2500 +/- fps with a wheel weight alloy core and copier paper wrapper.Robert

[quilbilly]

Sorry about the delay in reply. My rifle is an old but lovely TCR that is 1-10". It has a recoil pad but the recoil is about what my 6mm Rem was when I shot full house loads. I have found that I can put 30 rounds down range with it in a session and have nothing but tired eyes and a smile on my face. Love Life proved that rifle will shoot a lot better than I do with that CB load.