.338 Winchester mag

[Shuz]

A friend has asked me to show him how to reload for his .338 Win mag Ruger Mdl 77. His bullet of choice due to availability is the Hornady 250g Spire Point. Since I have a big jug of WC 860, I decided to try that, starting at 80g.
Velocity was 2346 fps. 81g gave 2339 fps. 82g gave 2361 fps. He would like his rifle to be able to shoot these bullets at close to the 2600 fps shown possible in various reloading manuals, but it doesn't look like we're gonna be able to get there with the ultra slow burning WC 860 before running out of case capacity.
The question is: What powder do some of you prefer to get top velocity and good accuracy with a 250g bullet out of your .338 Win Mag?

[TheCelt]

Imr4831

[waksupi]

I seem to recall I always ran 4064.

As a side note, I had a friend that worked at Hornady. He always used the Sierra SPBT 250 gr., as did I.

[Hardcast416taylor]

IMR 4350 or either of the 4831 powders including the short cut variety. Find some 225 gr. bullets or the 215 gr., even the 200 gr. Nosler ballistic tip bullets for higher velocity. Just about any load manual has data for these bullets and powders. What does he expect to be using this load on?Robert

[BruceB]

My actual hand-loading experience with the .338 is long, but rather thin, because with jacketed bullets, EVERYTHING I tried in three .338s (Winchester, Ruger, Savage) worked very well, as far as accuracy was concerned. Some extensive cast-bullet work has not yet been so successful, but I still have hope...and about six different .338 moulds! Moose and bison aren't much of a problem with the .338 and GOOD bullets. As far as I'm concerned, cast-bullet big game hunting STARTS with the .338 and goes up in caliber size from there. This includes deer, unless soft-point cast bullets are used.

This is a very serious, HIGH-powered big-game cartridge, and it can easily "over-stress" such conventional bullets as those Hornadys on big animals.

I STRONGLY recommend that the Hornadys or Sierras etc be reserved for practice. When hunting time comes, substitute a 'premium" bullet of the same weight as the practice bullets.... this means Barnes TSX, Nosler Partition, Swifts....you get the idea. The minor additional cost is well-worth it in confidence and performance ON GAME. You'll likely find that the premium-bullet load will also shoot very close to the zero setting of the practice load, needing only minor "tweaking" of the zero, if any.

One box of those premium bullets used in this manner will probably last at least several seasons, making their cost a complete non-factor.

For powders, I agree that something in that 4350/4831/RE19 bracket should work well in full-power jacketed loads. My Savage groups 225 TSX bullets in the 3/4" area at 100 yards....good enough for SQUIRRELS, let alone moose!

[Shuz]

Thanks for all the replys. I'm not sure what he wants to use this .338 beast on, but he wanted it to be as max velocity as safe and practical. I have some old H-4831, I'll go with that.--Shuz

[Shuz]

Since my last post, I golombed onto a great deal on some new IMR 7828 in an 8 lb jug. I'm gonna try this instead of the H-4831.
Anyone have any favorite loads they'd like to share for the .338 Win mag and the 250g Bullet with IMR 7828?

[Shuz]

FWIW-- Here's the .338 Win mag results with IMR 7828 and the 250g Hornady at 3.325 OAL,R-P brass and CCI-250 primer:
73g gave 2609fps,2"high@100 yds and 1" right.
74g gave 2673fps,3"high@100 yds and 1" right.
75g gave 2675fps,3"high@100 yds and 1" right.
No heavy bolt lift with any of these loads in that rifle. I still will mic the heads to look for expansion, but don't expect to see any.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Shuz. By looking at the velocity gained by that last charge of 75 gr. over 74 gr. and where the shots struck. You have reached the point of diminishing returns where no further adding of this powder will get any better results. I`d still give either H-4831 or IMR-4831 a try as it works best in my Model 70 (old model) Winchester.Robert

[waksupi]

Just settle for the most accurate load in the velocity range. A few extra fps doesn't matter. To make any appreciable changes in trajectory takes at least a 300 fps gain in velocity.

[Shuz]

This morning I miked the cases, and all were in the .513 to .514 range just ahead of the belt. I also measured the three shots, and all three were within 1" at 100 yds. I agree with Robert, looks like, in this gun, >74g is where the law of diminishing returns sets in.