338 win. Mag

[jtaylor1960]

Does anyone have any experience with the 338 Win. Mag. and paper patched bullets? I have a Ruger 77 that shoots like crazy with jacketed bullets.I would like to try it with paper patched.I think the velocity in this cartridge would be a bit much for bare cast bullets.I have a group buy mold from a while back that should work well.It is the .339-225 gr flat nose done by NOE.

[9.3X62AL]

This site software keeps deleting my text. 3rd attempt to compose this post.

Most 338 Win Mags use a relatively fast twist of 1-10". I favor longer/heavier bullet designs under these conditions, something like 250 grains, and I'm not prone to run the bullet much past 1800 FPS right at first. Bullet design would be similar to Lyman #311291, front half a closely-fit bore rider and drive band section a few ticks larger than throat diameter. Size at or +.001" over throat spec, and have the neck expander spud in your die set run -.001" sized diameter. Drive band shoulder should be seated to kiss the throat leade. Hunting loads should have cast softpoints on board.

Cases should be partial full-length sized. Done correctly, this step will GREATLY extend case life in any belted case, but not compromise feed reliability.

[glockky]

I am also looking at paper patching for the 338 win mag. I just hate to spend the cash to dive in having not ever done it before. The hard part is buying the custom mold.

I hope to get a chamber cast of my savage in the next couple weeks. Guess I will see what the throat and groove diameter look like then decide whether to go gas checked and lubed or take the dive into paper patching.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`d write Tom at Accurate molds and talk with him about your ideas. Myself if I were having Tom modify one of his .338 molds I would think heavy about #34 - 240B. I would ask Tom to make it flat based (no GC), reduce body diameter to .332-.333", make the lube grooves very shallow to serve as patch grippers. Look at #32 - 200P to see what I am talking about, this design is what Tom and I came up with for the 8mm Mauser.Robert

[303Guy]

In addition I would consider a short base rebate with a diameter equal to the nose shank. I'd also give the trailing edge a small radius or chamfer. The idea being to eliminating trailing edge feathering. Just a thought.