Advice on a mold for .338 Winchester Magnum

[Ithaca Gunner]

The title pretty much says it, I'm looking at casting for my .338 Winchester Magnum, 24'' barrel, 1:10 twist Ruger Hawkeye.

What I've looked at so far, Accurate Molds 200gr. 34-200L a plain base mold of 200gr. originally designed for the .33 Winchester as gas checks seem to be a rare bird for this caliber and the 200gr. boolit shouldn't seat below the neck. I'm not looking for a hunting bullet, just one to plink with and do some leisure shooting with.

[Rapier]

A 200-225 plain base, powder coated and sized to actual groove diameter should do fine for hunting or plinking. I would look for the RCBS style flat nose, similar in design to their 358, 200 flat nose.

[stubshaft]

Lymans 33889 247 gr. bullet has worked very well for me in my 338/06 Wildcat and both of my 338 mags. Surprisingly enough I have found that the Lee 338-220-1R also shoots very accurately but I prefer the flat meplat of the Lyman for hunting.

[winelover]

I couldn't get the 247 grain Lyman to group in my Model 70 Classic. I had Tom at Accurate clone Lyman's (338320) 203 grain bullet. I get good accuracy with velocities around 1800-2000 fps, using IMR 4198, IMR 4895 & SR 4759 powders and no fillers. Recently, found that LR magnum primers are required when shooting in temperatures of 40 degrees and below..........hunting temperatures in my state.


http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=34-201L

[Mr Peabody]

A 200-225 plain base, powder coated and sized to actual groove diameter should do fine for hunting or plinking. I would look for the RCBS style flat nose, similar in design to their 358, 200 flat nose.

I could shoot ground squirrels all day long with that one in my M77 Ruger

[pworley1]

The Lee 338-220 and Lyman 338320 have worked well in my Winchester model 70 and Ruger #1.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Many thanks for the replies. I looked at the RCBS 33-200fn and it's the same nose profile as the Accurate 34-200L, (can't find an RCBS, Lyman, or LEE) so I'll go with the Accurate.

[rockrat]

Arsenal has a 166gr mould. You can get PB or GC. That would make a light plinking boolit. I had Tom at Accurate make me a 240gr boolit mould for my 338ME/338WM. Using 4759, first time out, three shots went under a half inch in my Rem 700 300wm. Should have kept it.

[MarkP]

I bought the Ranch Dog 200 gr TL FN for my Father in law's Sako in 338 Federal. They shoot very well so does the 220 gr LEE RN. The RD is a tumble lube style with gas check.