338 Win Mag boolits

[rugerman1]

I've been thinking of trying boolits in my Ruger M77MKII 338 Win Mag.I contacted Bruce at BRP Products (http://www.brp.castpics.net/) and he sent me samples of the three 338 boolits he has moulds for.I think I want the 342-230 GC.
I took a virgin case,use a Lee expander and seated the 230 to 3.200 OAL and chambered it:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/sawrm1/Oct242009002.jpg
Does that look like the boolit fit I want?
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/sawrm1/Oct242009-1.jpg

[Ben]

The bullet fit looks real good. My only concern is that tremendously large case volume in the 338 Mag.

[TCLouis]

The Lee 220 RN GC shoots well for me. Just wish it had a flat nose to hunt with. 34 grains of 3031 gave me 1625 fps, 39 is the most accurate and estimated at 1864. Don't know why I never really chronoed the accurate load.

I have a RCBS (?) 200 FN GC and it is nowhere as accurate in my gun (at least with any load I have tried thus far).

You are luckier than I am, most chambers I have pull the boolit when I get them to mark like that. I do like to place the boolit to the grooves to slightly marked if the chambering boolit combo will allow.

The case capacity is of little consequence from what shooting I have done with the 3031 and several others.

I am even closing in on loads for the 7 MM Mag if todays shooting tests mean anything.

[TDC]

I use the 220 RNGC Lee, too. It grouped very well. Not being familiar with your particular boolit it's a bit hard to determine a proper seating depth. Your OAL looks just a tad long to me but I believe you've got to try different ones for your gun. My .338 does best with no bullet jump so I try to seat my boolits firmly touching the lands. Yours appear to mark your boolits about twice as much as mine...

Ben is right about the case volume too. It will be a challenge for you. I used to use the obsolete H-870 to fill the case and CCI magnum primers for ignition. The 870 was so slow burning it always left residue and was very dirty. I'm going to try some new recipes with new powder/primer combinations this year.

Good luck!!

TDC

[bigted]

finally found some others that are trying 338 in lead. i love my 338's and want to shoot lead but cant seem to find moulds for it. would like to find 250 - 300 gr boolit moulds for my rifle...any sugestions as to where to look?

[Hardcast416taylor]

BigTed. I`m having a .338 paper patch 250 gr. mold made as we speak by Richard Doughty on this web site.Robert

[quilbilly]

I have also been wanting to do 338 cast boolits. I see in catalogs that Lee makes a 220 gr 338 boolit and you can get them to do a custom sizing die for setting gas checks at a reasonable price. It looks like a nice boolit.
The problem is finding gas checks. None of the catalogs show that size gas checks and from what I can tell via "Blammer", it might require an order for 10,000 to get them made special. That is about a ten lifetime supply for me.
I really want to make that 338 affordable, so will keep looking. Any info would be appreciated.

[Heavy lead]

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000037090

If Blammer doesn't have them in stock, follow this link, $23.24 in stock at Midsouth.

[Greg5278]

Would accurate 5744 powder work? It is supposed to be very bulky, but I don't have any experience with itn
Greg

[needcoffee]

BigTed. I`m having a .338 paper patch 250 gr. mold made as we speak by Richard Doughty on this web site.Robert

Will the paper patching allow you to shoot the boolit faster than a gas check? If so, would this possibly help with the powder vs case volume issue?