Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .338 Winchester Loads

Hey everyone! I'm just getting into reloading and was wondering if anyone had a pet .338 Winchester load they'd share? I understand I need to consult the reloading manuals- but I'd like a start. I was thinking I'd like to shoot 225-grain Accubonds, but I'm open to other bullets, as well. I'll be using the load for elk and moose- the rifle is a Kimber 8400 Montana.

Justin-- I'm in the same boat; new .338wm, with brass and powder, I've decided to try 210gr TTSX and 250gr Nosler Partitions I have RL19 and 22 available. Looking forward to following this and seeing what guys have to say!

I have used R-19 with 225gr bullets with good results. R-22 and the 250s have also shot very well.

Put 71.5gr of H4350 behind those accubonds along with a WMRP and Win Bras.

With the 200's 75gr of H4350, or 78gr of H4831.

All shoot well and leave big holes in Elk.

Duckhunter,

Have you had the opportunity to try those loads, yet? Those were also bullets I had considered trying, but the Accubonds seemed to be a good in between bullet, so I'm hoping to try them out this year on game!

Antelope_Sniper

I'm brand new to reloading (I have a friend that is showing me the ropes), but what's the reason to use more of the same powder for a lighter bullet? I've loaded hundreds of thousands of shotgun shells, but only 20 rifle shells- not criticizing, just looking for the reasoning because I really want to learn.

Thanks so far, guys- I really appreciate the info!

I've reloaded for my "new" 1968 vintage Sako 338 for two years now. Two of the Grand Poobahs on our forums encouraged me to try RL-19 with my 225 grain choice in bullets (North Fork). I tried all the powders at my disposal and RL-19 was so far ahead of the others there wasn't even a second place load.

Highest velocities, lowest standard deviations/extreme spreads and best accuracy all in one package. I don't have that happen very often, but I did with RL-19.

Best of luck.

Lighter bullets at higher velocities will open up better. Lack of expansion can be a real problem with big bullets on small for caliber game. The 200 grainers at 3k make a good general purpose load in the .338, giving excellent performance on both deer and elk sized game.

JustinL and AntelopeSniper--

Haven't tried them out yet. Finishing my .338wm build right now. 24" pac-nor stainless in a LH Model 70 Classic (CRF). I just inlet the original wood stock and will be DEVCON bedding and adding a RED pachmayr recoil pad. Goal is to finish this week and get to the range soon after.

I have RL19, RL22, H4350 and H4831sc so I'm gonna test out some of the loads up here after I break the barrel in with some factory 210gr NPs. I think RL19 is one of the more underrated powders as such it is easy to find around here and it shoots lights out in my 6.5x284 also.

The goal will be to get the TTSXs moving as fast (and accurately) as possible, since they are all copper the extra velocity should provide awesome penetration and good expansion. The 250gr NPs are just a classic so I wanted to give them a try too!

I'll let you know how it goes and vice versa!

My 338 model 70 WM is holds the second highest kill total in my safe. I love it. I find there are two schools of thought on loading for a 338. Lighter vs heavier is the hot stove topic. For my 2 cents if you are leaning towards lighter bullets at higher speed there are better caliber choices. If you believe you need the potential power of a 338 then take advantage of what it can offer on Big big game and stay with the SD of 250 grain bullet.

Justin1, Here's what we've been running in my wife's .338, since Barnes brought out the .225TTSX. We were previously running the TSX with a similar load. We like the 225,a little more weight for larger game and a good BC(.5+) for the longer shots. Use caution with this load(it may be a little warm in your rifle). Fed.Safari(nickel)brass,78.5 grns. of RL22,Fed.215 primers.It gives her 2950fps out of her 24" barrel Win.Model 70. It's worked very well for most everything here in Wyo. All she needs is a sheep and a mtn. goat,to have taken all big game here with that combo! memtb

70-71gr h4350 fed 215 primer make sure that ab has some jump and you will be gtg leave the other powders alone... If you can find some of the old stock 225gr hornady sp oh man all 338 win mags love that bullet too

Don't leave out the boring ol' 250GK. great break-in bullet because of cost. And it might suprize ya.

If you like inconsistent performance on game, go for it.

I use 250 grain Hornady's and 250 grain Nosler partitions. They shot same point of impact and same group size.
I'll shoot a lot more Hornadys than Noslers.
Both would work well on elk, I believe. But I use the Nosler's on elk.

If I were to use lighter billets, I'd go with a 300 WM and 200 grain bullets.

Speaking from personal experience I bet.... . If you've never fired a fu cking 250 gr. Sierra GK into a live animal, I suggest you STFU... That bullet is all most of my buddies and I have ever used on elk. It gets the job done just fine. It's plowed through shoulders and exited and puts them down right fu cking now too...

Excellent post. However, 225's work great in the ol 338 as well. You are absolutely correct about the 300 win mag and 200gr. pills too.... The 338 win mag really shines with the 250gr. bullets..

I found a near max load of Accurate A4350 and the 210 TTSX to be an absolute HAMMER on moose. I mean like a circular two step, followed by a loud THUD!

Good luck with whatever works in your rifle. There are ALOT of right answers in that caliber.

Most that cuss the GK have never even held one let alone killed schit with them. I hunt small game(250#) n under, never seen a failure from a GameKing yet, most critters are dead right [bleep] there and cannot wait to hit the ground. Gimme a barrel full of them in appropriate weight/caliber for whatever game and I bet you cannot keep your knife sharp enough before I bring you another to skin out.

Why do you think I don't use them any more?

.338 hole in and .338 hole going out on deer, but will loose their jackets when they hit bone in elk.

That's why I prefer the lighter 200gr bullets at 3k. Constant performance across a wide variety of game.

Now you can STFU.

A Barnes 210 TSX in front of 67 grains of IMR 4350 (70 grains is max in Barnes #4 manual) goes a bit over 2,700 f/s out of my M70 and lets me hit an 8" gong at 400 yards almost every time. I have tried several other bullets but have not found one that my rifle shoots as well as the Barnes.

I have only shot a handful of elk, but each one shot with that load has died real quickly. I am not comfortable shooting at elk over about 300 yards, and this load has performed well at those ranges. Little hole in, big hole out, dead elk, happy hunter.

All the other elk I have shot were with a 160 grain 7mm Barnes TSX. They all died quickly too.