Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good .338 WM load?

I just picked up a new savage 116 in .338 win mag and am wondering if anyone has any good pet loads? I shot a box of Rem 225 gr Corlokts to break in the barrel then installed UBC. I'm trying to find a good load for elk and oryx. I tried 225 gr Accubonds over R-19 today and the best I could do was ~2" groups at 100 yards. The Corelokts did better during break in at ~1".

mine likes 225 Hornadys and about as much R19 as the case can handle

RL-19 (low 70s), F215GM, 225 TSX.

I have used 225 grain Nosler Partitions and Swift A Frame bullets in my model 70 Winchester. My handloads are as follows: 225 grain bullet RL-19 powder at 73 grains of powder, velocity was 2800fps.

About time someone asked. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. 70 gr. IMR 4350, CCI 250, 250 gr. Sierra gameking
2. Most recent 338 likes 67gr. of IMR 4350 with sierra 250 grainer
3. 71 gr. H4831 w/ 250 gr. Nosler partition
4. 72.5 gr. R19 w/225 Hornady sp interlock

I use 74 grs. of RL-19 and a 210 TSX or 75grs RL-22 and a 225 TSX for my particular rifle.

This is what I get with 67 gr. IMR 4350 CCI 250's and Sierra 250 grain gamekings:



Puts the elk down pretty good too.

My long time load is 73 grains of RL19 under a 225 grain accubond, WW brass, Fed 215 or 215 match primers.

In my current .338, that shoots good at 100 but groups at 200 and 300 are decaying at a more than linear rate.

This morning I was out at the range with it trying a couple other loads that'd shown promise at 100 yards out at 200 and 300.

The 210 grain partition over 75 grains of RL19 did not fare well. The 185 grain TTSX Barnes over 72 grains of H4350 shows potential. 4 of the 5 shots went into .88 at 200 yards, the 5th opened it up to 2.1 inches. I only fired 2 shots at 300 yards, those landed 1.4x inches apart. I'm saving the rest. I thought I detected bedding issues so I threw this sporter-contour barreled action into a sendero stock (can you say "free floated?"). Now that I have hints of accuracy I'll throw the barreled action back in the original stock and see how that goes.

Tom

I like running Ramshot Hunter behind 225gr Nosler Partitions. Hunter is a more dense powder so you do not have to contend with compressed loads. My load gets me just over 2800fps and is extremely accurate.

+1

250-grain Hornady or Nosler Partition / Fed 215 / 70 grains H4831SC / 2470 fps / WW brass / OAL 3.340"

Works well in both a Ruger 77 with brake and a TIKKA Whitetail.

With the testing I have done with .338's I prefer H4350 over all other powders. Here are the loads I haev tested:

.338 Winchester Magnum

Bullet Load Powder O. A. L. Velocity Energy Comments

175gn Barnes X 76gn H 4350 3098 3730

185gn Barnes TSX 75gn H 4350
76gn H 4350 3281 Nosler # 6 MAX
Also TTSX Version


200gn Hornady 59gn AR 2206 2766 3399 REDUCED LOAD

200gn Nosler BT 65gn Varget 3.442" 2949
66gn Varget 3.367" 2996
70gn 760 2888
71gn 760 2945
72gn 760 3021
74gn H 4350 3007
75gn H 4350 3.439" 3079 4211 .8" Best load
76gn H 4350 3100

200gn Barnes X 58.6gn Varget 2672 Mild

210gn Partition 69gn 760 2956
70gn H 4350 2844
71gn H 4350 2881
72gn H 4350 2965 4100
65gn Varget 2881

225gn Speer BT 65gn Rel 15 2707
67gn Rel 15 2812
69gn Rel 15 2934 4302 Warm Load
70gn Varget 2953 4358
71gn Varget 2980 4438
71gn H 4350 2817 .9" 5 shot groups.
73gn H 4350 2861 4091 MAX

225gn Partition 74gn WMR 2724
64gn Varget 2541
66gn H 4350 2656
67gn H 4350 3.371" 2666
68gn H 4350 2849
67gn 760 2700
68gn 760 2752 3785

225gn Barnes X 73gn H 4350 3.313" 2862
74gn H 4350 2879 4142

225gn Barnes TSX

Also TTSX Version

Bullet Load Powder O. A. L. Velocity Energy Comments

225gn Woodleigh


250gn Grand Slam 72gn WMR 2633
73gn WMR 2645 3885

250 gn Partition 63gn Varget 3.309" 2699
64gn Varget 2724 4120
66gn 760 2686
67gn 760 2697
68gn H 4350 3.390" 2675 .3" Best Accuracy
69gn H 4350 2698
71.5gn H 4831 2780 Nosler # 6 MAX
71gn WMR 2621


250gn Partition Federal Factory 2550 3611 .5" Very Accurate but slow

250gn Jensen 69gn H 4350 3.417" 2693 MOA Load

250gn Woodleigh 70gn H 4350 2647
71gn H 4350 2679
72gn H 4350 2736 4157

250gn Sierra BT 73gn Rel 19 2529 .9" 3 shot groups

250gn Hornady 68gn IMR 4350 2708 4072

255gn Barnes TTSX




275gn Speer 63gn Varget 3.278" 2572
64gn Varget 2590
66gn 760 2504
67gn 760 2574
68gn H 4350 2538
69gn H 4350 2585
70gn WMR 2479
72gn WMR 2594 4110

285gn Barnes TSX




300gn Woodleigh



There are a couple of Nosler references there to add spice.

John

If only for elk and oryx, try a 200-210gr bullet with some RL15 and magnum primers.

Easy. My go to load for my .338 Mag. is 73 gr. of Rldr-22 and a 225 gr. NorthFork for 2800 fps. I can tell you that NF's are devastating on moose. They cost more but I find them to hold together and are slightly more accurate than Partitions. I have a NF bullet we found in amoose I shot. It originally weighed 225 grs. and it is now a picture perfect mushroom and weighs either 218 or 217 gr. ( I forget offhand).
Use 225 gr. Hornady's for load work up. Reduce the powder charge by about 8% and load the NF's. Gradually add powder until your velocity hits the accurate load you had with the Hornady's. That's it & it's simple. Never could understand why guys complain about the cost of their hunting bullets. That's the cheapest part of the hunt. Use the Hornady's for practice & range work.
Bear in Fairbanks

74gr of RL19 and a 225gr Nosler Partition work really well together. In my rifle, a Hornady 225gr SP hit to the same POI. They were a little cheaper for practice. The Hornadys also work well on deer/elk.

RH

Thanks for the inputs guys. I went out to the range again today and it definitely looks like my gun doesn't like RL-19. I tried loading up some 225 gr Interlocks over RL-19 and got huge groups again. I also tested 225 gr Accubonds again over H4350 this time instead of RL-19 with better results. 69.5 grs yielded a ~1" group at 2700 fps. I'd like to get a bit more velocity but I think I'll play with seating depth a bit to optimize accuracy.