Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 Win Mag Deer Bullets??

I gave my dad a Rem 700 KS chambered in 338 Win Mag this year.. I had a Gentry Quiet Brake put on it and the trigger done on it. He loves this rifle.. I loaded 200 gr Ballistic Silvertips..not real hot but mid book loads. The problem I am running into is that he has shot 3 deer this year with it and only one has left a blood trail.. the first one was a behind the shoulder shot at about 130 yds.. 2 drops of blood where he shot it and nothing til I found the deer. Second one he shot was behind the shoulder .. but it caught the left shoulder on exit and destroyed it.. left a great bloodtrail. Saturday evening he shot a 8 pt at about 115 yds and I didn't find a single drop of blood.. looked in the clearcut for a long time..til it got dark, the next morning we found it by buzzards.. this deer did not bleed a drop..he hit it pretty low and by looking at the shot placement it should have bled pretty well. I followed this deers back trail and didn't find a single drop of blood anywhere. Made him sick to lose a deer.. I am thinking that the vital area of a whitetail isn't solid enough to make these BST or Btips open up.. not giving them the shock that btips are famous for. What is another good bullet for whitetail out of a 338?? I am thinking about trying to find some of the discontinued 180 btips.. just want something that I know will open up on the soft side of a deer. What are you guys experiences..cuz it really sucks to find one after the buzzards and coyotes have been on it!! thanks for the help. Rob

225 Nosler Pt's are the ones to use.-Muddy

Try some 225gr. Hornady interlocks.

200gr Hornadys or 225 Hornadys. I also like the 185gr TTSX.

I killed a few with the 200g Hornady Interlocks at about 2800 fps MV in the .338 Win Mag. Plenty of expansion but still a lot of energy going out the other side of the deer.

160 and 185 ttsx will leave bloodtrails, but you probably won't even need them.

What I was thinking, or the 210 Partition.

Oh yes.... That's what I'm talking about..

Get some 200gr Speers and load them to 2800fps and your problems will go away. Plenty of bullet and lots of blood. powdr

Thanks guys.. appreciate the help.

I have had nothing but great results using the 210 gr Partition, this in a piddly 338-06. The bullet just works on large and small.

I had great experience with the 200 gr Hornady going 2850 out of a 338-06Ai, shot several deer through the lungs, they just fell over dead. Don't know if there was a blood trail or not.

Best blood trail I've seen with a 338 winnie, was on a big whitetail buck i shot about 50 yds away. I was shooting 250 gr round nose bullets. I doubt if the bullet expanded on that deer but the entrance and exit holes both spewed blood about 3 or 4 feet out either side for the 30 ft run he made. It was neat to watch.

Pretty much any 338 bullet is an Elk bullet. I would use a 200-210 grain Cup and core bullet that was not bonded , no need for it .

I use the 210 Partition in my 340 Bee at 3175 fps for everything

I've had great results with 200 grn Speers from a .338-06 even loaded down to .338 Fed velocities.

I've not had any problems with the 200gr BT or the 210gr Partition if I put them where they are supposed to go. If you have a good bunch on hand I'd suggest upping the fps a bit and/or just shoot them in the shoulder. They are a pretty tough bullet, but I got good expansion on them even on doe pronghorn. I've yet to shoot anything with them smaller than an elk that required a bloodtrail. All were within feet of where I hit them.
I'm running them at an estimated 2950fps with 65gr R15.

FWIW, and I know my sample size isn't huge but I can tell a lick of difference in the performance of the 200gr BT and the 210gr Partition. Interestingly enough, I've never caught a BT, but have caught 2 Partitions. One in an elk and one in a doe pronghorn...

The 180gr. Ballistic Tip is the only bullet that I have used on deer out of a .338 Win. Mag. It is a lot like perfect. By the way, it will also turn coyotes inside out.

RS

I had nothing but great results on deer and hogs with the 200 Ballistic Silvertip. Awesome blood trails on lung shots, dead-right-there with shoulder shots.

200 SST should open fast. I like the idea of the 210 Partition too, but we're talking deer here, and I can't see flinging big, tough, heavy bullets. Go as light as you can and up the speed. Velocity often helps. It could be that at moderate speed, these deer aren't offering enough resistance to the B-tips to get them to wound widely. If just doesn't seem right, hitting deer with all that metal and them running off!

I've not had one leave my sight. 225 Interlocks, Accubonds, North Forks. 200 Interlocks, BST, or SST. 185 TTSX, 210NPT, or probably a few others I've forgotten. From 35lb does, to 700lb elk, I haven't seen much difference.

You may want to consider a Sierra Gameking. They are tough stuff out of a .30-06 anyway.

A 200AB/210 PT will open up well on a deer. It's hard for me to believe the BT didn't. I'd look at some of the plain old Hornady's or Speers for deer if you want faster expansion. They have alot of lead in the nose and should open pretty violently started at 3000 or better.

Nosler 200 gr BT

I shot a few Deer and three antelope doe with 225 gr. hornadys in front of 74 grs of Reloder 19 and the results were excellent. One antelope got a little more shoulder involved then I intended and it destroyed it but otherwise not really more damage then an .30-06. All had some kind of blood trail or were laying were they were shot.....Even one whitetail that was shot broadside and only hit a rib in and a rib out left a 20 ft. blood trail to were she laid.

Any and I mean bullet in a 338 win will make short work of a deer. 250 grainers do an excellent job as well.

250 Partition

Yep

^ This.

IMO, there are no "bad" 338 bullets for deer; I've used bullets from 180 gr NBT's (no longer made) to 250 gr Partitions, which are not at all necessary, but they all worked.

MM

200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

You will have to get the CT, or the seconds when they come out once a year, but they are still the best .338 Mag deer bullet.

I agree, but I have not down-loaded like the OP. I've used 210 Partitions and 225 Hornadys on deer and blackies with excellent results, but at ~2700-2800 FPS. Even so, I cannot imagine an expanding 338 bullet that wouldn't work. I'm surprised at the results he is seeing.

I've used a .338 Mag with the Hornady 225 gr SP at a little over 2600 fps on a few deer and it drills around about a 1" hole all the way through and a run of about 25-50 yds.

Exactly..

Gets my vote. That is my favorite elk bullet and it does double duty on deer.

215 SGKs over Re-15

Is there a bullet that won't work in deer from a 338wm?

Ditto !

210 ttsx has worked really well.

But what some folks forget, is its not every deer is going to leave a blood trail, Lots of factors go into a large easy blood trail, lots of factors go into no blood trail.

Sometimes its luck of the draw.

Largest round I've used to shoot a deer, my 50 bmg, double lunged and the doe ran around 200 yards or so, never left a single drop of blood we could find. We actually could track the path of the bullet much easier in the brush, than trying to find the deer.

That being said I've used the light 165 and 180 IIRC BTs in a friends 338 Win mag and he was happy, on deer, but to my taste it generally destroyed too much of the animal.

I personally have given up on SGKs as the results over a BROAD spectrum and many years have simply been too erratic for my tastes.

Im not understanding it either... the first one he shot was a perfect behind the shoulder...2 lil drops where he shot it and nothing.. I lucked up and found her.. the buck he shot did not bleed a drop at the shot or on the trail.. I have always been a BTIP fan..

Nope. I even have some cast bullets I'd shoot the hell out of deer with. Most factory 338 bullets are constructed with elk hunting in mind. They generally have thick jackets, but still work great for deer. I have a buddy that only has 1 rifle and it's a 338 winny. He uses 210 partitions for both deer and elk around here with excellent results.

Wasn't this the subject that Jeff O mutters his immortal words...

" they way overpenetrate...." and became an instant part of campfire lore and history....

That reference was toward X bullets, IIRC.

I've used 210 Partitions pushed by 76.5 gr of RL-19 on elk, mule deer and whitetails all with excellent results.

I have generally used the 250 grain hornady bullets and never seem to have issues but my hunting partner RON, wanted faster expansion from his 338 win, so I loaded up speers 200 grain spitzers , and Ron has been absolutely convinced , for several decades that these bullets are the hot ticket in his 338 win.

http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics/detail.aspx?id=112

try 69 grains of WW760 over a fed 215 primer, I doubt youll find anything to complain about, Ive seen several deer hit and it gets their full undivided attention
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/d...;type=Rifle&Order=Powder&Source=

Great thread, I've been thinking of getting a ruger guide gun in 338 and considering what bullet might be good for deer. I like laminated stocks but not thrilled with the color of the ruger, but I do like the 20 inch barrel and adjustable LOP since I usually have to have most of mine cut.

[quote=HuntnShoot]200 SST should open fast. I like the idea of the 210 Partition too, but we're talking deer here, and I can't see flinging big, tough, heavy bullets. Go as light as you can and up the speed. Velocity often helps. It could be that at moderate speed, these deer aren't offering enough resistance to the B-tips to get them to wound widely. If just doesn't seem right, hitting deer with all that metal and them running off! [/quote"

Seems right to me but the I've only shot 2 head of small game with my 338: two 300 lb caribou bulls about 5 seconds apart at @ 200 yards, using factory Federal Safari 250 gr. bang flops both.

I'd use a 200 gr c&c or based on recent experience with it in '06, the SST for a large exit wound/blood trail.

I do in this case suspect a case of Magnumitis. Cure for this malady on deer sized game is .243 to 7x57 rifle. Second would be reduced 338 loads and practice with a knowledge of trajectories pertaining to same.

Great thread. I was just a about to post question on .338 WM's versatility. Answered everything I think I needed to know. Thanks guys