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

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....