Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

I run 2.815 for most TTSX loads as I'm limited to 2.82 by the mag. I don't recall how far off the lands I am, but I think its about .05, or likely more now.

Finally, Finally got to get out to the range and take the 1st shots with the RA re-bore. I was actually expecting it to thump the old shoulder with a bit more authority, but it was a pleasant surprise to find the recoil was easy-peasy.

Ran some Fed Fusion 200's and 45.0gr of RL-15 w/ 200gr Speers. Not trying to group anything, just breakin' in the barrel. Still, it was printing 2" groups without even trying all that hard, without a rest, just elbows on the bench and a tight sling.

One thing though, I learned the hard way that the front swivel stud will crack the crap on your knuckle, if you grip a bit too far forward! It's gonna be tender for a couple of days.

It is a heck of a caliber... that is for for sure.

Built AR-10s in .338F and .358W. Still doing load testing on the .338F, but the .358W is a solid performer... and a sleeper also.

Glad I found this load data page. Thanks to all.

Starline brass in 338 Federal
Just a heads up for those looking for brass. I know 338 fed can easily be formed from others in the 308 family but I prefer my brass to have the proper headstamp. My federal brand brass was getting tired so I decided to give Starline brand brass a try (basically because it was about all I could find). Anyway the brass looks to be high quality and after shooting a few test loads the accuracy is every bit is good as the federal stuff.

Anyone have any on game experience with the 185 GMX? I really haven't seen much information on the 338 federal and GMX bullets.

Midway has brass "coming soon"

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/766778/federal-premium-reloading-brass-338-federal-bag-of-50

I'm pretty sure midway has been advertising that for a few years now. I gave up and just went with the Starline. Good stuff

Did you ever get a chance to measure the volume? Curious if it's different than Federal brass.

I just did some quick volume and weight testing. Weight was slightly higher on the federal brass. 177.5gr vs 176.7gr. Volume was close. Federal = 56.7gr of water and Starline = 56.4 gr of water. This was only a sample size of two each so take that into consideration.

Appreciate that. Appears loads from the Federal brass would likely apply to the starline brass.

Yes, I have only tried one load so far but the results matched what I've gotten from the federal brass.

My 80lb soaking wet daughter will be using my 338 Fed Kimber Montana for moose this winter. Loaded up some reduced recoil loads that look promising using 185ttsx with 36g of IMR4198 . Velocity was 2450 and had the same POI as my 185 ttsx/ 2230 49 gr load. More experimentation to follow. The reduced load for a 160ttsx was IMR4198 using 37.5 gr and clocked 2650.

Do yourself, your daughter, and the moose a Huge. Remember Mono's thrive on FPS for proper expansion. So, unless you're looking at a 300-400 yd shot go with the 160, if it shoots well. It will still carry plenty of Ummph to keep going where it needs to. If you do expect to have to reach out there a bit, I would personally look at the 180gr Accubond, but then again, you wouldn't go wrong with it at any range.

Put a new barrel on my 84M just for kicks. This means new load workups... I had good results with Leverevolution and the 210 Partition and wondered how it would do with a 200gn bullet. 51.5gn of LVR and a 200 Hot Cor resulted in a single 3-shot .58" group with a velocity of ~2700. Need to shoot it a few more times to see if that's consistent and refine the velocity. The 180 Accubond has been my nemesis. On a whim I grabbed a bottle of Benchmark to try. Turns out it likes it reasonably well. One group at .78" and 2773 is a good start.

What did barrel did you choose?

223 is all you need, acording to this site.

It's a 23" PAC NOR. Very slightly larger at the muzzle.

prm,
Can I ask what your load of Benchmark with the 180 NAB gave the best accuracy? I couldn't get acceptable accuracy with 180's with either BM 2 ( your Benchmark), or BM 8208.
Both powders give excellent accuracy and on-game performance with 200 grainers - either NAB's or Woodleigh's. With those I'm loading 46.5g of BM 8208 in Fed cases, 210m primers @ 2570f/s.
Average 3 shot groups go into .86" at 100m reliably, with an ES of 24f/s. I could possible get it going a bit faster, but only with highly compressed loads, which I'm not fond of.
I'm planning to hunt with that load later this week, for Sambar and Fallow deer.
Cheers, John

John,
I tried 46, 46.5 and 47. 46.5 provided the best accuracy. This was an OAL of 2.78 and BR2 primers. I have had fits getting consistent accuracy with the 180s. I've used 8208, TAC, AA2230 and now Benchmark. Occasionally get good results, then inexplicably they (I?) shoot terrible. If these shoot well a couple of times I may use them for elk and Deer this fall.

Glad to see someone trying LVR with a 200gr bullet. 2700 fps is nothing to sneeze at.