Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

There is no data for it, but there is for 210, 215 and 225s. I used the same max of 52 as the 215. 51.5 was 2694 and 52 was 2712. That's the best I've seen with a 200. This seemed fine with a Hot Cor, I'd probably run less with longer bullets such as Accubonds.

Has anyone tried Varget, or RL-15 with the 180 AB ?

I have tried both and they are a distant second to IMR 8208 and AA 2230.

Good luck and shoot straight

Bob

On a whim I tried Sellier and Bellot primers. No issues, good accuracy, but velocities were slower than with BR2s (2750 vs. 2775). Settled on a load for this year of 46.5 Benchmark with BR2s that chrono in the 2770s. Has anyone chrono'd Benchmark in the cold? Being a Hodgdon Extreme it ought to do well, but I have not had a chance to try it yet.

I gave it one click to the right and called it good. Just under .7". Pretty reasonable for a 6lb rifle with a fixed 6x scope.

338 Federal Brass at Midway

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/7...amp;utm_content=product-description-link

Midway has Starline 338fed brass in stock and on sale! $20.11 for 50


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018967815/starline-reloading-brass-338-federal

I picked up a couple hundred pieces of the Starline. Well see.

Just for grins I weighed 40 each of the Federal and Starline. Although the weights overlap quite a bit, the Starline is perhaps a little bit heavier, roughly 1 grain. There were 3 of the Starline that were way off the rest. Roughly 2-3 grains heavier than the rest. They even feel different. Although, in order to keep them within a two grain spread, I would have to cull three from each. No idea if 2 grains is a meaningful number, just seemed convenient.

Edit: I weighed some Lapua 308 Win brass and it was a tiny bit more consistent, but I would have had to cull a couple to stay within 2gn.

I started with 80 rnds of once fired Fed brass I got from a guy on one of my forums ($40), then found a box of Fed Fusions at the closest Cabalas. Ok, I've got a hundred to start working with.

A few weeks ago a gentleman from UT decided he was going to concentrate his efforts toward a 338 WM and offered 150 rnds of new Fed brass out for barter, on another forum !

Hmmmmmm...I'm sitting on more Nosler 2nds than I'll probably ever get around to shooting, but I bought 'em anyway, soz I pitch the bid to him. 150 rnds of brass/150 bullets, even swap.

I now have 250 rnds of brass to play with. That's 230 brass cases for under $0.50 each! Gives a man a bit of a comfort zone to start playing around with different loads.

Played around with some VV N530 this morning. Supposedly the VV N500s are quite temp stable. I've never really had good luck with Quickload before, but for whatever reason, it seems to be matching my results much more closely now. Don't recall changing any setting. Anyway, it appeared N530 would be a good option for a 180gn bullet. There's no load data for N530 and the 338 Fed that I could find and QL showed a max of 46-46.5. After referencing every other source I could find, it seemed reasonable. I worked up from 43 to 47 looking for any signs of pressure. Primers started to be a little flatter at 46.7, but by no means flat and never any stiff bolt, shiny bolt face, ejector mark. Velocities were remarkably close to what QL predicted so I'll trust the pressures. We're talking a few FPS here or there. QL predicts 61k at 46 and 63k at 46.5 with N530. According to QL, the same velocities are achieved as Benchmark with ~3k less psi. I was using 46.5gn of Benchmark which is very accurate and showed no signs of pressure at 2777. The Hodgdon book max for Benchmark is 47gn for 2768fps. QL shows 46.5 Benchmark as 66k and 2763 (for my 23" barrel). So, somewhere between the book loads, Quickload and my observations lies a reasonable solution.

Here's the actual MVs according to Magnetospeed - actual (QL Prediction):
43 - 2604
44 - 2635
45 - 2709 (2693 56.7k)
45.5 - 2719 (2723 58.9k)
46 - 2756 (2753 61k)
46.5 - 2777 (2782 63.5k)
46.7 - 2797 (2794 64.5k)
47 - 2793 (2812 66k)

Next I'll shoot groups and see if there's any accuracy to be found.

prm, Thanks for all the helpful and informative posts over the past few years. You seem to do more load tinkering and hunting with the 338 Fed than just about anyone. Just curious, what bullets have impressed you the most for hunting? Is there any bullet you've hunted with that you wouldn't use again?

The 160 TTSX has impressed me the most. Very accurate, and kills very, very well. I probably wouldn't use the 180 BT on elk again. Not that it didn't work, but just does not penetrate like the Barnes. Broadside shot on elk from about 40-50 yards and the elk dropped straight down and I heard him thump on the ground. But he didn't seem to have the internal damage the TTSX has given. Not bad, just not as good.

prm, I bought a box of Woodleigh 180s to test out and never got around to it. I’ll donate half a box if you want run them through your test protocol. I haven’t done enough loading with this caliber to make a good comparison. If you are interested pm me and I’ll ship them out at my cost.

That would be great. Definitely a bullet I’ve wanted to try. I would be happy to send you something you could use in return. 210 or 225 Partition, 30 cal 185 Bergers, 200 E-Tips or a related 201 Etip/ Trophy Copper?

Thanks, but there’s no need for that. I’ve been really busy with work and barely have time to hunt let alone do any serious loading or testing. You’ve put a lot of effort into the Fed and I’d really like to see how these perform for you.

Shot the 180 BT with VV n530 today. 46.5 with an OAL of 2.775 shot just under .6”. FYI, The same load at 2.815” shot about 2”. Those bullets are very picky about jump. Next step is to try the n530 in the cold. A temp stable .6”ish 180 bullet at 2780 is not a bad thing.

Is nosler still running the 180gr ballistic tips as a special run? Seems like that would be the perfect bullet for thin skinned deer.

The 180BTs can be found at their Shooters Pro Shop on occasion. I have a bunch to shoot and then now use 180 Accubonds to hunt with, at least for elk. Use either for deer.

Edit: they have a great deal on 180 ABs right now.

I have harvested a bear and several whitetails with the 160ttsx and it is quite impressive. I have also harvested several whitetails with the 185 tsx and I would not hesitate to use either on any animal in North America inside 200. IME the 185 tsx is a better meat retrieval bullet but the 160 puts them down a little faster.

Good luck and shoot straight

Bob

LVR & a 225 ?