Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

Not a .338 Federal, but a 22" 338WM loaded down with H4895 and the 185TTSX at 2,770 or so. Probably not too far off from 338 Federal performance.



Shot a deer with it the other evening, hitting behind the shoulder on the onside and exiting in the middle of the ribcage on the other side (trying to save shoulders). Knocked the deer completely down, and it got up to run about 15-20yds. The pic above is where the deer was standing. This is just the second animal I've shot with that load, but the other one was a decent-sized pig and the same thing happened on the same shot angle. It apparently hits medium-sized game rather hard for a mono-bullet at moderate speed, but doesn't beat on my shoulder much at all. I'm liking the 185TTSX and would probably be happy with it in the 338Fed as well.

Saw basically the same thing on bull elk with both the 185 and 160 TTSXs. Not hard to track.



I have a stack of 225 Partitions and plan to see what LVR and 2000MR will do. Also trying to find out if RL16 would work. Or more accurately, where I should start when trying it.

Edit: a quick string of 225 Partition with LVR (Federal brass, BR2, 2.81")
46.5 - 2439
47 - 2459
47.5 - 2470
48 - 2508

Hodgdon book max is 48 for 2514 fps out of a 24" barrel. Mine is 23". Pressure is probably in the ballpark with book.

Shot a large whitetail with a perfect broadside 85 yard shot right in the shoulder with 180 accubond at 2775 fps. Small hole going in lots of damage inside and out the far side shoulder, deer did a 15-20 yard death sprint and then cartwheel stone dead, very happy with the results and will keep using the 180.

I received the 180 Woodleighs from jmh3 today. After much hand wringing I chose to try them with VV N530. According to Quickload, 48gn would get just over 2800 at 62.8k psi. Here’s the results of one each through the Magnetospeed:
46 - 2683
46.5 - 2719
47 - 2734
47.5 - 2769
48 - 2798

That’s not a bad prediction by QL.

They are very short bullets so when seated just to the base of the neck the OAL is only 2.7”. Anybody have a Woodleigh reloading manual that could look up what they suggest for OAL?

RL-16 was on my Gonna Try list for my 7/08 until I saw some chatter about it being a rather large granule powder. From what I gathered it took up more case space than RL-19 & RL-17, by a fair margin. It may work, but I think you're going to have to deal with some heavily compressed loads, not that I have ever had a problem with that, but it does require some extra bench time.

With that said, Hell, Go for it and let us know the results!

Merry Xmas to all!

prm,
I can't help with the Woodleigh Manual, but if it's any help to you, my rifle likes .040" off the lands with the 200g Woodleigh ( same profile ) . Comparator measurement is 2.23" Base to Ogive. This sits about at the start of the shoulder and gives a snug fit with the 46.5g of BM 8208 in Fed cases. Haven't tried the 180's, but they're on my list!
Cheers, John

Merry Christmas to you all too.

I harvested a mature 10 point whitetail buck ( live weight approx 155 pounds) last week with my Sako 85 160 TTSX IMR 8208 combo. I had been watching the deer for several minutes just catching glimpses of it in the thick hardwoods and honey suckle that thrives here in VA. I had about given up on getting a shot when he laid down in a small window in the brush at approx 125 yards. The deer was somewhat facing me and the shot went through approx 10" of neck through front shoulder and rib cage the bullet stopped under the off side hide at the front of the offside ham. Basically a 2" wound channel through 30" of whitetail. Perfect barnes petaled performance .631 diameter 159.4 gr retained weight. Muzzle velocity 2890fps estimated impact 2600. The deer never got up couple of kicks basically DRT.

All in all I am pretty impressed with this combination. When I finish with the IMR 8208 rounds I have reloaded I will be switching over to the AA 2230 load that PRM guided me to. After shooting bear and deer with it I can't see a need to change for any game I am likely to hunt. Pretty much seems like any animal under 1500 pounds or so and inside 200 yards would fair game. Certainly would not hesitate to hunt large moose or grizzlies with it.

Good luck and shoot straight all.

Bob

Thanks for sharing! Great result. If I get fed up with Accubonds I’ll go back to the TTSXs. One consideration, 8208 loses no velocity in the cold while AA2230 loses quite a bit. If hunting in really cold temps the difference in velocity won’t be too much.

Update on the 180 Woodleighs, fired two three shot groups today. One at 2.70” the other 2.75”, each with 48gn of N530. 2.75 was better at 1”. Operator error may have made that a little larger (yet another reason to shoot 5-shot groups I know...) . It happens when surrounded by guys banging away with ARs. Recovering the bullets from dry media showed them to be very tough bullets. I was impressed!

Thanks for the update. If the TTSXs didn't make such a bloodshot mess of the entrance side I'd be done searching for alternatives. Sounds like these may be promising.

The 185 TTSX is a good compromise. Really penetrates and results in internal damage way out of proportion with the size of the exit hole. It remains a mystery to me how on a bull elk the exit hole was so small, yet the internal damage was devastating, and it had a surprisingly large entrance wound. Meat damage is reasonable with the 185. The 160 TTSX on the other hand..it makes a mess of what it hits.

I think these 180 Woodleighs will be an excellent choice as well. I may try stretching the OAL out a bit more and perhaps a bit more powder. QL, which matched my actual results within 7 FPS indicates another .5-.7 grain could be added and I remain under 62k psi if the OAL is at 2.75 or 2.775. Issue is how much the bullet should be in the neck. Here's a pic of a test round at 2.7" and the bullet alongside at 2.75".

I rarely encounter the seating depth situation because I'm usually cramming bullets down into the case to fit magazine length. I've always heard the rule of thumb to be approximately 1 bullet with of contact with the neck and never less than 2/3 of a bullet width of contact in a hunting rifle. I'm certainly not an expert on this, but I think you can move a couple hundredths in this case without issue, unless you are getting into compressed loads.

Thanks, definitely no compressed loads. The neck is .34 so there's a not a lot of extra there. 2/3ds would be roughly 2.76 OAL. I'll try out to there.

I did shoot some 180 ABs with Benchmark and N530 in cold and at room temp. Ammo and rifle sat out a few hours at 9deg. All 8 were loaded at the same time from same group of brass, primers and bullets. I randomly picked two for the cold and left two of each indoors. I alternated firing each

Benchmark was a couple FPS faster in the cold. More variation in the N530 readings.

180 AB
46.5 N530 Warm: 2758/2775 Cold: 2738/2716
46.5 Benchmark Warm: 2748/2746 Cold: 2751/2754

PRM Thanks for the info. I am surprised to see H Benchmark has an ES that low. I tried t once with the 180 NAB and 45.6 grain and 210M accuracy was acceptable but not as good as 8208 or 2230. Were you still using the BR2 primer I may need to revisit.

Good luck and shoot straight

Bob

My go to load is 180 accubond with 48.5 8208 and 215M primers, used 210 and br2 primers and never shoot great then switched to 215's and it's a laser beam. This load runs around 2775-2780fps out of my 22" Kimber

The 180 AB/BT has been my nemesis when it comes to accuracy. My general thought after shooting hundreds is that they are picky about seating depth. I seem to have stumbled on a seating depth where they work (2.77"). Maybe I'll try the 8208 again. Though I'm quite satisfied with the Benchmark, I could likely get 2800 with 8208. Doubt it would matter on a deer or elk, but it sounds better.

I'm running my 180 load at 2.81" I too played along time trying to get the 180ab to shoot but switching to the magnum primers did it for my gun. I'm sure I could push it over 2800fps easy but I was happy when it started shooting like it is. Also found that the 210np and 200 hot cores like to be seated less than the 2.76" Nosler calls out and have gotten good results with lvl.

Shooters Pro Shop has 200 Ballistic Tips available for $17.20.

I think I tried the 215Ms in the past. I'll give them another go with this barrel and see what happens. Although, I'm very satisfied with the Benchmark/BR2 load.

I did shoot a few Woodleigh 180s with 8208 (48.5 is Hodgdon max with 180 Accubond at 2811FPS). These bullets seem to have a very short bearing length and produce a little less pressure than ABs. Purely conjecture on my part.
48.5: 2787
49: 2808
49.5: 2821

I loaded up three at 48.5 to shoot a group and it was right at 1". I have a couple left and may try 49 and see how they group.
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I have always been a big fan of the 160 TTSXs and have used AA2230. Only drawback to 2230 is you lose nearly 100FPS in the cold. Decided to look at alternatives that are more consistent. First try is with H322. 48.5 is Hodgdon book max at 2937.

47.5: 2909
48: 2923
48.5: 2951

I just picked 2.80" and shot three groups. Both 48 and 48.5 shot very well. At 2950 it would be just as fast as the 2230 in the cold. I could hunt with that tomorrow and be very happy.

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Thanks Scott. I'd like to try that bullet someday. I've never really got the 200 ABs to consistently shoot well. In his 338-08 Pet Loads article, Ken Waters really liked the 200 BTs. Got them to just over 2700 with AA2495.