Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

A buddy shot a bull on a hunt near Craig, CO. Two hundred plus yards. Two steps and dead. He was impressed, as was his guide. He was shooting factory Fusion ammo with 200 grain bullets.

Finally got out to test some loads. Wasn’t really set up to do an accuracy test, just to test velocity, pressure, etc.

New Federal brass, Fed 210, Woodleigh 200gr., 47 grains 8208XBR. Consistently shot 2680 plus or minus a few FPS. Shot a 2” 5 shot group at 100 without a lead sled, just a rest. No signs of pressure at all.

Will work up some loads in the fired brass with plus or minus .1 and .2 grains and borrow a led sled to find something MOA, then call it good enough.

P.S. This was with a Savage 11 LRH with 24” barrel, 2” factory muzzle brake and Accustock, by the way.

Tag

The 200gr Woodleighs are not far behind the Fusions at BC .401, and attaining velocities darn close to the factory Fusion is not a big challenge, either. I'd say the Woodleighs are also probably a better projectile for elk - moderately more stout, but still not too stout for lighter game. Will reliably open up properly down to 2000 FPS which makes it a 325 yard do-all round, still carrying close to 1800 ft./lbs at 325. Excellent price is the icing on the cake.

I won't hesitate to use it on anything from deer to bison.

Just thought I'd toss this one out. If you need a Base load to always step back to, for what ever reason, this one is my go to.

200gr Speer FB, 45.0 gr RL-15, Fed case and Win standard primer, set at 2.800". You should get pretty close to 2500 fps & 1 " or better groups.

It's a damn good 250-300 yd load for anything without 3" claws with 2" teeth and can give insight as to whether it's your load not performing, or there is a prob with the rifle/scope.

I just picked up a pound of Alliant Power Pro Varmint and will be trying it with various 200 grain projectiles, based on the load data for the 200 grain Speer Hot-Cor. Also bought a box of the 200 grain FTX, which should be very reliable and versatile since it is designed for 338 Marlin Express velocities.

Like to hear how the FTX works. Thought about trying those.

I hope to try them soon. Spring yard work and a new motorcycle have kept me busy so far.

If the FTX shoots well, I think it'll be a nice, affordable, general purpose plinking and deer bullet for the Fed - and appropriate for even bigger stuff.

I recently picked up a bulk deal on some partial boxes of 210gr Partitions, 200gr Interlock SP-RP, and 225gr Interlock SP-RP as well. I doubt I will try the 225 grainers - but who knows.

Going to double-check the Woodleigh + 8208XBR load for accuracy and use that to take a spring bear, then play with more projectiles and the Power Pro Varmint powder in the coming months.

I’m having a T3X put together in 338 Fed. Per usual I can’t decide what bullet to use. The 160 TTSX is never a wrong answer and will default to that if no others shoot well. I’d like to try all the 180-200s. Will be primarily an elk load. A180 AB at 2770-2800 or a 200 near 2700 ought to work.

There is another company making a mono but I can’t recall the name. Not cutting edge. Anybody recall who else makes a hunting mono?

Cant halp on the new monumental but do have a question on the 180 NAB - are they tough enough to run through an elk? I have 2-300 of them and thought of them as my deer bullet.

I have not used a 180 AB yet. Though I did shoot a 6x6 bull with a 180 BT. He took zero steps. The bullet ended up under the far side on a very close range broadside shot. This is a case where I think a bonded bullet and the resulting weight retention would have helped with penetration. Though the end result couldn’t really be improved upon.

Good to know. Thanks!

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/338-cal-338-185-gr-gmx#!/

Interesting tidbit I ran across. Brian Litz did test the BC of the 200 AB and got a .461 G1. Like the 180 AB, that’s actually quite a bit better than advertised. Hope to shoot some in a different rifle soon.

Just so all Y'all know. I had a chance to run a few across my chrono yesterday. 200 gr Speers. with a medium charge of 44.5 gr of RL15. I loaded these just to have a few to pop off and get the barrel broken in. Figured they would be somewhere around 2500fps. Nothing special, nothing to brag about, just a Bang, Bang, Repeat load.

SUPRISE, SUPRISE ME ! 2515 fps avg and smack dab at 1 " !

Considering I built the rifle for black bear out of a stand and Eastern elk (maybe), not too bad for a 1st run.....

New here. I don't think itll let me post pictures, but did some testing for grins this evening. Ive had a box of sierra pro hunter .338 300gr bullets for a while now and decided to mess with them in my 338 fed. I dont have quicklaod so if someone reading this wants to get velocity numbers for me that'd be cool.

I was finding max charge with Accurate 1680.
Started at 18.5gr to 25gr
Cci #250 Magnum large rifle primers (its what i had handy)
.338 Sierra pro hunter 300gr
Coal was 2.800"

18.5gr no sign
21.0gr no sign
23.5gr very slight flattening
24.0gr little bit more flattened
24.5gr little bit more flattened still
25gr starting to flow the primer into the firing pin hole
Thats where i stopped with it.

Like i said i dont have any velocity numbers so for what its worth heres my random bit of useless testing for the evening.

I’ll be headed to Newfoundland in a few weeks for a moose hunt with my 338 fed. My load is: star line brass, WLR primer, 185 TTSX and 47gr or 8208 XBR. I sighted in at 200 yards and shot a 5 shot group of about 2.5 - 2.75 inches or so before practicing various shooting positions. The guide said his area is more wooded than mast and shots are typically taken at 100 yards or less but to be prepared for 200. I haven’t Shot much from shooting sticks but for me 200 yards off sticks is a long shot. Anyway with any luck I’ll be reporting back on how the 338 fed / TTSX combination worked for moose size game.

obie458,
Looking forward to your report! That load should do the trick, but won't expect to see any recovered bullet pics. Only shot one moose, and that was with a .270 Win with 130 g Power Point factory load. It's legs went out from under it so fast with a double lung shot that I thought I'd missed somehow! I would bet my 200 g Woodleigh .338 Fed load would be right at home in that application.
Good luck, and enjoy your hunt.
Cheers, John

I've been working with the 338 Fed a bit more and I am happy to report that Alliant Power Pro Varmint can safely push a 200gr CnC projectile (such as the Woodleigh Weldcore PP, Hornady FTX, Hornady SP) at 2750-2770 fps from my 24" Savage 11 LRH. I used current Speer load data for the 338 Fed and I did not need to exceed their max listed load to achieve these results.

With these velocities, the 200gr Woodleigh will be devastating on elk out to 250 yards, and the more traditional (softer) CnC projectiles will remain effective out to 350-400 yards. Who says the Fed is a short range cartridge?

This powder is worth playing with if you are loading for the Fed. Puts it basically on par with the 338-06 and brings it within 100fps of the 338 RCM.

I dig the cartridge. I've been shooting mine alot over the summer. I settled on Benchmark powder, 210 Partition at 2600, and sub-MOA groups. Even with a crappy BC, the 210 Partition hangs in to 400 easy enough. My main purpose for the cartridge/gun is timber elk. I'm much more likely to shoot one at 400 inches than 400 yards.