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I had a 338 Federal awhile back. I loaded 52gr of Ramshot TAC under the Barnes 160TTSX for 3007fps average and .75" groups! Use a 4" drop tube and crimp with a LEE Factory Crimp Die. Take a couple of sharp knives with you!  OR buy some Federal factory 338 Fed ammo with the 200 Trophy Copper bullet.
Last edited by Jim_Knight; 01/14/20.
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D. None of the above.
165 or 168 gr TTSX at 2700+ fps for an under 300 yard shot.
Bump up to 3,000 fps if you shoot farther.
Happy Trails
Life Member NRA, RMEF, American Legion, MAGA. Not necessarily in that order.
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Which rifle/scope combo is the most reliable about retaining POA/POI? Which rifle do you dread carrying the least?
I can walk on water.......................but I do stagger a bit on alcohol.
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I would choose the rifle I'm most comfortable with and shoot the best.
338 Win Mag 225 grain or more is more than enough gun for any Elk. I've taken a couple with mine. Pretty impressive.
That being said, I'm a 30-06 guy.
Countless animals have fallen to my Model 72 Mannlicher Schonauer 30-06 with 180 grain Barnes Vortex and it has made a believer out of me and a number of my buddies. (The only friends that haven't followed suit, are the guys that think they need Creedmoors and short Mags. Hog Wash I say!)
Black Bear, Caribou, Lion, Eland, Kudu, Wildebeast, Whitetail, Mule Deer, Elk, etc.......A pleasure to shoot, a pleasure to carry, and a treat to look at!
Life is far too short to shoot an ugly gun!
Just the opinion of an opinionated old man!
Last edited by 06hunter59; 01/16/20.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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I’d love to know of those voting, who has used any (or all three) on elk? I have. They all work just fine, but the .338 Federal load just seems to really hammer big bulls. Hmmm, not buying that... a "hammer?"
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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OP
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D. None of the above.
165 or 168 gr TTSX at 2700+ fps for an under 300 yard shot.
Bump up to 3,000 fps if you shoot farther.
Happy Trails Do you have first-hand experience with that load on elk?
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the 165 NP out of your .308 This would be my choice as well.
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
Calm seas don't make sailors.
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D. None of the above.
165 or 168 gr TTSX at 2700+ fps for an under 300 yard shot.
Bump up to 3,000 fps if you shoot farther.
Happy Trails Do you have first-hand experience with that load on elk? Yes, indeed. The TTSX at 2,700 fps for under 300 yards would be about like my .300 Weatherby at 400+. 150 to 168 gr TTSX put them down with one hit. Last 2 hunts = 2 bulls with one hit in the boiler room. I’ve also taken several big Mule deer with 165 TSX out of a .30-06.
Life Member NRA, RMEF, American Legion, MAGA. Not necessarily in that order.
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180 grain bullets out of my 30/06 hasn't ever given me a problem. Never not a good choice. My preferred hunting load in 308 Winchester is a 155 Scenar running 2890 fps. Never let me down yet.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day that a U.S. president would raise an army to invade his own country."
Robert E. Lee
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Cartridge choice is least of your problems when elk hunting. Any 6.5mm to .37 will work just fine. Finding a nice shootable bull, if that is your goal, and hauling him out of no man’s land will test your stamina and skills much more than your worry about use of a .30 cal 165 or 180 Partition or a .33.
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Damn, I was hoping you would all tell me that I needed a 300 Win Short Mag.
For some reason I like shooting the 338 Federal but I have only shot it at a 100 yard rifle range. I just bought it last month. I'll mess with it at 200 and 300 soon. I have not done much reloading but I would have to if I want to use the partition in the 338. The partition factory loads are no longer available in 338 Federal. The Nosler load data shows significantly lower velocities than the factory ammo. That is supposedly the result of proprietary powders but it may be just as much inflated claims by the factory ammo manufacturers.
I really like the 30-06 cartridge for some reason. It is a thing of beauty to me. Some folks find it boring but it appeals to me much more than the 308 Win for some reason despite the longer action. I have the 308 because it was given to me as a gift. Don't get me wrong, I like it but I would trade it for a 30-06 if I had the opportunity. It is a stainless Remington 700 with a Bell and Carlson stock and a Timney trigger. It, along with a couple others, has replaced my 30-06. I don't want to duplicate what I already have but I might eventually pick up a stainless 30-06 (or a coated Browning BAR). However, whenever I get close to doing that, I start think it would make more sense to buy a 300 WSM.
If only I were rich and could just buy them all/ You should sell the 308 that you don't love, as well as the 338 that you aren't sure about its purpose, and buy an all-conditions 30-06 that matches your wood/blue model. Then you have true redundancy ("one is none, two is one") and will become trusting of your overall setups. Shoot the identical good load in both. Stop messing with so many different chamberings/platforms that you don't truly like anyway. The 30-06 is ideal for the hunter.
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my next elk hunt with a rifle i am using will be my Mark 5 in a 338 Lapua > i want horse power to knock a bull down
LIFE NRA , we vote Red up here, Norseman
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I would choose the rifle I'm most comfortable with and shoot the best.
338 Win Mag 225 grain or more is more than enough gun for any Elk. I've taken a couple with mine. Pretty impressive.
That being said, I'm a 30-06 guy.
Countless animals have fallen to my Model 72 Mannlicher Schonauer 30-06 with 180 grain Barnes Vortex and it has made a believer out of me and a number of my buddies. (The only friends that haven't followed suit, are the guys that think they need Creedmoors and short Mags. Hog Wash I say!)
Black Bear, Caribou, Lion, Eland, Kudu, Wildebeast, Whitetail, Mule Deer, Elk, etc.......A pleasure to shoot, a pleasure to carry, and a treat to look at!
Life is far too short to shoot an ugly gun!
Just the opinion of an opinionated old man!
Creedmoors and the like are certainly effective but so are .270s and .30-06s. The problem I see with so called wunder cartridges (Creedmoors come to mind here) is they have a bunch of market hype attached to them and people fall for that, and think they're instant snipers able to take game in the next zip code. A .270 or 06 exceeds 95% of most peoples ability at long range shooting and for most of us should be relegated to the range, not on game. Too many animals are wounded and run off to die a horrible death at the hands of these johnny come lately dummies.
What goes up must come down, what goes around comes around, there's no free lunch. Trump's comin' back, get over it!
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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i want horse power to knock a bull down Good luck with that.
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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i want horse power to knock a bull down Good luck with that. it will be no problem i put a custom brux barrel on this rifle and its a ported barrel, handles for me real easy at my height and weight,its not a smaller person`s type rifle or recoil shy.
LIFE NRA , we vote Red up here, Norseman
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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i want horse power to knock a bull down Good luck with that. it will be no problem i put a custom brux barrel on this rifle and its a ported barrel, handles for me real easy at my height and weight,its not a smaller person`s type rifle or recoil shy. You missed the point...
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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Yep, Pete, you did miss the point. Have seen numerous elk (and similar-sized African plains game, which are supposed to be even tougher) that refused to be "knocked down" by magnum cartridges from .300 caliber on up. In fact, I have friend who once shot a big bull five times with a .340 Weatherby Magnum and premium 250-grain bullets before the elk finally lay down and died.
Am always astounded by big game hunters who believe in "knock-down" power with anything under .40 caliber with 400+ grain bullets--and even then I have seen bigger animals not react much to the shot.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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308 165. I have a hard time finding the value of shooting 180s in a 308.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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I can testify what a 300 mag, 180 gr NPT will do to an elk.
Next opportunity, my .338-06 may get picked. It'll kill'em just as dead and happens to be my current fav rifle. Would probably go with 210 NPT over a serious load of H-380. But, of course, that could change.
DF
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