Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Winchester Classic accuracy

I paid too much on a LH 338 Win Mag that I had to have as my Grail Gun. It's not very accurate at all. I've pulled it from the back of the safe and rotated it once again to the back every few years. I save all of my targets and data. There were a few glimpses of hope with of all things Barnes 210 TTSX. But even bedded, barrel channel relieved, upgraded to a one piece bottom metal with even pressure tightening....it's less than consistent.

I dug through a box of odds and ends and found some 225 Partitions. Attempting to breath one last shot of life into the rifle....I loaded two batches at 74 and 75 of H4831SC. They actually did alright. Nothing super tight and cloverleaf...but hovering around MOA and change.

This was to be my Africa rifle. And if I sell my home as expected, the funds to go will be in pocket. My tossed around idea was to McWoody the thing after a Bartlein barrel swap. Essentially throwing away everything factory, save the backward action. If I could consistently get 1.25 MOA out of it...with no wonky Flyers....I'd consider running it As Is.

I much prefer longer range shooting and participate in several shoots locally. So I am very familiar with all the nerdy ES, SD, neck bushing dies (which I have a great set of Comp dies in 338, but nothing seemed to help). And the Now/Wow sexy, sleek bullets. Of which the 225 Partition is not one of them. I've used many Barnes bullets and many Accubombs throughout my hunts. Never a Partition that I recall. I fully believe that they are still a great bullet even with the advancement of modern technology. Basically...they are no longer "Cool".

Inquiring if this rifle will shoot Partitions....does that show a Trend? to point toward other similar bullets it will shoot well? $54 a box of 50 is nowhere near the Accubond price (which would have been my 1st choice for All Around...but it surprisingly does not shoot them nearly as well as these two groups I've seen with Partitions). Just Suck it Up and load them up? Cuz this isn't going to be one of my many Fun guns.....it's just gonna be a rarely shot Work Horse to dump 5-7 head of game and fly home?

When I read this, all I'm seeing is I gave up on my fn Winchester 338wm and deemed it "inaccurate". You also loaded up 2 different charge weights a grain apart thinking you were going to find an accuracy node? You also pay "$54.00/box of 50" for partitions? Damn someone could sell you the golden gate bridge or ocean front property in Montana.... All of my classics have shot lights out, but you have to be willing to work up a load. There's a hint in there, where I said "work up a load".. These rifles also need to be properly glass bedded and freefloated. Triggers are exceptionally easy to fine tune as well... You don't need those fancy die sets to get your 338 to shooting well either.. Just sayin..

Should I be tuned in for Sarcasm? As Larry P. has the above Partitions for $57.99 per box vs my local source priced from this evening at $54. "But even bedded, barrel channel relieved, upgraded to a one piece bottom metal with even pressure tightening....it's less than consistent. " Barreled action has been bedded and barrel channel fully relieved of contact.

The "treasure trove" box of remaining 225 Partitions held 8 bullets....I loaded 3 at each charge 74 and 75. And found some promise with either charge weight.

GFY

Jesse, so I’ve yet to see a decent 338 that wouldn’t shoot well with RL19 and 210, 225 and 250 Partitions. Lately I’ve been really lucky with RL17 and the same weight bullets.

Here is what I would do since you are tuned it. Load a 225 Partition or Accubond or whatever bullet you prefer to use .025 off the lands, start at whatever speed you’d be happy to hunt with and load progressively higher charges .2 at a time till you get to max FPS. One shot a piece is all you’ll need. Record your speeds per charge. Find where pressure flattens out. Once you have that node load 6 of them, try them on paper and see what your groups look like. Tweak seating as necessary.

Before you do any of that, address the scope and mounts and be sure you’ve got solid mounts, bases and an optic you know is good and holds zero.

Saying all that, it’s a 10 dollar barrel on the Classic so it’s possible you got a stinker but I’d try that method before you can it. These days I won’t mess with a super picky barrel myself. But I will try a few methodical things before I deem the rifle not fit for duty. Also, check your rounds for concentricity as well. If they are crooked then no trick moves are going to make banana shaped rounds shoot well. Good luck.

Oh and BSA meant paying full price for Nosler stuff kinda stinks and Shooters Pro shop will usually require 1/2 as much output of cash.

225 Partitions are out of stock. And I never understood why when the bullet is the most critical part of the entire equation.....why even consider Blemished? Possibly when shooting a handgun only for training purposes, then maybe. But for checking for utmost accuracy, why start with a fuggd up bullet?

They aren’t messed up at all Jesse. Most of the time they are just overruns. Meaning they made a billion for Federal and have a few thousand left over from the production run so they wanna get rid of them.

Blems May have a crimping groove or similar but I’ve not found any reason not to shoot them. I understand what you’re saying but in about 15 years of using them I can’t detect any inaccuracies with them, to include every weight of 338 bullet you mentioned and a bunch more.

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Agree with beretzs on the Nosler seconds. They are, I do beleive to be just as affective in both accuracy and terminal performance as anything Nosler sells. I've only harvested Big game up to Moose with them.... Please don't tell the moose that! 210-225gr NPT with RL19 would be the absolute first place I would start.

Good Luck