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Wondering if anyone has shot 250 grain Hornady round nose in their 338 Federal?

Hello Frank,

I'm not a gun writer, but the Speer Hotcore 200 using CFE-223 and 160 Barnes TTSX using A-2230 shoot well out of my Browning A-Bolt.

Would think that heavy a bullet in a small capacity round would be moving pretty slow.

What are you using it for?

DF

What DF said...........Seating depth kills case capacity with heavies.......I even ran 225s in my -06.

IMHO, the 185 Barnes, 200 flat base, and 210 Partition are the sweet spot for the Fed.

I have a 338 Fed and have various 250 gr bullets. I've not tried any 250, mainly because the 210 Partition shoots so well. Even the 185 TTSX eats alot of case capacity due to magazine box length on most rifles. I think the other issue is meeting the velocity envelope of the 250 grain bullets. I'd bet it would be a struggle to reach 2400 ft/sec and 2300 more likely. With the really high BC of round nose bullets (lol), effective yardage would be limited.

I don't even use the 250 in my .338-06, and it has more powder room than the .338 Fed.

Don't neglect the 160 TTSX. That one is very accurate in my .338-06 and cranks along at around 3K fps. Not sure how fast the .338 Fed would push it, but with these new powders, probably pretty fast.

The 160 TTSX, reportedly, has great terminal performance on critters, especially at higher speeds. Have not yet used one on an animal, just reporting what I've heard and read. 180's are also worthy of consideration.

To me, it's not too unlike the .308, 30-06 comparison. The .308 and '06 perform pretty close with lighter bullets, the bigger round pulls away with heavies.

DF

Hodgdon doesn't even publish data for a 250 grain bullet in the .338 Federal......but I suspect you already know that. I'd suggest the 185 Barnes as a substitute.....it's one impressive amount of work in a short cartridge.

I have loaded for both the 338-06 and 338 FED a bit. I have settled on the 210 grain Partition for both, as it provides the balance of accuracy, penetration, and velocity potential that I'm looking for. I have looked at moving to the 200 grain AB in the 338 FED, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I live and play in northwest Wyoming. Maybe you’ve heard we’re rather overstocked with grizzlies. I black bear hunt in Montana simply because black bears aren’t common any more between wolves and grizzlies. I don’t shoot much beyond two hundred and fifty yards. I believe momentum is important on bears.
I shoot 200 grain partitions in my 06’s and 308s. 2400 fps and up with good long case life. The 338 Federal equals my 308 loads with a 200 grain bullet. Like I stated, I have lots of 250 Hornady round nose bullets. If they could be loaded to 2400 fps that would be a marvelous load.

If penetration is what you desire, you may want to do actual penetration tests with bullets like the Barnes 185 TTSX, even the 160 TTSX. Could be interesting. I'm asking if a faster, lighter mono will out penetrate a slower RN C&C bullet.

200 NPT's in .30 cal are known to penetrate very well, better than some larger caliber bullets, based on actual tests.

IMO, go with test results. They may not be what you think.

DF

That'd be worth putting a pile of water jugs out! I am betting that a 185 TTSX is going to get as deep as anything Hornady..

"That'd be worth putting a pile of water jugs out! I am betting that a 185 TTSX is going to get as deep as anything Hornady.."

I haven't tried a Hornady, but the 185 TTSX out penetrated 210 PT's out of my .338-06.
This was in milk jugs, so take that for what it's worth.

I have put three of them through a moose shoulder from a 338RCM, 2 exits, 1 in under the skin on the far side. I wouldn't be overly concerned with penetration

Peanut butter on toast. I know that has nothing to do with the question you asked, but then neither do 90% of the replies.

I've got a couple of boxes with old Brownell catalogs, gun magazines stacked vertically and tied together, waiting for an opportunity to test bullet penetration. Some claim that is preferable to water jugs.

DF

I shoot the 160 TTSX in my 338 Win Mag. Really accurate, easy on shoulder. Plenty good for Whitetail and piggies.

How fast and what kinda terminal performance are you seeing?

DF

I looked at the data I have and 2400 is a push with the 225. The 250 is going to be slower yet. The 160TTSX and the 185 T/TSX shoot very well in my Sako and penetration is not an issue. I harvested a 150 pound whitetail with the 160 TTSX the deer was shot through the neck into the body penetrating hide 3 times and ended up in its hip after penetrating about 30" from 125 or so yards away. The load was 49 grains of 8208 which from memory is a full grain shy of max.

I really like the 160 if bears were on the menu I would use the 185. The 210 NPT was easy to get to shoot well and that would be the heaviest bullet I would utilize in the 338F.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

I don't have one. The Powley computer reckons 2250 fps from 24" and QuickLoad figures a little over 2300. Beats me if that will be enough speed for your needs.

I have not found the extra initial diameter of .33-caliber bullets results in significantly more expanded diameter than .30 caliber bullets. This is from measuring the expanded diameter of a BUNCH of bullets recovered from big game from both calibers. The size of holes made by bullets is what kills big game, not theory--or depth of penetration in water-filled jugs.

Had a .338 Federal for a while, and observed some others used on big game. Could not see any difference in how it killed big game compared to the .30-06, which isn't amazing since they both get about the same muzzle velocity with similar bullet weights. That said, it works as well as the .30-06 when good bullets are put in the right place.