Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting What bullet in 338-06?

Hi all,
If I were hunting Elk with a 338-06 and couldn’t find any Nosler 210gr Partitions, what bullet would you recommend?
I have a few hundred 225gr Accubonds I use in my 338WM, but prefer not to use them in anything else.
Would a 200gr Accubond @ 2750fps fill the bill?
I have been invited to hunt Wapiti (Elk) in New Zealand and would like some opinions. Not interested in Hornady bullets, can’t get Speer bullets either, which I would choose next to a Partition. The Hot Cor is a good bullet too.
Any advice welcomed.

Cheers.

I've always leaned toward a Hornady 225 SP.... not sure if they make those anymore... I got a big stash for a cheap price years ago, so I've still been going thru those....

if not, I'd switch over to a Nosler 225 gr Partition...

210 TTSX would be my choice for sure

Several good choices here especially the Hornady 225 interlock. The last loads I carried in the 338-06 for elk were the scirocco IIs.
Les

I noticed some 210 grain partitions for sale in the classifieds just this past week.

I’d use the 200 grain Accubonds all day long myself. It’s worked well on elk here in my 338.

I’m sure a 200 AB would be great as would a 180 AB. A 185 mono would also work well, however I’ve only seen 185 GMX available at the moment and you stated you weren’t interested Hornady. I’d also suggest either the 180 or 200 Woodleigh.

The 200 grain .338 Nosler Ballistic Silvertip is one with the heavier jackets, which per Mule Deer, maintains around 2/3s of its weight. I believe his testing with bullets recovered have verified that. This is supposed to make it perform very similar to a Partition. It should be at least on par with the 200 AB.

Look harder for 210 grain NPT's visit SPS 2 times a week until they have them. You asked

this

I had a .338-06 years ago and shot my first bull elk with it in 1991. When doing load development, the first and only bullet I tried was the 225 grain Hornady. It shot so accurately, I saw no need to use anything else. I loaded to around 2600 fps with IMR4320. Shortly after, this powder became impossible to find for a long time. I switched to IMR4064 and results were the same, in fact the powder charge was very close. I realize you don't like Hornady bullets, but they may be worth trying.

Too many to choose from.

160 TTSX would be Da bomb.

PM sent

185 gr TTSX killed springbok to Eland for me

I’ve had good results from the 185 TTSX and 210 Swift Scirocco. Plenty of others I’d trust to do the job but these I’ve personally used.

Hornady 200 grain Interlock does awesome on elk, always seemed to shoot a little flatter than what it should have also. If I recall Steve Timm also said the 200 Speer Hot Cor worked really well too.

185 TTSX

160 TTSX - elk hate them!

Ive used 200 and 225 Hornady thru the 338RCM. They will smash elk sized animals fine. I wouldnt overthink it. Just get a bullet 200+ gr in the 338-06 and shoot an elk. I purchased lotsnof 225gr Hornady SST and Speer hot cores and they work. Nosler works fine. Your moving a bit more diameter, weight, and mass than the smallbore 6.5 and 270 guys and velocity is more moderate. This works in your favor to allow forgiving performance over a wide range of bullets. You dont need premiums to kill an elk with a good 338-06.