Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 338-06 & Barnes 160’s

I normally hunt elk with a 338 win mag and 225 Barnes, Nosler partitions or Accubond. I like the 225’s. A buddy of mine mentioned using a 338-06 and 160 grain Barnes TTSX for his young daughter to hunt with this upcoming season. He said velocity is over 3100 so it should penetrate, or so it would seem. I just thing a 185 might be a better choice even though it’s slower, but the issue is availability. He said shots will be less than 300 and it’s his opinion/choice. What do you guys think about that combination. I know elk are being killed with 6.5 manbuns, but I just have a hard time thinking it’s fair to the animal. I want a clean humane shot and a quick kill if possible. I prefer too much ‘gun’ as opposed to just enough. I wanted to hear some thoughts from this group to see if maybe I’m overthinking it.

Just me but I wouldn't sweat the 160 myself. They're going to hold onto most of their weight during penetration and open reliably in the speeds you mentioned.

Lotta dead elk from 160gr cup and core 7mm bullets. A 338 mono should be just fine.

We're never fair to them. The 6.5 creedmoor and 6.5x47 kill them just fine thanks. And funny, past 300 yards too.

Yea, sure.

I use them in a 338 Win mag. Accurate, kills hell out of pigs. I’d think they would be fine.

A guy I used to work with uses the 160 Barnes out of a 338 WM in his Browning. I know he's killed at least three bull elk and several mule deer with this combination. All one shot kills. At under 300 yards I'd be confident. Please report back after the season with results.

Physics being physics, a 160 grain bullet shot at 3100 fps may be a little rough on the young daughter. But some are tougher than others for sure. Hope it works well.

This is a premium 6.5 bullet shot at 2700 fps. Recovered after busting both shoulders on a bull elk at 400 yards. There was no blood trail needed.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I think he’s putting a brake on it for her, not sure. She is pretty good about recoil, or has been up to this point with a 20 gauge shotgun. I am impressed. With the 6.5 bullet, I know the Swedes have been killing big game for a while with the 6.5x55. I just wanted to stir the pot a bit, lol. Each hunter knows his limitations and I know guys who can hit further out then me with their rifles. My limits are 400 yards with my 338 win mag and that’s self imposed.

She'll do well I am sure. Good to get the kids out.

The 160 TTSX was my fav .338-06 bullet.

No longer have that rifle. But that bullet made a great load, fast and deadly.

DF

I think it was written back in the day Coni Brooks of Barnes Bullets used a 160 Barnes out of a 338 for darned near everything.

Am I the only one that thinks over 3100 fps with a 160 gr TTSX bullet is really fast from an '06 case? 26" barrel?

Nosler shows a 180 doing 2990 out of a 24". Guessing you can push one that fast. I tend towards slower and sleeker but I've been told it doesn't work.

I’ve got a box that I had loaded up with 160gr TSX at 3150 from my 20” 338wm. I don’t know why since I’m not a speed freak and I generally prefer heavier bullets but I don’t think there’s many animals alive that can survive a well placed 160gr TSX doing 3150. I’ll have to give it a try sometime on a Blacktail.

I load the 160 TTSX in my 338 Federal for elk, never shot one though. But I have done a lot of reading online before I decided to use that combination and all the reports were positive that it had no problem putting down elk. It should be fine in 338-06, just have to watch the distance as the low BC will bleed off energy faster than a sleeker bullet.

I get 2900 fps from a 200 grain Hornady SP and RL-15 from my .338-06. The Barnes manual has 3100 fps with the 06, and 3000 fps with the Federal. Hogdon doesn't quite show 3000 fps with the Federal, but has several powders 3100+ in the 06. The .338-06 isn't a slouch with 225 and 250 grain bullets either.

I am not trying to make an argument here, just asking...but for many, many years the old hunter/writers seemed to credit high sectional density bullets as necessary factor in cleanly killing big game. Not many years back the thought of using, for instance, a 130 grain bullet in the '06 for big game would have raised eyebrows. A 160 in a .34 also seems like an awful low sectional density (haven't looked it up). Has SD been discounted as a factor in killing power?

I’d like to have a 338-06, be a fine pig killer

I think mono metal bullets have changed the game with 100% weight retention. They'll penetrate as well as higher SD bullets, that shed mass on impact.

Not sure how old the young daughter is or what her physical stature is. My young daughter is 27 and she loves shooting and hunting. So some of this may depend on age and size of the girl.

338-06 shooting a 160 at 3100 fps, assuming an 8.5 pound rifle.
13.2 recoil velocity
22.3 foot pounds of recoil

6.5 any cartridge shooting a 140 at 2700 fps, assuming same 8.5 pound rifle.
9.6 recoil velocity
12.2 foot pounds of recoil

Both cartridges completely adequate for elk under the OP mentioned 300 yards or less. I know which one my daughter would be wanting to shoot and practice with.

Dober nudges me now and again to run the 120 TTSX at pretty blazing speeds from a Mashburn or Rem Mag. Swears it’ll knock critters on their chin and I have nothing but full on respect for his experience in those regards cause he’s likely done it more than once!

I think SD meant something related to confidence in penetration, and retained weight back when everything was a relatively simple non-bonded cup and core bullet.

With the advent of core-jacket bonding, multi-core and mono-metal bullets the SD means nothing these days as a way to compare a 200gn bullet.

Those who have used them in a 30/06 know that a 200gn mono will penetrate and retain almost all of it's weight, a bonded bullet will usually end up under the skin on the off side, but still at >80% weight, a simple cup and core will frag and be at ~65% weight, and a match type bullet (VLD-H type) would penetrate a couple of inches and frag massively. Yet as a 200gn 30cal bullet, they ALL have the same SD.

Hey Beretzs "I think it was written back in the day Coni Brooks of Barnes Bullets used a 160 Barnes out of a 338 for darned near everything".

I think Connie also used a 185 grain X bullet in Africa for a pretty impressive string of one shot kills. I watched her on TV take a 400 yard shot on a really big Mule deer.

I have been using some variety of the X bullet since they first came out. But went from the 250 grain to the 225 TTSX in my .338 and 200 grain to 168 TTSX in my 30-06. I loaded up some 210 TTSX for my manly grandson for our big moose and gave him a 338-06.

We rarely shoot past 150 yards on moose or bears. Caribou can be a bit of a stretch on open tundra.

Yes, SD has its place for big game. But you really need to have different recommended SD for cup/core and copper bullets (and maybe tough bonded cup and core bullets). If a 338, 200gr cup and core bullets retain 65% of its weight during penetration, it ends up at 130gr. A 160gr copper bullet will retain 95%+ of its weight during penetration, so it ends up at 152gr, heavier than the 200gr cup and core bullet. That's why you can drop down in weight when shooting a copper bullet. In my 7mm08 I shoot a 120gr TTSX, in a cup/core bullet most shoot a 140gr. After many deer and hogs (all one shoot drops), I never recovered a TTSX.

I've never recovered a core lokt.

For the young girl. 7mm-08 and 140gr Partition. A .260rem or 6.5CM and 140 partitions as well. BTDT. Recent purchase 7mm-08 and 6.5cm like the 120gr TTSX alot at near 3000fps.

Barnes manual shows 3250fps out of a 25" barrel with two different powders.

I would have zero issues using a 160gr mono out of a 338-06 at 3100fps on elk.
Although my preference is 200-210gr out of my 338-06's. I have some 160's on the shelf, but have not loaded any yet.

I'd hunt with 200-210 in my 338-06. I have a good load using the 225 grain Partition; I have used this load on a moose in BC only took one round.

My granddaughter hunts with a 270 and a 130 tipped Bear Claw. She weighs about 105 lbs. that 338-06 with a break should be fine, best not forget ear plugs before you light it off. I forgot to wear plugs with a 300 Win Mag Kleinguenther. My right ear rang for two days. I jumped a pig, hit him on the run, but I think I hurt as bad as he did. I sold that rifle as soon as I got back home. I will never own another with a brake.

You see, the problem with "too much gun" is the fact it's too much for you, not the elk. You won't practice. You will flinch. You will be knocked off target upon breaking the shot. You will ask yer "pard", did i hit it jerry?"

Or you could be "under gunned".....practice all off season, no flinching, and you'll be able to spot your hits (or misses). And kill the schiet out of elk.

If you've never seen what a 140 or 147eldm does to an elk, I get the ignorance. Trust me, they work.

I will report back how the 6mm creed with 105bthp or 108eldm work on elk. As that will be my elk rifle and bullet combo this year

Have a pretty good idea how it will do. If I get a chance to use some 95 vld will post that as well.

I’ve only killed two elk but both were with a 180 Accubond out of 338Fed doing 2700fps. The first bull was a high shoulder shot at 200 yards and the bullet penetrated both shoulders and exited, leaving beautiful round holes through both shoulder blades, close to 2x the original bullet diameter. That bull fell instantly.

The second bull was a frontal shot at about 100 yards through the neck, breaking the spine and spinning the bull’s head around close to 360 degrees by the time he hit the ground. Another instant kill.

Given that the 160TTSX is a mono and will retain essentially all of its original weight, I would have no qualms about using it on elk.

Now the recoil is another story. As stated above the brake will help, but muzzle blast can induce a flinch just like recoil can. The child needs to be able to shoot whatever she’s hunting with, so a smaller cartridge would be my pick so the young lady can get a chance to shoot it and become skilled with it rather than develop a flinch or any other bad habits.

I have been lucky enough to take two elk with my .338-06AI, both were with 185 gr. TTSX, neither took a step.

My elk hunting days are done, and I have moved down to the 160 gr. for a little less recoil. I would not be afraid to take them back to Montana.

This

Too many pieces to look for?




Sorry, couldn't resist! 😄

Powder Valley has 160 and 185 TTSX on sale right now for those interested.