Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 338 Federal - 160 gr vs 210 gr

Maybe a better question is "Why not shoot both 160 and 210?".
If a dude has a certain cartridge he is loading for what is the sense of asking him why he is not shooting a different bullet in a different caliber? Seems irrelevant.
If a guy wants to shoot 165s in a 308 he'd be doing it. In fact, I've done it myself.

Sorry to steal this thread for a brief second, but I feel this question could benefit Fed owners.

How well do you think a 225gr Woodleigh & Interbond would work compared to the 185gr TSX?


Cheers,
340

I've considered that same question. Some say it'll go over 2400fps with 225 cup-n-core slugs. May be good for dark timber elk inside 75yds.
Should be about 200yds behind the 338WM.
I've had good results with factory loads with the 185TSX bullet, have some 225 cheapos on hand to play with so may find out how the comparo works out.

Hmmmmmm all sounds interesting alright.

I'm having a Fed built up ATM. That's why I'm so curious.
The Fed sure does look like a neat little thumper!

Gotta have some details. ATM? Action, barrel, length,etc.

Pre-64, LS Lothar Walther, 22", stock scrapped back matte oiled finish, rebedded, metal-work smoothed out & reblued(matte), mag-box opened up, trigger tweaked, Williams one-piece floorplate & triggerguard, Pachmayr, Leupold QR bases, low rings & Vx11 2-7x33.

Sounds like a good layout.
As an old retired military friend says, "That'll be approved".

You're laughing with the long mag box. Should be able to load any .338 bullet up to at least 250gr, without losing case capacity.

Nice setup!

Hopefully I get a 3" mag-box, but I also must make sure the throat gels.
Should be a real little performer if all goes to plan.
I will also try a 250gr Woodleigh. This combo is getting 2481fps out of the Ruger HE from reports. 47gr of Varget or IMR4064 with a compressed load.

ALWAYS START AT LEAST 10% LOWER! Every rifle is different.

Jeff,
Your comments on using a Model 7 prompted me to respond here.
I, too, have a Model 7 (KS), though not a 358 or a 338 fed, but a 350 Rem Mag.
I've played around with diferent loads/bullets and pretty well thought that 2650 fps (225 grain Nosler or TSX) was about all I could squeeze out of it's 20" barrel.
Then I tried Ramshot TAC with a 225 TSX. 62 grains of TAC is giving an honest 2773 fps(!!!) with extreme spreads of less than 10 fps and great accuracy. (This load is right out of Barnes' new manual).
This stuff seems to overcome the case capacity issue, at least in the 350. It may well work wonders in your 358 (or 338 Fed).

-Mike-

I read an article once where an Alaskan guide was running through the list of bullet weights he recommended for the caliber of rifle his clients planned on using on their hunts.
Top to bottom on the list, he invariably recommened the heaviest bullet in each caliber, Except in the .338's..he didnt go 225, 250 etc, he recomended the 210 partition and went on to sing the praises of this magical bullet..when that article was written,he was likely referencing .338 win or .340 wby on heavy game and the barnes werent available...I do know thats what I chose to shoot in my .340 and it was fantastic from coyotes to elk, from 75yds to one very lucky 700+yd shot...I think I would agree with Bill N's statement if you feel the likelyhood that bullet trajectory is a likely concern in the country you will be hunting.

todbartell,

160 in a heart beat!

Gmoney: "I'd go 210....

If I wanted to shoot a 160'ish projectile I'd run a plain .308.

40 yards closer to "drop" the same is jack...

My worthless opinion of course...grin..."


What he said...

MickeyD, thanks for the info!

IMHO, a flatter trajectory is the wrong reason to run a bullet as short/light as a .33/160 grn. Trajectory can easily be compensated for in this modern age. I dunno, with this season's batch of TSX failures coming in... Were I running a 338 Fed I'd load it with the proven 210 Partition and just go hunting.

A simple elevation turret or ranging reticle would get you out to 400 yards with that bullet anyways. If I can do that with my .358... Then it's not that hard <g>. Cause I'm not that good.

You're quite right about the .33/160 bullet. To me a bullet that light, especially for elk, belongs in either a 7MM or a .30, NOT a 338, not that the 160 won't kill an elk but it would be damned hard to argue against the 210 Nosler Partition for use in the 338 Fed.

I've been using Nosler Partitions in all my rifles (6MM, 270, 284, 7mm Rem, 308, 30-06, 8MM Rem, 338 Win Mag, 340 WBY, 350 Rem Mag)since the early 70's and have never been anything but very impressed with how they work. Small hole in, MASSIVE damage to the clock work, small hole out. All this with great penetraion that has me beliveing that they will work under virtually any/all conditions---everytime! Don't know if it can get any better.

Recently I started playing with the TSX's. They seem to shoot very well in my rifles, but I have taken too few animals with them to be able to say if they offer any improvement over the Noslers.

I think all this lighter/faster bullet stuff on bigger animals (elk and up), esp.something like a .33/160---man, that is light!, is going to wind up letting people down in adverse conditions. Light and fast will almost certainly work well on good broadside shots, but you can't count getting that kind of opportunity. Plan and prepare for the worst and the ordinary stuff becomes easy.

Just my $.02

-Mike-

Light and fast works well on broadside shots.....and any other shot when the bullet holds together and penetrates like a TSX...

Perhaps, but like I said, I have too little field experience witht he TSX's to KNOW if they offer anything above the Nosler Partitions.

Also, with the 338 Fed we are dealing with a short action case that MAY be somewhat challenged when it comes to case capacity. As such, can we really say that it will be fast enough to make the lighter bullets (TSX's) work as well or any better than a heavier Nosler Partition? From everything I have read it seems that TSX's really benefit from very high velocity.

This all speaks to my limited experience with the TSX and nearly 40 years of using the NP. I do not KNOW that a .33/160 would be the BEST match in the 338 Fed for use on elk, but from my experience I do KNOW that the 210 Nosler will work quite well, and I think, better. Could I be wrong? Yep!

JB mentioned earlier that he had a friend who used the lighter bullet on moose and came away feeling that he would have been better served with a heavier bullet.

Will the 33/160 work on elk? Certainly. Is it the BEST option available for the 338 Fed? In my mind, probably not.

As always, you pays your money and you takes your chances........

In this situation I would opt for the heavier bullet.

-Mike-

I think it bears mentioning that Utah708 recovered TWO .33-cal TSX's from his bull elk this year. And they were 210-gn TSX's and were launched from the much more powerful .338 Win Mag. If someone wants to make the case that a 160 TSX from a 338 Fed is gonna out-penetrate a 210 TSX from a .338... Let's hear it!

However good the TSX is or isn't, it isn't magic. I have not looked up the BC of that bullet, but it cannot be good. So (gack alert) it's gonna drift around in wind rather badly. It's also going to shed it's energy rather quickly. Both those things work against whatever perceived value the 160 might offer as far as a flatter trajectory- and trajectory is the one thing we can predict, test, and compensate for anyway.

And I say, anyone who is gonna try to make this case needs to have us pass them the munchies cause they on some really good stuff!!!

Dober

Barnes claims the BC of the 160TTSX is .342. That places it right between the 257/100NP and the 264/100NP. Not too bad ballistically.
But then I'd NEVER try and shoot an elk with a 257/100 or a 6.5/100 of any construction. Even if started at the magic 3000fps.