Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

I was suprised a bullet I assume was designed for the 338 win mag would blow up at 338 fed velocitys too. It has been by far the most accurate bullet so far. I should try the TTSX bullet, everyone raves about the accuracy/performance, but for some reason I like lead in my bullets, but this could be a case where everyone may be right. Going to commit sacrilege here and say that have never been impressed with the partition bullet, in my humble opinion it leaves a narrow wound channel. Wanted to try the 4895, but when first started reloading for this caliber the gunshop was out of it and the varget has been so accurate with the SST that feel it should work, will try 4895 soon. I also feel the 200gr weight is ideal for the 338 fed, plus would give same point of impact as the 200gr fusion which I believe will be an ideal deer bullet. Wanted to use the trophy bonded tip bullet, but last price I saw was unbelievable, could buy premium factory ammo cheaper than could reload with them. The Sirocco is on my list of bullets to try, wish they made a swift A-frame in 200 gr weight. Originally saw this caliber as a way to have a light rifle, but am now totally impressed with it, excellant balance of power, accuracy and light weight with very low recoil.

Not sure what price you saw, Midway lists the 200gn Trophy Bonded Tips (bullets only) for $29.99 for a box of 50. That's not too bad. Of course they're not available yet...

I had good luck with both H4895 and AA2015 pushing the 200grn Hdy ILs and 200NBTs. I've been tinkering with the 160TTSX and I4198 lately. The 160s shoot descent(around MOA), but I'm only getting around 2700 thus far with I4198 and I'm not sure about them expansion wise at extended(200+)ranges.

My 338 fed is a T3 with a ridiculously short mag length. With the 200s 2015 was my best combo for the short mag length, but H4895 was the winner when changing to a longer mag and LA bolt stop. May have to give R15 a try as well.

I've shot deer and pigs with 185 TSX and 200 gr Hornady Interlocks, and they are both working very well. I'm running between 200 and 300 fps higher velocity with them in the .338 RCM vs the .338 Fed -- but the result seems to be the same. The Hornady bullet is quite reasonably priced, and seems to be working very well when started between 2550-2650 fps (two different .338 Feds) and 2850'ish fps (.338 RCM).

I'll be very interested to see the new results and the new powders, but I'm pleased enough with Re 15 to keep after it for the moment.

DN

Reloader7RM, you may want to try TAC. It is extremely fine and dense and thus does not take a lot of volume. I am running the 185 TTSX at 2.88, but it could go much shorter. I can even get the 210 Scirocco II down to 2.83 with 47gr of TAC, and do so with no problem. The other powder that looks very interesting in the 338 Fed is 8208 XBR. Very similar book performance to TAC and a reputation for extreme temp stability (TAC may be very stable too, I don't know for sure). I received a response regarding my email to Alliant about the Power Pro powder. It is 2000MR, and he said they don't have any loads for the 338 Fed and are working on getting it to market. Don't know where the loads on Loaddata.com came from.

Look on page 89 in the link below. It's from the Alliant website. A 225 gr Fusion at 2600 fps looks really promising.

http://glarp.atk.com/2010/2010_Catalogs/AlliantPowderReloadersGuide.pdf

I loaded some 200 SST and 200 Interlock with TAC. I'm trying them this weekend. I stopped trying to find a load for the 215 Sierra when I couldn't get it to expand on water jugs during bullet testing. It hit water jugs at over 2400 FPS. The bullet on the right is a 200 gr Fusion. It expanded nicely and weighed 167 grains. It was going muzzle velocity and expanded nicely without over expanding.

Getting a 225 to 2625 is essentially matching a 338-06. That 215 GK ought to penetrate well! May not do as much damage as desired though. Think I'll stay away from that with the Fed.

Yes, I was very surprised it didn't expand until I saw how thick the jacket is at the tip. Sierra recommends it for the 338 Mag. It's clearly built very tough.

Can you provide some details on you SST test? The bullet was designed for the 338 RCM so I thought it would be good for the Federal. I would love to hear more about your results before I spend too much time working up loads for it.

Tested SST and Accubond shooting into milk jugs filled with water at 10yds, both in the 200gr weight. Both stopped in the 5th jug, the SST seperated jacket/core with the lead shank much shorter that the jacket which I believe means it slipped earlier in the process of penetrating. Accubond had a perfect mushroom with good post behind it. Tested the 225 Accubond today, made it to the 7th jug with same perfect performance. Unable to test for accuracy as range was in use for training, will do that sun. Load was 46gr of Varget, estimating 2500 FPS. Now that have made the move to 225's have opened up a lot of bullet choices, next plan to try the Swift A-frame and Hornady Interbond.

Thanks for sharing. I tested a few bullets in the 257 Roberts and the 110 Accubond really performed nicely. Shot it in to water jugs at around 2800 Fps. It penetrated to the 5th jug and weighed a little over 70 grains with a perfect mushroom. I'm starting to think the Accubonds are the way to go.

Found some phone books and decided to shoot some bullets into them and see what happens. No worries, I'm not implying a phone book is the same as an animal, just something to do. Anyway, I shot the 225 Accubond, 215 Gameking and 200 CT (Ballistic Silvertip) out of the 338-06 and the 185 TTSX, 210 Scirocco II and 200 SST out of the 338 Fed. I did not recover a 215 Gameking. They hit the phone books at 2600+ and did not expand. Rather, they left a .338" hole through 4 thick phone books and kept on going. The 225 AB (~2650) went through all four, but just barely. The 200 CT came apart and penetrated the least of all (including all 338 Fed bullets). For the 338 Fed, the 200 SST came apart and penetrated just a touch more than the 200 CT out of the -06. The 210 Scirocco II and the 185 TTSX came just short of penetrating all four. I started with the 338 Fed, so the -06 bullets had a bit easier time as the books started to get beat up. All in all, very impressed with the TTSX, Accubond and Scirocco. Since they were my go-to bullets anyway I'm pleased.
Recovered Weights:
225 AB (2650fps) - 188.4grs
200 CT (2790) - 102grs
210 SC II (2570) - 161.2grs
200 SST (unk fps, but guess 2590ish) - 72.6grs
185 TTSX (2750) - 183.8grs

Thanks for sharing your results. I'm still trying to get Hornadys to shoot out of my 338 Federal. I might stop trying to find a load for the SST based on your results. In general, do you find your groups are better when COL is longer? I started at 2.82 but am starting to move it out. I just loaded some SST and Interlocks to 2.86 and will test tomorrow. I also ordered 2 boxes of Partitions seconds. I'm glad I'm not the only one that couldn't get the 215 Sierra to expand out of the Federal. That is one tough bullet.

I'm using TAC and 2230. Any good recipes for either of those powders?

Quick clarification, the 215 Gameking was being shot out of a 338-06 and didn't expand. It hit the phone books about 10' after going through the chrono at 2620 FPS. Based on the hole it left, it looked just like the picture you have above. As for length, it's a mixed bag. The 185 TTSX shoots great at 2.88, which is mag length in my Ruger, and equates to .053 off. That's the first place I tried and it works well so I haven't tried anythingelse with the 185 TTSX. The 210 Scirocco II shoots very well at 2.827 which is .025 off. It did not shoot well when I first tried it. I switched from BR2 primers to a 215M primer just to try things and it now shoots consistently .5" groups. I tried 2.84 and the groups were much larger again. I shot the 200 SST at 2.88 (.033 off) and it shot terrible. I loaded up more at 2.82 to see what would happen, but ended up shooting them offhand/kneeling, etc, as they are not going to be a hunting bullet.

All my good 338 Fed loads are using TAC right now. I will try the Alliant 2000MR with 200 Trophy Bonded Tips once it's all available.

185 TTSX - 48.5 TAC - Fed Brass - BR2 - 2.88 (-.053) - 2725 FPS
210 Sc II - 46 TAC - 308 Lapua Brass - 215M - 2.827 (-.025) - 2560-2570 FPS

Thanks. Shooters Pro Shop has 210 Partitions 2nds available for $19.70. I picked up 2 boxes.

Just realized I had the Scirocco II and Accubond reversed in the picture above, and the retained weight. Forum won't let me update that post for some reason. So here's an updated version.

PRM,

I just ordered to 185TTSX. I'm going to try them and the 210 partitions. I think I'm giving up on the SST. I don't know why I even tried them. I couldn't get them to shoot consistently in my 257 Roberts or 308. I can't seem to get much better than 2 inches in the Fed. Plus, they have failed 2 bullet tests on this thread with jacket separation at 338 Fed velocities. I'm still fooling around with the 200 Interlocks because they are more consistent and they are starting to shrink a little. I'm averaging around 1.8 with the last batch using aa-2230. I'll try them with TAC. The rifle will shoot a MOA with factory fusions so I know it shoots.

Thanks for the posts. I find them very helpful since I'm just starting load development on my Federal.

Take Care.

Saw the 200gr Trophy bonded tipped bullet in cabela's recently, approx 48.00 for 25!

Are they making them with gold instead of lead? Seriously, no way I'd pay that much. I saw Midway is listing them for $29.99 for 50 but it's coming soon so who knows.

Somebody read their pricing book wrong. One of the gun shops near me has a single box of 338 Fed Fusion Ammo and they want something like $58. Someday I'm going to tell them that is very wrong and will never sell.