Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Need 338-06 load recommendation for black bear

I have found the 338-06 easy to find a combo that shoots well enough to kill a bear at 75 yards. Pour in some random powder, find a bullet off the floor and that combo probably will shoot well.

at that distance you could set it up like its historical progenitor, the redoubtable 318 WR and send a 250 gr RN bullet out at a sedate 2400 fps and you'd have something else on your hands!

Could you call it a .318 WR Improved? :o)

Or just call it what it is - a heavy for caliber projectile fired at moderate velocity yielding excellent penetration.

225gr Accubonds or TTSX gets my vote. Right now I use H414 with Federal 210 primers in my 338-06 AI.

Or go with 250gr AB's or the 265gr TTSX, or the Swift A-frames (225/250/275).

Me, I'm partial to the AB's right now from previous experiences in other calibers.

My .338/06 is too light for the big bullets and shoots the 210 Noslers very well anyway. I going to try out some more Accubonds in the lightweight, they work well in the .338 win mag and .338-Edge.......who knows, might work for the .338/06 too.

How light is your 338/06 Tonk?

Mine goes just under 8 with a smallish (4x) on it.

Dober

I have been watching this thread because I was planning on getting my fist 338-06. Well picked it up today and she is light. Weatherby SBGM 5 3/4 without scope and bases. It wears a zeiss conquest 3-9x40 with warne bases. I could easily shave off 8 oz with a light leupold and talleys but a total weight of 7 lbs 5 oz is probably light enough.

Something that weighs in the mid 7's all up (sling/rounds) is IMO one heck of a good weight. I wish mine was a bit lighter.

You'll be for liking that rig!

Dober

The older i get the more I like the sub eight lb all up rigs. 7lb 5 0z is withot sling or rounds. I use a kifaru gun bearer so depending on the hunt the gun is in the bearer or at the ready. sometimes I leave home without a sling. Hope to try 200 accubonds, 210 partitions and 210 TTSX soon. Do you think there is any reason to go with the 200 gr BT over the accubond or do you feel they are both good? I know you have faith in the 200BT.

One of the reason I really like the 338/06 is I can run it around 8 or sub 8 all up and it's still user friendly (I've worn out a couple 340 barrels...in rigs about 8 1/4).

I get 5 rounds in it, and the way I shoot I need it..grin

The 200 NBT is a slug I could use to hunt all in the world with the exception of a cape buff, and I would turn a 275 SAF loose on one of those bad boys.

The Accu's have yet to really impress me in terms of accuracy. From time to time I see them perk really well but for the most part my beloved NBT's kick it on them. And I am a bit of an accuracy freak.

I'd run a 200 NBT @ 2850 and rock on. H4350 or R17 will get you there just fine. With R17 in my rig I can go over 2900 but 2850 is a great plenty by my way of thinking.

Dober

Dober, Thanks for the reply. So accuracy is the main reason you perfer the BT. Since you feel the performance of the BT is great or at least all you need. Why mess with the potentially less accurate accubond. Thanks Dean

out of my budget range, but I have to admit... back when they were available.. if I had to replace all of my hunting rifles.. and start over...

I'd have gone with Weatherby's Ultralites in 243, 7/08 and 338/06...( and probably an '06.. everyone always needs an 06, just because)...

those things were the right weight and balanced well...

If a guy wanted to get a crazy light 338-06 he could swap out weatherbys stock for an edge. I would have to look at the numbers to be exact but wold loose about 12 oz. So with a leupold 3x and talleys you could get down to 5 1/2 gun/scoped and sub 6 sling and loaded.

I've found my 7.5 lb .338-06 is as light as I'd go and still like to shoot it.

Thats what I am thinking. If the bullet weight goes above 210 gr then I am pretty sure that is the case for me. Will be shooting mine tomorrow. Dean

Dober.... I weighed it on the wife's scale and it was around 6.6 or 7,(hard to tell on her scale) with no ammo in the rifle. I then put a 2 x 7 Leupold on the rifle, that jacked it up another 1.25 pounds at least.

I tried weighing it on a fish scale but that was not a good ending. So with ammo in the rifle and with scope etc. it most likely will go under 8-lb, my shooting friend says 7.7 but don't know positively. It is lighter than my .338 Win mag for sure with wood stock!
The .338-06 has the pencil barrel on it, now cut down to 22 inches, plastic featherweight stock and with model 70 action.

It likes those Nosler 200 grn Accubond bullets the best group wise, .790-MOA but I still like those Nosler 210 partitions, 1.45-MOA the best for shooting big game animals, they have always performed up to the letter. I am using IMR-4320 powder, thanks to a friend of mine at 2625fps. The 180 grn Accubonds are going 2900fps with RL-15 powder and they shoot at 1.25-MOA.

The 180 Accu's shoot fairly well in mine with R15 but the 180 NBT's really perk.

Just my opinion but I think that the old OKH (aka 338/06) is an extremely under rated round!

Dober

+1!

Dober I read once that Randy Brooks wife (Barnes Bullets) had a light weight .338-06, that she shot 180 grainers in for mule deer and suck. The rifle was suppposed to be a total weight of 6.5 pounds. Now I wish I could have mine weigh in at that weight. In the beginning friends of mine said it was easy to do, well if we are speaking of total weight, I don't see how in a loaded gun with scope, bullets and sling too.

Now shooting Nosler Partitions off the bench at 100 yds, it will place the first too almost touching each other, however the next one is 1/2 away, not bad mind you but then the 4th is another 1/2 inch away and the 5th shot is like a 1/4 inch from that. So a 5 shot group, will bring around 1.5 inches at 100 yards. I shot all 5 shots in 1 minute, just so folks know.