Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .338-06 and Africa

The 185 gr TSX became a wadcutter under the off hide of a bull elk I shot in 2004. One dead animal no question but I won't use that bullet again. I have yet to recover the 210 gr Partition on four elk, a nilgai and a few hogs. Last hunt with the rifle, grizzly and black bear, I gave the 225 gr AB a go and it passed through both and left rather large exit holes. Shoots flat as hell too.

JJ, Have you had much in the field experience with the 185 tsx? Especially on larger plains game at moderate ranges. IE, 200-300 yards? Dean

Tony, Could you tell me a little more about that 185 tsx. By wadcutter you mean it lost its petals? How far was the elk and what did the bullet go through?
Any info on range or performance[wound channel] for the 210 Part. or 225 accubond would be great also. Thanks

In addition the field reports with the lighter bullets has anyone loaded the round and used it in the same fahion as its predecessor, the 318 WR; that is, a 250 gr RN at moderate (2350 fps) velocity?

Fine cartridge but if you are going to Europe or Africa the 9.3x62 makes more sense and has more thump.

The two bullets I have seen used most are the 210 and 250 partition.

The 185TSX is a distant third for frequency of use. However the performance seen with this much lighter faster bullet was significant. The only bullet recovered from my memory was a single bullet with only one full petal and a part of a second. The internal damage from all game killed and the exits were impressive.

The Noslers also do a fine job, but having seen both I would choose the TSX if they shoot well in your gun. Several of the hunters could not get the TSX to shoot well with the handloads they tried and stuck with Partitions for that reason. There is nothing wrong and you're not short handed with the partitions, I especially like the 210. But after seeing the results with the 185.......... well it was decisive and lots of blood compared to single entry holes. Partitions did not exit as often and that is the key advantage IMO.

I don't care if they lose the petals half way through the animal. They drive straight through and exit. The loss of petals inside is no different then the Partition losing the front half.

The advantage is that the "wad cutter" TSX that exits is better then the mushroomed partition that does not exit. Two holes have so many advantages in finding the game after the shot.

I use a 30/06 with 165gr TSX for all my personal Plains game hunting and it's the loaner for many of my hunters. It's had a long history of success with to my recollection only a single lost wildebeest in almost two decades of use and easily 1000 animals.

The same cartridge with a far greater diameter, and 20 more grains of weight is simply as good as it gets for plains game hunting in a nice light low recoil rifle. As I said earlier, the 338 Sabi Sabi made in RSA is a near identical cartridge built for good reason there. The TSX and modern powders has allowed the simple 30/06 to equal the 300 win mag when it uses cup and core bullets.

The 165TSX from a 30/06 will out penetrate the 180 cup and core from the 300win mag. This same situation can be closely compared with the TSX in a 338/06 VS the cup and core from the 338 win mag. However it's actually better then that. The 338 TSX bullets are all designed for the cartridge and capacity of the 338 win mag. Shooting them from the slower 338/06 means you can drive them as fast as you can and still be at or below the maximum design threshold of the bullet.

The flawless performance of the 30/06 with a bigger bullet......... how is that not the perfect choice?

Classic post and all 100% true!

JJ, appreciate that input. I have been debating the merits of the 185 TTSX vs. the 210 Partition for a 338 Fed. My Fed doesn't run that much slower than my 338-06 (I seem to have a slow -06 relative to others I've read about here). I've only shot three things with the 185 TTSX and so far it has worked fantastic. Based on your note I feel pretty good about a 185 TTSX at ~2740 or even a 160 TTSX at ~3020.

I would agree with you on the 165tsx.I use 168 tsx or ttsx. In a 30-06 its a match made in heaven. Looking at the profile of the bullet the 210ttsx looks more like the `165/168 than does the 185 tsx. Velocity wise I will have to look up my last reloads to see which matches the 30-06 velocities closest. Not that it needs to match to be effective but interesting to see how it falls in. Dean

Well I did it,bought the .338-06 and should have it in hand next week

Don't think you'll be disappointed!

I've been "EXTREMELY" well pleased with my 338-06 and it has accounted for a solid 100% track record of *Bang - Flop* deer kills so far. I think you'll really enjoy it for anything you plan to hunt and stand over after the trigger squeeze.

Welcome to the 338-06 club. I have used 185 tsx's and the 210 noslers in africa. Both worked great .

Here's what I got coming

Wow! That looks like a nice one. Cool paint job. Is it pretty light weight?

Supposed to be about 7.75 lbs

7.75 is a nice weight. My 338-06 is 6.0lbs bare gun. I was thinking about replacing the 3-9x40 conquest and warne base/rings with talley one piece and a fixed 4x leupold. 6.6lbs all up may be a little light if I decide to shoot the 225 accubonds. I am not to recoil sensitive but that would be a pretty snappy recoil I would guess.
Enjoy your new gun I am sure it will treat you well in africa.

Eyeguy, I had an 8lb rifle, naked, it was comfortable w/Decelerator but 6lb may be snappy.

DVD - I used partial sized WW brass and IMR4320 based on all the data I found by many reputable writers, etc. - for deer I chose the 200 BT at 2909, 225 Partition at 2670 for all else.

Both shot 1/2" in the 23" Hart bbl using either 6x42 or 2.5-8x.

DF - used mine in LA, one a very small buck - it did run a bit after double lunged so sure the 200 BT did not give much 'shock value' thru such a narrow cavity, yet another very nice 6 pt buck (body size - should have been an 8) only went 3 jumps, another buck in Tx was a nice 8pt, it dropped DRT.

If I ran a 338F I'd use the 185 ALOT and 200s.

In the '06 case, for me, I'd lean VERY hard to a 225PT for ALL game, but for a deer only a 200 would be flat, deadly, less recoiling. A 225 AB should be an awesome bullet, as the 200 AB. Both likely will do Elk no problem.

I think Barnes 210/225 would be very good in this round.

I have nothing against a 210 PT, but if I want to run a PT, I just like having the extra 15gr leaving maybe 1-2" more drop at 400 yds w/a 200 zero.....odds are game would never know the diff.

This is one round that DESERVES to have a lot of factory rifle/ammo options IMHO.

I was able 2 score 2 boxes of factory Weatherby 338-06 ammo loaded with 210gr Partitions for $50 a box...worth it just to generate some brass...20 pc of unloaded brass is not much cheaper than that

Factory target

Cooper is a lot of performance for the buck. Should be a great shooter. Post some loads and targets when you get there.

DF