Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 338 Federal loads

Thanks, I kind of thought that RL-15 was too slow. Just trying to decide which is the best bullet to use for whitetail/black bear. I keep going between the 160 TTSX, 185 TTSX, and the 200gr Speer hot core. Which of these bullets will put a whitetail down the fastest? I have RL-15, H4895, and Benchmark on hand.

H4895 works great with 200s! The Benchmark would likely be pretty good with the 160s. I think that's what JB ran in the article he did on the 338 Fed.

Update on my post above. Gave up on the 215 grain sierra's on the advice from Scott in the post above. I thought I might start with Hornady 200 grain and IMR 8208 XBR. First I to establish a base, I use Fusion 200 grain (factory load) that clocked 2599 fps. average out of my Sako.

To the point, 47.0 grains of IMR 8208 averaged 2606 fps. over 5 shots with SD of 5fps. Out side temp. was 30 degrees. That is the max load recommended by Hodgdon. I upped � grain to 47.5 and the average was 2627 with SD of 1fps. for 3 shots. That�s the smallest standard deviation I have ever encountered. Size for all groups were under 1 inch. Primer: WLR, all 338 Federal cases crimped. Please remember the outside
temperature was 30 degrees.
Dave
For got to add I changed to 200 gr. Hornady SP.
Today I picked up some alliant 2000 mr which is a ball powder like lever. I hope it works
better than Lever did in the cold weather.

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Would be interested to see how that changes in warmer conditions. Supposedly 8208 is very stable, nice to confirm for this application.

This is a really great thread for those of us without 15 jugs of powder sitting around. I found this while trying to put together some basic loading information for a new rifle. I've got a Kimber 84M in 338 Federal on the way and hope to add to the discussion where I can.

Welcome to the Campfire zac0419

I like the numbers you are getting. I will be shooting my DPMS 338 Fed soon so you are giving my lots of info. I have a couple hundred rounds of AE 185gr ammo to burn which will give me fire formed brass for it which will hopefully work well in the AR10. The box say's 2750fps.

185 TSX, max load of 4198, CCI 250s

FWIW, 338 FED brass is available again at Grafs and Midway (probably others too, didn't look).

Fiddled with yet another combination this weekend. 200 Nosler E-Tips and TAC. Accuracy was not impressive while working up, but it did shoot one sub-1" group at 47.5gr. This was with Fed brass & BR2s with an COAL of 2.82. Ramshot's book max for a 200 Hornady is 48.7. I anticipate it may be a bit lower for the E-Tip given the bearing surface, but certainly can't verify that. Did not show any significant primer flattening up to 48.5. Speeds were 2610 at 47.5, 2635 at 48 and 2660 at 48.5. I also shot a few 200 Fusion rounds through the chrono for comparison and they were 2635 on average. Still the most accurate load I've found in this rifle is 160 TTSXs with AA2230 at .6" and they were clocked at 3010 for the three shot average.

Does anyone have any (on game) experience with the 160gr Barnes ttsx? I would like to try them on deer size game, any thoughts?

They pound pigs, not deer yet. T.S.

Nope but here is what a 185gr TTSX did to a hog at 170ish yard from a .338-06 this past weekend...never took a step pole axed



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There's some interesting looking data on alliants site with PP2000 MR in the 338 fed. I've had good results with PP 2000 MR in a 308.

Bb

[/quote]Nope but here is what a 185gr TTSX did to a hog at 170ish yard from a .338-06 this past weekend...never took a step pole axed



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Was that hog taken on public land or on a private ranch?

1100 acres private

I'm liking the looks of that 185TTSX for a 338WinMag I just bought (700 LSS cut to 22"). Even for such a "short" 338 bullet, the BC is .432, which is practically the same as the 130gr .277 and 150gr .308 Ballistic Tips, as well as our beloved 75gr .224 Amax. I'd call it sleek enough for what I want to do. Should hit hard without beating up a shooter too much.

Barnes book says .379 BC for the 185 gr .338 TTSX? Irregardless they shoot well in the Montana behind IMR 8208.

Not sure where you got .379. According to Barnes website, the 185 TSX is .352, while the 185 TTSX is .432. That's pretty good, as it's even better than any of the 200gn bullets. Starts faster (it's lighter), and it slows down less. That's a good combination.

MRX states .379 BC