Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters One 338 bullet in 338 win mag

Good day.

Assuming your rifle shoots both the 185gr ttsx at ~3150fps and the 225 accubond at ~2800fps, very accurately, and lets say I'd like to KISS and only use one bullet for whitetail, mule deer, moose and elk, which bullet would you use? Fps/ft lbs are pretty much the same at 600 yards (bout as far as this rig would be used for). 1900fps or so at 600 yards, what would expansion be like from both? Terminal results of shooting a swamp donkey at ~50 yards? Up the butt if has to be done?

I realize there are many many excellent bullets for the 338 but since I have eye surgery coming up I don't have a lot of time to fart around testing a bunch of different bullets. I need to test these two, as I believe they are excellent bullets, pick the one that shoots best and load up 40 bullets for September.

Thank you

EDIT: I am also open to suggestions of a different bullet if there is one out there for my needs.

Wish you well with your eye.

The 200 grain A/B would be a great bullet in your 338 Win.

This bullet will take care of all the game animals in the lower 48 and then some.

Or, you could use your 225 grain Nosler A/B.

I don't know about azz shots on moose...the better notion may be to break a hip or plant one at the root of the tail and I have seen the 210 Partition do that on elk.

I'd probably pick the 225 gr Nosler Partition loaded to about 2900 fps.I have seen that and the 210 used quite a bit and results were always good.

I have six crf rifles in .338WM and have owned about seven others, it is my longtime favourite round for BC hunting and bush working. I have tried quite a few bullets, but, I have hunted with and used for protection only the 250 Nosler Pt. for about 22 years.

I load this to 2725-2800 fps-mv in my rifles, over RE-22 or H-4350 and it is the most practical load for this superb round, IMHO. I see little point in loading a 200ish gr. bullet when it has inferiour BC and one can do better with this weight in a .300 Win., Norma or H&H,all of which I own(ed) and tested.

So, I like the 250 SGKs for practice and the NPs for field use, I also have some 250 Horn.IL and some 250 NABs, but, have not shot anything with the latter, yet, and may never try them as I have a lot of NPs loaded.

The .338WM is perhaps the "ideal" BC hunting round and one I have experienced superb accuracy from in most of my rifles so chambered,since my first bought in January, 1968. I prefer it to my .375H&H and .300Mag. rifles and only the 9.3x62-286 NP at 2500 suits me quite as well.

If, I was as practical about rifles and gear as about all other aspects of my life, I would simply own a matched pair of good .338WM rifles and call it "good"......ah,to have such self discipline.....not bloodly likely in we "rifleloonies"!!!!

I would opt for the 225 accubond which has been a good bullet here in Australia for me. I have a bunch of 210TTSX's that are yet to have a run. As far as a budget bullet goes, the 215grain SMK is a great bullet and pretty under-rated in the 338wm. They shoot nice and accurately too...as you would expect from Sierra.

I've used the 225 NAB a good bit and it is a good bullet. I've used TTSX bullets as well and they are fine bullets as well. Can't imagine worrying about which of them is better than the other. Pick one and call it good.

I'd go with the 250gr. Partition loaded to about 2700 fps for the big stuff. You can shoot them any way you want with that combination. You don't really need a lot of speed. 600 yards ia a long ways on a big game animal, hoping you can get A Lot closer than that.

Seems like the 225 AB loaded to around 2850 or so would do alot of things really well. It is a tough bullet and should have excellent trajectory, should you wanna really stretch it to 600. Good luck, the 338WM is a favorite for sure!

Gotta be the 210 Nosler Partition. I've shot moose, elk, grizzly, caribou, and even a couple whitetails with it. Being a Partition, the the front will open up well and the rear will penetrate deeply. And you can get 2900 fps pretty easily (some claim 3000 fps, but I think that may be pushing it a bit).

IMO, the .338 WM and the 210 NPT go together like PB&J.

If it were me, I'd be looking at the 210 Partition as well.

I have found the 210 gr Partition punches above its weight, deep penetration, flat trajectory, excellent accuracy in several .338 Win Mag rifles over 35 years. Stout load of IMR 4350 (H4350 may be even better these days) will do the trick.

I've been using the .338 both in North America and Africa since the late 1980's, and have tried a bunch of different bullets. Luckily, my rifle shoots bullets from 200-250 grains to the same basic point of impact at 100 yards, so it's easy to experiment. I've even taken different bullet weights on the same multi-species hunt, using them on different game animals.

Have never been all that impressed with 225-grain bullets. They sure work, and I've used a bunch of them on game from deer to moose and musk ox, but they don't penetrate much deeper than 200-210 grain bullets of the same design. The 200-210's kick noticeably less and also seem to kill quicker, on average, probably due to the higher velocity and rotation.
I would definitely opt for one of those rather than a 185 or 225 for most hunting, and the ever reliable 250 Partition for the very biggest game.

But if you're determined to stick to either the 185 TTSX or 225 AccuBond, I'd go with the 225 AB. Have seen light-for-caliber monometals do quirky things on bigger game, but the 225 AB is very reliable in the .338 Winchester, probably due to the moderate muzzle velocity.

I also use the 200g AB

Snake

Of the two that you listed, I would go with the 225 Accubond. A bullet that I would also consider for the range of game that you mentioned would be the 210gr Swift Scirocco II.

That's by far my favorite cartridge and caliber. I think it's the second most versatile cartridge for North American game.

I, like Kutenay, have owned many rifles, some chambered for cartridges other than Win Mag but in that caliber, and I've tried bunches of bullets. I ultimately ended up with the 225 Nosler Partition as my favorite. Seems like I had better penetration and from the very few I recovered (one a butt shot recovered in the brisket,) they did what I wanted them to do. I could never get the 210 Partitions to be as accurate. While there wasn't enough difference in accuracy to cause a major decision, the Accubonds were I tad more accurate from the bench than the Partitions, but not enough to change my mind. The also made a much bigger hole on game than I didn't quite like. I always thought the 225's were the perfect bullet for most everything in that caliber.

Many thanks for all the outstanding posts gentlemen. Some very good suggestions here. I ran the numbers on the 210 PT and it quickly gives up any velocity advantage it has over the 225 AB and has a good chunk less ft/lbs as well.

Mule Deer seeing as the 200-210's seem to kill quicker for you, is this all at <300 yards or further out there as well?

I honestly would rather go for a non mono because they make bigger wound channels and kill quicker. They don't penetrate as deep though. I guess I'm trying to find the bullet that will kill quick and penetrate enough to get the job done.

The 210 PT sounds like a good one but the .400 BC is a bummer. The 185 ttsx has a BC of .432 and starts ~250fps faster.

225 AB BC is outstanding at .550 but it will kick more for sure and this being a ~7 1/4lbs rifle, it won't be fun. None of the choices will be but some less nasty than others.

I've looked at the 200 etip as well but doesn't stand out. 185gr GMX is pretty much the same as the TTSX.

People don't seem to talk about Interbonds at all. I recall reading they really flatten out and don't penetrate deep as a result.

The ttsx would recoil the least and shoots about the same as the 225 accubond but I've shot several critters with tsx/ttsx/gmx and was never impressed with wound channels, penetration was outstanding.

Just trying to figure this out.

The 225gr Accubond would be my choice of those listed. Particularly since you speak of 600 yard shots.

As for Texas heart shots on moose I would recommend you try to bust the spine at the root of the tail, break a ham or darn near anything rather than a keister shot.

There are a whole lot of good bullets for the .338. Among those already mentioned the 210 Nosler is amazing. I am extremely fond of the Trophy Bonded bullets but thir low BC probably makes them unattractive to you.

Of the two you mentioned without a doubt I'd be all over the 225 Accu.

Aside from that my bullet of choice in the 33's from big to small is the 200 NBT. If not that bullet then I'd go 200 Partition and or Accu.

Best of luck to you.

Dober

In the .338 my fav. was the 210 nosler Part..Haven't owned one of those since the 90's...now my 33 is a 340..so far I have used 200 grain AC, 210 grain Part. and 225 AC...I think right now I have 225 AC loaded and some 210 Nosler Part...those two are my Favorites..the 210 Nosler was Hagel/s favorite elk bullet out of the .33's,BUT the high quality 225's were not produced during his lifetime....