Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .338 Win Mag 210 partition pet loads

I would like to hear what powders you have had good luck with shooting the Nosler 210 partition?

By looking at the manuals it looks like RE 22 is the slowest powder to try. Has anyone had any luck with anything slower?

I am getting 2770 -2780 fps w/ 64.0 grs. of RE 15 and about 1.5 moa. This has been good enough the past 2 yaers to take an elk & a couple of mulies.

I want to see if I can find somethjing that tightens the groups a little and maybe a little more velocity.

It could be my rifle does not like the 210's as well as a heavier bullet?

I just purchased 400 of the 210's to experiment with.

Thanks.

I only shot H4350 in my .338WM...but the books indicate that R-19 produces good velocity. Accuracy will depend on your gun.

All data I see, Nosler, Hornady, as well as a couple of others I have on hand indicate @ 77grs of R-19 is max, and produces 3000fps or better. Speer #12 even shows 78grs or R-19 pushing a 225gr bullet at 2950fps. All book data indicates R-19 to be the best or close to at producing max velocity. YMMV

Also, I wouldn't go slower...the .338 is on the cusp of that realm where case size and bore size start dictating faster powders for all but the ultra and wby. mags.

H4350 has always given me 2,950 - 3,000 fps with the 210 NP depending on the rifle, mostly with 22" bbl's.

H- 4350 or R-19 would be my top picks for 210's. I lean more towards H-4350 as it is an extreme powder and les tempature sensitive

I got great velocity and accuracy with RL19.

C-Roy-I've used R15 with the flyweights in the 338 (sub 200's) and it always worked great. It would be a bit fast for the 210's IMO.

For the 200's/210's, I always used R19.

As Brad stated H4350 would work well also.

I'd get a can of both some Fed 215's and get to it.

See which one shoots the best and once you break 2900 I'd start to look at settling in on a load. You should be able to make this work well at somewhere between 2900-3K.

Good luck to ya!

Mark D

FWIW my .338 data:

Bullet: Nos. BT 200gr
Powder: 73grs H4350
Primer: 215
Brass: Rem.

Velocity 3000fps from a 26" Ruger #1. Good accuracy.

I am going to try H4831sc first, then Ramshot Hunter after that H4350.

If none of this are any better than 1.5" moa I will move on to a 225 Partiton and see what happens.

i use 73.0 of imr 4350 and get 2900 fps out of a 24 inch barrel, 75.5 grains of imr 4831 works well and 76.0 of rl 19. i get great accuracy out of these 3 powders- under a quarter size groups at 100 yds with a factory ruger in 338 with wichester brass, federal or cci mag primers

75.5 Grs of R19 in my 26" A bolt gets 3130 FPS and under 1" groups if i do my job. It ran 76 grs at close to 3200 FPS but didnt group as well.

I've almost always followed Nosler's IMR 4350 loads for the 338 Win. Mag. with 210 Partitions.

But you should also try Reloader 19 and H4350 and see which powder shoots best out of your rifle.

One other component to experiment with is primers. Try CCI 250, Federal 215, Fed. 215M, and Winchester WLRMs......

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At what point (ie game )do you go to the 225's and 250's?

Or is the 210 your do all load?

Jeff, that's a good question. Much of the answer simply depends on which bullet your rifle shoots well, and what you intend to hunt. I'm comfortable with 210s for anything up thru elk under most conditions, which takes in a lot of hunting.

I've used a variety of 225 gr. and 250 gr. bullets in the 338 Win. Mag., as well as 210 Noslers, and the truth is, most of the animals I've shot with any of these bullets have gone down very quickly, and penetration has been superb, except when the bullet has come apart. For example, I've had 225 Hornady's come apart, and based on those episodes alone, and discounting bullet construction, you'd swear that 225 grs. wasn't enough to get the job done.

Bob Hagel used the say the 210 Nosler penetrates all out of proportion to its weight, which is true in my experience. I remember shooting a very big five-point bull here in Oregon with a 210 Nosler load, and I had to shoot him as he was running through broken timber, so I was leading him when I pressed the trigger, and as soon as the rifle went off I saw his left eye roll back in his head before I lost the sight picture from recoil, and he went down instantly. The 210 Partition broke his left scapula, wrecked the lungs, and came out just behind the right shoulder. Based on that performance, you could say that the 210 is all you'd ever need for elk.

There was another bull I shot with one of the early bronze-jacketed 250 gr. Nosler Partitions, and this bull was running through black timber, which made for tough shooting. I led him and fired, without paying attention to anything else, then he just wasn't there any more. I waited for a few minutes, then I went over to where he was when the rifle went off. I found that the bullet had dug a furrow through a 6" blue spruce, and I found some hair on the ground. After some follow-up, I found that bull dead some fifty yards away in a blow-down, and he was hit through both lungs, with the bullet exiting. This is the sort of elk hunting that makes me love well-built 250 gr. bullets. Would a 210 have done as well? Maybe.......

I know many long-time 338 Win. Mag. users who use only premium-bullet 250 gr. loads for everything, and a couple of these guys have literally shot all of the world's big game species with a single 250 gr. Nosler Partition load. They don't see any need to mess with anything else, they want to keep things simple, and they don't mind the recoil.

A good 225 gr. load is just possibly the ideal compromise, much like shooting 165s out of the 30-06, and that's the route I'm following here of late. The 225 gr. Barnes TSX penetrates through just about anything, as well as many traditional 250 gr. bullets if not better, and accuracy is simply incredible. The 225 gr. Nosler AccuBond is a tackdriver as well.

This year, since my rifle shoots 225 TSXs and 225 ABs to exactly the same POI at 2850 fps. MV, I'm taking both loads to Africa for a solid test against a number of elk and moose-size animals, as well as smaller stuff, and we'll see how it all shakes down.

The 210s are a nice way to go for most hunting, especially if you want the most effective, light-recoil 338 load possible (210 TSX as well), while the 250s are the go-anywhere, do-anything load that will take in everything short of elephant, rhino, and Cape buffalo. The 225s are somewhere in the middle........

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Have you shot NF's in your .338?

I have tried them in the 270 and have not found them to shoot
all that great.2" at 100 was the best load.But I'm not done playing with loads yet.

What is your opinion on TSX'x vs NF vs NP's?

I've got a great 225 gr. North Fork load worked up for my #1 rifle with Reloader 19, W-W cases, and Federal 210M primers -- five shots under 1" @ 100 yds., but I haven't committed a hunt to them yet. Seating depth is a real key to getting NFs to shoot to potential. You might try seating them another .0020" deeper and see what happens.

I used 370 gr. NF solids and softs last year in my 416 Rem. Mag., and accuracy and performance was simply unbelievable -- so good I'm done experimenting with loads for that rifle.

I used 225 TSXs last season in the 338 Win. and they're superbly accurate and effective, and I fired one 3-shot group last year at 300 yds. with them that measured .979". They'll blow a hole through just about anything, of that I'm convinced after last elk season. Two concerns: They still run up pressures a little more than traditional lead-core bullets, and because they're longer than lead-core bullets, they have a tendancy to tumble. I found one on the off-side of an elk last year that was base-first. That's just one episode, I'll admit to that, but I've never seen it happen with a Fail-Safe or a traditional lead-core premium. I think Barnes is trying to resolve both of those issues with the new bullet they're producing in conjunction with Federal, which looks like it just might be the best of all worlds.

I still think that the Nosler Partition (all three weights) is the most satisfactory 338 Win. Mag. bullet I've ever used. It does everything well.......

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Isn't that a little bit toasty?

Not if it is a 340 Roy.............grins


Mark D

Jona, I have one book that list 78grs of R-19 as max with a 225 grain bullet. All R-19 data for 210s I have seen was max'd at about 76-77grains. I think he's safe.

JohnA, Max load for r19 with the 210 partiton in my nosler book is 76 grains and have never seen pressure sign one in my rifle with these loads

Do these books list 3200 fps as well?