Anyone use the .338 Win Mag on deer? I recently traded one of my rifles for a BAR and mine is a .338 Win Mag. I ordered some 225 grain Superformance ammo cause I figured this bullet would work on just about anything.

I have, always ran 210’s. I’m a 338 fan...

I used one in 1997 'cause that's all I had. Nosler 180 grain. I forget whether it was ballistic tip or Accubond at the time. It worked .. deer died.

For a long time, if I could only own one hunting rifle, that would have been it. It will do with cheaper cup and core bullets what it takes premium bullets to do with smaller diameters / cartridges. I'm not sure that'd be my first answer today, but it would not be a wrong one.

Tom

Yep, it’s plenty of gun😊

I can tell you the 225 TSX kills deer well in the 338. I have also used 180 BT and 200gr. Hornady in the 338-06 with great results.

I’ve used a reduced load with the 225 Hornady Interlock at about 2650 fps and it worked out very well.

Used 200 gr. ballistic tips on 2 deer and a 200 Horn on another. Not sure if BT's were an older gen of the bullet but the exit holes were no bigger than the entrance. The Hornaday worked fine . I use 210 Partion's in my 338's now , they do what Partions always do, I really like that bullet. KH

I'm still thinking of your offer on that barrel TJAY. I've always wanted a .338. I'm not sure I want the punishment of the .338 tho.

That's what I shoot in mine as well.

I carry it from time to time here in the Adirondacks, but have not had it in hand when I've seen a deer I wanted to harvest.

I have a Rem CDL.338 never shot more than a box of shells thru it IMO too much for whitetail or mulies but it is a flat shooter. Bought for a trip for Plaines game in Namibia 15 years ago.
I would like to sell it be a great elk moose rifle

I used my .338 shooting 225g TSX on an elk and an antelope this year. Worked well on both.

I have. I have hunting elk and been around Grizzlies when doing it, so I carry the "bear guns" and used them for the elk and deer. It's fine.

You need not worry much about what bullet you have in a 338 to kill any deer.

I used 210 grain Noslers, 250 grain Noslers, and 250 grain Hornady Round Noses.

I have used the 210 Nosler Ballistic Tips on elk in a couple of .338 Win Mags. Don't see why that combo wouldn't work just as well for deer.

I got my ring in today. I sighted it in at 100 yard and zeroed for the same distance.

I have a few times. It works fine. I have always used 225 gr bullets as I was also hunting elk at or near the same time.

When I started using the .338 I shot some 180, 200 and 210 grain bullets but it is simpler to use the 225's and vary the bullet design. I have used Interlocks, TBBC and NPT. Try not to hit bone if you are using the Interlocks.

Used an RCM version with 200 grainers, like it.

Thanks for the heads up

I use 210 grain handloads in my 338.06.

Elmer felt it was a great deer rifle and 275 gr. Speers the perfect bullet... I have used it and the 340 on antelope, deer, and elk...I mostly shoot 200 gr. Accubonds or 210 Noslers... Great round...

My wife uses one on deer/antelope and anything else we hunt in Wyoming! If you’re “only” hunting deer with it our bullet choice may not be best....but we use the same bullet for all of our hunting. One load, one bullet, one zero.....we kinda use the KISS system! memtb

I’ve shot deer with 210 partitions, 200g Interlocks, and 200g BT (all worked well). I finished off a deer my buddy wounded at 550 and the 210 partition expanded great on a shot through the ribs. In that rifle, the BTs would regularly shoot 3 into 1 hole. Unfortunately, they were way too soft for reliable penetration. These were the old style BTs.... New ones are reportedly tougher. The Interlocs were perfect for deer. 210 are also perfect for elk so I kept it loaded with those.

I've killed a good many whitetails with a .338 WM using 200 grain NBT and a few more with the 225 Hornady SP. Never had an issue, though it's a long ways from my first choice.

Lots of deer with the 338 Winny and 250 Partitions for me. Of course, I hunt brownie infested woods.

The deer won't appreciate it, that's for sure. Your shoulder might get a little grumpy as well

-Jake

Luckily mine is semiautomatic so recoil isn’t that bad considering I am launching a 225 grain bullet around 2800fps. If it was a bolt gun it wouldn’t be much different than my .375 ruger.

I shot 1 whitetail with a full power 250 and it did not destroy a n excessive amount of meat. I loaded down to about 338-06 levels w speer hot core 200s and that ws more reasonable (on me).
don't know how reduced loads would affect cycling of a semi though.

I shot a deer with a .338 once. It died.

I am sure it didn’t bounce off🙂

I had rather a bad experience with the 338WM shooting the 250 Partitions at a large mulie buck. That was the only deer I have ever lost and it took 2 days to find the carcass. However that same box of bullets dropped two moose, a caribou, two elk, assorted jack rabbits and coyotes, not to mention a few prairie dogs throwed in just for practice. Since then, I have settled on 210 partitions unless we are headed to Alaska, because my Model 70 likes them and my Kimber 338 Fed likes them best. For fun shooting I have some cheaper 200 gr and seems like maybe a box of Hornady 225s. The 338 WM is one of those cartridges that will shoot any reasonable bullet pretty well.

They had 200&225 grain bullets for the SST’s. I figured the 225 grain ones could be a “do all round”. I was very happy how they shot in my rifle.

I haven't, but I would without thinking twice about it.


Okie John

I have used my .338 since 2002 and I have taken lots of game in the US and Africa with it from a buffalo/bison to small Carolina whitetails. I have several 100's still of the 180 gr. BT's from back when they were an option. I am sure you could use the 180 Accubonds in lieu of those. I load those 180 Bt's down to 2800 fps with H-4895. The load is accurate and works great on hogs, deer & antelope. If you are a reloader you could make your .338 an all around rifle from loading the Barnes 160 gr TTSX and up to a 275 gr Swift A frame and lots of options in the middle of those two bullets.

I bought my first 338 at the advice of a close friend and world round Hunter in 1990 to go on an Alaskan black bear hunt (Browning A-bolt Stalker). He carred his everywhere. It really seemed to like the Federal Premium 210 Nosler partitions. I liked them as well since they had very similar ballistics to my trusty '06 with 150 gr. I shot it a lot to get used to it for the hunt. At the time is was working in STX and my eyes and steadiness were considerably better and live targets were plentiful. I took many smaller STX WT deer with it up to 650 yds. All were DRT. Most impressed with the 650 yarder in that the 210 gr had enough gumption to pass through the critter with a rather impressive exit. I still shoot that rifle from time to time and have taken many critters from 100 lbs to 700 lbs with the same 210 partitions. I like it and I don't think it thumps me that hard for my age, but I weigh over 250 myself. I love the round and think if you are a reloader you could develop some extremely potent pills from 165 gr up. As always shot placement is key and the almost big bore comes with lots of pill options for various game. Good luck....

Next year for the buck rut I want to carry my 338 Win Mag with the 185 TTSX. No particular reason, just want to do it.

Still kicking my self for not grabbing a 338 rcm when cdnn sport were selling them for $499

Had a Stainless Tikka T3 338 win mag it shot the 210 partition very well but traded it before I got to hunt with it.

Actually, a 338 WM is a labor saving gun. It'll kill, clean, and cook a deer all with 1 touch on the trigger. And, if you're aiming in the right direction, it might pack out the meat, too, if any.

That’s the reason my wife loves hers....saves her a lot of work! memtb

I have loved the ones I've had! Just kicks too much for me anymore. Always loaded 225 NP's.

Have killed some deer with the .338, some while hunting other stuff, and some not, with bullets from 200-250 grains. In general I've found the lighter "softer" bullets kill quicker, even if loaded down some. Used to use the 200 Speer Hot-Cor at about 2650-2700 fps, which killed well and didn't shoot up much meat. The 250-grain Nosler Partition didn't shoot up much meat either, but didn't kill them very quickly without a CNS hit.

I've used Hornady 200 grn spitzers and 215 Sierras on white tails and mule deer. It really knocks the heck out of them!

160g Tipped tripple shock is a tremendous deer/hog bullet, very accurate and fast. IMR 4350 is your friend, and velocity will be 3100-3200 at the accuracy node. I have yet to find one in any animal shot, and tremendous temp wound cavity blends all innards on the animal.

I have an old BAR 338, H-4350 powder powers both 250gr Partitions and A-Frames to 2700 fps, last go on the bench it's putting three into a bit less than an inch and a half, plenty good enough for me and a semi-auto for up to 400 yard hunting.

I've shot deer and antelope using the 250 Partition; they hit bone in both cases and were a bit excessive.

Gave a friend one of my 338's and he uses it on hogs. Another friend used the same gun on our pig forays before I was down to one and hit shot two with one shot. It does real well with 200 Ballistic Silvertips (BT's), 230 FailSafes and 250 CoreLokts without blowing off quarters when hitting; but the piggys have a bit tougher hide in that regard!

Yep. Mine went down the road for the same reason. 35 Whelen is the sweet spot for hammer-to-recoil ratio.

I enjoy my 9.3x62 for the same reason.

I had a M70 synthetic stocked c. 1989 in .338 Win Mag that was the hardest kicking, worst shooting rifle I ever owned. 3” groups with several varieties of factory ammo. I traded it for a .35 Whelen and never looked back. I just had a bum rifle, but the .338 WM is a great cartridge! Happy Trails

Whatcha gonna do for your Etolin Elk hunt?

What rifle is your 338?

Probably a 6.5 CM w/147.


I have a SS Win with McM in 338. 20” barrel. Handy.

I sold a muzzleloader to a buddy and bought 4 more boxes of the 225 grain SST’s Superformance. Well, my wife did the ordering.

You figuring it's gonna be a LR game?

I've got a couple of scanned articles from the first few years on that hunt. PM me and I will send 'em to you. A guy from work did it successfully a few years back.

we always called our 338 win. mags. no tack`em guns,we always just knocked them down for good. great cartridge any place and very accurate.

the rifle i sold and miss the most is a 03 springfield with a Douglas barreled in 338wm i built.put it in a mesquite stock. i could be a satisfied one gun man if i had that one back. i used speer GS's and everything i pointed it at fell down. from coyotes to moose it just worked. never even felt the recoil on game shots.

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I had a M70 synthetic stocked c. 1989 in .338 Win Mag that was the hardest kicking, worst shooting rifle I ever owned. 3” groups with several varieties of factory ammo.

I had a friend who bought a wood stocked M70/338WM in '87. I worked up two loads for him, the 250 sierra and the Speer 200HC. It just about wore me out working up those loads for him, ha It was put in the category of "the meanest kickers I've ever shot". Right behind the Weatherby Mark V I shot in 416 Weatherby. Surprisingly, #3 on the list id my late FILs "Ted Williams; made for Sear's" Mod 70 in 30-06. Dear Lord! It had to be the poorest stock design, other than old Mod 721 and Huskies. Phew! I like a Classic style stock with a Limbsaver pad, Decelerator if LS not available. I don't really care for Brakes, but have used them in the past. I don't anymore. IF I had a rifle 'get in my face/cheek bone" good ol Mag Na Port works good. My friends rifle needed ( besides the right stock) a brake, recoil reducer mercury bar, Pad and bite-guard! ha