I recently upgraded my elk rifle from an old Sako .30-06 (built in the late 50s so a little my senior) to a Ruger 77 Mark II stainless in .338 Win Mag. The Sako (nicknamed "Rusty" after this year's elk season) has been a good performer and accounted for a number of elk but after some serious weather abuse last fall I decided to go to a stainless/synthetic rifle and took the opportunity to move up in caliber for a little more authority.

I've been very happy shooting 168 TSX and want to stick with Barnes, but I'm thinking about going with TTSX for the new Ruger and am leaning toward 225 gr. Anyone use these and what do you think compared with TSX? I've also considered the 210 gr. TTSX for a little more speed but the 225 should mimic my .30-06 ballistics pretty well. I don't expect to be shooting over 300 yards and mostly under 100 based on the terrain where I hunt.

The .338 combined with close quarters and my generally good shot placement should be much more decisive in killing elk - at least that is my hope. Gotta find 'em first! Thanks for any advice anyone may care to offer. Also any good load suggestions would be much appreciated.

200 NBT and H4350 or R19 will do you just fine. Probably would try R17 as well.

Oops just reread and caught the Barnes part, 210 TSX then and the same powders.

Dober

225 Grain Hornady Interlocks have worked well on elk for me for years. My 338 Ruger shoots them very well.Like Dober said try r19 powder

I shoot a SAKO L61R in 338-06 AI, I have always used one bullet, one powder, one case! Nosler 210 Part, IMR 4350, Rem. cases necked up 30'06. Don't care what the speed is, it shoots them all in the same hole! Nothing has ever walked, run, stubbled away more than 10 yards, 98%, in their tracks! Shoots flatter than you would ever think! 300 yards it like shooting at a 100 with it! I'm sure that Mag will do just as fine. The 33 calibre bullet is, to me, the perfect size hole in any game!

I don't hunt elk but do hunt moose every year. My gun prefers 225 Nos. Ptn., F215 over a top load of R22. 225 gr. Hornadys make a good practice bullet over the same powder charges.

Results on moose are very positive.

Jim

210 ttsx if going mono. 225 NAB if going bonded with high bc. 225 Interlocks however are cheap, accurate, and wax schitt dead every time. I've had them exit on Texas heart shots on deer and pigs. One chest shot cow only stopped the bullet with her pelvis. Currently at 3 MKII .338's and all shoot.

I can't help with the ttsx, but in a NPt, anything from 210 to 250 don't never not work in a .338.

210 NP has always been my go-to bullet in the 338 WM.

Looks like the partitions are a preferred bullet for .338 and limited interest in the TSX or TTSX. I think I'll start with the 210 TTSX as I like the larger hollow point design protected by the plastic tip, and see what kind of accuracy I get for hunting loads. Thanks for all the feedback.

I went that way 15 years ago thinking I too needed a bigger one! After doing nothing more than blood shooting the heck out of excellent elk meat, I use 270, 280, 308, 30-06, 338-06, and the 35 Whelen with much better results. Never saw difference in performance between any of them and the 338WM given that I did my job and put the bullet where it should go. Other than a lot less bloodshot, that is! Got tired of losing the front end of good elk.

Use good bullets and spend more time shooting! Using a bigger gun doesn't make up for that.

The 210 grains Nosler Partition, and the 225 grains Hornady Interlock have worked perfectly for me since I bought my Ruger 77 .338 W. Magnum in 1974.

Accuracy counts. Poor shooting won't compensate for the most expensive, high tech bullet out there.

L.W.

The 210 gr NP or TSX are just magical in the 338 WM.

taz4570 you are so right that bigger doesn't mean better. However, it doesn't hurt anything especially with elk! I'll be sure to keep practicing, I already shoot only high quality bullets, I'll still take careful shots from reasonable range, and I don't worry about bloodshot shoulders since I aim to shoot through ribs to reach the heart. On top of all that, now I'll be carrying very durable stainless rifle that is lighter and more powerful than my trusty .30-06. What's not to like?

My thinking these days is I have to juggle a lot of things to hunt elk so if I shoot one I don't want it to light out on me downhill. I don't reckon that belted .338 will be a liability as long as I don't take it as an invitation to shoot too far.

I have a 90's vintage Ruger Mark II in the Skeleton stock, shoots 250gr Noslers and 250gr Core Loks with boring accuracy, about 3" at 200 yards. Kills Elk Dead!

Don't own a Win Mag, but if you really wanted to get everything out of it I'd go 225 or 250. The question is do you need that? I tend to think not. I'd probably go lighter such as 185 or 200, maybe 210, and end up with a very flat shooting, and slightly less recoil, round that probably is not going to stop in an elk either way. My 338-06 has a noticeable difference in recoil between 200s and 225s. I imagine the same relative difference would apply to WM. There you go, more useless internet opinion from someone with no experience on the subject at hand.

Pard uses 210 blue X bullet in his 340 Wthby Mag.

But, that's just a little bit bigger.

If your .338 is accurate and you enjoy shooting it, don't be afraid to stretch it's legs! Run the 225-Accubond (BC .550) and you've got a 600+ yard capable rifle; at that point it's on you to establish proficiency and, of course, exercise good judgement on shots.

That particular bullet really brings the .338 to life. Run that bullet at 2860 fps (easy to get) and it'll shoot as flat as a .270 running 130 or 140-gn Accubonds.... It'll hang right with a 7-mag running 160 NAB's for wind drift. In short- it's a very capable longer-range round.

I have only seen firsthand two elk killed with them, but in both cases the elk was DRT and the bullet exited.

I have been using 210gr TSX & TTSX's. Tested it on a few critters(Sambar). I'm sticking with Barnes but would like to give 225gr Accubonds a go soon.

76 grains of H4831 behind a 210gr TSX & TTSX.

All have passed through, except 1 hind I took out 5+ inches of spine & a big stag broadside(bulging on other side). A friend has tested 225gn TSX's. He thought they were a little too hard for a hind & stag combo. But I guess it's how ya want em to perform & everyone ideas vary

All great question. I personally love the 338 win mag, I think you did great in choosing that as your go to elk cartridge and the rifle will be excellent also. I've had about 4 338's on the ruger MK II platform and they have all been great performers. Excellent accuracy, ergonomics, and function. Nothing to worry about there. Did you get one with the laminated wood or the boat paddle or the new style synthetic stock??? The laminated wood version will be a little heavier but is actually not a bad thing with a larger caliber such as this. My (and many of my buddies) favorite elk load consists of (don't laugh ) 250 gr sierra btsp gameking and 67-70 gr of IMR 4350. If your rifle wont shoot these bullets into less than 1" at 100 yds something is wrong. These bullets really perform and they are about $20.00/50 so you can do a lot of practicing with them too to get yourself used to the extra recoil of the 338 vs your 30-06. Here's how my Ruger M77 MKII does with 67 gr of IMR 4350 and the 250gr. sierra:

I guess that just means I'm a pretty damn good shot because I use the el-cheapo sierra's in my 338 and it puts them down hard

Worked for me on elk as well. And, so has the 210 TSX. If I had a 338, I would definitely be working up the 200gr. Accubond with RL15. That combo with the old 200gr. Ballistic Tip knocked over several elk for a gent I used to reload for.

I should try those 250-SBT's for practice if nothing else.

225-NAB's are killin' me at $39/box!

You should jeff, I keep tellin you . I think you'll like them.

I appear to be in the minority, but I switched from the 250NP to the 225 TSX when they first came out and have never looked back

I have been shooting the .338 Winchester at big game since the mid-1980's, and have tried a lot of bullets. Over a decade ago I came to the conclusion that it kills quickest, kicks least, and shoots flattest with bullets in the 200-grain range, no matter what the make.

I picked up a box of 210 TTSX to try with some IMR 4350 I stockpiled for the .30-06, and if that doesn't work I'll try the R19. I drank the kool-aid and now shoot only copper in the field (to keep lead fragments out of the meat and gutpiles) but once I have a good hunting load I'm going to look for an inexpensive lead core bullet that mimics the ballistics of the Barnes, to use as a practice load.

This rifle came fitted with a Hogue stock and Timney trigger and is scoped with a Leupold 2.5x8. The only thing I plan to change is that it came with a fixed muzzle brake. I'm hoping my gunsmith can make it removable and set me up with a thread protector for hunting, to keep the barrel at the original 24". If not I'll have him cut the barrel behind the brake and leave it at 23". We've been having some poor shooting weather here but I'm looking forward to test firing it soon using 200 gr Winchester powerpoints that came with the deal, then working up hunting loads this spring. Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I have done the same. The flat based 225gr. TSX is a thing of beauty and it out penetrates the 250gr. NP, with less recoil, higher velocities and flatter trajectories.

Remember heavy bullets only ever existed because they fell apart on impact. The latest premium bullets will replicate those long wound chanels and shoot flatter and recoil less, as JB stated above.

John

225 TTSX in mine. I'm shooting Barnes VOR-TX loaded ammo. Rifle loves it.

Ditto what Mark said. 200 grain Nosler Ballistic tip and 4350 rock! AWESOME elk load! Flinch

I tried 210 NPs at 2900, and 250 NP's at 2600 (thats all I could get out of my 24 inch Ruger) then tried the 225 NP's when they first came out about 20 years ago. 1/2 inch moa at 2830 fps over 72.5 gr. of H4350. I loaded 40 bullets and ran out of them after 10 years and 5 elk. Best damn cartridge I've ever built. I haven't reloaded since my last move, but if I did I'd load these in a heartbeat. I'm too slow to jump on the new equipment bandwagon, but a couple of friends swear by the Nosler Accubond.

Just my opinion but 200 grainers or less work better out of a 30 cal, 225s on up is were the .338 benefits.

I carried a .338 for years and used it on everything from rabbits to Brown bear and most every bullet. The 210 Nosler partition was by far the quickest killer and seemed to penetrate as well as the heavies.

IMR 4831 and R19 could touch 3000 if I leaned on it a bit.


Lefty C

Not just your opinion. If a guy wants to launch a 200 gr. bullet they need to invest in a 300 magnum. The 338 loves the heavies.

225 TTSX and H-4350 w/a fed. 215

Gunner

Yep, the 210 NPT and the .338 WM go together like PB&J. In addition to a nice Arizona bull, I've shot moose, caribou, and black bear with the 210 gr bullet. Move up to 250 gr NPT, and I have a brown bear and a B&C grizzly. Full disclosure----I shoot and like Barnes TTSX bullets. I even have 2 unopened boxes of the 210 gr TTSXs, and I'm sure they'd work just fine. I just have a groove goin' with the PT.

Do they sell them at BiMart? I've noticed .33-cal Sierra there but didn't look closely... What's your load for them?

I do think a whole lotta goodness converges on the 225-gn Accubond. Accurate as hell, and a great BC that stretches the .338's legs nicely, and a solid bullet that I wouldn't sweat a 30-yard shot into heavy bone with.

I've bought them at Bi-mart, wal-mart, sportmans/wholesale sports. They are $20.99/100. My load:

67 gr. (I've had some rifles love 70 gr.) IMR 4350
CCI 250
Rem case

67gr or IMR 4350 is a good starting point and you could use any case you like with any magnum primer and just work up until you find the sweet spot.

What kinds of speeds you see with that, BSA?

2600

Those killer rabbits require a lot to put them down. Surprised the .333 was up to the task....

CaribouJack is shipping me a take-off stainless .338 WM barrel with factory irons. It will go on the naked MKII stainless Ruger long action (mag bolt face) I picked up last year. Haven't decided if I will spend the extra coin to ream it out to a .338-375 Ruger/Campfire as originally intended or just shoot it as is.

Regardless, the bullet I plan to try first is the 225g AccuBond with a .550BC. Using Nosler data as the basis for evaluation, the 225 shoots flatter at longer range and retains considerably more velocity and energy at longer ranges.

Should work great for elk, which is the largest animal I expect to hunt.

Hey, CH. Glad to hear that worked out for you. You'll love that 338 for elk. Damn, now I don't have that in my back pocket anymore though

Actually punched right through them.....

Lost several woodchucks that made to thier hole for the same reason.......farmers don't much like 250 grain bullets whinning accrost thier fields either!

LC

I've shot rabbits with 225 hornady interlocks with the same results. Made some "right behind the front shoulder" shots on some with not hardly any meat ruined

On chucks and such, you'll get a lot more explosiveness if you wait and take the chuck when it's either coming or going. One will also get a lot more loft factor that way. I've shot a ton load of chucks with my 340 and I've never had any issues with it.

The 180 NBT is also a heck of a chuck bullet.

Dober

I think if you want a cheap bullet to practice with and also hunt deer, the 215 Sierra is hard to beat. Nice and accurate and reasonabley tough too. We don't have elk in Australia but they certainly do the business with Reds and Sambar.

After using 225 tsx bullets in my 338 I have given away the others I had accumulated. I have used 250gr Swift Aframes as well as 250gr nosler partitions with no complaints but the 225 shoots a little flatter and and penetrates brilliantly. I have killed Elk as well as african game from Hippo to Eland to impala and Croc and have nothing but the greatest confidence in this bullet loaded ahead of 75gr of R19.
PS It is the most accurate 338 bullet I have found in my rifle.

Elk are large animals and the .338 Win mag caliber fits them to a T!!! I now only use two bullet weights in the rifle. The light bullet is the 210 Nosler Partition and the heavy bullet is the 275 grain Swift A Frame.

210 TTSX and RL19 is pretty hard to beat.

I load 225 Woodleighs, Win. Brass, Fed 215m and 71.0grs. of H4350. No help on the Barnes bullets.

I have used 210gr. Nosler Partitions and 185gr. Barnes TSX, both of which shoot well in my Model 70. I don't think that you can go wrong with either of these.

i used 210 Nosler Partitions but just got some Federal 225 Nosler Accubonds for $29.00 a box I wanna see how they shoot for that price I couldnt pass it up

200 grain Bitterroot with a case full of 4831.

The 338 win mag is bad medicine for any elk with just about any bullet on the market. I know you want to use barnes, but the el-cheapo ($20.00/box of 50) 250 gr. sierra gameking does wonders too. Let your rifle tell you what it likes. For me my Ruger m77's always give thumbs up to the sierra:




Even my buddies Ruger M77 MKII 338 win mag liked this load:


His shoulder didn't like it though as you can see from his group after I dialed it in for him


I know I'm an azz

That's a fine combination. It certainly works for me.

donsm70

That'll work!

You're either up real late, or real early there Bob. Either way- howdy!

It's 12:30 here and I'm bankin' billable hours...

Fell asleep and woke up Jeff....so here I am!

Goofin' off again...

Gotta keep track of what he 338 boys are slingin'!

I have tried several loads over the years but nowdays I am sticking with a 225 grain Nosler Accubond or the Swift
A Frame in the 250 grain. I also have a load for those 275 grn A Frames too!

I've always liked the 225s out of a .338, gives the best combo of muzzle velocity and Ft LBS of energy IMHO

You know us Bob, we're always slinging something especially us Oregon boys. Tonk's pretty good at slinging for the 338 too

If you're not shooting 250's in a 338 why own one.

Oh know don't say that, you'll get the boys all riled up

Always has and always will until I run out of 'em!

225 grain Interlocks and Interbonds with r19 and cci mag.

labdad:I have not seen that particular one work.....only the 225 on elk.

But reports are good! The faster they go, the better they are!

How many you got left? Enuf?



Bob(SU): With the BBC the standard advise was to hit a velocity level,and Bill even put it on the packaging for each weight/caliber bullet you bought.....and a 250 was better used in the 340 and larger cases of 338 cal.In the 338 WM the 200 or 225 was the better bet for about anything.

My sentiments exactly. Don't be ascared of those 250s boys, they won't bite!

bingo! if your shooting the 200-210 grains would you not get better results from a 300 wby?

Ive used the 250 grain hornadys for 30 plus years and never had bad results,
Ive tried the 250 Sierras, good accurate target bullet, but it tends to shred after impact from what Ive seen.

I disagree but then I think all .338 mag loads tend to bite.

I've had complete pass thrus with the sierra 250 gr. gameking and it puts them down in a hurry. This is in a 338 win mag running 2600-2700 fps which may be quite a bit slower than your 340 load.

I dont like the 250s out of my 338 win mag. They do bite a little. The 210 ttsx go all the way through out to 450 yards+ and kick less.
If you were to ask me what bullet I would use to make the biggest nastty hole in a broadside elk I would tell you a 250 gr nos. partition. It will kill them dead.
I just likwe shootin the 210 ttsx very accurate in my gun and full penetration. Whats not to like.
For the guys that say if you are going to shoot anything less than a 225 in 338 you should just go with a 30 cal. I diagree, I like the bigger frontal area of the 338 and get full penetration. HOW AbOUT THAT!! :] :].

eyeguy are you loading those 210 ttsx yourself? if so what has your experience been? thanks

Funny, If I'm going to run a 200 or 220 gr bullets I'll grab my 300 win mag everytime. When I want to step up a bit I grab the 338 with 250's. Just makes sense, but like I said before the nice thing about 338 bullets is just about every one of them are elk killers. Its hard to go wrong with any bullet choice in this medium bore and when the 338 gets brought up you know there will be a difference of opinion in the bullet weights we like. Just personal preference, but we should all agree that the 338 is an elk killing machine when placed in the right hands

Preach it, brutha!

I think it pays to pay attention to bullet construction and the potential velocity with that bullet,rather than get locked into a particular weight,which may have had some validity back when all bullets were CC,but the game changes when we look at stuff like an X,an Aframe,TBBC, etc......

Some say why use a 200 gr in the 338 when you could use a 250;but start a 200 gr BBC, or 210 X or others of that type at 2900-3000 fps and you will have more frontal area and weight retention than the CC 250,or even a Partition,and as much penetration as needed;I have seen examples of this more than once and not just with the 200 gr BBC but other calibers as well..

..for this reason I see no issues with using a 200 gr BBC(or something similar)in the 338....if I still had some 200 gr BBC's in 338, I might even still be a 338 shooter. ..they would certainly be my first choice over anything else out there in 338 today.

.....and "no" my view is not that weight retention in itself,is an indicator,of killing power...it merely demonstrates the bullet had the integrity to do its' work instead of dissipating and destroying itself along the way, which maybe is of some benefit for lighter game but I fail to see the value on heavy animals.

Agreed. The 210 NP scared the crap out of me when it apparently blew up on the shoulder blade of a moose, peppering the near lung with bb bits of bone and lead from a thouroughly shattered shoulder blade. No damage to the far lung at all. He might have lived thru that one.... First and last time I ever used it on game.

Never found the rear portion- maybe exited the large surface wound. Range was broadside at 100 yards. The second round up the nose when thebull
lurched back to his feet when I was about 10 feet away did the trick, but I will never use NP 210's again. 225's or 250s are the way to go with the .338 IMO. I've gotten my tightest groups with Sierra 250 GKs, (inch groups at 200) but I kinda favor the Hornady's for some reason. Currently I'm working thru a batch of thrown together "junk loads" of Hornady 250 RN that when I tried them, shot MOA. I'm stuck with them for the next 10 years or so I guess - I've got about 70 rounds left - and since my average kill range on moose is about 60 yards- I can't see going elsewhere until I run out ( I average 5-7 rounds a year thru that gun). Besides, I've still got 3 rounds of those Sierras for long-range - they print 3 inches higher than the Hornadys at 100 yards...... If I ever get one such long range op...

I've never found the Partition to be particularly accurate in any of my rifles /calibers. It's OK - but others are better for accuracy. Other than that 210NP- I've not found fault with terminal performance of the NP.

I will stipulate that I've not found premium bullets to be of enough significance in performance improvement for my hunting needs to justify their cost, and have largely (not entirely) gone back to plain-jane bullets - whatever gives me the best accuracy with reasonable terminal performance at the least cost floats my boat. Placement is up to me.... and 'most any bullet of reasonable construction/application, properly placed, will do the job.

Yes, I handloaded the 210ttsx. Max load was 72gr of H-4350 in a federal cases with federal mag primer. Coal length for my gun was 3.38 in. Vel. 2950. As always this load worked in my Mark 5 weatherby action but may not be safe in your gun.
I was lucky enough to draw a Utah Mt Dutton tag and took a nice 375 bull 3 years back.