338/08 bullet choice?

M

mcrae555

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Okay fellas I am looking for some advice on bullets for a custom 338/08. I bought the gun used last week. Its a rebarreled Sako Finnlight with a 23 inch tube. Primary use will be spring bear with shot under 200 yards.

The gun came ready to roll with loads developed using the 185 grain Barnes XBT's. I am second guessing this because 185 seems light to me for a .338 caliber. The load pushes the 185's to around 2600 fps and is hunting accurate but nothing super special.

I was also thinking of using 225 grain Hornady Interlocks or 210 Nosler Partitions. I have 225 Accubonds but they are too long I believe to be much use in the little 338/08 case. I guess my question is will I really gain that much over the Barnes bullet by moving up in weight with a diffrent brand? I have no experince with Barnes bullets but most guys lurking around here really seem to love em:) I was also contemplating the 210 grain Barnes offering as well so I guess I just want some info on if its worth tinkering with a new load:D
 
At those velocities the 225gr. Hornady would work great. Same with the 210gr. Partition, I've used both bullets on black bears in the 338WinMag with devastating effectiveness. The 210gr. Partition will penetrate well, I never found one. Also you could try the 180gr. Accubond or the 200gr. Hornady.

You could try a 210gr. TSX, but their a long bullet as well. That 185gr. should do well from what I hear.
 
The new 200 grain Accubond or the 200 Grain Ballistic Silver Tip - the regular 200 gr BT is being discontinued by Nosler- would be perfect in that cartridge.
 
I use 215 gr Sierra Gamekings in my .338 Lapua with very good results. For me they fly almost as good as my target bullets and better than any of the other hunting bullets I have tried including 225gr Nosler accubonds. They work well on game too, last year I shot an antelope, a few deer and a moose with great results and all from the cheapest bullet I could find that I origionally bought just to break my barrel in.

Ivo
 
I have a 338-08 and I plan to use 200gr Speer or Hornady. Big enough to hit with a good punch and short enough for reasonable powder capacity. Ken Waters did an article on the 338-08 in Handloader Oct-Nov 1995. He got 2700+ fps out of a 24" barrel. I think that a heavier bullet will intrude on powder capacity too much. Besides that, 2700+ fps is faster than a 30-06 will do.
Let us know how you do and when I get to playing with mine I'll pass my info and results on.

Good Luck
John
 
You are on the low end of velocity for most .338 bullets. Check the manufacturers specs on what velocities their particular bullet performs at.

I don't think the super strong bullets would perform worth a damn. They would be like solids....
 
Thanks fellas

I pretty much decided to stay away from the super premiums. The 185 XBT's will get the job done but I am still going to try some 225 Hornadys because I have some. I agree that the bigger .338 bullets will probably intrude on the powder space. I don't have much reloading data on the 338/08 so the loads I have will be light. The barrel on this 338/08 is in pretty rough shape so I am not expecting much. The original owner put it away wet and dirty and then two years later pulled it out and realized the damage caused by moisture in a barrel:( Its looking like the factory 7mm/08 barrel is going to get put back on after spring.
 
I would get some 200 grain BT's especially since they are discontinued , good news though I do think there is a 200 grain comming to replace it. I used the 200 bt in my 338 winmag, it's devistating on deer. Sort of too much power so at the lower speed it should be just fine.
 
The 185 gr Barnes Triple Shock goes a click under 3000 fps in my 338-06 so should go aout 2700 in your gun. Here's the result at a lasered 270 yards. The first bull I have ever seen that just dropped at the shot.

PA120075.JPG


The 210 gr Partition at 2800 fps is another proven one for me on elk and it's relatively soft nose will work fine at the lower velocities. Just my experience.
 
When I was doing load tests with the 210gr XBT we fired them into a 3/4" crushed gravel pile and they still had very high weight retention. They didn't shoot all that well that I can recall.
The rate of twist was the most picky part with my 338-06. The gain twist ending up @ 1:10 only liked 250 and heavier.
Hope this helps.

Noel
 
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