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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Rifles
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Spiced
.224 member


Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 3
Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :(
      #34478 - 08/07/05 06:58 PM

AFter just getting my .338 win mag i couldnt wait to try it out on some sambar, and last week shot one at about 15 yards facing straight at me. The loads i was using were hornady 225gn pills and ar2209 power at i think 74 or 79 grains, these were given to me by the previous owner and not loaded by me but he said these were loaded for sambar, anyway the deer ran bout 40 meters after i shot it and died, the bullet had hit middle of the neck and looked like it exploded as there was a big hole in on entry, ie the size of my fist, but no real penetration, upon cutting and skinning the bullet had run down nearly the throat/windpipe and when i gutted it, i found what was left of the projectile in the top of the chest cavity but no liver, lung or heart had sustained any damage, all that was left of the projectile was the copper shrapnel,

i thought the bullet should have held together better that that??
i just bought some 250 grain corelockts and will give them a test out and see how they go.

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BigBullet
.224 member


Reged: 06/03/04
Posts: 22
Loc: Yulee, FL USA
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Spiced]
      #34480 - 08/07/05 08:31 PM

Spiced,

Get rid of the 225 grain Hornandys. Shoot them at paper and small game. In my experience, they do not hold together well at all. My best handloads for the 338 Win Mag are with H4350 and 250 grain Nolser Partitions. I have used this load on a limited basis on plains game and was much happier with the results.

Good Luck,
BigBullet

--------------------
"But I have always held it little short of criminality to anticipate evils, I will allow it to be a good, comfortable road until I am compelled to believe otherwise." William Clark May 1805

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Spiced]
      #34484 - 08/07/05 09:40 PM

I would be inclined to try the following load,it works well on scrub cattle,camel and feral pigs.
300gn round nose soft nose.(Woodleigh)
9 1/2 rem mag primer.
63gns 2209
Overall length =3.285..
Rifle is a Sako

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

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475Guy
.400 member


Reged: 22/08/03
Posts: 1088
Loc: Kali, US
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Spiced]
      #34488 - 09/07/05 12:25 AM

Ditto on the Hornady 225 gr bullets. They're made for paper punching and only on broad side, behind the shoulder shots, where no bones will be encountered. I'd handloaded 338 for a buddy a few years back and found that 250 gr bullets and up are much better for game.

--------------------
Lo do they call to me,
They bid me take my place among
them in the Halls of Valhalla,
Where the brave may live forever.

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Plains99
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Reged: 10/11/04
Posts: 225
Loc: Dodge City, Kansas, USA
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: 475Guy]
      #34494 - 09/07/05 04:38 AM

I took a nice elk three seasons ago with a Ruger #1 in .338 Win Mag using the 250-Grain PSP Core-Lokt at 170 yards with a frontal point of the shoulder shot. The elk ran perhaps 25 yards before going down. His heart was split in half. We found the bullet against the skin in the opposite hip nicely mushroomed. I was impressed.

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Tightloop
.275 member


Reged: 24/06/06
Posts: 74
Loc: Spring, Tx...
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Plains99]
      #65835 - 14/11/06 05:25 AM

I have had good success with the 210 gr Partitions also...one shot, one elk....130 yds broke the shoulder and stoppen under the skin on the opposite side...70% retained weight..good enough for me..

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26994
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Spiced]
      #65890 - 15/11/06 03:42 AM

The best bullet ever made for the .338 WM was the Speer 275gr. Semispitzer. In most .338's, it shoots like a match bullet, yet will penetrate lengthwise through a big B.C. or Alaskan moose.
: Unfortunately, Speer chose to discontinue this wonderful bullet. If you can find some in a gun shop, buy them and give them a try. At 2,600fps to 2,650fps, they're an incredible game bullet. IMR 4350 is a good powder for them, or a ball powder of similar burn rate.
: I have quite a number of friends with .338's who are hording their remaining supply of these bullets for their Moose and Elk shooting. They've run the gamut from Partitions to other available bullets, but are sold on the big Speer for all serious work. One such friend visited yesterday, asking me if I knew where he cold get some more, as he tried the remaining 5 he had on target from a rifle I'd just re-stocked for him last Spring. His 250gr. Noslers and 225gr. Hornady's were going into 1-1/4" and he thought there was something wrong with the bedding. Those 5 remaining 275's went into 3/8", just as they always had.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Tightloop
.275 member


Reged: 24/06/06
Posts: 74
Loc: Spring, Tx...
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: DarylS]
      #65898 - 15/11/06 06:17 AM

I am sure the 275's are a great bullet, but surely he can get his/your rifle to shoot something being made now....My .338 will shoot the 210 Noslers into .455 and the 250's into about 3/4" don't see the need for 225's or heavier than 250....kill anything on the North American continent..

Call Speer and see if there are any lying around somewhere, you never know..

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bulldog563
.400 member


Reged: 21/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: California
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar [Re: Tightloop]
      #65900 - 15/11/06 07:40 AM

I really like the 250grn Swift A-Frames. Took roughly 6 species on my last africa trip with them and they performed very well.

--------------------
Join the National Rifle Association:
https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp

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mlg
.275 member


Reged: 19/03/05
Posts: 85
Loc: Queensland, Australia
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar [Re: bulldog563]
      #65905 - 15/11/06 12:42 PM

Spiced

Your a brave man to use someonelses handloads!

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hoppdoc
.400 member


Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar [Re: mlg]
      #65916 - 15/11/06 10:02 PM

I have two 338's.One shoots the 250gr Nosler partition well at 2500 fps.. I would like to try the faster 225 gr North Fork in the other.I think that would be a African load I would really enjoy.

Anyone shot the North Fork bullet in 225gr 338? Did you like it?

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

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bulldog563
.400 member


Reged: 21/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: California
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar [Re: hoppdoc]
      #65982 - 17/11/06 07:20 AM

I would have liked to use the 225 grn NF's on my recent trip but the rifle I was bringing didn't have enough freebore to accomodate them. I did use the 300gr 375's though and every single recovered bullet was PERFECT!! They are fast becoming my favorite hunting bullet. I say if they will shoot in your rifle they are worth a try.

--------------------
Join the National Rifle Association:
https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp

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allenday
.333 member


Reged: 18/04/04
Posts: 318
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: Spiced]
      #66485 - 07/12/06 03:13 AM

Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, I used 225 gr. and 250 gr. Hornady bullets a great deal in the 338 Win. Mag. Most of the time, they worked very well on mule deer, elk, bison, etc. But sometimes they didn't, and I found that if the jacket developed a verticle split that extended past the cannelure, the 'Interlock' band would not always hold the jacket and core together. If the jacket didn't split past that point, the bullets would usually stay together very well, and I have a collection of recovered Hornady's that included fragmented specimens, as well as bullets that look like textbook-perfect mushrooms.

In no way have I found that Hornady 338 bullets are anywhere near as reliable and consistent as Nosler Partitions, Swift A-Frames, or Barnes Triple-Shocks. Those are my favorite 338 bullets to date, and my next 338 bullet venture is going to include the 225 and 240 gr. North Fork, which should be stellar performers.

Bullet weight in and of itself means very little. A strongly constructed premium 225 gr. 338 bullet that stays together can totally out-perform and out-penetrate a poorly constructed 250 or 275 bullet that comes apart.

AD

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Tightloop
.275 member


Reged: 24/06/06
Posts: 74
Loc: Spring, Tx...
Re: Dissapointed with handloads for .338 on sambar :( [Re: allenday]
      #66583 - 08/12/06 12:16 PM

Going to try some NF bullets when I shoot up my supply of Noslers....they look great...

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