Anybody care to help me out and give me there pet loads for the 338 lm with the 300 gr Lapua bullet. The best I have tried so far is 81gr of N 165 and its nothing to brag about after you get get past 500 yds it does ok at 300 yds. I have Lapua brass with federal gold 215 primers shooting out of a 26 inch shilen barrel.
338 lm loads
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liltank
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bowstryder
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what is the twist rate of your barrel?
I would try vit n570 at about 91 gr. 81 gr of 165 is not what I would call a good load for the Lapua (not trying to be rude). The load density is way low and it's not a great powder for this particular case. hth
retumbo is a great powder for this cartridge as well. Keep in mind it's a bit more temp sensitive than some others but at a safe 93-94gr MAX it'll light a fire in that bullet. (no pun intended).
I would try vit n570 at about 91 gr. 81 gr of 165 is not what I would call a good load for the Lapua (not trying to be rude). The load density is way low and it's not a great powder for this particular case. hth
retumbo is a great powder for this cartridge as well. Keep in mind it's a bit more temp sensitive than some others but at a safe 93-94gr MAX it'll light a fire in that bullet. (no pun intended).
Its a 9.3 twist. Thanks fellows for the info. Here is what I have tried so far 89. grs of h 1000 the speed was 2610. 86 grs of N560 speed 2720. 90 grs of n 170 speed 2680 the best group was n 560 but was not was I was looking for 500 yds plus. Then someone told me I was loading to much powder then he said 81 grs of n 165. Any how I will try what you all said. Would it be better to test the loads at 300 yds rather than 100? I got a .338 barret if anyone wants to relieve me of it.
bowstryder
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the twist rate is perfect for the big pills so that's a plus. But having a 26" tube you will be good to get in the upper 2700's without maxing it out. Also have you tried any different types of bullets?
As to the 100 vs 300 yd question. If you are doing load development you can learn a lot at the 100 mark, however, like many have already noticed it takes a little more time for these to fall asleep and you could actually get the same size or slightly smaller groups at 300. This is a true long distance round so the further out you go the better you can discern the data.
As to the 100 vs 300 yd question. If you are doing load development you can learn a lot at the 100 mark, however, like many have already noticed it takes a little more time for these to fall asleep and you could actually get the same size or slightly smaller groups at 300. This is a true long distance round so the further out you go the better you can discern the data.
ken snyder
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I've been shooting 338 LM since they were just a rumor and special order brass was difficult to get. I have never liked the Scenar bullets or Vihtavouri powder in them. Its my opinion that they will digest any suitable powder, primer or bullet with very good results. I load them with mid range powder charges and strictly stay away from the higher charges with them. I work on reducing the largest group size that I am likely to get, which in actuality is quite a bit different than working on the smallest. 150 fps does not make any difference when the total drop and drift is considered because it will never benefit from a few inches of difference when we have yards left to deal with. It is a very good heavy bullet cartridge but perhaps needs to be dealt with a little differently than most will think!
I have not tried any other bullet, when I got the scenars I was going to get the berger hybrids also but they only had them in the 250 count. Are the sierras just a target bullet? Any suggestions? The best I have done at a grand is a minute thats only three shots I was hoping to do better or is that about right? Thats 3 clicks back to the left from the spin drift should it be that much drift? What about you Ken Snyder what do you think I should load up?
Out of my 30" Rock/ABS barrel I use 91.5grs of Retumbo under the Berger 300gr Hybrid.
.5 moa out to 1200yds for 3 shots is the norm, average 2800 fps.
.5 moa out to 1200yds for 3 shots is the norm, average 2800 fps.
ken snyder
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Wasp thats a pretty hard choice for me to make for you. I use the 300 gr. Sierra Match King for a long range hunting bullet. Quite a few of the younger guys that shoot larger 338 cartridges are finding really good results with the Berger. In the past most of them preferred the 250 gr. match king. I think there are two things that are keeping me from switching to the Berger, number 1 is availability in my area If I run out of Sierra I can pick them up at a number of local shops, number two is I feel that the Berger requires a little faster twist than what I currently have. When I'm in areas that have a good chance of producing the need for a close range shot I keep my rifle loaded with a good heavily constructed conventional hunting bullet. I keep the scope set for the long range bullets and switch over to the Matchking when shots will be long enough that the standard hunting bullets groups exceed the size of the kill zone, or at the yardage that I start having difficulties with Point of impact. The 338 Lm is actually quite a monster masher when loaded in this manner I feel that I can have my cake and eat it too! -
ken snyder
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My 2 favorite powders in them are IMR 4350 and Re-22. These two powders are often over looked because their maximum velocities are already about 100 fps slower than some other powders. and they don't throw as consistent of powder charges as some other powders so they require a small amount of extra time at the reloading bench. The Big bonus that I find in these two powders are a very consistent velocity across the chronograph, most register as a duplicate. I don't ever use the std. deviation button because I look for the maximum velocity difference between the slowest round and the fastest round ( I never have been able to tell which one of my rounds are standardly deviated by looking at them ). 15 fps is what I look for, and am certain that the majority of that spread is from my inability to shoulder the rifle the exact same way every time, the more not movable the rifle sees me and the tighter I pull in on my recoil pad the higher the velocity gets and the opposite is also true. I am happy to see a trend of people actually starting to give realistic appraisals of average accuracy instead of the accidental best they have ever shot. This brings me to the wind, The Wind witch isn't evil, she requires a long courtship!
