.338 wm for long range?

[Moose Whacker]

I have a Ruger M77 in .338 WM have had a triger job done and glass bedded, am presently having a Leoupold Mark 4 4.5x16x50 installed by a gunsmith. I handload.
and have just purchased a Leica1600 RF. I have shot mule deer out to about 450 plus or minus paced off yards with this rifle with a Leoupold 3.5x10.

Why don't I hear anything about this cal. being used for long range?
The .338 Lapua is shooting a heavier bullet but it isn't going much faster than my .338 WM, why then can the Lapua shoot out to some two miles? What would be a good expectation for the .338 WM be?

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I am interested in the responces you get. I think it would be gor to 1k at least on mule deer.

 

[bigngreen]

The short answer is bullet BC, the 338 win has a very hard time combining enough BC with enough velocity to get you out much over 800 yards, maybe a 1000. Long Time Long Ranger on here has some good stuff for the 338 win using some Barnes and Cutting Edge bullets!

 

[Moose Whacker]

Thanks,lightbulb makes sence am gonna look up the BC on Barns, I am using Barns .225 right now.

 

[ken snyder]

Moose Whacker, Almost 150 years ago Our great great grand dads were doing a good job at 1000 yds. with lead bullets, black powder cartridges and not much over 1600 fps. Maybe the air has got a lot thicker since then. The 338 WM is a good cartridge but larger capacity cartridges are easier to hit things with at longer yardages. For Deer sized animals if you can hit it with a 338 WM it will fall down!

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Ken, that dang pollution now days with thick air gets me every time.

Like other guys said, it will kill it if you can hit it. My longest shot with the 338 winchester was a huge moose at 1104 yards and he only took a few steps. Like stated earlier the problem is the winchester having the velocity to push big heavy bullets fast enough so lighter high bc bullets do the best within the range it is most capable. For long range the best bullet I have found is the 225 grain cutting edge bullet with a .64 bc. I can drive that bullet easily to 2900 fps and a 225 grain .64 bc going 2900 will easily take out anything at 1000 yards. Run the numbers on it and you will see. Before I found that bullet I was using the 185 grain barnes ttsx at 3200 fps and kept it within 800 or so yards. The bc is higher than listed and does a very good job on game. Recoil is negligible with the lighter bullets and mine do not have a brake.

Speaking of Barnes I sat down with the guy who does the actual bullet tests for barnes at the shot show for 30-45 minutes along with a few other guys there. He was extremely knowledgable and now that they have the dopler to get the most precise BC's in the industry they are finding they have been low and will be going back and upgrading there actual bc's. For instance they found the 200 grain 30 caliber was over .6 which me and others knew from testing but they had rather list low than high and have satisfied customers. The new 168 grain 7mm ttsx is going to be a big time long range game getter with a very high bc. I got some of those for testing in my 7mm's. Barnes is a company spending quite a bit of dollars in research to satisfy the long range crowd with hunting performance.

 

[ken snyder]

Long Time Long Ranger, How is the air where you at. Sometimes I have to get someone to run down range with a broom and sweep it out of the way just to see the target! I like to hear about shots like the one you made on the Moose. Ive never taken a game animal that far away and if you ask me its because the guy with the broom couldn't keep up with the Elk!

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

That shot was in the beautiful clean air of western Alaska. I had previously done spot shots to some heavily used trails and the moose made the mistake of stopping at the rock I had actually done a spot shot on. Worked great!

 

[dk17hmr]

I havent pushed my 338 WIN MAG way out there yet. Just 600 yards on steel targets and 459 yards on an elk this passed hunting season.

A good friend of mine just finished up a 338 win he built to shoot long range. I am really looking forward to pushing it out passed a 1000. He is hoping for a 500 yards kill this fall with it.

 

[Topshot]

The .338WM will get to 1000 easy.
I do a lot of my low velocity bullet testing with a .338WM at 1000 yards. To get the velocity low enough for some bullets I have to use reduced loads.

Even with reduced loads it is easy to hit a target at 1000 yards so long as the bullet handles velocity near transonic which is the whole point of some of my tests as well as low velocity expansion.

One of the most impressive bullets that I have used has been the 225 grain Hornady Interbond. Its BC is also understated by Hornady and this bullet has proven to be the best bullet that I have ever tested with regard to low velocity expansion.

If only Hornady came out with a plastic tip 250 grain A-Max.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I agree that 225 interbond is a good bullet.

 

[dk17hmr]

Thats what I use also.....except I bought mine as seconds from Midsouth for 1/2 price.

 

[T3-OleMan]

Thats what I use also.....except I bought mine as seconds from Midsouth for 1/2 price.

I also bought some 225gr $14.99 Blems and can't figure out what I really have. They look like Accubonds, but with a white tip & have one ring around the waist.
They really look like...
Hornady InterLock Bullets 338 Caliber (338 Diameter) 225 Grain SST Boat Tail but with a white tip, but are a tad longer than the SST!

I called MidwayUSA a couple of different times to talk to buyers so I would know what to load for and I concluded from what they lead me to believe that they are ACCuBonds. Is that possible that I have .338 225gr AB with one ring around it and that ring is the blem.....they are pretty.
Please chime in if you know anything about what I have.
Thanks

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

They very well could be accubonds that were overruns to be loaded in a commercial cartridge. They are loaded in some ammo with the cannelure.