338 Remington ultra Magnum reloading

T

Teamdssh

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
7
Location
New Tripoli, Pa
I am currently having a Remington 338 ultra magnum custom built for me. The custom gun shop had 20 rounds of ammunition which he found to be a good combo for his rifle.

Obviously there are many shortages out there in terms of reloading, but I managed to come across some components.

I have done my research and I know the several powders, primers and brass that people usually use but obviously they can't be found anywhere.

I have come across 100 brass casings from nosler, some old stock CCI number 250 large magnum rifle primers, some Hodgdon 869, and I'm thinking I would like to push out a 285 grain eld match bullet from Hornady which I also have. Has anybody ever reloaded a combo with any or all of these components?

Hodgdon has details on max and minimum loads with this specific powder but some of my components differ from theirs.

The custom gun shop only wants to use federal 215 primers and reloader 26 or 33 powder. I would appreciate any input and thank you in advance
 
Hodgdon gives starting loads of 96 grains and max loads of 102 and 101 grains of 869 with 275 and 300gr bullets . These starting loads will be fine for the 285 grain bullets you have with your other components .if that was the only powder I had I would work up a load and see what the rifle would do. May not be the best powder and then you might be surprised. At least you can shoot the rifle until you can find recommended components.
 
I'd start with putting together a dummy round of the ELD Match. Seat it a little longer than magazine length if you plan to single load to find contact with lands and back off a bit. Seat to magazine length if you plan on using that. Less if bullets jam there. Record the difference.
Prime the cases with the CCI 250 magnum primers, put in the 96 grains of 869 Hornady recommends for both 275, and 300 grain bullets, seat 9 bullets magazine length.
Head for the range, and if we're breaking it in follow whatever procedure your shop recommends, before making any decisions.
Start with a clean, but dry barrel, fire one, check bolt lift, check brass for issues, fire 2 more.
Clean as above fire another 3 shot group, and so on.
I doubt you'll find many pressure issues in this combo, before you're out of case capacity.
I like the 215's as well, but we have to live in reality. Also better powders, and the ever debatable bullet choice. Hammers are available with a phone call, as is loading data.
It's a fun friendly cartridge to load for.
 
HARPERC said:
I'd start with putting together a dummy round of the ELD Match. Seat it a little longer than magazine length if you plan to single load to find contact with lands and back off a bit. Seat to magazine length if you plan on using that. Less if bullets jam there. Record the difference.
Prime the cases with the CCI 250 magnum primers, put in the 96 grains of 869 Hornady recommends for both 275, and 300 grain bullets, seat 9 bullets magazine length.
Head for the range, and if we're breaking it in follow whatever procedure your shop recommends, before making any decisions.
Start with a clean, but dry barrel, fire one, check bolt lift, check brass for issues, fire 2 more.
Clean as above fire another 3 shot group, and so on.
I doubt you'll find many pressure issues in this combo, before you're out of case capacity.
I like the 215's as well, but we have to live in reality. Also better powders, and the ever debatable bullet choice. Hammers are available with a phone call, as is loading data.
It's a fun friendly cartridge to load for.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the informative reply! Much appreciated.
 
I have a 338 rum and am shooting a similar load to what your talking about with the exception of powder.
My load is:

RP brass
CCI 250 primer
100 gn ramshot LRT
285 ELDM
26" barrel + 10 inch suppressor= 2776 FPS
I can get you my COAL if you care
 
H100, RL26, 8133 all work pretty good in it as well, H100 may be a touch fast though. I use RL26 with a 250gr berger OTM tactical for 3030fps from a 28" 9.3 twist. 91gr and a 215M primer gets me there. It'll hold an honest .5ish MOA to 1000yds and will easily outrun most any 300gr load past 1000yds. Don't discount the lighter bullets. the extra speed makes up for a little less bc, and the only thing you'll miss is the extra recoil. I gained 300fps switching from 300gr SMKs to the 250gr berger. Flattened the trajectory considerably and reduced recoil a noticeable amount.
 
So far, my 338 RUM really likes the following:
- 285 gr ELDM
- H1000
- Fed 215
- R-P Brass

From my 30" barrel, it pushes the 285 gr ELDM to 2945. I may try out the 300 gr Bergers, but for now, I don't see the need to switch.
 
philipbrousseau said:
Hodgdon gives starting loads of 96 grains and max loads of 102 and 101 grains of 869 with 275 and 300gr bullets . These starting loads will be fine for the 285 grain bullets you have with your other components .if that was the only powder I had I would work up a load and see what the rifle would do. May not be the best powder and then you might be surprised. At least you can shoot the rifle until you can find recommended components.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input. The rifle will be finished in a week or two. What increments in grains should I increase at. .1? .2? Should I load 3 or 5 of each to start? Also I have managed to come across some IMR powders (4831 and 4895) as well. I believe the 4831 is respected for use with this round also. I will start with the 869 and record the data and see where that gets me. Thanks for your input
 
HARPERC said:
I'd start with putting together a dummy round of the ELD Match. Seat it a little longer than magazine length if you plan to single load to find contact with lands and back off a bit. Seat to magazine length if you plan on using that. Less if bullets jam there. Record the difference.
Prime the cases with the CCI 250 magnum primers, put in the 96 grains of 869 Hornady recommends for both 275, and 300 grain bullets, seat 9 bullets magazine length.
Head for the range, and if we're breaking it in follow whatever procedure your shop recommends, before making any decisions.
Start with a clean, but dry barrel, fire one, check bolt lift, check brass for issues, fire 2 more.
Clean as above fire another 3 shot group, and so on.
I doubt you'll find many pressure issues in this combo, before you're out of case capacity.
I like the 215's as well, but we have to live in reality. Also better powders, and the ever debatable bullet choice. Hammers are available with a phone call, as is loading data.
It's a fun friendly cartridge to load for.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input. I will follow your advise as we start out here. I also have some IMR 4831 that I can load with. My research finds that it may be better than the 869 I originally started this thread with. I will eventually post results. The rifle should be done in a week or two. Then it is tinker time. Thanks
 
Teamdssh . With a case the size of the ultra mags increasing the powder charge in one grain incrimates until you get to the pressure you want is plenty safe.
 
Teamdssh said:
I am currently having a Remington 338 ultra magnum custom built for me. The custom gun shop had 20 rounds of ammunition which he found to be a good combo for his rifle.

Obviously there are many shortages out there in terms of reloading, but I managed to come across some components.

I have done my research and I know the several powders, primers and brass that people usually use but obviously they can't be found anywhere.

I have come across 100 brass casings from nosler, some old stock CCI number 250 large magnum rifle primers, some Hodgdon 869, and I'm thinking I would like to push out a 285 grain eld match bullet from Hornady which I also have. Has anybody ever reloaded a combo with any or all of these components?

Hodgdon has details on max and minimum loads with this specific powder but some of my components differ from theirs.

The custom gun shop only wants to use federal 215 primers and reloader 26 or 33 powder. I would appreciate any input and thank you in advance
Click to expand...
338 RUM
Going on 5 years with my Rem 700 XCR2 here in Alaska
RL 22 @ 91.0 with 225gr Swift A Frame
RL 25 @ 91.0 with 250gr Accubond

I have customized my Rem 700 XCR2
HS Stock
HS Detachable Magazine
Timney Trigger
Mag Na Port
Warne Mountain Tech Rail and Scope Rings
Leupold VX3 3.5x10
It's a Moose thumper !
 

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