.338 lapua improved light weight bullet

[snox801]

So I bought a savage stealth .338 and having it chambered in improved. Mainly to fireform brass for my brothers improved. So it's got a relatively short barrel from the factory so I'm not sure what I can get out of it. I have a .375 Am for long range so I'm not sure I will set this up for extreme long range. Prob only out to 800-1000. I'm thinking of setting it up with a lighter bullet for flatter trajectory. If I use a hammer sledge hammer it would hit very hard also. I'm hoping that my dad can use it a bit and he will never go over 600 yards. So I'm looking for a flat bullet to get me to that distance without a ton of drop. What do you guys think

 

[sable tireur]

So I bought a savage stealth .338 and having it chambered in improved. Mainly to fireform brass for my brothers improved.

Wow! So you spent 1200+ dollars just to fireform brass for your brother? Can you adopt me?

Lighter bullets for the .338 to gain a flatter trajectory need to have a high BC. Lighter usually means shorter in traditional cup and core bullets which usually results in lower BC. The solids suggested have relatively low BC from the start.

Here are some other suggestions:

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/Rocky+Mountain+Bullet+Test+Fire.html
This is a 225 grain bullet with a good BC.

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/338-cal-.338-230-gr-eld-x#!/

https://www.nosler.com/accubond-bullet/
This is available in a 225 grain bullet with a good BC.

Good Luck with your selection!

 

[snox801]

Lol yes I did buy it just for that and some practice. Is is worse that this is after I gave him my first .338 lapua in a xlr chassis for his birthday. I'd say he owes me. Anyway I know the lighter ones get terrible bc but the bc usually doesn't overtake the flatter trajectory till later in flight. Similar to using a 123gr in a 6.5 creed it will be flatter than a 147 I shoot but at a certain point the 147 takes over. I'm just thinking out loud that because the barrel is short usually the heavies need more length to get to speed. So I'm trying to decide what to do with this thing. I'm thinking a lighter faster bullet out of the short barrel should still get me to 800-1000 with plenty of punch and be fairly flat for the range it will be used most 0-500 yards.

 

[snox801]

Thanks for the heads up on the eld x didn't even notice that one.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I think Barnes makes a 160 and there's the 180 ballistic tip . I don't think either would be a suitable long range option , but they would wreck deer sized game at 500 or less .

 

[snox801]

That's what I'm going for I will have a second load for long range if it shoots well enough.

 

[snox801]

So I'm looking at the 170gr area of hammer sledge hammer or cutting edge raptors. The 160 Barnes in standard lapua is 3600fps plus in 24" that means my improved should be very fast and flat to 500.