338 win mag powder choice

[MagnumManiac]

Looking to revisit my 338 win mag. Looking to try the new 230g eldx. What powders should I look at? I have imr 4350, h4831, R-17, R-19, R-22,
R-26, and Varget. Any other suggestions are welcome as well.
24" Barrel.

In every 338WM I have owned, RE19 has been the standout out of all powders tested.
With a 225gr Accubond, I run 76gr of RE19 @ 2890fps in my 26" barreled Win Model 70 EW.
I found 78gr as max with over 2950fps average in my rifle.
With 250gr Partitions, RE22 was the most accurate, although RE19 was faster.

H4831 was the WORST powder I ever tried!!

Cheers.

 

[freediver111]

Count me in for RL19. Mine really likes it with 200 grain accubonds. Tried 225, but for some reason my gun prefers the 200's.

 

[LoneTraveler]

IMR 4350 power is my Go Too for 225 gr. bullets for 338 WM. I tried H 4831 But could not get enough powder in the case to get posted velocity.

 

[Pa Grizz]

Everything from 180 ballistic tip to 250 Berger IMR 4350 has worked
great

 

[alaska]

My favorite for many years and many moose have fallen to this load.
338 Win
225 gr Swift A frame
71.0 of IMR 4350
WLRM primer
WW case

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

I had very good luck with ramshot hunter. I shot Berger 250 elite hunters with mine. I think it was around 65.5 grains it gave my a smidge over 2600...love a 338 win...

 

[Jayjay]

It's been a long time since I had my 338 win mag but imr 4350 was the powder I used and it was super accurate. I was running 225 Barnes X and 250 Nosler partitions

 

[Doghunter23]

Mine loves H4831.

Is your rifle throated long? also how did you fit that much H4831? I am trying to find a starting load in my factory Ruger 77 338 win mag. I want to shoot the hornady 230 ELD-X,
Your load is well over hodgedons recommendations for a 250 Gr class bullet max of 71.5 Gr, is their information that conservative?
I want to try to run H4831 cause I already have 10 pounds!
Thanks

I don't have that actual book value, but from Hodgedons site I can extrapolate a range of 66.4-73.9 Gr of H4831. does this sound good to everyone?

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

My brother wanted me to setup a load for his 338 Win shooting the 230X. Tried RL19, H4350, IMR4350, RL26, H100V (super fast) and probably several others I don't recall. Getting something to shoot 1 MOA wasn't bad but getting sub MOA was proving difficult with this bullet. About to give up but someone here I believe suggested I give RL16 a shot. Ding! That is now my go-to starting point for any 338 Win (or 6.5) load. RL19 has been relegated to collecting dust on my bench going forward.
So, if you haven't tried RL 16 yet, do it! Fast, great SDs, very accurate, temp stability...

 

[TRG65]

I've gotten very good results from RL 16 and H4350 both with the 230 ELD-X. I run my load .020" off, but the rest of the ELD-X that I shoot I use .050" off for the best results. I also use CCI LR BR primers, because that's what I have for my other rifles and they seem to work just fine. I get 2850 with H4350 and 2870 with RL16 the last time I chronographed. This is from a 24" barrel. I shot a small deer this year at about 130 yds, and the damage was extensive, caught a rib on the way in, and it sprayed blood out both the entrance and exits. I thought that seemed pretty soft, but I've messaged with folks on this site that have also used the 230 ELDX for elk and were happy. It seems to have the potential to be an all around bullet.

 

[alaska]

I tried most of those powders listed. Even Varget and it was a tack driver... but velocity was crazy slow. Mine didn't really sing until I tried H-414.

Here's some friendly advice though. Find out where you bullet likes to be seated "first" before you begin dismissing powders.

Pick a bullet. Pick a powder. Find your max charge weight for that particular powder and load all your cases at about 2% under your max charge weight. Load/Test 5 shots each, at each seating depth of .010", .040", .070" and .100" off the lands. I'll even go to .130" off the lands if the bullet/powder will allow. Shoot for accuracy. Hope you still have a shoulder left! One of those groups will be noticeably better than the rest. Now you can start working up a load. You can even use that same seating depth as a general starting reference when testing other powders as long as your using the same bullet but of course you'll need to determine what the max charge weigh is for each particular powder that you test. As I recall, the Varget shot great with a big jump but was getting 2" groups close to the lands. You don't know till 'ya choot 'em!

What was your load with Varget load ?
I have some 225gr XCL to try in 338 Win .

 

[memtb]

What was your load with Varget load ?
I have some 225gr XCL to try in 338 Win .

For what it's worth……we're run'n RL 22 in my wife's .338 WM. Getting 2950, pretty decent accuracy, compressed load! memtb

 

[Hoss50]

H4350 is what I have started with under 230gr ELDX and 225gr CX bullets. I think it was the CX was closing pushing over 2900fps with reasonable accuracy at 1.25" and I found out later that the scope was rattling loose from recoil. So who knows what the accuracy really is. I need to finish load development.

 

[Danny1030]

Winchester case, 225 Accubond, CCI 250 - I only load temp stable powders so I started with H4831. I was unable to find pressure with H4831SC. Went to H4350 for a faster burn rate. H4350 shoots well at 2775 fps from a 23" bbl.