Need a Load for .338 RUM for Big Bears

Thanks for all of the info guys, I am thinking that I will start with the Barnes TSX and work from there. I will try the tuff bonded bullets and see what satisfies my accuracy needs. I am so excited about this hunt that I cannot sleep!
 
I am headed to British Columbia in May for a Mountain Grizzly Bear hunt. I have a new .338 RUM that I am having built that will be done soon. I need some Ideas for handloads that I can trust my life on.

I am not looking for a really long range load. Probably shots will be less than 250 yards. I do need to load a tuff bullet that will be accurate and deliver a lethal blow to Mr. Brown.

Thanks for the help

Totch

gun)
I live in rural Wyoming near the Bighorn Mountains, and I've found an accurate hunting load for the .338 RUM, in my Remington 700. (I use a LedSled, and you will need a good recoil pad: LimbSaver, or Decelerator Pad.)
It shoots sub MOA.
Though, not the heaviest bullet, It'll knock any bear for a loop:
210 grain Nosler Partition
102 grains of Retumbo (max is 103 - a la Sierra Reloading Manual)
Federal 215 Magnum Match primers

Those clock at over 3,100 fps, and yeild over 4,500 ft. lbs. of force at the muzzle.

The Sierra manual states a COL of 3.580" max, but the Remington 700 has a longer action (magazine), so, I can seat the bullet out farther for a COL (cartridge overal length) of 3.625" -not 3.580".

I have yet to set up some loads with the 250 grain Sierra GameKings, and Nosler Partitions.
They would be a good choice as well. (See the Sierra Reloading Manual.)

I also have some 300 grain Sierra MatchKings to load up for long range testing.
But, those are intended for paper targets, gongs, and sniper applications.

I only need to drive 2 miles down the dirt road to set up a range for shooting.
(Advatages for living in rural Wyoming.)

In grizzly country (Sunlight Basin - North of Cody) with tags for elk and deer, I've killed one mule deer with it.
The range finder said 205 yards.
He was broadside, and it hit him just behind the shoulder.
He didn't know what hit him, and dropped.
The 210 Nosler blew his heart in half, destroyed his lungs, and penetrated - exited through his off shoulder. Wham!

That is a right-handed 700, and I've recently bought a 700 lefty, being a lefty (in Laminate SS).
So I'm selling the mentioned RH .338 RUM 700. Anybody interested???
It has a walnut Classic stock, blue heavy sporter barrel, not a bull barrel like the Sendero model, but it's heavier than a regular sporter.
And it has less than 75 rounds through it. (This ain't no .30-06!!!)
Anybody interested???
Email me: [email protected]

I hope to use the lefty 700 .338 RUM on a not-to-distant bull elk someday. La La!
 
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mtn grizz....

i had the good fortune to hunt mtn grizzly in BC many yrs back. this will probably get a little long winded but i hope you enjoy the story. i went with my older brother and it was a moose/grizz/black bear combo hunt. the first day out my brother stalked and made a great running shot on a 250lb black bear we had spotted across a wide valley, and while watching the stalk transpire i look up and see a big moose trying to sneak out of a stand of spruce that by brother and guide had gone thru. as he headed up-country i made my way to a shooting position and headed him off.....when i saw my brother shoot the bear i made my way to a better spot and took the shot on the moose that was just about to go over a ridge into another valley.....i was shooting a remington 8mm mag, with 200 gr nosler partions. the range was right at 500 yds, at a steep angle. the moose was on an almost perpendiculer hillside above timberline.....more like sheep hunting than moose hunting. at the first shot he hunched up , and a follow up shot put him down.....and DOWN HE CAME!!!! i swear you could feel the ground shake as he rolled down that hill....i was sure his anters would be bashed to bits, but they made it thru ok....after packing out the moose the next day(4 fully loaded pack horses) we were hoping to get a grizzly off the gut pile and leavings of the bull...no such luck...we hunted hard for the rest of the hunt to find a grizz. we had one close encounter with about a 7ft bear on a trail, with thick alders on either side.....he stepped out in the trail at about 50 yds but was gone before it was decided if it were a sow or boar....my brother had him covered but his guide couldnt call it soon enough.....on the last day of the hunt we were all beat up pretty bad and decided that we would road hunt and glass avalanche chutes in the afternoon looking for feeding bears. we saw 13 balck bears but no grizz....as we were headed back to camp on the gravel road, resigned to go home without a grizz, we see a blurr of to the right and the guide slamms on brakes and screams GRIZZLY....as we pile out the bear is running.....he then stops looks around, then starts coming back to the road.....at about 40 yds he stops and starts scratching the ground.....there happened to be a gut pile there where someone had killed a moose and he was covering it up....he was a beautiful chocolate color with long thick fur, but was a smallish bear, prob 250 to 300lbs....both guides look him over and said he was a boar.....legal bear....go ahead and shoot him.....well it was my day for first shot......i look him over through the scope, then lower the rifle and ask my brother if he would like to shoot the bear.....he looks him over and we look at each other......nah.....lets let him live. if this bear had been spotted feeding and a stalk was made, i would have gladly taken him, but not on the side of a road , with me standing in the ditch.....but that is not the end of the story.....we decide that if we were not gonna kill him, we didnt want someone else coming along and doing the deed, so i tell my brother to cover me...i pick up a rock about the size of a baseball, step across the ditch and whacked the bear right in the *** with it, yelling at the same time....well, there was one of those staring contests, and i swear i could read his mind...."do you know what you just did? that ****es me off!!!" as he took one step my way i centered the crosshairs on a stump about 3 ft in front of him and squeezed off a shot.....well that decided it and he lit out for parts unknown....i would not even tell that story if i didnt have my brother and 2 guides as witnesses....over the yrs i think i have gotten more enjoyment out of it than i would a grizzly rug.....

back to the point of the story....mtn grizzlies are not the huge behemoths a coastal brownie is.....300-500lbs is gonna be average for a adult male...any good bonded bullet will do the job out of that 338 rum...i prefer nosler partitions....but....do practice at some long ranges...a 400-600yd shot would be easy to come across in the area i was hunting...lots of long sloping valleys with steep avalanche chutes....good luck with your hunt...AJ
 
jwp475

How much penetration did you get with that TSX on the longhorn?

Thanks,

JD338



The 225 TSX was poking through the hide on the off side, as stated above the 338 bullet outpenetrated a 300 grain TBBC from a 375 H&H
 
Yes the 225gr Nosler Part / 225gr Swift A frame in my 338 Win Mag and 338 RUM for my Alaska Interior hunting . 2 great bullets and ton of meat has filled my freezer with these 2 bullets.
 

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