What is the best long range bullet for 338 win mag for deer you have used .

[dgr416]

I have used the 338 win mag for deer the last 30 years .I have shot deer from three yards out to 425'yards with Winchester 200 gr power points the whole time and they are supper accurate .They are hard to get and i was thinking about trying 200 gr nosler accubond or something close up to.225 gr I tried 210 gr nosler partitions but they zipped through up.clise .I have shot 3/4 " groups at 200 yards with my old ruger 77 338 win mag but have yet had a handload shoot that good .It does not like hornady bullets at all they shot like crap in my 338 win mag and my 338-378 Weatherby .I shoot most deer under 100 yards but I hunt power lines where its 200-700 yard shots.

 

[HARPERC]

The 225 Accubond is a pretty good bullet in the .338 for general use on deer size game.

If the deer are small the 180's work well also.

 

[revturbo9967]

The 225 Accubond is a pretty good bullet in the .338 for general use on deer size game.

If the deer are small the 180's work well also.

180 gr should be good for just about any deer, regardless of size

 

[dgr416]

These deer are 200-300 pounds not small .Its the in the timber shots at 50-100 yards where you have a two inch hole to shoot through that's harder than you think .I am so use to the tang safety on this gun I can shoot running deer out to 100 yards too .The first time ever I took my handloads with the hornady 200 gr spiral point that shot 2 inch group at 100 yards the worse I have ever shot out of this gun.I tried to shoot does at 350 yards shot way under them .This gun is very accurate with the Winchester 200 gr pp but I know with the right load and bullet it can be even better .I really liked speer 225 gr grand slam but they quit making them.How does the accubond hold together up close and does it open up.good out at long range ?

 

[HARPERC]

180 gr should be good for just about any deer, regardless of size

The extra velocity of the 180's, couple with good expansion of the Accubond limits penetration at times.

Bigger deer, in the timber, close, at less than ideal angles, such as the OP is talking about, and the 180 is less than ideal.

We've recovered from pretty small deer 225's that I would have liked to see penetrate a little better, from relatively small deer, fired from an "EDGE".

On antelope size deer, at RUM velocity, its kind of like hitting coyotes with a .25-06, and the most thin skinned bullet you have. They just pop. Hell of a mess, but DOA.

I could have worded it better, Yes they will kill most any critter, but they tend to be at the extreme's of performance, not much middle ground, and better choices exist.

I just loaded about 150 of them last night. Love them for rocks and steel, but I'm over shooting animals with them.

 

[dgr416]

What powder do you use I use to use reloaded 19 and 22 but they are hard to find .I.have some reloader 17 and its easy to find .I have never loaded it in 338 win mag .I have tried reloader 15 but it only worked on 200 gr but was not very accurate with hornady bullets .I will try 180 ,200 and 225 grain .I also use this gun on big back bears so it think the heavier 225 would be better .

 

[J E Custom]

The 225 Accubond is a pretty good bullet in the .338 for general use on deer size game.

If the deer are small the 180's work well also.

+1

I have had very good results with the 225 and the 250 grain Accubonds on everything from deer, hogs and to Elk.

J E CUSTOM

 

[86alaskan]

might be worth trying the 225 barnes, they should hold together just fine at close range and if you get the tipped then 4-500 would be no problem.

 

[dgr416]

Tired Barnes and neither my 338 wm or 338-378 like them accuracy wise .Its hard because the bullet has to work good at 5 yards and 500.That Winchester pp 200 grain worked awesome and I have shot many clover leafs at 100 yards with it and over 150 deer in 30 years .That bullet never let me down but I hate paying $55 a box for the ammo .I wish I could find some of the old boxes made for reloading .I found a few of the 225 gr Winchester pp might have to try them.I will load up some accubonds too 225 gr and 200 .Bullets blow to pieces up close alot in it .The hornady bullets look like the winchesters but none of my guns will shoot them worth a flip !

 

[J E Custom]

Tired Barnes and neither my 338 wm or 338-378 like them accuracy wise .Its hard because the bullet has to work good at 5 yards and 500.That Winchester pp 200 grain worked awesome and I have shot many clover leafs at 100 yards with it and over 150 deer in 30 years .That bullet never let me down but I hate paying $55 a box for the ammo .I wish I could find some of the old boxes made for reloading .I found a few of the 225 gr Winchester pp might have to try them.I will load up some accubonds too 225 gr and 200 .Bullets blow to pieces up close alot in it .The hornady bullets look like the winchesters but none of my guns will shoot them worth a flip !

The reason I recommended the Accubonds is that they are "Bonded" and have held together at close distances and had good expansion at long distances. (Most bullets have a sweet spot/distance
that they perform best) I tried the mono metal bullets and even when I could get them to shoot well
they were unpredictable in performance at different distances.

I had used some of the "Old" bonded core bullets and found that they performed well but were just not as accurate as I wanted. So when the Accubonds came out I had to try then. I found them to be very accurate so I began testing them with different shot placements and at different distances.

I found them to be very predictable no mater where the shot placement was at any distance, So now they are my go to hunting bullets.

There are other bonded bullets that are newly designed and probably perform as well, but I haven't tried them because of the total performance of the Accubonds.

I use to have 2 loads for every rifle. (2 different bullets,1 for close shots and 1 for long shots) In order to get the best performance at different distances. I have sense, settled on one bullet for all Hunting distances and been very happy.

Bullet performance has always been an issue because of velocity, expansion and the distance we sometimes shoot, And these bullets are the closest I have came to an all round performer.

Of course this is just my opinion and there are other good bullets available for you to chose from.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Mike 338]

I find the 338 WM to be very finicky to load for. Try those Barnes 225 gr. TTSX again. Gotta find the right seating depth though. Mine shoots best at a COL of 2.285" which is a big jump. H-414 and Fed 215's. This explains it:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...accuracy-berger-vld-bullets-your-rifle-40204/

I pretty much do this for all load workup now. I begin my testing at maximum magazine length. Variance in rough seating depth groups produced a couple groups well over 2 inches and one group dropped in at under 1 inch. That's the seating depth I begin load development at. I could never really get my 338 WM to shoot till I did this, even with a new barrel, stock and bedding.

 

[dgr416]

My 338 wm rugers shoot factory ammo awesome all under an inch at 100 yards abd alot under an inch at 200 yards .Its just getting difficult to find it and expensive and u have a ton of 338 wm brass .I heard reloader 19 and 22 worked best in the 338 wm .I really disappointed in the nosler partition 210 gr bullets on deer they zipped through them up close .I did try them over 30 yards had same thing in my 300 wm so I didn't use them again .Yep the accubonds or the Winchester pp if I can find some .I have a box of 250 gr silvertips too might try the 250 gr is just big for deer .Hopefully I find more r19 and r22 !

 

[rsbenden]

I used 200 gr sst hornady last yr for whitetails and they performed great and were stacked in the target at 100 yds. I shot a 7pt buck at 250 yds in NY with it.

 

[BPollard]

My 338 wm rugers shoot factory ammo awesome all under an inch at 100 yards abd alot under an inch at 200 yards .Its just getting difficult to find it and expensive and u have a ton of 338 wm brass .I heard reloader 19 and 22 worked best in the 338 wm .I really disappointed in the nosler partition 210 gr bullets on deer they zipped through them up close .I did try them over 30 yards had same thing in my 300 wm so I didn't use them again .Yep the accubonds or the Winchester pp if I can find some .I have a box of 250 gr silvertips too might try the 250 gr is just big for deer .Hopefully I find more r19 and r22 !

Any chance you remember your load data would be loaded 22 in the 210 grain bullet for the 338 win mag