action kind of a guy, and a man
who didn't write about it 'til
he'd done it. He gave the .338 a
thorough wringing out in
Africa before its release to the
shooting fraternity. With it he
walloped a variety of big game
animals ranging from 25 kilo
Thompson's Gazelle to
the 700 kilo eland. In all he
killed more than 25 head of
game including a leopard,
using I believe, the 250gn
Silvertip load.
Later Col. Askins used the
.338 on North American big
game taking brown and polar
bear with it and concluded
that the .338 was ideal for
bear, moose, elk and caribou.
Furthermore, he opined that
the 300gn .338 bullet had the
same weight as the heaviest
.375 bullet,but its sectional
density was better, so it was
reasonable to speculate that
performance, especially on the
score of deep penetration,
indicated the .338 might very
conceivably be better than the
formidable .375 H&H, an
opinion I shared with him.
My first .338 Win. Mag., a
Ruger Number One saw use on
everything from red deer to
water buffaloes, and every
animal I shot with it fell to a
single shot. Big buffalo bulls
hit in the heart-lung area with
a 250gn bullet fell dead and
never moved off the spot.
Alaskan guides and resident
hunters of moose and the great
brown bears found the .338
truly outstanding for filling
the gap between the .30
magnums and the .375 H&H.
It offered a unique blend of
power and versatility and can
comfortably take a 800 kg
moose close up or drop a
distant caribou.
Game bullets have been
greatly improved in recent
years making the .338 more
effective and versatile than
ever. For deer-sized game,
almost any bullet will kill
reliably, yet won't create an
unnecessarily large wound
channel and ruin a lot of good
eating meat. Hunters in the
U.S found the Hornady 185gn
GMX handloaded to 3000fps
had a very flat flight path and
was devastatingly effective on
elk and deer at ranges out to
400 yards.
The 200gn bullet is listed at
3000fps by Winchester and you
can beat this by 50 fps or so
with a heavy charge of AR2209
and still get good accuracy.
When the short 200-grainer
expands its jacket very far, it is
almost certain to suffer a core
separation, if of conventional
cup and core design. For long
range shooting in the .338 Win.
a better choice for deer is the
the 210gn Nosler. This bullet
can be given the same velocity
as the 200gn but will hold
together better on hitting heavy
muscle and bone. But its
outstanding feature is that it
does not blow up even when
ranges are comparatively short.
I have found that on an animal
the size of sambar, unless the
stag is quartering or end- on
you'll seldom recover the bullet
from the animal.
I have always felt that the
300gn bullet has pretty limited
limited use in this calibre,
except in solid form on very
heavy game such as buffaloes
at close range. The big round
nose and rather low velocity of
about 2450fps take much of the
long range potential away from
the cartridge, but it will break
both shoulder on a buffalo at
normal ranges. Actually, my
own experience has convinced
me that a nicely pointed 225gn
bullet with spitzer point and
controlled expansion like the
Barnes TSX (Triple Shock
X-Bullet) with its sectional
density of .281 and ballistic
coefficient of .352 driven at
around 2800fps has earned a
superb reputation on largegame and is a good all round
performer. It offers remarkable
penetration combined with
expansion. After the hollow
point opens peeling back the
four petals and forming an X,
the solid copper construction
allows it to drive deeply, smash
through heavy bone, and retain
practically all of its original
weight. The Barnes shoots like
a match bullet in practically all
the rifles I've used it in. The
TTSX bullets conform to the
modern trend and are made
with cavity in the point into
which is inserted a blue
polymer tip. Upon impact,
the tip is driven back into the
cavity initiating expansion. For
those who don't reload, Barnes
VOR-TX factory ammo is
loaded with the 225gn TTSX
version at a given 2800fps
yielding 3917 ft/lb of energy.
Currently the Barnes TSX is
offered in 185, 210, 225 and
250gn weights, to handle any
size game a hunter will face
with a .338. The 185 and 210gn
versions penetrate on par with
most standard 250gn bullets,
while the 225gn gives greater
penetration, yet can be driven at
around 2900fps, making itexcellent for long range work.
Their ballistic coefficients run
.437 (185gn), .471 (210gn),
.482 (225gn), and .521 (250gn),
giving each good long
range potential.
The .338 is an easy cartridge
to reload and not in the least
finicky as long as one sticks to
sensible handloads. The .338
has a belted magnum case
63.50mm long with standard
H&H head dimensions, but with
minimum body taper and a 25
degree shoulder angle, giving it
a modern configuration.
Overall cartridge loaded length
is listed as 85mm - the same as
the.30-06 - adapting it for use
in standard-length actions.
When setting out to reload,
the first consideration should
always be the brass case.
I bought one hundred cases
which lasted me for years.
They carry the original head
stamp "W-W-Super.338 Win.
Mag. Recently I got a new lot
that are stamped "Super-X .338
Win. Mag."While the exterior
dimensions are the same,
there's a difference in weight
and therefore capacity. My
original brass ran from 226gn
to 228gn empty, and the new
cases are slightly heavier
weighing 240gn to 242gn.
When filled with water to the
base of a seated 250gn
Woodleigh bullet the old cases
on the average held 74 grains of
water compared with 76gn for
the new hulls. The new
W-W-Super cases then have
thicker sidewalls and also
thicker necks that grip the8 4 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ MAY 2018
PRACTICAL
RELOADINGIt offered a
unique blend
of power and
versatility.”
3
LEFT: two factory loads-Hornady
Heavy Mag 225gn SP and Federal
Vitalshok 250gn Nosler Partition.
Right: loads for long-throated .3 38 L
to R: 200gn Hornady, 225gn Barnes
TSX and 225gn Woodleigh.