Jus’ Thinking Outloud

I (we) have been very pleased with the performance of Barnes 225 gr. TTSX's in my Wife's .338 WM, but was thinking…… Very dangerous, I admit!

Has anyone tried the Barnes 250 gr. LRX in the .338 WM. The much higher BC interests me….a lot! I realize that it's somewhat longer than the 225 TTSX's and will use up much more case volume.

In limited research, it seems that velocities are pretty low. If I can push them fast enough……the downrange #'s are very impressive. So, has anyone tried them, and what were your findings? Thanks in advance! memtb

As much as I love a good .338 Winchester, and chasing velocity a bit, I think it tops out at 225's for the most part.

A place where more capacity is your friend.

I'm a definite fan , but our friend above nailed it .not trying to discourage and I'm a huge Barnes fan ,hope more members chime in , my 26 inch 1/10 push's normal 250 s to 2,600 fps . Cheers

Probably just a fantasy! Crunching some #'s - if I could get 2750 mv from a 24" ……it would make an already good cartridge into a pretty impressive hunting cartridge!

At 2750 mv it appears, with our sight-in zero, it would be a bit higher at mid-range than her present 225 TTSX……but marginally so. Yet, at 500 yrds and beyond…..the numbers are pretty impressive. memtb

I have 3 338WM rifles, all are 26" barrels, 10" twist.
I ran a few 250's several years ago, Speer HotCor, Nosler Partition and Woodleigh PP. Average across the 3 rifles is 2770fps, my Kimber runs at 2800fps with ease, but I dropped the powder to be with the other 2.
I've run 225's for years now, but in the early days, I was running Speer 275g Semi Spitzer for bears, then they were dropped. I also used that bullet on Water buff, penetration is phenomenal.
I can't disparage the 250g LRX, if you can spin it fast enough, I see no reason for it to run less than 2750fps, unless I'm missing something…
I might even try them myself.

Cheers.

Just a thought and it might not matter but it will also increase recoil if that is a concern.

Left Hand Dave said:

Just a thought and it might not matter but it will also increase recoil if that is a concern.

Click to expand...

I've never found a 338WM bothersome, even running 300g pills for fun. It doesn't come close to the speed from a 375 Weatherby's recoil pulse, it's so fast it twists the rifle in your hands…

Cheers.

memtb said:

Probably just a fantasy! Crunching some #'s - if I could get 2750 mv from a 24" ……it would make an already good cartridge into a pretty impressive hunting cartridge!

At 2750 mv it appears, with our sight-in zero, it would be a bit higher at mid-range than her present 225 TTSX……but marginally so. Yet, at 500 yrds and beyond…..the numbers are pretty impressive. memtb

Click to expand...

I have a 24" barrel and can get 2750fps, and a bit more with some 250gr bullets but they're showing signs of high pressure. I usually settle for around 2660 - 2680. For heavy game the 250gr is a noticeable step up from 225gr bullets, to me it's about this weight where the .338's show a definite advantage over the the .300's.

Left Hand Dave said:

Just a thought and it might not matter but it will also increase recoil if that is a concern.

Click to expand...

We're presently running 225 TTSX's near 2950……while the wife doesn't "enjoy" shooting them from the bench, she'll do it. In the field, she does very good!

I suspect, though could be very wrong, the 250's at substantially less velocity should be a little less recoil!

With some load data, I could crunch the numbers to determine the difference! ! memtb

Hate to tell you, but recoil DOES go up with 250's. Its mass is the kicker here and the need for the next slower powder.
I run RL19 with 225's @ 2900fps and 250's @ 2770fps, 250's need RL22/H1000 to be worthwhile. Otherwise velocity drops to H4831 levels, which is too slow for good outcomes.

Cheers.

I have 2 338 wm, and the 225ttsx are my goto bullets. I love shooting this gun, but when you start looking at ballistics out past 400 yds, the energy out of a 28 nosler really starts to shine. I've shot the 225s to 1k, but id rather shoot the 28 at anything farther than 400yds. Its all case capacity.

memtb said:

I (we) have been very pleased with the performance of Barnes 225 gr. TTSX's in my Wife's .338 WM, but was thinking…… Very dangerous, I admit!

Has anyone tried the Barnes 250 gr. LRX in the .338 WM. The much higher BC interests me….a lot! I realize that it's somewhat longer than the 225 TTSX's and will use up much more case volume.

In limited research, it seems that velocities are pretty low. If I can push them fast enough……the downrange #'s are very impressive. So, has anyone tried them, and what were your findings? Thanks in advance! memtb

Click to expand...

never thought of the build but. the craft idea sounds really cool i would like to see the outcome if you decide to give it a go.

A 300 WBY loaded with 180 AccuBonds or TSX's will out perform a 338WM with 225's in energy, velocity, recoil and very comparable SD's. I have a few 338's but do not hunt with them because the 300's do better. Check it out your wife might like the 300 better and with smaller loads the recoil will be much less.
Happy shooting.

2 points: re barrel lengths
Charlie Sisk posted a chart covering his barrel shortening and used the 250gn Partition over 73gn of Rwl 19 for the load.
27" - 2806fps
26" - 2787
25" - 2761
24" - 2743
23" - 2716
22" - 2697
21" - 2676
20" - 2656fps

Secondly, having owned a couple of .340 Weatherby's and a .338/378 before it was a factory round, understand the speed/power arguments for the .338 caliber, but I have also owned a few .338 Winchesters. My current is a Weatherby Mark V with 24" barrel. My instrumental, (not corrected for muzzle velocity) velocities are as follows;
185gn - 3160fps using H414/Win 760
200gn - 3100fps using AR2209/H4350
210gn - 2965fps using AR/2209/H4350
225gn - 2960fps using Rel 17
250gn - 2697fps using Win 760 or
- 2800fps using Rel 17
265gn - 2659fps using Rel 17
275gn - 2600fps using Win WMR
285gn - 2605fps using Rel 17

Also have 300 grainers on the shelf but have'nt felt the need yet.

I never fekt any gain with the slowest powder in tnis moderate case size and even Varget works very well from 185 grains up to 275 grains so don't overlook that on either.

Hope this helps.