Jus’ Thinking Outloud

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.

Presently running RL 22 with the 225's in wife's rifle…..we have plenty of it!

So….expect much greater recoil with the 250's at substantially lower velocity than with a 225 @ over 2900?

I thought that it would be virtually " a wash", due to the velocity difference! memtb
 
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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.

No doubt at extended ranges the .338 WM is handicapped by case volume. However, my wife has set her limit at 500 yards…..and the .338 WM will hold it's own to that distance. Her rifle was purchased primarily for much closer use than 500 yards, and for all sizes of game but primarily game elk sized and larger.

A blasphemous (on this site) statement: One rifle, one load, one zero for everything! So far it's worked well for almost 30 years! memtb
 
7828 SSC will push them to 2607 fps ! But I would suggest selling that gun ....and buying a real 338.... Lapua! 😂

It's the wife's rifle, she refuses to buy another rifle…..likes her little Winchester! 😉

I considered removing the magazine block and modify the bolt stop to make it a magnum length action……then choose a cartridge that is same bolt face, and available brass. Also would want said cartridge case to either be of an efficient design or could be had in an AI version!

This might, I repeat might be looked upon favorably by her! Though, I wanted to get her a better stock, better than the Winchester "mattel" stock…..didn't want to spend the $! ☹️

Summary: At our age and her resistance to spend $ ……this is unlikely to happen! I may get away with a bullet change in her present rifle! 😉 memtb
 
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No doubt at extended ranges the .338 WM is handicapped by case volume. However, my wife has set her limit at 500 yards…..and the .338 WM will hold it's own to that distance. Her rifle was purchased primarily for much closer use than 500 yards, and for all sizes of game but primarily game elk sized and larger.

A blasphemous (on this site) statement: One rifle, one load, one zero for everything! So far it's worked well for almost 30 years! memtb
Sounds like you are bored because you certainly don't have a problem with that .338. I'd recommend a book.......lol
 
Crunched some recoil #'s (hypothetical #'s) for my wife's rifle ……comparing the recoil of her present 225's to that of a "guestimate" load for a 250 grain bullet @ 2800 mv…….the 250's @ 2800 fps mv was about 2+ ft/lbs less than her present 225 grain load!

Summary: 250 grain recoil "should" be a non-issue! memtb
 
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
My .338 WM (Winchester 70) shoots the 250 gr, acceptably, but really shines on accuracy with the .225 gr.
 
Mine is the opposite which doesn't compliment generalisations.

Perhaps our recoil calculation systems generate different results! 🤔

I ran the numbers again, in case I messed up, actually using slightly more powder shown in load tables with slightly higher mv. The 250's @ 2800 mv again came out approximately 2 ft/lbs less recoil with recoil impulse and recoil velocity being very similar! 🤔

I'm not certain were the differences are generated.

That said, I use a slower burning powder (RL 22), requiring more powder, than most of the load data uses/suggests. And as powder weight is part of the formula for determining generated recoil……perhaps, therein lies the difference in recoil values! Just guess'n!

OR…….where we talking about wives! Now, I'm really confused! 🤦‍♂️ memtb
 
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So….expect much greater recoil with the 250's at substantially lower velocity than with a 225 @ over 2900?
I can assure you that the 250's recoil is more of a thumper in regard to the 225's. Just is.
My Dad loves the 338WM and my custom 338-06, he doesn't like recoil, so I loaded the 210g Partitions I use for the 338-06 into the 338WM for him, and he really likes that load, and I have to say, I see no real difference on game comparing them to my regular 225g Accubond loads, the 210's are at 3000fps, the 225's at 2900fps.

Cheers.
 
Back in the early 1990s, when I started loading Barnes bullets in 338 WM, I called Barnes and talked to a gentleman whose name IIRC was Ty. I told him I wanted to shoot one bullet in 338 WM for everything we hunt here in Alaska. He recommended the 225 grain Xbullet. I asked him what I would be giving up by shooting the 225s vs the 250s and he said about 100 ft lbs of energy and two inches of penetration. I've successfully used the 225 X/TTSXs on everything in Alaska except Dall Sheep with no issues.

Some years ago, after the introduction of the TTSX bullet, I asked Randy Brooks (the creator of the Xbullet) on a Weatherby nation sponsored internet livechat if they would be producing the 250 grain TTSX for the 338 WM. He said they didn't plan to because the 250s were just too long for optimum performance in the 338 WM.

I still continue to use the 225 TTSX and have no complaints with its performance.
 

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