338 lapua help

T

Two 10's

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May 13, 2009
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Location
Deer Park, Tx
Just bought a 338 and was looking for some experiance loading info. I am wanting to go after grizzly, moose and goat and need some advise on bullet and powder loads that work and still keep the range out to 1200yds. Need good expantion and persition. Any help out there?
 
Two 10's said:
Just bought a 338 and was looking for some experiance loading info. I am wanting to go after grizzly, moose and goat and need some advise on bullet and powder loads that work and still keep the range out to 1200yds. Need good expantion and persition. Any help out there?
Click to expand...

Hi Two !0's

not sure if this is going to be of any help, but i load the LAPUA scennar 250gr match bullets at a speed of around 2880f/s on south african powder S385 which is the same as your MRP or AR2213, i get really great groupings of around 13mm for 10 shots at 100 yards i havent yet measured groupings out at 1000 plus yards but i do hit an 8" gong every shot at 1000yards, i have shot Springbok and blue wildebeast ot at 880 yards and had really good results (all kills were 1 shot kills with the animals falling where they stand
 
hey there, what gun, what barrel twist are you running?

i'm running a 1 in 9 twist barrel (savage BA110)

here are some of the loads i've had good luck with

most consistent load (shot a 6" 5 shot group @ 980 yrds)
225gr accubonds over 87.0gr IMR7828ssc OAL 3.670" 2900fps, supersonic to about 1300yrds according to my ballistic data.... expansion questionable as on the only live animal i shot it went through and through on a broadside lung shot, small entrance, small exit but it did turn the lungs and heart to mush at 560 yards ...

second most consistent load (holds right around MOA but i am still tinkering with OAL's)
300gr lapua scenar OAL 3.664" or 300gr Sierra mk OAL 3.714" over 89.2gr Retumbo @ 2780fps super sonic to about 1900yrds...
both bullets seem to act identical in my gun and i have been using them interchangeably with no change to point of impact to 1000 yards. i have no experience on bullet expansion on live game for either but from what i have read from others shooting 338 edges and lapuas the 300gr sierra has been working well as far as terminal ballistics is concerned.

The more i think about it though, anything getting hit with 2000ftlbs of energy in the vitals is gonna be dead so i would worry more about accuracy and shot placement first and consider really good bullet expansion a perk when selecting a bullet. And i think if you can get the 300grainers to shoot well i would go that route - better BC, Better energy at longer range.

However, the 300's might need a fast twist rate like 1 in 10 or faster so if you have a 1 in 11 they may not stabalize well.... Then i would be looking hard at using 250's like trg42338lap suggested.... (i have 100 lapua 250's sitting on my bench but i havent got around to trying them out yet)

orch

Oh yah.... Lapua brass and CCI LR magnum primers
 
Last edited:
orch said:
hey there, what gun, what barrel twist are you running?

i'm running a 1 in 9 twist barrel (savage BA110)

here are some of the loads i've had good luck with

most consistent load (shot a 6" 5 shot group @ 980 yrds)
225gr accubonds over 87.0gr IMR7828ssc OAL 3.670" 2900fps, supersonic to about 1300yrds according to my ballistic data.... expansion questionable as on the only live animal i shot it went through and through on a broadside lung shot, small entrance, small exit but it did turn the lungs and heart to mush at 560 yards ...

second most consistent load (holds right around MOA but i am still tinkering with OAL's)
300gr lapua scenar OAL 3.664" or 300gr Sierra mk OAL 3.714" over 89.2gr Retumbo @ 2780fps super sonic to about 1900yrds...
both bullets seem to act identical in my gun and i have been using them interchangeably with no change to point of impact to 1000 yards. i have no experience on bullet expansion on live game for either but from what i have read from others shooting 338 edges and lapuas the 300gr sierra has been working well as far as terminal ballistics is concerned.

The more i think about it though, anything getting hit with 2000ftlbs of energy in the vitals is gonna be dead so i would worry more about accuracy and shot placement first and consider really good bullet expansion a perk when selecting a bullet. And i think if you can get the 300grainers to shoot well i would go that route - better BC, Better energy at longer range.

However, the 300's might need a fast twist rate like 1 in 10 or faster so if you have a 1 in 11 they may not stabalize well.... Then i would be looking hard at using 250's like trg42338lap suggested.... (i have 100 lapua 250's sitting on my bench but i havent got around to trying them out yet)

orch

Oh yah.... Lapua brass and CCI LR magnum primers
Click to expand...

He orch

i have the Sako trg42 338 lap with a leupold 8.5 to 25 scope, it has a 1 in 12 twist barrel. i also use Lapua Brass with the CCI LR magnum primers, i have tried the 300gr sierra match kings and they dont really give any groupings i can talk about so i went back to the 250 matchkings, i have also have good groupings from the hornady sst 225gr, using the hornadys i have shot an eland at 220 yards there was no exit wound and we were unable to recover any bullet or pieces, i believe it broke up totally but a 1 shot kill were it stood, i must also add that the eland is the biggest of our antelope species weighting in at around 1 ton in a mature bull the shot also entered the chest from the front and there is about an inch of brisket, i have also shot a large Kudu Bull at 180 yards with the 225 hornadys and never recovered any thing, the meat damage was acceptable on both these animals,

on the many spring buck and the blue wildebeast i have shot with the sierra 250match there has also been a small entry and exit wound with the vitals totally destroyed with almost no meat damage at all. i must also add that all these shots were place about 2 inches behind the shoulder so that no bone was hit, as yet i have not recovered any bullets to see how they have performed maybe one day if i shoot something out at 1200 or so the bullet might stay inside for us to recover......................

the 225 group the same as the 250 at 100 but on distances due to bc it differs some what, unfortunatly here in SA we are not spoilt for choice as to what bullet we can shoot and the stock levels are some what limited so we are forced to shoot what we can get at the time of loading, sometimes we need to wait a few months before the stock arrives

i would like to in the near future get a new barrel for the sako, this barrel will be a 1 in 9 or 1in 10 twist and finished length to be around 30inces, i have a freind that has had a custom build rifle 338 lap made with a vector 1 in 10 inch twist barrel and this rifle loves the 300grainers it groups well and is as acurate as hell out a 1000m we often lie together shooting out at a 1000m and the 300gr definitly are better

it would be great to see some pics of your rifle,

regards
mark
 
Thanks guys for all the good info. I have just bought a Christensen arms Carbon fiber Custom and It did OK on Black Bear but I have Grizzly and Moose next month and just want to get it dialed in and don't want to do any tracking of a wounded grizzly if I don't have too. Keep all the good info coming because I need all the help I can get. I will be useing it on Nilgui alot and have heard some bad storys about loseing them. The one I shot with my 300 Rem. Mag droped like a rock and got up ,made it 10yds. and was down again for good and it was a little hight lung shot. But keep it comeing and Thanks all you great guys.
 
hey TRG42338,

dont have any pictures to post of it as i dont have an account with photobucket...
its basically the lock/stock Savage BA110 shown on their website, only modification i made was to take the hack saw to that ungodely aluminum "tacticool" rail it comes with and cut off the front half of it... i know its kind of a farmer fix but i figured i would never need to mount night optics infront of the scope so why not lop it off....
i also mounted a harris bipod on it and topped it off with a nightforce 5.5-22x 56 NP-R1 reticle..... overall wieght is around 19lbs and between the weight and muzzle break it kicks about the same as my 308...


does your sako have a break on it? i can't imagine shooting the 338 lapua without one....
how do you like the leupold? i just picked up a 6.5-20x50 with M1 turrets for my 25-06 ackley and am loving it!


two 10's,
i just picked up some Hornady 285gr match pills today and plan on loading some up to try with reloader 25 this weekend... i'll keep you posted if i get around to it (its my cousin's bachelor party this weekend so the hangover may prempt the testing)


orch
 
orch said:
hey TRG42338,

dont have any pictures to post of it as i dont have an account with photobucket...
its basically the lock/stock Savage BA110 shown on their website, only modification i made was to take the hack saw to that ungodely aluminum "tacticool" rail it comes with and cut off the front half of it... i know its kind of a farmer fix but i figured i would never need to mount night optics infront of the scope so why not lop it off....
i also mounted a harris bipod on it and topped it off with a nightforce 5.5-22x 56 NP-R1 reticle..... overall wieght is around 19lbs and between the weight and muzzle break it kicks about the same as my 308...


does your sako have a break on it? i can't imagine shooting the 338 lapua without one....
how do you like the leupold? i just picked up a 6.5-20x50 with M1 turrets for my 25-06 ackley and am loving it!


two 10's,
i just picked up some Hornady 285gr match pills today and plan on loading some up to try with reloader 25 this weekend... i'll keep you posted if i get around to it (its my cousin's bachelor party this weekend so the hangover may prempt the testing)


orch
Click to expand...


yip i ve got a break on it, recoil about the same as a 308, without it it kicks a bit but only gets uncomfortable after 20 or so rounds, i also have a silencer but i dont often use it as the recoil is pretty bad and not nice shooting, i also have the 6.5-20x50 on my 308 rsa action and its an awesome scope you havent made a mistake there, i have orderd a nightforce 8.5 - 32 tmr ret for the trg (cant aford the mark4 right now) and will move the 8.5-25 leupold to the 308 and the 6.5-20 will then go on my ruger 243 varminter
 
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