Need a Load for .338 RUM for Big Bears

[Totch94]

I am headed to British Columbia in May for a Mountain Grizzly Bear hunt. I have a new .338 RUM that I am having built that will be done soon. I need some Ideas for handloads that I can trust my life on.

I am not looking for a really long range load. Probably shots will be less than 250 yards. I do need to load a tuff bullet that will be accurate and deliver a lethal blow to Mr. Brown.

Thanks for the help

Totch

 

[JD338]

Totch94

Try this load-
338 RUM
250 gr Nosler PT
RL25 90.0 grs
R-P cases
Federal GM215M primer
COL 3.645".
best 4 shot group @ 100 yds .490"

JD338

 

[royinidaho]

I need some Ideas for handloads that I can trust my life on.

Now if that isn't one of those oxymorons?

I wouldn't personally want to be within 300 yds of one of those things. Just color me skeer'd.

I shoot 101gr of US-869 and the 300 SMK. As usual start lower and work up. I don't know if that's the "best" bullet to trust one's life on but it has a bunch of oomph and reports on this board pretty much describe stellar performance .

I hope it will work, if neede, as I've developed that load for hunting elk in grizz country.

 

[biff's reloading]

it would be pretty hard to top that nosler partition. if i were gettin to go after griz, thats my bullet, as fast as i can get it...

 

[sambo3006]

No offense to Roy but I would NOT trust the SMK on something big that can bite back. In fairness, he did hedge his recommendation and didn't give it a ringing endorsement. I would stick to purpose built bullets proven in the field like the Partition, the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw or the Barnes TSX. I know the 300 gr SMK has been used to great effect on elk and the like but it is not designed for penetration and weight retention like these other bullets are.

Just a thought but a guide might refuse to let you use the SMK's and I can't say I would blame him. Would you want to trust your life to a match bullet? Again, not trying to start a fight but this is something I feel strongly about. Having said that, I do think the SMK and Berger and such do have legitimate hunting uses based on the results seen by lots of guys on this site. Just not on potentially dangerous game.

 

[Ian M]

Very simply, Swift A-Frame now that North Fork is history. You might also consider Trophy Bonded or Barnes. These bullets will retain 90% of what they start out with. Nosler Partition is a fine bullet but it loses 1/3 of its mass and weight. They are designed to do that and they do. I prefer a bullet that stays heavy so it will break big bones on big bears. Grizz and browns are not bullet-proof but they sure as hell can be the ultimate test of a bullet if they get cranked-up and want a piece of you.

Although your .338 mag and lots of other smaller cartridges have killed a bunch of big bears, I would hunt with a .416 mag if I had the choice.

 

[royinidaho]

I concur with what Sambo3006 and no offense taken. I mentioned the SMK due to the fact that's what would be in the rifle for the elk shot. And I'm not level headed enough to carry two different loads and have the right one in the chamber at the right time. Also note that I'm not ever gonna look for a shot at a grizzly.

Seeing as how Ian opened the opportunity, if I were going for a "big" bear I'd carry nothing less than a 375 H&H with a 300 gr Winchester Silver tip. Even better would be a 375 RUM that way if I had to shoot hopefully the distance could be greater.

The 416 give me the vapors!

Who wants to have one of those "Bears @ Breakfast" things where the guide has to change his skivvies.

 

[Varminator 911]

Ian has the bullets right

You need a bullet that will hold together. So I think Ian's choices are better than the Nosler partition. The Partition might kill better on a broadside shot into the vitals. For that matter, the 300 SMK would likely kill great on quartering away shot where you could stick it into the vitals from behind the shoulder. But it's not the right bullet for your hunt!!

If he's pointed in my direction, I'd want something designed to retain nearly all it's weight. That would give the bullet a better chance of penetrating large bone and muscle before it reaches the vitals. And the best shot will break a large bone AND reach the vitals. So you need a bullet capable of doing just that.

I too would take a 416 RM if I had one. But I think a 338 RUM is plenty of gun if the first shot is right. Beyond everything else the first shot has to be into the vitals and, if possible, take out a front shoulder. That would be all I'd be thinking about when it came time to take the shot. If I wasn't 100% sure of that first shot, I won't shoot until I was sure. I'd never shoot the first shot unless my hold was dead steady and I was sure where the vital area was. I'd also never open hostilities on a moving animal...unless he was very close and headed straight at me. Then nothing, not even that 416, would seem big enough!! But the 338 and the right bullet will do the job if you do yours, even on a close in charge.

If I just build a 338 RUM, I won't take anything else. Have a good hunt!!

 

[Ian M]

911,
I shoot for the nervous system, which is easiest to take out with a shot to the scapula, no lung or heart shots ever. Puts them on the ground and gives me control of the situation for a finisher. There is very little control when the lung shot bear has disappeared in the alders. That is why I like the A-Frames, they bust the heck out of the scapula and spine bones, and take out the nervous system. I have killed enough hundred bears to know this works, plus had more than my share of all-out charges. Believe me, you will not be worrying about the bullet when a big bear is coming at you.

The .338 you are having built will be a great bear rifle. Best luck with finding a good load, there are several good bullets out there. I would stay with a 225 to 250 to take advantage of all that velocity potential.

 

[shorty]

Got to agree with Ian on the 416, but Roy's idea with the 375 would be an excellent choice. Way back in my youth I'd seen a friend kill a smallish black bear sow with a rock, but you're going to need lot's more than 5lbs of granite for a Brown when he gets testy. Check out the bear hunting video on MYoutdoorTV.com, sorry don't know how to link directly to it. The first guy shoots a very nice boar and at the shot a sow charges to within what looks like 10feet or less.

Did know a guy from Delta Junction, AK, said his family's "little" gun was a 30-06.
He pretty much carried a 338 winmag every where he went, used partitions unless he was hunting bears than switched to Trophy Bonded for that.

 

[shorty]

Got to agree with Ian on the 416, but Roy's idea with the 375 would be an excellent choice. Way back in my youth I'd seen a friend kill a smallish black bear sow with a rock, but you're going to need lot's more than 5lbs of granite for a Brown when he gets testy. Check out the bear hunting video on MYoutdoorTV.com, sorry don't know how to link directly to it. The first guy shoots a very nice boar and at the shot a sow charges to within what looks like 10feet or less.

Did know a guy from Delta Junction, AK, said his family's "little" gun was a 30-06.
He pretty much carried a 338 winmag every where he went, used partitions unless he was hunting bears than switched to Trophy Bonded for that.

 

[philny1]

Griz

Mountain grizs are'nt really that big. I'd feel real comfortable with a 225 gr Accubond in the 338 RUM.
Actually thats what I carried on my griz hunt last fall. Must of been adequate, scared em off. Never saw one, the cowards!!
Coastal BB, thats another story. Carried my 375 H&H with the 270 TSX.
Same luck with them.

 

[sambo3006]

Roy, glad you didn't take offense to my comments, sometimes it is hard to make tone of remarks clear with written rather than spoken words.

Ian, after I posted I also thought of the A frame as a good tough bullet. If I had my druthers, I would probably pick the Partition or A frame over simply a bonded bullet. I hit my bull elk this past fall with the 225 gr AB started at 3050 fps MV at 320 yds and shattered the offside shoulder bone but it did not exit. No part of the bullet other than a few tiny fragments were recovered. I would bet that the Partition or the A frame would have exited, and probably the TSX as well.

Totch, good luck on your hunt!

Sam

 

[jwp475]

Recovered 338 cal 225 TSX. This bullet was recovered from a 200 pound Longhorn and acctualy put penetrated a 300 TBBC from a 375 H&H The terminal performance is outstanding