.338 Win Mag Loads for Wby Vanguard

Chaparral

New member
I recently picked up a Wby Vanguard at a good price. It had an aftermarket stock that really caught my eye. Very pretty wood. And the barrel has been ported. I have heard the 338 has quite the kick. My question is for reloading for the rifle. Anyone have a good recipe they would be willing to share? Thanks.
 

BBarn

New member
Full power loads in a hunting rifle aren't much fun at the bench. But off hand they aren't that bad. And the port should help some as well.

I shoot reduced power loads for practice. H4895 works well for that, and the Hodgdon website explains how to reduce loads with H4895. I've also used IMR4198 for reduced loads, but those loads are no longer published.
 

Dufus

New member
I don't have a 338 Win Mag any longer, but I used to load 68.0 gr H4831 under a 250 gr Nosler Partition. It was an accurate hunting load. Easily gave me an inch to inch and a quarter at 100 yds for 6 shots. Prolly would have done better, but it wasn't a fun gun to do load workups with.

Velocity was 2650 fps.
 

ligonierbill

New member
My favorites:

250 SGK/CCI 250/Re-19 or VV N560/2,700 fps/<1 1/2" - My go to long range load. High BC keeps it moving downrange, but moderate velocity is not going to tear the bullet apart close in.

200 NAB/CCI 250/IMR-4350/2,960 fps/2 1/4"@200 - I got to test this at 200. Noticeably less recoil. Starts about the same as a 300 WM, but will fall behind due to BC at range.

210 TTSX/CCI 250/IMR-4350/2,860/1" - Probably my elk load next time out. My best accuracy. Good BC. Less recoil than the 250s.

I'm shooting a Savage 116 "Weather Warrior". You can work out your own powder charges, but none of these are over "book" values. Have fun with the .338. You'll find it's not near as bad as its made out to be.
 

Chaparral

New member
My favorites:

250 SGK/CCI 250/Re-19 or VV N560/2,700 fps/<1 1/2" - My go to long range load. High BC keeps it moving downrange, but moderate velocity is not going to tear the bullet apart close in.

200 NAB/CCI 250/IMR-4350/2,960 fps/2 1/4"@200 - I got to test this at 200. Noticeably less recoil. Starts about the same as a 300 WM, but will fall behind due to BC at range.

210 TTSX/CCI 250/IMR-4350/2,860/1" - Probably my elk load next time out. My best accuracy. Good BC. Less recoil than the 250s.

I'm shooting a Savage 116 "Weather Warrior". You can work out your own powder charges, but none of these are over "book" values. Have fun with the .338. You'll find it's not near as bad as its made out to be.
Great! Thanks for the info.
 

jamaica

New member
"It had an aftermarket stock that really caught my eye. Very pretty wood."

Hmmm..... perhaps this is one for hanging on the wall to look at?
 

T. O'Heir

New member
You have to wok up the load for your rifle. No two, even 2 consecutively numbered, identical rifles will shoot the same ammo the same way.
The porting will help reducing the felt recoil and muzzle jump but it will also increase the muzzle blast and noise for you and anybody near you. Reducing felt recoil is done by increasing the rifle's weight(usually not a good thing for a hunting rifle) or reducing the bullet weight. A 160 grain bullet will kill just as fast as a 300.
 
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