338 Winmag load 180gr Accubond

[StHubert]

I was thinking of loading up some 180 gr nosler accubond for my rifle and was wondering if anyone has a load they like for the 338 winmag. Would probably look at using this for deer. I currently load 225 gr Accubond with 72 grains of RE19 for Elk.

 

[Papa-Zulu]

The .338 Win. Magnum is certainly over-kill for a deer cartridge. I have owned a .338 for almost 40 years,built on a Finnish Sako L-61 action, and rebarreled in the 1990s with a Lilja barrel and MPI stock. It is the only synthentic stocked rifle I own.

I have developed two excellent loads for the rifle--the first, a 225-grain Hornady Spire-Point (now called something else) ahead of 72 grains of H-4831. I have shot a couple mule deer, three big barren ground caribou bulls, and seven or eight elk with this load.

Another good load for my rifle, and out of the scope of your deer hunting request, is the 250-grain Nosler Partition ahead of 70 grains of IMR-4350. Extremely accurate and I have taken three Alaskan brown bears and one Alaska/Yukon moose with this load. No complaints at all!

 

[1_pointer]

I use Reloader 15 (65.0gr) with 200/210gr bullets in my 338 Win Mag which works well, so that's probably the powder I'd start with for 180gr bullets. I bet they'd do perfect for deer, course the load you already have would work well too and it's hard to beat the BC of the 225gr Accubond.

Here's the link to the load data from Nosler's website:
http://www.nosler.com/Reloading-Data/338-Winchester-Magnum-180-Grains.aspx

Their reloading manual (#6) has a more extensive list of loads, fwiw...

 

[StHubert]

Papa-Zulu, thanks for the reply. I agree the 338 might be overkill for deer. I like your recipe for the 250gr Nosler partition, hopefully one day I will be able to get a Brown bear as well with that load.

1_pointer, I will give that recipe a try for the 180 gr. bullet.