338 06

KINGSNAKE

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I currently have a sub moa 185 grain barnes ttsx round for my 338 06. It's running around 2750 fps. I'm going moose hunting in 24 months. I can shoot 3 inch groups at 400 yds. should I stick with this round or should I try some 210 nosler partitions?
 

muddydogs

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One thing I often do when hunting in bear country, I will have my thin skin loads for accuracy and range and also carry a hand full of heavy rounds for bears or close up stuff. The 210 Partitions are hard hitting and would be nice to have loaded up walking back into a kill site.... Know what I'm saying????

Shoot em and see where they group and just apply kentucky windage for a correction if needed.

185 grain bullet will be more then enough at bear encounter distances and the last thing you want to do or have time to do is think about Kentucky windage when faced with a charging bear. If one is that worried about bears walking back into a kill site I would think a slug gun would be the best choice of firearms anyway, fast heavy hitting and 6 to 8 rounds of big lead slug goodness.
 

muddydogs

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Well Stid2677 I have lots of doubts with the Barnes TTSX line of bullets and have not been impressed with the holes they punch but I wasn't going to start a debate about the TTSX. So yes you are probably right in the need to carry a better bullet when in bear country then the TTSX. My buddy shoots the Barnes bullets and after what I have seen in his hits and kills I wouldn't shoot them.

I guess I should have said a good 185 grain bullet shouldn't have an issue at bear encounter distances.
 
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KINGSNAKE

KINGSNAKE

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Swift Scirocco 2 Bullets 338 Caliber (338 Diameter) 210 Grain Bonded Spitzer Boat Tail Box of 100 vs. NOSLER 210 Partition

Which is a better bullet for the 338 06
 

wyodog

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Well Stid2677 I have lots of doubts with the Barnes TTSX line of bullets and have not been impressed with the holes they punch but I wasn't going to start a debate about the TTSX. So yes you are probably right in the need to carry a better bullet when in bear country then the TTSX. My buddy shoots the Barnes bullets and after what I have seen in his hits and kills I wouldn't shoot them.

I guess I should have said a good 185 grain bullet shouldn't have an issue at bear encounter distances.

I have personally had ten 1 shot kills with a Barnes TTSX this year. All recoveries very easy and none of the animals traveled more than a short distance. Penetration is phenomenal and death happens quickly. I am curious as too why you have doubts.
 

Dirty-D

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TTSX is a beast of a bullet in my experience. but you do need to watch your range and your estimated velocity at those ranges. They need 1800 fps to expand reliably. I would say anything under 2000 is marginal. So if you are starting at 2750 you cross that threshold right at 400 yards.

I generally go down a weight in the TTSX's I've got a kimber in .308 that loves the 130gr. pills. and hasn't had a whitetail take a step after being hit with one yet...

I am working up a load in my .338 federal for the 160gr TTSX bullets. I suspect my ranges will be short

Hunters choose heavier bullets for better penetration (not addressing the Extreme Long Range shooters who are looking for slippery bullets), all TTSX bullets/ copper solids, have no problem with penetration, just expansion at slower velocities. you are better off going lighter and faster with those rounds if your hunting ranges will allow it.

160gr. pill at 3200fps is on paper superior to the 185 grain load at 2750 out to 500 yards or so.... just food for thought
 

AXEL

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It is coming up on 54 years of bear country bush hunting experience for me, most working alone and running crews in Grizzly country.

I would NEVER use a different bullet in my rifle for possible bear encounters to what I use for general hunting with that rifle and depending on "Kentucky Windage" is a good way to get dead, IMO.

I use almost entirely Nosler Pts, in my dozens of bear-capable rifles and have since 1969, IIRC. I usually carry a .338WM, currently own seven of them as well as four 9.3x62 CRF rifles and another building. These with 250Npts and 286Npts are my favourites and I would use at least a 225Npt. if I had a .338-06, which I would if I were 10-15 years younger.

Shotguns, used them when in the BCFS, don't care for them over the right type of rifle, but, have two Benelli Novas and sometimes keep one in camp loaded with BRENNEKES, the ONLY slug I trust on bears. JMHO.
 

AXEL

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I have that info. in the loading manuals I have and use, my current load for the 225TTSX, gives me 2780 fps-mv, from the 23" Shilen tube of my NO.1 Dakota 76-.338WM, a rifle in the 300 S/N range. It has a "slow" barrel and my usual load of a 250Npt. over 76-RE-22 gives only 2600 in it.

I have four original P-64 Alaskans, factory 25" tubes and they run 150-200 fps faster with that load and shoot "bugholes". My custom STS Classic 70, tuned at Martini Gunmakers, a few years ago, 22.5" tube, runs 2670 with it and sub-moa triangles and these are as good as it gets for bear country, IME/O.

I hate killing bears which I adore and enjoy watching them, but, with decades of multi-month solo stints in BC and AB wilderness, I do not romanticize them and tend to carry a gun I KNOW will put one in the dirt if I deem it necessary. My opinion, lots of other options.
 
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KJH

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Barnes TSX is my favorite moose bullet. I don't feel bad or under gunned because of my bullet selection if I encounter a PO'd bear.

To the original post- I'd go with what you have and not give it a second thought.
 

Dusty2426

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I currently have a sub moa 185 grain barnes ttsx round for my 338 06. It's running around 2750 fps. I'm going moose hunting in 24 months. I can shoot 3 inch groups at 400 yds. should I stick with this round or should I try some 210 nosler partitions?

I’m a huge partition fan... but if you got a 185 quality bullet shooting that good roll with it
 

JP100

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if it aint broke dont fix it.
The 185s barnes will work fine. seen moose drop in their tracks with 180 soft points from a 30-06.

400 is a longs ways for a barnes(low velocity) and from the moose hunting ive done you dont need to shoot that far.
With the barnes at that speed id keep it under 300 but thats just me
 

lcpaul22

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if it aint broke dont fix it.
The 185s barnes will work fine. seen moose drop in their tracks with 180 soft points from a 30-06.

400 is a longs ways for a barnes(low velocity) and from the moose hunting ive done you dont need to shoot that far.
With the barnes at that speed id keep it under 300 but thats just me

I think that the distance shot is relative to the area you are hunting. Setting a hard “ you can only shoot this far for moose” would certainly result in a lot less tags filled in my hunting group.

That said, I think people should stick with what your comfortable and capable with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

luke moffat

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I have owned a 338-06 for a bout 3 years now. Great little 6.5-7 pound rifle depending on the scope I have on it (4 pounds 14 oz empty.) With its 21" barrel I can get 225 Accubonds to 2690 fps, and 210 Sciroccos to 2830 fps. The Sirocco load goes below 2000 fps out to past 500 yards.


Honestly any TTSX/TSX, NPT, Scirocco, Auccbond, AFrame, Woodleigh of a 338 vareity going 2700+ on impact (assuming its close enough you are having to shoot the bear you should have more than adequate muzzle velocity then) well be more than enough to kill a bear.

No I don't have 50+ years in the woods wandering with the bears. But in my 33 years of being alive I believe I am now north of that number of grizzly bears I have personally seen killed. They are not armored tanks. Hit them well and they die. Hit them poorly weather its a 375 or a 243 (have seen both cartridges kill grizzly bears) they won't die, but hit them in the vitals with either and they die. I think your 185 TTSX is WAY more than enough to go fully north to south on a bear if needed based on my experiences with killing grizzly bears.

Its a struggle to decide if I want to take the 338-06 or the 358 win for backing up my brother and good buddy on Kodiak this spring. 250 Aframes at 2500 fps or 225 NPTs at 2400 fps...can't really lose either way. Of course they both will have rifles so maybe I'll just shoot them with a cannon......or nikon or olympus or sony. :)

Here is a little Alaskan bull I shot in 2015 at just over 300 yards I believe...bullet exited without issue and the moose died. No drama at all:
RIDDF5g.jpg


Best of luck on your moose hunt, I dig the 338-06 still as well.
 
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AXEL

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As always, very sound advice/commentary from Luke and "spot on", IMHO.

If, as I posted, I were younger, I would build a .338/06, probably on the Nosler .280AI case and use a Brno 21 action I have. It is, with a matching Brno ZG-47 action I also have, the last of a box full of fine actions I collected and built on from the late 1990s and I would expect a rifle weight around 7.5 lbs. all up.

I am fine with my KMA .280AI, but, with more recoil, now at 71.5, I want a bit more weight to dampen it and a Kimber based thumper is a bit too light for me.

Lots of the old, genuine BC bushwhackers I started working with 50+ years ago, killed dozens of Grizzlies, with the only rifles they owned, usually a .30-06 and with plain Dominion ammo.........and we can still do it too. :)
 

greentimber

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The TTSX (and LRX) bullets are excellent. I’ve had nothing but complete success with them on deer, elk, and coyotes.

Also check out the article on monolithic bullets in the 2018 Complete Book of Reloading. Talks about max engagement ranges, expansion thresholds, etc...
 
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