Favorite hunting ammo.

[Oregonhunter5]

Berger makes good ammo also.

 

[jluck]

Berger makes good ammo also.

They do? Are you referring to ABM ammo? I haven't heard any reports on it yet. FWIW they don't manufacture 338 Win mag yet.

I also don't recommend Berger bullets for short range hunting (<500 yards), The bullets often don't open up at the shorter distances and when a Berger does open up they explode, Destructive on meat but absolutely terminal. With that said they are the best shooting bullet in one of my rifles.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Berger is about as accurate as they come, by some folks opinions. I know the 7mm is good for my brother. They are about long distance shooting though. So maybe that's the issue with short range hits.
I don't have a lot of experience with the .338 mag. That's a big gun! I shoot .270, 7mm, and .300 short mag.
I do know that Barnes isn't supposed to do much damage either due to there solid copper bullet. But that's not my opinion. Old timers life a bullet that frags out a ton. I like a bullet that will go through both ends of an animal. An animal down, and a bit torn up, is better than tracking, that's me though.

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Yea. Just $75 for a box is hard to swallow.

 

[Rainy Winchester]

I want a hallow point basically. I just want the round to mushroom, hit the vital, and go through and through. No fragmenting and ruining meat. I don't plan on making very long range shots, less than 400.

 

[jluck]

Yea. Just $75 for a box is hard to swallow.

For what?

 

[Rainy Winchester]

For nosler in 338 wm.

 

[jluck]

For nosler in 338 wm.

I agree! That's unnecessary expense IMO. I think barnes bullets will do you great but those in a factory loaded round are expensive too. Don't rule out Hornady or good old Coreloks.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I've killed many animals with core locks.
Not long ago, that's what we all shot!
But there was a lot more animals back then. Things are different now. If I'm gonna work my tail off for a animal, I want to up the odds of getting that thing down.
A less expensive way to go other than Barnes, is Winchester.
I would highly recommend getting into reloading. It's easy, and it's relaxing. And it's cheap after you get set up.
Know one can work up a load like yourself. Companies will have you send in your gun, and they will work a load up. But it's expensive, and it will bit you in the butt the day you need ammo, but can't find a company to build another load.

 

[Rainy Winchester]

I know, I wouldn't have this problem if I reloaded. Trust me I'm kicking myself right now for selling off my rcbs setup last fall. But I had bills to pay and wasn't working very much. So I had to keep the wolves at bay some how. I will get back into it asap. Barnes is only a few dollars more than winchester if I remember correctly. And I have 2 boxes of barnes coming to a sportsman's warehouse in salem for me.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

For many calibers, I must say that Remington Core-Lokt has never failed to do what they advertise and the weight retention and expansion has been excellent for myself and others that I know over the years. I tend to try and find the bullets of the game bagged, and weigh the bullet after cleaning and the Remington has performed admirably. I have a large Mason jar full of them that says so.

Many will take a kick at it as being a lower class of projectile, but most that do are ignorant to the reality that it truly works and can be depended upon to do its job.
All this said, I handload for the .338 wm and exclusively use 225 and 250 grain Nosler partitions for my loads. Damned fine hunting bullets.

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Yea that's why the federal premium was my favorite for using the nosler petition. And Remington corelok seems like the old tried and true round. I'll give the barnes a try, but may pick up a few boxes of Remington since they seem like one of the most readily available.

 

[blitz]

Yea that's why the federal premium was my favorite for using the nosler petition. And Remington corelok seems like the old tried and true round. I'll give the barnes a try, but may pick up a few boxes of Remington since they seem like one of the most readily available.

and cheaper too. if nothing else i would grab a few boxes of core-lokts for range work and the barnes for hunting.

 

[Portaledgepete]

I shot a deer with Hornady Superperformance 165gr SST in 30-06 a couple of years ago. I missed the heart, hit right below it. It left an orange sized hole in him, and when I opened him up his lungs were gone, along with almost all of his blood. Despite this I didn't find any bullet fragments or additional damage to the meat. Too bad I can't get those rounds for my 300WSM.

 

[orygun]

Since my wife doesn't shoot too much, I don't bother handloading for her rifle. Plus, even though I figgered it out, it's hard to match what factory ammo can do out of her 16 1/2" barreled 7mm-08.
(RL-15 is the ticket)
Because I'm a bullet snob, well sort of, when it comes to elk hunting, we use Federal Premium with the Nosler Partition. However, I know damn well that the Remington Core-Lokts she shoots for deer will drop those elk, too.
I've used Core Lokts in the 06 and you can say what you want about them, but animals die when whacked well with one.
And we haven't even broached the low cost part of the equation.
Accuracy? The best group I ever shot with a hunting rifle was with Remington Core Lokts.

I said I'm a bullet snob. I handload Ballistic Tips for deer and use Partitions for elk.

Hunting with a 338? Anything you'll likely buy for that cartridge will do the job.

 

[DeanMk]

With a shortage of federal vital-shok ammo in my caliber of rifles, I am looking for a new brand of ammo. Vital shok is all I've ever used, and I know I know I need to reload lol. But just wondering what everyone's favorite store bought rifle hunting ammo is? With Barnes, winchester, nosler, Remington, Hornady, etc it's a bit overwhelming looking for new stuff.

Any of the major brands are good.
Winchester Super-X is typically found at the lowest price and it gets the job done.
Remington works real well, too.
The Core-Lokt bullet is legendary for its performance.
All the major brands have websites. Check 'em out. You may find a match to your favourite Vital-Shok load.


Dean

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Yea I'll have to look more into their loads and compare them side by side.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

A nice 4x4, one big 3x3 and a 300+ pound bear all went down to single shots this last sunday by my son and two cousins using Core-lokts, not too bad for cheap over the counter ammunition. I'm sure all would be dead anyway with whatever brand was used given the shot placement the kids put on em, but Remington strikes again.

 

[DeanMk]

Since no one other than the OP put a shout out for it, I'll concur about Federal ammo.
Still have some of the .30-30 ammo dad bought in the mid '70's.
150gr. "Hi Shok" bullets.
Two of 'em dispatched a big 4-point I shot in '77 out in Dewatto.
Found the bullets later on and measured 'em.
Opened up to about .635" - .640" and kept most of their weight.
Not bad for a $4.79 box of "This week's special".


Dean

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Well my barnes finally showed up at sportsman's so I'll go pick that up and put a few down range and see how it's does. I also have a box a Remington just cause.