From: jfross@ix.netcom.com (John Ross)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: 338 bullet recomendation
Date: 4 Feb 1997 20:22:08 -0500

On 2 Feb 1997 19:18:27 -0500, Gale McMillan <" gale"@mcmfamily.com>
wrote:

#Does any one have any recommendations based on experience of 338 bullets
#to use one dangerous game.  From 250 grains to 300 grains.  Thanks in
#advance. A young friend is taking a 405/338 to Africa.

Nosler partitions have a pretty good rep but the nose generally blows
off and the rear half holds together, which doesn't give the
penetration that you get if the mushrooming nose stays bonded to the
jacket.

IMO Jack Carter's TROPHY BONDED line is the best in the world.  The
back half is solid gilding metal, and the lead core is molecularly
bonded inside the front. (Jacket heated almost to the point of
melting, molten lead inside, then formed to shape.) These things
mushroom but stay together no matter what, just like Steigers' old
Bitterroots.  Got 4 feet penetration on a Kudu out of my .375
Improved.  Saw a 55-grain .224 out of a .22-250 Jack had that he
killed an old mulie with and it was mushroomed perfectly.  Jack said
penetration was about two feet.

The Barnes X-bullet is a decent choice if your rifle likes it; I have
a couple rifles that shoot 5/8" with them at 100 and another that only
goes 2 1/2".

Saw some results with SWIFT bullets and they were impressive, kind of
like a bonded-core Nosler Partition.

If you elect to use the 275 Speer, do some testing first.  At one time
Speer apparently listened to some deer hunters who whined that they
weren't getting enough expansion, so Speer thinned, hardened, and
SCORED the jackets on at least one lot.  Cooler heads may have
prevailed since then.

DON'T use Nosler Ballistic Tips on anything except little stuff.
These things blow up like bombs, and are the best factory varmint
bullet ever made, in any caliber.  I am trying to talk Bob Nosler into
making a 550-grain .510.

Is your cartridge a typo, or do you really have a .405 Winchester
necked to .338?

John Ross  (The author your son Rock introduced to you at the SHOT
show)