338 Winchester Magnum Ballistics

338 Winchester Magnum Ballistics Info:

Officially introduced to the public in 1958 by Winchester, the .338 Win Mag is an excellent, flat shooting, accurate, hard recoiling rifle cartridge capable of taking any sized game in North America to include polar and grizzly bear.

Hunters looking to take bigger animals like elk at longer distances will favor the most popular bullet weight, which is the 225 grain bullet. It offers good ballistic profiles by many bullet manufacturers with a high energy retention at 500 yards making it suitable for any North American game.

Hunters will want to maximize the cartridge’s performance with a longer barrel of 26 inches in length with a heavy profile. The extra weight associated with the longer bull barrel will help mitigate felt recoil a bit.

The 338 Winchester Magnum is an accurate round, and many 225 grain bullets are launched at 2,800 feet per second and still deliver over one ton of energy at 500 yards. This rifle/cartridge combo is not for the feint of heart or the recoil sensitive shooter.

338 Winchester Magnum Barrel Specifications.

Common Barrel Twist Rate – 1 in 10″.
Bore Groove Diameter – .338″.

338 Win Mag Cartridge Case Dimensions.

Neck Diameter – .369″.
Shoulder Diameter – .491″.
Base Diameter – .513″.
Rim Diameter – .532″.

338 Winchester Magnum Reloading Specifications.

Bullet Diameter – .338″.
Maximum Case Length – 2.500″.
Trimmed Case Length – 2.490″.
Primer Size – Large Rifle, Type – Magnum.
Maximum Cartridge Overall Length – 3.340″.

338 Win Mag Loading Data Hints.

The 338 Winchester Magnum with a 26 inch barrel length will come to life with the slow burning powders like IMR4350 and IMR4831 when using 225 grain weight bullets the full devastating power potential of this cartridge can and will be realized.

.338 Winchester Magnum Ballistics  This is a down range trajectory chart for the 338 Winchester Magnum cartridge with the scope mounted 1.5 inches above the bore center line plus if you were using this load, its effective hunting bullet energy range with well placed shots on, Deer size game, such as Antelope, Blacktail, Hogs, Javelina, Mule, Whitetail. Elk size game, such as Caribou, Black Bear, Sheep. Moose size game, such as Brown Bear, Grizzly Bear, Polar Bear, Bison, Buffalo. Bullet diameter .338″ Bullet weight 225 grains Bullet ballistic coefficient .515 Bullet velocity 2,840 feet per second   Range 100 yds. 200 yds. 300 yds. 400 yds. 500 yds. + + 1.7 0 – 7.3 – 21.1 – 42.3 3539 3097 2700 2344 2025  Deer + + + + + –  Elk + + + + + –  Moose + + + + + –

Make sure you look at our in depth rifle ballistics chart with many more calibers on it.