JG26Irish_2
AH fanatic
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2023
- Messages
- 542
- Reaction score
- 1,501
- Location
- United States
- Media
- 12
- Member of
- Bluegrass Safari Club, SCI
- Hunted
- RSA-Limpopo, Free State, USA - KY, WV, TN, ND, SD, NM
Question: Do any AH members know of a source of ammo for the 338 Ruger Compact Magnum that is loaded with something other than the SST bullets? I would love to find GX/CX or a bonded core option.
My son and I are prepping for our fall KY and WV deer seasons as well as getting ready for a Texas Nilgai hunt in early 2026. Toward that end we met up at the range to practice with our deer rifles and shoot off sticks in prep for the Nilgai adventure. I surprised him for his birthday with a really nice Mauser custom in 338wm with a Shaw bbl. I had mounted a vintage Burris 4x optic to test it with but is shot so well that I left it on the rifle for his consideration.
I have been using sticks for a few years but my son was new to this process, so we spent a lot of time practicing mounting the sticks from a rifle slung position using a 22lr. He was shooting at a 1" tgt at 100y and managed about a 6" pattern around the tgt with a 4x scope. Not bad for 1st effort. We then checked zero on his left handed 270 deer rifle which is good as usual. Planning to use Federal 150g Fusion ammo in the 270. He was blown away by the left handed 338 and shot it well from the sticks getting about a 3-4" grouping. I had told him to expect it to recoil very similar to my 375HH which he has shot before. He said that the 338 was not that bad from the sticks.
I shot my uber accurate Husqvarna 30-06 Swedish Mauser to chrono two loads. 180g Fed Fusion tipped and 180g Double Tap loaded with Swift Scirocco pills. Both shot well. The fusions put three into a group at 100y with all holes touching that will measure about 1/3rd inch and about 1" high. The DT ammo is 100fps faster and the first two were in the same ragged hole but the last shot I flinched a little and it was about 1/2" right and a bit high. It also chrono'ed faster. The SD on the DT ammo was 19 and while OK, the fusions had a SD of 3.1 which is great and will be my hunting ammo by virtue of its consistency. I have had great results with these bullets on Safari with all 1-shot kills in the past. Either ammo choice will work well for this hunt.
After completion of our 100y series we relocated to our 200/300/400y range to do some realistic longer range Nilgai practice from sticks. The 338 was first up and neither of us could hit the 200y plate but in our defense, I had switched from 225g AB's to 200g TBT ammo which is lighter, faster and shoots to a higher POI. We were hitting above the tgt and while very close never got an impact. The 30-06 loaded with Fusions (not the tipped) shot better and I scored 2 for 2 at 200y and missed low on two shots at 300y.
I had brought along my Ruger M77 in 338rcm compact magnum as it was also a deer hunting candidate. We had not fired it at 100y as I had it well zeroed already but wanted to see what it could do at 200y. Except for my last range session when the Ruger finally began to shoot better after re-torquing the action screws and firing some break-in rounds - in the past it had not been a tack driver and struggled to group better than 2" at 100y. I fired three rounds of 225g SST's at the 200y plate 12"x8" and hit all three. Nice! I love the little light, short rifle and if it continues to shoot like that, it may be a keeper.
We did not try any 400y shots and to be honest we both will need to practice more just to be confident at 200 and 300y which will be our practical range limit. This was just his first taste and my first since back in June. He will likely hunt with his new 338wm and me with my 375HH. I still think he will benefit from a better scope but am going to leave that up to him.
My son and I are prepping for our fall KY and WV deer seasons as well as getting ready for a Texas Nilgai hunt in early 2026. Toward that end we met up at the range to practice with our deer rifles and shoot off sticks in prep for the Nilgai adventure. I surprised him for his birthday with a really nice Mauser custom in 338wm with a Shaw bbl. I had mounted a vintage Burris 4x optic to test it with but is shot so well that I left it on the rifle for his consideration.
I have been using sticks for a few years but my son was new to this process, so we spent a lot of time practicing mounting the sticks from a rifle slung position using a 22lr. He was shooting at a 1" tgt at 100y and managed about a 6" pattern around the tgt with a 4x scope. Not bad for 1st effort. We then checked zero on his left handed 270 deer rifle which is good as usual. Planning to use Federal 150g Fusion ammo in the 270. He was blown away by the left handed 338 and shot it well from the sticks getting about a 3-4" grouping. I had told him to expect it to recoil very similar to my 375HH which he has shot before. He said that the 338 was not that bad from the sticks.
I shot my uber accurate Husqvarna 30-06 Swedish Mauser to chrono two loads. 180g Fed Fusion tipped and 180g Double Tap loaded with Swift Scirocco pills. Both shot well. The fusions put three into a group at 100y with all holes touching that will measure about 1/3rd inch and about 1" high. The DT ammo is 100fps faster and the first two were in the same ragged hole but the last shot I flinched a little and it was about 1/2" right and a bit high. It also chrono'ed faster. The SD on the DT ammo was 19 and while OK, the fusions had a SD of 3.1 which is great and will be my hunting ammo by virtue of its consistency. I have had great results with these bullets on Safari with all 1-shot kills in the past. Either ammo choice will work well for this hunt.
After completion of our 100y series we relocated to our 200/300/400y range to do some realistic longer range Nilgai practice from sticks. The 338 was first up and neither of us could hit the 200y plate but in our defense, I had switched from 225g AB's to 200g TBT ammo which is lighter, faster and shoots to a higher POI. We were hitting above the tgt and while very close never got an impact. The 30-06 loaded with Fusions (not the tipped) shot better and I scored 2 for 2 at 200y and missed low on two shots at 300y.
I had brought along my Ruger M77 in 338rcm compact magnum as it was also a deer hunting candidate. We had not fired it at 100y as I had it well zeroed already but wanted to see what it could do at 200y. Except for my last range session when the Ruger finally began to shoot better after re-torquing the action screws and firing some break-in rounds - in the past it had not been a tack driver and struggled to group better than 2" at 100y. I fired three rounds of 225g SST's at the 200y plate 12"x8" and hit all three. Nice! I love the little light, short rifle and if it continues to shoot like that, it may be a keeper.
We did not try any 400y shots and to be honest we both will need to practice more just to be confident at 200 and 300y which will be our practical range limit. This was just his first taste and my first since back in June. He will likely hunt with his new 338wm and me with my 375HH. I still think he will benefit from a better scope but am going to leave that up to him.
