Today, we are going to do test #3 in our series on BEAR BULLET PENETRATION TESTING. The rifle I am taking to the range today is my Ruger bolt action Hawkeye model with the LC6 improved trigger and wearing a Bushnell 3X9X40 Elite 3200 with rain guard and firefly reticle.
A little about the rifle itself. It is a Ruger which is one of my favorite factory rifles. It has a synthetic stock, the new LC6 trigger and a stainless bbl and action. I did have my trigger adjusted by a local gunsmith, as most of my rifles are in the 2-3 pound range. My initial testing with the only factory load I could find at the time, produced groups on the order of 3/4 inch at 100 yards with the Federal Fusion load.
The Bushnell 3200 Elite series scope with rain guard and firefly is in my opinion one of the best scopes in the marketplace for the money. It has around 3.5 inches of eye relief, adjustable focus, the incredible rain guard feature and for a bear rifle, the firefly reticle is hard to beat. In a baited bear situation, the optics are clear and bright and the firefly reticle allows you to precisely place a bullet in a dense, dark canopy woods situation. The BIG bears come in late and late equates to a LOW light situation.
See my earlier posts for articles on "Choosing A Rifle Scope" / Jan 5th, 2009, and the "Bigger Critter Rifles"/ August 10, 2008 which goes into more detail on the .338 Federal cartridge itself and the Bushnell Elite rifle scope series. Also see Ruger Hawkeye .338 Federal post on August 11th, 2008.
In essence I have two loads we are going to test:
The Federal 200 grain Fusion load
The 210 grain Nosler partition factory load
Either of these would make a dandy Black Bear load and the 210 Grain Nosler partition would work for just about any North American big game including the big bears under the right conditions.
The .338 Federal is factory loaded in 180, 185, 200 and 210 grain bullets and delivers between 1820 and 1920 FPE at 300 yards. As mentioned, the 210 grain Nosler partition would be my first choice for bigger game IF it shoots well in your particular rifle. The penetration testing however, opened my eyes on just how good a bullet the 200 grain fusion really is and I understand this load has already taken bear, moose, elk and a variety of other big game, and I would not hesitate to use this load on any baited bear hunt. As mentioned it is the most accurate in my particular rifle.
With a 210 grain Nosler Partition up the spout, the .338 Federal clocks approximately the same as the .338 Win mag with a 250 grain bullet and point of impact is within a vertical inch at 300 yards. The advantage the .338 Federal has is considerably less recoil. Although I am not trying to make the .338 Federal the energy equivalent of the .338 Win Mag this particular rifle has no competition from a power stand point in a .308 case.
Upcoming tests will include the .35 Remington, the 45-70 and the .350 Rem Mag.
Stay tuned and we welcome any comments on our testing.
Click below for the penetration videos for this cartridge.Thanks for visiting and come back soon.
Video of .338 with 200 Grain
Video of .338 with 210 Grain
Dan
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