Wow! I have killed at least 30 elk and have never shot more than 350 yards - and that was a rare event.

I agree that 2"groups would not inspire much confidence, even with a big target. With a .338 you have plenty of energy for longer shots, and penetration should not be a problem with almost any hunting bullet on the market. I really like the AccuBond. Do you reload?

no are they available in factory

I have no idea. Almost everything I shoot is a handload. If you are ever looking for a hobby, hand loading can really make a cartridge like the .338 Win mag shine.

by the way i am not really planning on long range shooting for myself but just wanted to cover the bases in case the opprotunity presented itself. the other guys in camp indicated they had hunted with this outfitter for sometime and had not shot past 300 once they got setup for longer ranges. maybe i am worrying to much about this 400 plus range. i still feel like i need to get at least close to 1" groups at 100 yds and so far the best i have done is 1 1/2" with the tsx and the more i read about them they could be a problem with expansion at longer ranges.

If you ever get that Remington glass bedded and barrel floated you might find that it likes different ammuntion than it currently does. It is about a $25 DIY project that can be done in an afternoon and will probably make the rifle shoot a bit better. The rounded bottom of a 700 seems to move around in it's stock under recoil from the magnum cartridges unless the recoil lug is in even contact with the bedding. All of my 700 rifles are bedded, with the largest improvement noticed in the hard recoiling chamberings.

Yes, you can get 338 win mags with a 225gr. Accubond in Federal Premium Vitol-Shok. Also Winchester Supreme has a 225gr. Accubond factory load. I have never shot the Winchesters but I have shot the Federals. The Federal 225gr. accubond is the most accurate factory load I ever found for my 338 win mag. This is all I shot in mine for awhile, then I started handloading for the 338, I only use Accubonds in it.

Here is the Winchesters.
http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...rodID=WNS338CT

Here is the Federals, I highly recommend these if you dont handload.
http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/fede...x-p-74592.html

By the way, I am no fan of the Barnes TSX either!

Even if you don't reload, there are lots of guys around that do. If you'd be willing to front up the dies and components (brass, powder, bullets, primers), you wouldn't have any trouble finding a guy to work up a load with you. Save you the headache of buying, owning, housing, and using a full reloading set up. Heck, I've split the cost of dies for guys in the past on rounds I didn't even own rifles for, on the agreement that I keep the dies.

Now, onto your question about the TSX vs Accubond vs whatever else, the answer, in my book at least, is pretty simple:

If you have doubts, then the question is moot. Don't use it.

The best thing that can happen is that your experience is different than what you're hearing about and your elk goes down quickly. The worst thing that can happen is that your experience CONFIRMS the bad experiences you're hearing about, and your prize bull runs off to never be recovered.