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my much talked about 338 took another turn last night. went by cabelas to get help in shipping back to remington per their instructions and in removing the scope found the front base to be loose. there was no lock tight on any of the screws. they remounted the scope and i will be back out to the range as soon as weather permits. here is hoping thats all it was on the accuracy issue.

Thats one of the first things you should have checked. I have yet to see a 338 that wont shoot, if they dont it is usually the scope, mounts, or the shooter. The 338 has alot of recoil, if everything is not secured tightly it will move. Good luck and keep us posted.

actually i did check it initially but i was looking for signs of movement @ the tube and the rings. i also tried twisting it a bit by hand but didn't notice anything. the tech that took it off said the front base was loose. how loose i don't know. he took it completely down and said there was no lock tight on any screws. screwup on their part. i just tried it in less than ideal conditions and it seems to be fixed. didn't shot the nosler partitions well but did shoot 2 other bullets much better than it had been. i will check it when wind goes down and report back

Mine would shoot the 200 grain Hornady with a light load into one ragged hole. As I upped the charge, the group opened up considerably until I got it hot, then it tightened up again. It shot the 250's extremely well with a warm load, and the 275 grain Speer acceptable only when loaded hot. Best accuracy was with the 200 and 250 grain Hornady.

today i shot groups of 180 and 225 accubond and both seemed good. the 210 noslers showed a much larger group. it was windy so i will try it again under more ideal conditions but it does look like it is coming around.

shot the gun yesterday and it seemed to be grouping fine on 2 of 3 different bullets. shot again today and the first group was great but got wider after that. the widening of the groups happened about the time i got to using the approximately one box of ammo between cleaning of the barrel. would this be considered normal for a 338? i plan to clean it tonight and try it again this weekend.

Each barrel is different from all other barrels. .338 barrels don't foul up any faster than barrels on similar velocity cartridges. You must be getting some copper fouling build up. Are you occasionally using a good copper remover like Sweets 7.62, or Butch's Bore Shine?

The issue may also be just barrel heat if you are not letting it cool enough between shots & groups. Glad to hear that your rig is shooting better.

I am using bore scrubber each time I clean it. Its suppose to be good for removing copper fouling. Pattern seems to be running first shot out after cleaning is well off target and then it is better for awhile until about 1 box of ammo. on the heat I am shooting groups with a barrel that is warm to the touch but I would not call it hot. Most of the time I am walking down to check the target in between groups (3 shots) but I have also fired 2-3 groups on occassion.

Twenty rounds before groups opening would not bother me too much on an elk rifle.

You are not mixing bullet types (copper vs. gilding metal) during your range sessions, are you? Mixing the two really gums up barrels fast.

what bullets fall under the gilding metal category? will it note it on the box if that's what they are? my first rounds were with core lokt then i went to Fed Prem Nosler Partition then to Fed Prem nxt and the last 2 boxes have been accubonds.

Those are all bullets with gilding metal jackets. Most bullets use gilding metal, but Barnes does not.

are there any bullets in the hornady line i should stay away from? i have about run our local cabelas out of 338 ammo and not sure when they will restock.

You might want to avoid the GMX loads. The GMX bullet is very similar to the Barnes but made entirely of gilding metal. It might take even more terminal velocity to open them consistently as they slightly harder than Barnes.

If you have been saving your brass you might be able to find someone local to reload for you. Ask around at the local gun shops. .338 bullets for reloading are in good supply.

i picked up a box of winchester accubonds today which i believe are shooting well out of my gun. i will try them again tomorrow on a clean gun and if that works i think it is time to start reloading. i have a friend who offered to help me with it and i guess all i need is the 338 dies and the various components. i have probably spent almost as much on ammo trying to figure this out as i did on the initial purchase price of the rifle minus the scope. i am sure i won't spend very much at all once i have it figured out but in the mean time the reloading looks like the way to go. thanks uncle for all your input.