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33 winchester reloads
- Thread starter winlover
- Start date
Allow me to take a crack at a response. My experience is with the .348 Winchester and I have similiar load development problems. A round nose is genereally not a problem in a lever action with tube magazine. In fact, most 30-30; 32 Spec.; 35 Rem. ammo is loaded with RN bullets. A round nose in a jacketed bullet with a very soft exposed lead tip if you will, is not going to cause you any problems in regards to safety. If you were shooting hard cast, yes by all means get a flat nosed design bullet. Proper seating of the primer will of course be very important both for uniformity of load as well as safety. The real issue you have is availability of proper bullets which you are by no doubt aware of by now. Hornady did load .338 dia. bullets of 200 gr. weight that were intended for the .33 Win. and were also very flat nose in profile. Prior to responding to your question I searched several sources on the net to include Gunbroker.com and found nothing. Even Midwayusa.com is no longer stocking bullets for this cartridge. You could experiment with the 250 gr .338 RN bullets made by Hornady but you have two problems there. First is length which is too long. You'd have to seat them too far in the case and this is not good. Second is length again. You would have to cut them and that would not give you much of a bullet. If by some chance you were to load them singly and seated at the cannelure, directly into the breach, the velocity would not be sufficient for proper expansion as these are made for a higher velocity than your gun will provide safely. In short my musings and ramblings have not helped you out a great deal. Try www.leverguns.com and ask the fellers there if they have any ideas. The ideal option would be to find someone with a source of the Hornady.200 grainers still on hand and BUY THEM ALL. Also do a search for custom bullet casters and see if you can find a supply. The stuff is out there and you will find it but the corner gunshop should not be overlooked. You have enough gun shops up there in New England to make us heart sick here in my region. Howell's in Gray Maine, Trader John's in Winchester New Hampshire, KTP and of course Reilly's all are filled with nooks and crannies full of good stuff THEY don't even know they have. Jim's up in Winslow? { I can never remember exactly } Maine, has so much stuff a guy can't even walk in there without tripping on guns is another place to call. Good luck and don't give up. Regards, Walter
it is disscouraging to say the least, i was hoping that hornady's leverution line would have something, but they only offer a cartridge in .338 marlin express. I did find one company that carried a lead rnd that was affordable, but otherwise it was almost easier to buy a .33 cartridge. Any thoughts on modifing a ballistic tip?
gerrycaruso
NES Member
If a cast lead bullet will serve your purpose, RCBS has a 200 gr. flat point in .338 diameter. If you're not set up to cast your own, Mt.Baldy has a 230 gr. flat nose gas check for $23.00/100.
I must admit to being ignorant of that particular new cartridge. I am a bit familiar with the Hornady flex tip bullets and some of them have recently become available as components. Possibly the .338 will be added to the list. Don't sell short a good cast bullet such as gerrycaruso managed to locate. The price is right and they can be very effective for hunting.
.33 WCF is hardly a new cartridge. It was introduced shortly after the turn of the century (of the last century), as a smokeless medium bore round for the Winchester 1886 lever action. Factory ballistics were on the order of 2,000 fps for a 200 grain flat point slug, which made it quite powerful for the time.
I loaded for this round a long time ago. There were no factory jacketed bullets available, so I had to cast my own. I believe the powder was 3031; I have no recollection of the charge. Apart from the curved steel butt plate, the rifle was a joy to shoot.
Edit:
I've looked it up in Pet Loads; Ken Waters' load was 35.0 gr. 3031 for a 200-gr. cast flat nose.
I loaded for this round a long time ago. There were no factory jacketed bullets available, so I had to cast my own. I believe the powder was 3031; I have no recollection of the charge. Apart from the curved steel butt plate, the rifle was a joy to shoot.
Edit:
I've looked it up in Pet Loads; Ken Waters' load was 35.0 gr. 3031 for a 200-gr. cast flat nose.
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