33 Nosler Worth It?

[Jed_AK]

Greetings,

I have a tikka 338 win mag I am thinking about converting to a 33 Nosler for a little more horse power. There does not seem to be a lot of load data out there regarding the 33 nosler. The data i have found does not seem to show a lot of improvement over the win mag which was surprising because the 33 nosler has quite a bit more case capacity. I am wondering if anyone has any good experience with the 33 Nosler they can share? I live in Alaska and this rifle will be my bear hunting rifle. Because of the tikka action, all my loads will have to be a SAAMI length due to mag COAL restrictions. I am interested in the 225-250 grain bullet weights.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

Maybe look at a 300 Norma Mag Improved and shoot the same weight bullets?

 

[TaperPin]

I don’t have a 33 Nosler, but have loaded a lot for the 338 and 340 Wby. The Nosler is in between the two in case capacity and velocity. SAAMI factory pressure test data for the three shows about 100 fps difference between each of them, which seems about right.

As you know a lot of 338 loads are heavily compressed, but going up in case size brings down the published load fill volumes with popular powders. Right away it was less work to reload for the Wby. Before I had a larger capacity 33 cal, I would have seriously considered the Nosler just to not have to vibrate powder as much, but 100 fps would also be worth it on its own.

The only downside I can think of, that might not ever crop up, is the possibility the fatter case with steeper shoulder won’t feed as reliably, but that’s fixable with some tweaking.

At least in the lower 48, 210 to 225 gr bullets have really taken over as the most effective. I was surprised to read old discussions of early adopters of the 338 back in the 1960s talking about 250’s being a little slow.

 

[longrangelead]

I can't remember the last time I saw 33 Nosler brass or ammo on the shelf.

Nosler's lack of cartridge support now and in the future would be a big no for me.
If you load your own and buy enough brass to support that barrel, maybe.