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#10730620 11/26/15
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Have a chance to buy a Winchester with Leupold scope and never owned this caliber before and wondering what's the good and bad of this caliber? Also what game have you taken with it? Also what grain and bullet you use?

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Will you be hunting elk, moose, or large bears on a regular basis?

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I do not own one but I have spent some time with my hunting buddys. His is a Remington 700 and he shoots federal 225 grain trophy bonded bearclaw bullets from it. Acuarcy was good and recoil was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. He just came back from a trip to Africa where he used his on a Kudu, Blue Wildebeast and Blesbok with great success. It is certainly more than you will ever need for PA whitetails but if the price is right I say go for it. Variety is the spice of life.

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If you handload there is very little downside as you can control recoil by loading down to .338-06 or even .338 Federal levels but still have full power when you want.

I run 225g AccuBonds for hunting and SSTs for the bulk of my practice. Full power recoil is around 32 foot-lbs compared to about 28 for my .300WM with 180's and 23 foot-lbs with a .30-6/165g combo.






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Have had several .338's.. It is an elk killer for sure.. I used 250 part. for that, but I also killed several mulies and antelope.. Rebarreled my last one to something else, and now have a .340... It would be a great bear gun for those Pa. bears, and even with full power loads, it doesn't ruin as much meat as say a .243 or .25-06.. Personally, I would not buy a new one, but if a deal came along, it is a very useful caliber..


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Based on your screen name I'm guessing you have a 300WSM. Load it with some of the better 200-215 gr bullets and it'll do anything the 338 will do with 200-225 gr bullets.

The 338 will look better on paper at the muzzle, but you can kill an elk at close range with a 30-30. Beyond 200 yards or so the better BC's of the 30's will translate into more speed and energy than a 338.

I can see an advantage if you move up to 250-275 gr bullets, but will you ever hunt anything where that is needed.

Last edited by JMR40; 11/27/15.

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buy it and shoot it.

Last edited by jmo1754; 11/27/15.
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I once went into a Gander Mountain where I was having a crown put on a rifle (what a fiasco but that's another story) and this guy was waiting on his rifle from the (so called) gunsmith.

He started talking to me and I asked him what he was waiting on and he said a 338 win mag.

Oh, I said are you hunting bears this year and he said no it's for whitetails because every time he would shoot them with one of those lighter calibers they would get up and run off on him.

I just said good for you and walked off.


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love the .338! (I have several)

I mostly use it for elk , but have also shot antelope,deer,moose,bison, and bear with it too.

I mostly use 225 TSX in them.



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Originally Posted by Ken_L
I once went into a Gander Mountain where I was having a crown put on a rifle (what a fiasco but that's another story) and this guy was waiting on his rifle from the (so called) gunsmith.

He started talking to me and I asked him what he was waiting on and he said a 338 win mag.

Oh, I said are you hunting bears this year and he said no it's for whitetails because every time he would shoot them with one of those lighter calibers they would get up and run off on him.

I just said good for you and walked off.


This is an interesting comment to me, because since I started hunting I progressively moved up in cartridge mainly because I expected animals to fall over when shot.

Being largely self taught without a mentor, I never knew some animals commonly run after being hit, but I did learn that they fall over more consistently when the caliber and bullet weight increases.

I really like .338 caliber bullets as being a little larger than commonly used and as aerodynamic as most of the best choices or most common choices.

I usually have a .338 or .340 Weatherby in my rack but strangely enough, have used calibers either size if it for most of my hunting.

I recommend purchasing it and try for yourself. It either appeals or interest wanes, at least you will make an informed decision after that you will be more comfortable with.
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My father loves his 22" stainless 700LSS in .338WM. I load him 200gr Ballistic Silvertips at 2,850fps over 65gr of RL15. Recoil is not that bad, accuracy is pretty much 3/4MOA near and far, and he likes that blood trails are very reliable on deer and hogs. I sold him the rifle after I bedded it and worked up the load (which was a one-try affair). I killed several critters with it too. It flat works, and doesn't have to be thought of as some big "stomper" magnum with the right loads.


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No real downside at all & tons of upside, especially if you reload; it's a great round.

I've had 4 or them & they effective beyond what you might think on game...........just think of it as a big 270/3006 as trajectories are similar.

I pretty much have used 200/210 or 250 grain bullets exclusively & mostly Nosler Partitions........never seen much reason to mess with the 225's; if I don't feel comfortable with the 210, then the 250 is next up for me.

The Barnes TSX/TTSX are worth a look too, just hasn't been a priority for me yet, but they should be as good in this caliber as they are in others.

4350 is probably the most recommended powder but I've always gotten better performance with RL-19 for lighter bullets & RL-22 for the heavier bullets; all with Fed 215 primers.

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One of the most versatile cartridges available. Bullets from 160 grain up to 300

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Originally Posted by JMR40
Based on your screen name I'm guessing you have a 300WSM. Load it with some of the better 200-215 gr bullets and it'll do anything the 338 will do with 200-225 gr bullets.

The 338 will look better on paper at the muzzle, but you can kill an elk at close range with a 30-30. Beyond 200 yards or so the better BC's of the 30's will translate into more speed and energy than a 338.

I can see an advantage if you move up to 250-275 gr bullets, but will you ever hunt anything where that is needed.


This a common response when someone expresses they want a 338. People start rolling out all the reasons not to own one. Original poster here has a great opportunity to buy a 338 and you convince him not to buy another rifle. Congratulations. grin

Really the paranoia and guilt ridden responses over the 338 wm are facinating. "Too much recoil, ohh if you own one you can down load it to a 338 fed or 338-06, ohh by the way there is no advantage over a 300 but it's acceptiable to use it as a 338 fed... "

If you have a good opportunity to buy one and you are interested, then buy it! 338s have a great selection of projectiles and make good all around rifles. You can always compare cartridges. I prefer 338s/340 wby over 300s and prefer 30-06s over 300s. 338s can be housed in a relatively light weight rifle and have a lot to offer.

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338 is my go to caliber. 210 TTSX and 225 partitions have taken moose, brown bear, and caribou. Recoil is real but not that bad for hunting with.

I picked up one for My dad in michigan, and he's loading 200 grain hot cors for whitetail. Can't imagine it won't work smile

Great versatile caliber, buy it and then plan a hunt out west or in Alaska with it.


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Its a relative of my wifes and told me he will accept any reasonable offer it also comes with a die and 6 boxes of Remington ammo I'm a Remington guy and really don't know what to offer him? I used to have a 300 RUM and shot my friends 8mm Rem mag so I think I can handle the recoil

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I bought my first .338 Mag. specifically as an elk rifle (too much Elmer Keith growing up). For that purpose it was fantastic using 250 grain Noslers.

After that first trip I began to use 210 grain Noslers to take deer, hogs, one Blue Bull and elk. I love the 210 grain bullets over the 250 grain for almost every use. The 250 grain bullet has exceptional penetration on large game.....more than is typically needed.....and the 210 grain is a bit flatter shooting.

The advantages of the .338 include:

It tends to "hit harder" than smaller calibers. No chambering will result in the same reaction EVERY time, but in general game shot with bigger bore rifles tend to show more reaction to the hit than with smaller caliber rounds. Game shot with the .338 will normally react to the hit better, be knocked from their feet more often, and when they run travel a shorter distance before expiring when compared to calibers of less than .30.

When game does run (and they all will from time to time) the blood trail left by the .338 is much more prolific than with smaller calibers in most cases.

If you ever have the opportunity to hunt truly big game (elk, moose, big bears, buffalo, or any other game weighing 500 pounds or more) you have a rifle that has the power and penetration to handle them with ease (particularly if you step up to a heavier bullet).

Not really an "advantage", but certainly not a disadvantage is the trajectory of the .338. With 210 grain bullets the bullet trajectory of the .338 is basically the same as for the .30-06 or .270 out to 400 yards or so (far as most hunters have any business shooting). This makes transitioning to the .338 easy for those used to shooting .30-06 class rifles.

There are few real disadvantages to the .338, but you can't totally discount a couple of things.

The typical .338 will weigh 1/2-1 pound more than the typical .30-06 class rifle. Part of that weight is because a "normal" .338 rifle will have a longer (24" or 26"....almost certainly no less than 22") barrel than a smaller bore rifle and often that barrel is of a slightly heavier profile. The stock also will tend to be a bit more robust on the .338.

That weight isn't by mistake. While it is possible to build a .338 rifle that weighs in at 7 pounds (or less) by using a 22" pencil profile barrel and lightweight stock, a rifle of that light weight would kick like a mule. At 8 1/2 pounds the .338 is very manageable....but the extra weight "could" be considered a disadvantage by some.

The weight of the .338 is because of one reason.....recoil. This could be the main disadvantage to the .338 (more so for some than others). Make no mistake, the .338 DOES have significant recoil as compared to a .270. It's not the "killer" at the buttstock that some make it out to be, but you definitely know when it goes off. Personally I don't find the recoil of the .338 to be particularly harsh (in a proper weight rifle), but I am somewhat recoil insensitive. I do know several shooters who won't use .270 or .30-06 class rifles because they find the recoil to be more than they want. For those shooters the recoil of the .338 is definitely a disadvantage.

Overall I really like the .338 Magnum. What's not to like, flat trajectory, quick killing, hard hitting and suitable for any game from pronghorn to big bears in a rifle of manageable weight and recoil.



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As an aside, I personally have never seen any real need for the .300 Magnums. If I am hunting game that requires more than the .30-06 can deliver, more velocity won't solve the problem. I jump over the .300's and go straight to the .338.

The only situation where the .300 "might" have an edge is at EXTEEMLY long range where no ethical hunter should be shooting at game anyway. Even on the target range, the .338 will have less wind drift and near equal drop to the big .300's.


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I think TexasRick nailed it. People that say a 300 will do what ever a 338 will do have never seen one work. While I don't think it's a good idea Jim Carmichael tells of when he used one on Cape Buffalo in one of the Nosler manuals.


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I must disagree with Rick on the .338 shooting as flat as the .300's.. I have used both and the .300 is much flatter..

Also for years I have heard the reaction of an animal hit with a .33 is much more noticeable.. I suppose I have shot somewhere around a dozen to fifteen head of game with several .338's and a .340.. They kill well, but no better than the .30's.. I like most rifles, but when I leave the .30 cal. level, I would skip the .33's and move right on up to my .375..

Still a .338 is a good caliber.. I would buy one just to see how it preformed.. But have been there done that 30 years ago.


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