Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 338 WM

If we read JOC completely, we find that he believed in medium and large bores when he felt they were needed.

He used them quite a bit,including the 338 in Africa.

On the other hand I've had more one shot knock downs with the 338 win mag than with the 374 H&H. Just how it works sometimes, doesn't mean much other than that's what happened.

Fill the gap! Every gap needs filling.

I bought a .338WM many years ago in the dreaded M77, and it is a very good shooting gun. It is the worst kicking gun I shoot, but it is also the most well worn. It serves well as deer and elk season overlap and the .338WM has been quite good for me on elk. At this point I don't see myself ever getting rid of it.

If elk aren't on the ticket my .257R is usually my choice.

True enough, I guess what it means is the medium calibers are quite capable.
Some folks try to make the 338WM a trajectory magnum with lighter bullets while I always considered it a 'power' magnum.

Thanks! I didn't know that Zambia allowed smaller than .375 for dangerous game. Good to know!

That was a while back and we didn't have game rangers around all the time. I wouldn't count on it being approved now. But it will do the job if it gets the chance. The bullets were Bitterroots and Hornady solids.

I like ElkHunters way of thinking...ScottyO.

Thanks for the follow-up. I'm thinking that Mozambique still allows the use of other smaller medium bores (.338/.358) for at least buffalo. It seems as if I read something about that not too long ago. Not planning anything real soon anyway, but some time down the road I will be.

Only one of those Hawkeyes left. There were seven on the weekend, four this morning. Hurry up if you want one. It may be the last of its kind. Everybody else who has one to sell wants a lot more money, and that will be your only option by this time tomorrow.

Remember, if you buy a 338 you will never be able to hunt in Africa and it will be the worst decision of your life

I was wrong. Still one left.

I agree with MD, that the 30-06 is a "better" in terms of filling the gap than a 7MM RM. But we do have to include those of us who really are loonies, the 338WM must fit in between the 30-06 and the 375 other wise it just makes sense for me to have one there.

My 338 win mag is 7 3/4 pounds all up and it is a damn fine elk rifle... I don't know how heavy bob's 7 mag is, but I've seen his custom with the echols legend stock and I'd wager it is heavier than my 338.....

bsa,

My .338 is a little heavier than yours, eight pounds on the nose with a sling and three rounds in the magazine, but that feels about right to me, since most .338's are carried far more than they're shot.

When I first built it in the 1980's, most "authorities" said a .338 should be relatively heavy because of the recoil. It originally went a little over 9-1/2 pounds field-ready, and even in my 30's I got pretty tired of packing it up mountains, especially when holding it in my hands while sneaking through lodgepole thickets. So switched to a lighter-contour barrel and lighter synthetic stock, and found even 250-grain loads didn't kick all that hard.

Of course, by that time I also owned a .416 Remington Magnum that weighed 9 pounds all up. Recoil, like everything else, is relative.

Buy it. As a consummate Rifle Looney, I love the 33s and to me the 338 just screams "Alaska" just as the 318WR or 333 Jeffreys scream "Africa". With a 250grain bullet, it shoots remarkably flat and there isn't much out there you can't kill with one. I have a 338 loaded with 210 TTSXs that will be my Leopard/PG rifle if/when I ever get back to Africa...

What are you guys talking about!!??


BSA my 7 Mashburn just went 7.5 pounds on the scale. i weighed it just for you.

I had "your" 338 back in the late 1980's.

-pre 64 M70,Krieger tube and Brown stock.Weighed like yours.

-Ditto, another in a Sako McMillan with pre 64 action and Krieger tube.

-G&H M70 338 Win Mag.

-M70 SG Classic in a McMillan.

I roll my eyes and walk away when people tell me how fabulous the 338 is as a deer rifle and that a 7 mag sucks.Please.... a 338 as a dedicated deer rifle is silly.

My 375 H&H weighed 8 pounds on the nose. The 338 does absolutely nothing in North America that cannot be done easily with a 250 gr BBC at over 2900 fps.This load shoots with the same trajectory as a 338 with 210's.

I have often used one of my .338WM rifles as my "deer" rifle and several of my relatives, friends and former bushworking colleagues have done and do this as well.

IME, with 12 highend .338s and 7 similar .375s used in western/northern Canada since 1968, the .338 is THE one to have and mine are the last rifles I would part with.

We had several Grizzly attacks here last season, most on highly experienced, local hunters and this has become more frequent since I retired. I find a good. CRF .338WM-250NP to be optimal for the situation/game we have here and usually carry one.

Whatever, 51 hunting seasons, 58 shooting years and decades of longterm, solo work/life in this country has taught me what works for me and I am happy with my choice.

SNAP: I never said it wasn't any good.

I basically said, I only have room in my life for one medium bore,no need for more, and decided it would be a light 375H&H. There is really so little use for a medium bore in NA that one or two do it up nicely. I could never see the sense in having a 375 AND a 338 since they do pretty much exactly the same things.

But in usual fashion on here, you make a choice,or voice an opinion, and people think you don't like anything else and don't see the merits of their favorites, which is NOT the case.The 338 is a great cartridge. i simply hate having bunches of unused rifles hanging around so only keep the things i use.

I know it kills deer,but is still a long ways off what i would pick in a dedicated deer cartridge. Anywhere. That goes equally for a 375 H&H.

Interesting thread, but what it tells me is that if the "base piece" in the battery is the 30-06; then everything else can take its proper place. If I ever want to hunt Africa, the step up is a 375 something. If I don't want to hunt Africa, but perhaps Alaska, then a 338 or 35 something will do. And, if I want to step below the 30-06, then whatever my fancy for whatever type hunting I want to do that doesn't need the power of the 30-06. It might mean a 243 to some folks, or a 25-06 to others, or perhaps a fast 22 for someone else... etc... the splitting of the hairs is where the looneyism takes firm hold.

7mm, inc. .270Win, then .338. then .40+ if you guide in coastal bear country.

My latest flames are a custom 7-08 at 6lbs. scoped and a Kimber MA-.280AI and most of my other 30+ rifles are going as these and a custom sts .308UL plus four of my seven .338s are enough.

Lotsa choices, use what feels best to YOU within these parameters.