Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Why no factory 338-06 rifles? Would 8.5x63 be the answer?

Since Weatherby made a few 338-06's I have expected it to come out in a mainstream factory rifle and have patiently waited. I like '06 based cartridges, five plus one in the chamber, easy feeding , common head size, etc.

Does anyone have an idea why? Is it the number of custom chambers around?

So far no luck. We have the .338 Federal [yawn] and soon the .338 RCM.

Finally, someone posts that the 8.5x63 [.338-280 Improved]is a CIP cartridge in Europe.

The 8.5 x 63 would make the most sense to me. Rename it the
.338 Super Whiz Bang or whatever. You could clean up .388-06 and AI chambers with its reamer, etc. This is especially true with the "parent case" the 280 AI becoming factory.

I don't know the answer to your question, Bear.

The 338-06 to me, anyway, makes more sense than does the 338-08.
I keep hoping that Ruger or somebody will come out with a 338-06 at some point.

I know that I would buy one.

340, The 338-08 only makes sense because of that tiny little Kimber 84M action. A five pound gun that shoots 338winmag starting loads makes a LOT of sense. Especially if you have to carry it for five days in the rain and never pull the trigger like I just did. Sure beats carrying ten pounds in the rain!

I agree with you on that score, 338.
One of my favorite hiking/mountain rifles is my Kimber Montana 325WSM.
Much nicer to carry than my 10+ lb 340Wby!

I may have to give the ballistics on the 338Fed a closer look.
I will admit, one of those in a Montana might be pretty cool.

I'm thinking because it pizzes off industry folks to put the name "A-Square" behind the cartridge nomenclature. Thinking of Art Alpin is not easy.

I absolutely DID NOT say any of the above

Steve

Steve,
I forgot about that- I mean, er,what did you say?

How does that work? I've looked into the 338-08 for a Ruger short action I'm looking at and from what I've seen it's not even close. The 338-08 shoots a 185gr TSX at 2750 as opposed to 2800 with a 225gr TSX for the Win Mag. Right now I'm REALLY leaning towards the 358 Winchester for that action.

Steve DID NOT say nothin'.

Hunterbug, No probs with the 358win. I've shot a 35 Whelen for years and am crazy about it. In 1982 I had Les Bauska of Kalispell make a 23" fwt. tube in 338-06 Imp. and screw it to a 1903 Spfld action. The gun was great but I sold it like an idiot when I got my M70/35Wh put together. So medium bores have been around here awhile. When Federal announced the 338Fed I was suspect and ,sure enough, factory stuff gives app 100fps less than advertised. But handloads have exceeded factory claims by at least 100fps. Haven't yet tried 225s but 185TSXs leave at 2870fps. 200 gr speers easily give me 2690fps and I'm not done with that development. Interesting is that factory 200gr Fusions give me 2705fps. I guess the comparison is against the 30-06/308 and the 338 Fed, not against the 338winmag or the 340 Wby. We all know more case capacity can beat less capacity.

Look at the media and advertising blitz that occurs with all of the new stuff. The WSM's, the 204 and 375 Ruger, the 30 TC (rip), the 308 Marlin Express. It seems that the gun biz has figured out that saturating the TV shows and magazines with sponsored opinions and hunts sells product. Now look back at the Weatherby advertising history. A couple of pics of some pretty rifles and the name below. For the average guy it is like looking at a Porsche ad in Car and Driver. Nice to look at but you never even call the dealer and ask the price. Now look at some of the recent stuff that did not "make it". The SAUM cartridges come to mind. They really are great performers regardless of whether we need them or they duplicate existing rounds, but have not found favor in the marketplace.

I think the 338-06 A2 has met this scenario. I am not sure what the rules are on barrel labeling in the industry but I am sure no one likes the idea of not having their companies name on the product. If you could get away with the A2 (I don't know how to put the squared symbol in) it might be more tolerable for those that don't like Art Alphin.

Also the price of ammo, even when it was cheaper a year ago, was over $50 a box and brass is $1 each or more. Same deal with the SAUM ammo. $45 a box. For the average Joe, why buy something that will cost you out the wazoo when 270 or 30-06 ammo still can be found for $10 a box.

The 338 fed is a great round too. Does it do more than the 308? It depends on who you ask. But if you think that standardizing a strange metric caliber that is popular in Europe will mainstream it, keep hoping...

I was more asking if a renamed one couldn't be introduced here as a "new" cartridge.I don't see any US manufacturer promoting a European cartridge.

The 338-280 Remington/AI/280 RCBS Improved was once pretty big stuff here in the US.

It kind of got washed away by the .338 Scovill, the Hawks, a
weatherby 338-06, the .340 Gibbs/30 degree shoulder and maybe even the 340 AHR.

They have a few more grains of powder capacity than a 338-06 and you could form them from 280 Rem brass.

I am glad you asked this question - I want a .338/06 and I guess rebarreling a .30-06 is the only answer (maybe a used Weatherby - I didn't know they made them at one time). I would like a Winchester 70 or Ruger 77 or Remington 700. I would even buy one if Savage put it out (or Mossberg for that matter). I was looking at the reloading dies in the Redding catalog this morning and it is a standard (stock) die set (no custom charges). I suppose you could buy a .338 WIN MAG and down load it to .338/06 velocity? Odessa

If rumour is to be believed, Remington was once deciding between the .338-'06 and the .35 Whelan. If this is true, obviously they chose to legitimize the .35 Whelen.

Frankly, I've always thought that this was the wrong choice. But then, I have long been a fan of the .338-'06 and have killed a passel of bucks, bulls and bears with the great cartridge.

I realize that the majority of hunters would prefer the harder-kicking and considerably more testosterone-rich .338 WinMag or .340 Weatherby, but I was always totally satisfied with the .338-'06.

And that kind of choice, my good friends, is why folks have horse races.

Steve

I have never fired a 338-06, but it seems like it would be a perfect match for that 210gr partition.

That could be fun!!

I've had the 35 Whelen, A-Ied it; then had a 350 Rem mag. It's a very nice level of power and very shootable for elk or so to three hundred yards. I wished I had kept the little 660 Rem carbine with the little dog-legged bolt handle even if it was on the wrong side for me. The concept of the little carbine was good and before it's time but I once heard the engineering/aesthetics were left up to a junior high shop class with a substitue teacher and left something to be desired. But that might have been just rumor.

The Whelen and then Improved was in a Rem KS Mountain rifle and was the only rifle I could not get to shoot with any factory base/ring combo's I tried. I fnally had to put a shim under the front base-I don't know if the receiver was at fault there or what-but I would run out of vertical adjustment on the three scopes I tried before I jacked the front base up.

Now I have one of those dang, 340 Wbys that kicks about twice, three x (?) as much as any of the above. It has earned it's lunch though.

gdv

Yup, back in 1984 when I wrote my first article about the .338-'06 for Handloader, I was killing all kinds of critters with the 210 Partition and the 200 Power Point.

I got fabulous accuracy and moderate pressures with 58.0 grains of IMR-4320 behind the 210. The muzzle velocity was 2,777 fps and it killed elk wonderfully.

Steve

Sounds good, Steve.
Now all I have to do is FIND a 338-06...

Somebody got lucky one morning.

Steve

Two elk?
I would call that a good day, I would!


Very nice!!