Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting All hail the wonderful and mighty .338 Winchester Magnum

I think Warhawk is onto something...

I was expecting brutal recoil when I bought my .338 a few years ago. When I shot it the first time, I almost felt like I had a squib load or something... it wasn't brutal! I don't think that's because I'm special or something, I think it's because my M700 XCR's stock handles the recoil really well.

The current magnum de jour in the Olsen gunsafe is a lightweight .325 and it seems to handle the recoil really well too.

Here's a question- the one gun I have that I would characterize as brutal is a Mossberg 835 Ultimag 12-ga turkey gun. With 3.5" magnum shells, it's brutal. Is this a case of poor stock design- IE, anyone have a 3.5" 12-ga that's not brutal?

-jeff

Jeff,
I bought a Benelli SBE back in the early 90's for waterfowling with steel shot and, while some claim the 3.5 shell is a killer in the recoil dept., I've never noticed it. The inertia driven system may be responsible for some recoil reduction in this shotgun. That being said, I've since found that with the new shotshells out there I'm killing birds just fine with a 3" shell. I haven't fired on of the big candlesticks in years.

Whip

I won't be using them again. The 3" will do just fine, I'm sure!

I think- have not measured it- that the LOP is too long on my Mossy. It's not a gun I've spent much time with.

-jeff

Just in from the woods where I filled a final doe tag to end my season. Today is the first time I've fired my .338 project rifle at game. Short story: I've discovered that the .338 WM will reliably handle whitetails (grin).

I'm shooting 250 Hornady SP pushed by 70.5 H4831. This load prints about an inch (the normal 3 shots @ 100 yards) if I do my part. Today's shot was from a measured 90 yards off a steep ridge with about 45 degree down angle. I waited until the doe turned broadside. Unfortunately, I pulled the shot a couple inches into her shoulders. I haven't skinned this deer yet, but the off shoulder is dangling. Too bad. I was really wanting to compare a clean lung shot with the .338 to deer taken with more traditional "deer" cartridges.

This rifle (reworked Howa 1500) sure works nicely. Handles well. Inspires confidence. I certainly don't NEED a .338 but we've already had the "need" discussion.

The best part of the story is, the deer went bang/flop on a two-track I could get to with my pick-up. Life is good.

With a big disclaimer because I've never actually done it, I do have a buddy who swears the .338 is an excellent deer rifle, loaded properly. You wouldn't want to load a 200-NBT at 3000 fps; but with heavier bullets and/or keeping the speed reasonable he claims minimal meat loss.. at least much less than it might seem from looking at the NAME of the cartridge!

-jeff

Actually the .338 with a 200 Ballistic Tip at 3000 or so is an excellent deer rifle. That particular Ballistic Tip (now discontinued, by the way) was the first with the super-heavy jacket; in fact the jacket is about 60% of the bullet's weight.

I shot a pile of game with this bullet in the 1990's, ranging from 100 to 500 pounds, ranjung from springbok and doe whitetals to cow elk, bull caribou and gemsbok. I only recovered one, from a quartering-on shot at a bull gemsbok at 150-175 yards. It broke the near shoulder and spine (where it dips between the shoulders) and was recovered under the skin of the far ham, retaining about 60% of its weight. On smaller game it killed quickly and generally left a half-dollar sized exit hole.

The one 200-grain bullet you do NOT want to load up to 3000 in the .338 is the Speer. It is a little tender for such speeds, but works perfectly at around 2700 fps muzzle velocity--and kicks a lot less too. A great combo for woods deer, where you might get a shot at 250 yards or so across a clearing.

That's one of my favorites in the .338-06. I load them to about 2650.

Mule Deer: How does the .338 Accubond (225 gr.?...can't remember if there is more than one weight offered) compare with the old Ballistic Tip in terms of toughness?

Gaaah! They have discontinued the 200 NBT?! That's one of my pet loads for the .338... better stock up...

-jeff

Does Nosler offer an Accubond in 200 or 210gr for the 0.338" calibers?
That could be interesting...

There is indeed a 200 AB in .338... but it will be more expensive and won't punch holes in paper any better than my pet 200 NBT load, dang it!

-jeff

Well,
that sucks...
Hard to beat the BT's cost-wise(and accuracy)

Jeff, my 835 with 3.5" loads of BB does not kick anywhere near as violently as my 300RUM. And I have yet to meet a 338WM that comes close in the recoil department to my XCR RUM.

Hmm.. my Mossy must have a bad stock. Not surprised!

It's the only gun I've ever put a sandbag between it and my shoulder! It was killing me.

-jeff

Peter,

Nosler makes 200 and 225 AccuBonds in .338. I have seen the 225 used quite a bit on African plains game up to kudu, wildebeest and waterbuck in size. This was with Federal factory loads, and performance was very good. In fact the guy using that rifle and load had a string of 12 one-shot kills on his very first African safari before he missed a wildebeest (he was trying to shoot it in the head so there wouldn't be any holes in the hide, which he wanted for a rug). Though Allen Day (from here on the Campfire) reported very different results when he used the 225 .338 AB in Africa. But my experience has all been positive.

Thanks, M.D.

Peter

Jeff and others,

I have both an 835 3.5" turkey gun and a pre 64 model 70 in .338 mag.

The 3.5" turkey loads are in a class by themselves and I learned the hard way that I'd rather not use them.

I use 3" in the 835 now...and if you promise not to tell, the truth is, I shoot most of my turkeys with an old model 97 pump 16ga and #6 shot...Shhh.
I mean, come on, their just birds.....right...?

The .338 is an incredibly useful round as long as you respect it and put in the time to learn how to shoot it.

I bought mine to hunt elk here in Oregon. I hoped that if I hunted smart and got lucky, I'd get one opportunity to shoot a bull and I wanted the best tool I could find to seal the deal.

It has worked very well for me.

I've also learned that it is just a cartridge. That it just burns powder and only shoots bullets and that the most important piece of the shooting equation is the nut behind the trigger and proper bullet placement.

I spend less time at the "cartridge alter" these day and more time trying to find game to use them on.

I mean, except for the .270 WCF of course.......................

Shamelessly, BT

I hear tell that Nozler is bringing out the 338/250 Accu, I kind of have a hankering to give this one a go in my beloved .340.

Should be a heck of a yote round...grins

Dober

Better Moly Up! Those yotes can be pretty tenacious....laughin

BT

BT53,

Good post IMHO! That's about my feelings about the .338- whether right or wrong- that I find it to be a very shootable, enjoyable caliber that happens to provide a little bit of an edge (perceived or real) to this frustrated elk hunter... guys who have killed a lot of elk will sometimes say that if they don't have the perfect broadside shot angle then the bull gets to live that day... well, not trying to start a war here, but I've only had the chance to kill two bull elk in 6 years of hunting them... and both times I just had a spike tag in my wallet!! I do NOT want to have to let Mr. Big walk because I'm worried that my rifle won't penetrate to the vitals... so anyway, considering how very shootable the .338 is, it's a no-brainer. Even if it just makes me feel better in the woods... nothing wrong with that! :-)

As far as those dang 3.5"'s in an 835... mine literally put me on my butt one time. I had called in a jake, and he was coming, and I was crouched flatfooted behind a pile of blackberry bramble... he came around the corner and I put the red dot on his head at about 20 yards and BOOOOM! Well, imagine being crouched flatfooted and inviting that kind of recoil into your life... put me right on my butt!

Got the bird though..

-jeff