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

Make chit deaderererer?

Absolutely, with aplomb

Call u tmrw

Dober

And verve and panach�, don't forget those!

JFC....

JeffObama, you are not only A douche....

You are THE douche.

This thread goes waaaaay back!........Maybe using some faster burns, I can load down my newly acquired 338-378 to see if it can equal the,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"mighty 338 Win Mag."

Well now that .338 - .378 is one quick heavy hitting long range caliber. It breaks shoulders on big animals at 500 yards with no sweat. I almost purchased one 5 years ago but backed out because I really didn't want to have a hunting rifle with a different safety than the model 70 Winchester has on them. So I went and built a .338/.300-Ultra mag instead. It kicks like a Missouri Mule you bet, it is only running around 9.35 pounds with the scope.

Dober, was it this thread you were asking on...? Anyway with cold ammo, cold day I just saw 2740 fps from the load I've been running for years. Just a seat-of-the pants WAG based on my readings in different temps and different chrono setups I'd say going from 26" to 23" cost me 60-75 fps. But that preliminary. It's not a hot load so I may bump it up a grain or two (RL19) and see how she perks.

Accuracy was good.

.............The Accumark has the brake and although she kicks, it really doesn`t kick all that badly. 20-40 bench rounds not a problem. Mine is 10 lbs 4 oz w/scope.

I would prefer the safety used on the M70 or a similar safety that is on my 375 Ruger Alaskan, but one can`t have everything.

Without going into the needlessly more powerful and exotic 338s, the 338-378 Wby in a factory Accumark, will more than take care of anything I could ask for and then some.

That'd sound about right to me jeff.

Dober

Jeff, that's a pretty mild load for a 225. What powder/charge you running?

Jeff, thanks for bringing up this old thread. There is a lot to be said about the ol 338 win mag. It is one of my favorites. They are so easy to load for, are quite managable in the recoil department and the animals hate them . The one I've got now is a good shooter, even though it is a crummy Ruger M77 MKII:


I found I had to glass bed it though becasue the stock didn't like the recoil too much .

I do believe it's a 225-NAB over 74 grains of RL19, Winchester brass, F215 magnum primer. Seated out to just shy of the lands.

When I worked up the load some years ago I remember I wanted great accuracy over 2800 fps but I wasn't trying for max speed... just didn't seem real important. I remember H4350 giving perhaps more speed but the rifle loved RL19 so...

Why, what can you get with 225's?

Jeff, just out of curiousity have you tried my favorite powder IMR 4350 in your rifle? A max load with that will produce somewhere around 2880 fps with the 225 accubond. My 338 loves that powder with 250 gr. sierras (gameking). I usually only run around 2600 with that load though, but it is pretty impressive in the accuracy department, bsa.

Jeff I have not had any issues getting over 2800 with the 225's and RL19 in the 23" 338's I've had.

Using Brian Pearce's loads from an old issue of either Handloader or Rifle (Can't recall which) he hit 2900 fps with the 225 TSX. I was able to duplicate this load in my 23" Winchester 70.

Hi Jeff, in the three 22" 338 WM's I've had both IMR and H4350 gave over 2,800 with 225's... depending on the barrel, 2,825 - 2,850.

If H4350 doesn't work accuracy-wise, I've found IMR4350 will often give better accuracy.

However, I've honestly never found a need for a bullet heavier than the 210 Partition on elk (2,950-ish)... they just whiz right through and drop stuff DRT. I never used the 200 NBT but Dober swears by them. I suppose the 200 NAB would be an awesome projectile as well.

When I was carrying the .338 a lot and using it for everything used mostly 210 partitions. They pretty much blasted through everything. One I remember the most was a large black beat walking into the woods about 200yds away. went in just below his tail and exited below his chin! Pretty impressive. It was pushed by a stiff load of IMR 4831 for about 2975 fom a 23 in barrel.

LC

The Great Caliber Debate

I built a 338wm several years ago after effectively killing everything I ever came across with my 3006 for many years. The first moose I shot with it went down like it had been hit with a giant hammer and I remember thinking, "Holy cow, does this thing ever hit game hard."

The last few moose, bears, and deer have died quickly and cleanly but I could not swear that they died any faster than they would have with my old 3006.

My old 3006 has been given to my brothers boy who just got his hunting license this year. This has forced me to build another 3006 up from an old FN Browning Safari.

I really like my 338 as it is accurate and seems to kill well but looking back it could have been a 9.3x62 or something else I suspect.

How many 1000+ lb bears have you shot with an 06? While I'm certain an 06 with good bullets will kill 1000+ lb bears, most AK Brown bear guides would prefer that you show up with a good 338 Win. Mag. with "good" bullets over an 06 with good bullets. If you'd like to see many ways the 338 WIn. mag. performs far better than the 30-06, just take the two to Africa with premium loads for each.

I currently have 5 different 06's and have used 06's a lot. I currently have two 338 Win. mags. and two 340 WBY mags. built on controlled feed actions. So my opinions come from experience.