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

You mean the "Hail The Mighty" 338 needs a back-up??

Well, duh.

"Broad Spectrum Antibiotic."

Love it GN!

Totally concur. Have had a couple 375 H&H's (24" and 22" bbl's). Found it more user friendly than the 340 Wby (which I find generally obnoxious).

As I said a few pages and days back, I've always found the 338 WM neither fish nor foul. I'd sooner have a 22 or 23" bbl'd 8lb 375 H&H.

I've had a small pile of 338 WM's and one 338-06... the 338-06 is my favorite of that caliber. Dobers G33 Mauser with brown precision stock and Chanlin cut rifle barrel in 338-06 is one of the finest rifles I've ever had in my hands.

But at the end of the day, a light 30-06 make a ridiculous amount of sense. I like my rifles under 8lbs "all-up" weight... just more fun to pack on an elk mountain.

In a word, yes. I've a Blaser K95 Baronesse in "the 30" ordered since April of last year. You see, I not only am going with the "old 30", but am getting it in a single shot because that's all I need (just kidding there )

This is the rifle I've contentiously named the Green Bean. It's been faithful, and deadly efficient in taking game but in also helping friends decide what to get for "deer and elk" when they ask me.

As one buddy's cap flew off and over his head as the trigger broke, he quickly handed the Green Bean back to me and remarked that, as I had suggested before, the '06 would be ok with him.

"Good choice", I said.

I need to get a scale... I dunno what my lopped .338 XCR weighs but I bet it not much more than 8#, just going by the feel of it compared to say my .325 Montana.

People that can't haul an 8 or 9 pound rifle around all day hunting,needs to start working out and getting there own firewood...Push ups maybe?

Jayco

Lol, not me! I cut 4 cords a year and do a couple hundred pushups every other night... but I still try to keep my rifles light as is practical.

On the subject of recoil I do feel modern stocks and recoil pads have really changed the game in a way similar to how modern bullets have... my .338 is a pussycat to shoot in the tupperware XCR stock and with the Limbsaver pad.

Nothing to do with it...

Do you realize the difference between an 8 pound rifle and a 9 pound rifle is 16 ounces aka one soda pop without the can...Give me a break how 16 ounces makes the difference in a hunt holding it in your hands.

I just don't get it over an 8 ound rifle over a 9 pound one..Clue me in how that 16 ounces ruined the hunt?

Jayco

Why Brad???

Please tell me why.

Jayco

Can't tell you for sure what the .338 weighs, but when I bought my .375 (700 xcr, 24" barrel, plastic stock) we put it on a scale at the gun shop ... 6 pounds 12 ounces before adding bases, rings, and a scope.

Logcutter - I've packed rifles from under 6 pounds to perhaps 14 pounds fairly long distances hunting ... 12-15 miles a day. I much prefer the under 6 pounds. Draggin' a Sendero through the brush is possible, I've done it quite a few times when I didn't have much else, but it's damn sure not ideal. I'd just as soon stay under 8 pounds "all up" for a packing rifle, anything heavier can stay in the truck while my lighter rifle gets the field time. Just 'cause I can pack more doesn't mean I should.

Tom

I here ya Tom but benefits usually come with slightly heavier weights..I packed a 30 pound chain saw around for over 40 years and Dober just posted that benching 250 isn't out of reach if you work st it..I agree big time.

What does get me is people saying there in shape for hunting and whine about 16 ounces in rifle weight.Seems everything is rifle weight not whats on your back or waist.Does not make sense to me.

Sorry..Just my opinion.

Jayco

Don't apologize. Good points. Stand by 'em. Everything is tradeoffs. Even if mechanical accuracy was identical, the little light rifles I like to carry are the hardest ones to shoot well and a somewhat heavier gun is easier to shoot well. Mechanical accuracy is seldom identical, though, lots of exceptions but on average the heavier gun is going to be more accurate, not just easier to hit with.

Tom

Jeff_O couldn't tote a 26" barrel rifle all day hunting, so he hacked off 4". How much does that wiegh 2-3 ounces? And you want some on to carry 16 ounces, give'em a break

Those old Buffalo hunters must have been some tough SOB's..

Jayco

Must have been. Hell the settlers walked across the country carring single shot rifles that weighed 13 + pounds, some of them with 30" barrels

And that was just the women and kids!!!

Jayco

Of course, sometimes you carry what you have not what you would prefer to right..grin

Dober

Side note, what amazes me about those tough old dudes is not what they carried but how they handled things like teeth absessed (spl?) and other such medical issues. Now those dudes were another kind of tough as far as I'm concerned.

Merry Christmas Boyz!

Dober