I'm asking myself this - I've got both.

You can't write subject lines like this! My wife might see it

338 Federal 210-gr 3224 ft-lbs @ 2630 fps
Short action/short barrel compatible.

I never got excited about an '06, '08, or any 30 caliber.

That does not mean there was anything wrong with Ford's Black only autos at one time, just different tastes.

For my hunting at the ranges I hunt, a 20-21" short action 338F, 358, or 350 RM would make me just as happy, as would a 260 or 7/08.

If I had to rely on factory ammo only, I might have to concede to the Grande Ole '06, thankfully I do not.

At the same time, I would not try convincing someone to sell a good shooting '06 to buy another rifle, assuming it's handling their type of hunting. If we are going to be 'logical' about things, and not put in our own emotion in the equation.

Most cartridges w/reasonable bullets will kill most game at most common ranges, with Shot placement. At the same time, most any poorly hit animal is subject to being wounded, mortally or not, if shot placement is bad.

If my 6BR, 6.5mm's or a 7-08/7x57 cannot handle my chores, I'd jump right over the 30s and get a 338/358 bore, but that's just me. A one gun hunter can do very well no doubt as proven over a century w/an '06. Same can be said for a 6.5x55 or 7x57 properly loaded and aimed IMHO.

What doesn't a 30-06 perform nearly the same as?

Just remember that the same weight 30 cal bullet, as Apples to Apples as you can get it, has a higher BC.


That, and the General Store in the Ass End of Nowhere has 30-06 ammo on the shelf.

Because my 338 Federal is a wonderful Kimber 84M Classic with a gold engraved floorplate. Ain't that enough of a reason?? Where does this logic come from that one must have an all round rifle? It's brings much more satisfaction to me to open the gun safes and see them lined up, row by row.

Now I suppose that if the majority of my rifles were stocked in cold plastic instead of beautiful warm wood, I might not feel that way.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa? Send me your .338 Federale. That'll make two for muah. BTW, the quote regarding the wife seeing this is appropriate.

'Cause not everybody and his brother has one.

cause you can get a factory rifle that weights 5 pounds 4 ounces in one..

Great question.......

One can never have too many options....

CLB

I would have a 338 Federal if:

Kimber made the Montana with a slightly lower comb for using a quality receiver sight...or

If I could get a Savage 99 bored out to 338 Federal and have a correct magazine rotor.

Both would be very handy rifles of light weight.

that's what i'm talking about.

Your not getting mine !

you will see that lower comb right about the same time I see a montana in 22-250 with a 1-9 twist.

Well OK. I did get clarkut98's though. Sweeeeeet rig.

Bingo. It's pretty much centers around the rifle and and how you want to use it. There is a place for a quick handling, close cover little thumper that handles like a shotgun and has the capability to shoot big bullets.

Sometimes pi x r squared does equal better; not always, but under certain conditions.

Elmer Keith-always

+1

I've got a safe full of rifles that perform about the same. I'm more into variety than performance.

That's also one not for the wife!!

Haven't owned a .30-'06 in about 30 years...but I have owned a pile of really interesting rifles...

Including a .338 Federal...

Dennis

While the 30-06 is a highly respected cartridge there comes a point where boring enters the picture and even if another new cartridge does practically the same thing I buy into the "new" and want to hunt and reload for it........understand this is ME but I suspect others are the same way. I have 1% of the likes of Muledeer but that is my take on the subject!!!

Because everybody and their brudder too for the most part, has a 30-06!!!

I like cartridges and the rifles chambered for them, which are either not the most popular, or are controversial, that can offend people with too much noise, which are also under-estimated or assumed they won`t last.

One will have none of the above when using the `ol `06!!! A great cartridge,,,,but very bland!!!

Oh! "Whatcha shootin there?" "A 30-06!"

That`ll be about the end of that conversation!!!

the 338 federal was a brain fart and the answer to a question noone asked. its not zippy enough to shoot very flat, and with the advent of accurate mono metal bullets IMO the 338 bore is no longer needed at all. a TSX bullet fired from the big 30's will get it done just fine.

Other than your sneer at the .338 Fed and lack of understnding about it's usefulness, your statements are pretty much right. They are also thoroughly irrelevant, as all anyone needs to use hunting is a functional cartridge -- not what someone or the other thinks is "the very best". What everyone else in the universe thinks about the .338 Fed, or any other cartridge, is wholly unconnected to my viewpoint, as I utterly need no help nor advice from them.

Since I absolutely will not have a big .30, no one's opinion of it is meaningful to me, and I pay it no attention.

That's why we have a very wide selection of cartridges, and why anyone knocking good ones puzzles me. It's not like me having a .338 Fed affects anyone else, nor is it anyone else's business what I use.

Dennis

Welcome to the Internet, Dennis.

Why run a 338F over an '06? Because it'll run in a M7 or Kimber 84 action. Really. I'd run it for the power-to-size ratio of the rifle itself.

I'd run a 338F, in fact I almost did, because it'd pair nicely with my other oddball, the .325 WSM. Oh well, my .358 will have to fill the eyebrow-raiser, short action, thumper niche in my safe. Which it does with aplomb.

By the way, let me add I'm seriously in love with my '06 right now and have been since I bought it 10 years ago. Great cartridge.

Lots of those...

From the other side of the pond, in frog's country: i can't hunt with a 30-06 (used it in Canada an other Euro countries),it's not a 7x64 or 7Rm or 300WM/WSM every body use, 338 can go in a real short action, don't loose much punch or velocity from a short barrel, hit almost as hard (with heavy bullets handloads) as the 9,3x62 at short range, has much less recoil than 9,3, is flat enough with AB or 160 TTSX to 300 meters, can be handloaded cheaply and easily with bullets from 160 to 250grs with good efficiency with french spherical(Ramshot)powders or Vihtavuory, has more factory loadind than the 358 ( also a great caliber)
Dream of a semi auto like BAR, Benelli, HK or Merkel in 338 Fed would be great to hunt wild boar in driven hunts
Will go to modify a BLR 243 in 338 to have it in lever gun.
Must admit we're not a lot of to use it but it's encreasing slowly.

Why have one? Because it works and no 30-06 is as light as a Kimber 84.



Dead Elk

Because it you get a .30-06 you won't "need" anything else.

OK, that's not really true, but it comes close. And it is true for a lot of other cartridges. Like a .45-70 with heavy hardcast for Colorado's backyard rhino...

While I'm not THAT in love with my '06 again lately, I will admit that it has me a little horned up.

(guess I couldn't be THAT in love with it if I tried, short of medical intervention of some sort <g>)

Jeff, don't take it wrong... I wasn't entirely picking on you.

Seems like there's been a lot of these penis measuring threads lately.


I get more horned up over RIFLES these days, then pick a caliber. The Little Sky's still give me a chubby, and I'd like to add one in 223 for cheap practice and a good all 'orunder varmint gun. I'm not about to get into a 223 Vs 204 thread either. Owning more than a few AR15's and having a Dillon set up for the caliber makes the 223 an easy pick... No tape measure or sausages required...

That joker is hung lke me LOL.