Talk me out of the new Savage Bear Hunter.

I've never had a savage as I've always been kind of a gun snob, but this one has got me thinking hard about it.

The only thing I can tell you if you want talking out of something about the savage and 338 win mag is it is going to kick the hell out of you. I've shot them in 300 win mag and boy was that thing a kicker. I don't know if the bear hunter has the accustock or a thick recoil pad but something you are going to have to consider. I run a Ruger M77 MKII and it is a puzzy cat to shoot (I know some guys say the rugers kick too but from my experience the savages are heavy kickers). The muzzle brake may help with this but then you have to consider the extra noise. I really like the looks of the bear hunter and I'm sure it's going to be accurate if you can handle it. The 338 is IMHO one of the best Elk cartridges out there (If you can handle it accordingly). I've never had a bad shooting 338 win mag though. Just sayin.....

I have never been a magnum head, but several guys I know love
them. Most of them tell me that the recoil of a 338WM is more
tolerable than a 300 Win or Wby. Most of these guys own older
Ruger M77s.

I hear that a lot too. I've had both and they are so damn comparable it isn't even funny. I generally shoot 200's out of the 300 win mag and 250's out of the 338 though.

What is neat about the Bear Hunter is that it has the brake on it that can be twisted on and off, and it has a pretty substantial recoil pad on it.

Savage for $750.... Or stiller, benchmark, macmillan $$$$$......

Savage = immediately ..... Stiller, Benchmark, Macmillan = 12-18 months....

Once I think about it, I dont see many Remington M700s in
338WM around.

I bet if you bought it and didn't like it, you'd have a hell of a time selling it...

Ruger, Remington, and Winchester all catalog 338's without muzzle brakes. One of these 3 would be my choice.

Tikka T-3 Lite SS. It Is a great shooting gun and a joy to carry.

I have a Rem700 XCR in .338. One of the best rifles I own; shoots lights-out. Maybe it's the flexy plastic stock and/or the Limbsaver but I find the recoil to be entirely manageable.

I *think* they are 24" now. Mine was 26", which is absurd for a .338. 22"-23" is about right IMHO. 24" would be tolerable.

The XCR coating really works, at least the older yellowish version.

Look here in the classifieds #5569325 - 08/29/11 05:39 PM Ruger SS lam77/22mag, Ruger 77 SS boat paddle 338, Remington LSS 7 rem mag

Not trying to hijack this thread but I handled a Tikka T3 Lite
in 30-06 yesterday and was very impressed how light it was.
Almost like a Remington 700 TI.

Plastic tends to make things light..

I think you should have what you want. I don't have any experience with the Savage you mentioned. I have had a couple of .338's in the past and recently acquired another, only one of them however, left a lasting impression on me(insert to read;scope crescent) on my right eyebrow 25 or more years ago when I shot an Elk that was uphill of me and I had crawled up the stock to much on a #1 Ruger that was wearing a scope with hardly any eye relief. My Pre 64 with a 4x Leupy was another story, though I found it much more enjoyable to shoot,after awhile the erectors in my scope didn't BTW, Leupy's warranty can't be beat when shooting rifles that can be scope killers. Barring the incident I related above, I haven't found them to be unpleasant. My shoulder equates the recoil to somewhere between a real warmly loaded 300HH and 220's, and a stiffly loaded 35 Whelen squirting 250's with an attitude. I wouldn't care to have one in a featherweight or lightweight configuration. This might be heresy to some in the featherweight club but, between 8-9 lbs all up, stuffed with cartridges I think is a better choice, JMHO
Your shoulder may vary,
BD

Very well said BD. My 338 win mag is 9 pounds and it isn't bad to shoot. I wouldn't want it any lighter.

My 338 RUM is 8.5lbs, scoped. It's one hell of a hunting rifle, and I've taken 3 animals this year with it. I'd not be scared of a lightweight 338 win.

My Model 70 338 WM with a Brown Precision stock, a barrel shortened to 22 inches, and a Leup 2.5 x 8 weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz, unloaded with no sling. It does have a Decelerator pad. It's not much fun from the bench, trigger guard hits my finger, but it's managable and has been a lucky rifle in the field. Just use a scope with enough eye relief and maybe mount it a bit forward.

Now that is a great rig, for me I see absolutely no need to have a 338 in anything over 8 lbs. You have a pic of that bad boy?

Dober

No picture but you wouldn't want to see it anyway till I get some more Krylon on the stock. Did you know that the color of the substance of the Brown stock is kind of cream colored when a gouge digs about 3 or 4 mm deep into the forend? Metal's OK though, and that's after quite a few trips to AK. It's been wet but well cared for. Lots of memories with that rifle. Won't ever part with it.

Back in the 80's when we were 338-Hooppee,friends and I built 4-5 338's,and the recipe was really simple....a pre 64 or Rem 700 action,23" Krieger barrel and Brown Precision stocks(also a McMillan in there as well).These all came in about 8-8.25 pounds with mounts and 4X Leupolds.

They were surprisingly easy to shoot considering the horsepower,and very accurate,too, with mostly 210 or 225 gr bullets....250's had a higher "crunch" factor on the recoil end.

An 8 pound 338 is a good thing and pretty manageable.

I had a Rem 700 XCR in .338, cut to 23", black and white swirly, talleys and a VX3 2.5-8, went 8lbs 2oz. Shot great. Can't remember why I sold it, but it must have been for a reason...

Also had a 700 Classic, 24", in a B&C medalist, GunKoted Ti Gray. Sold it to buy the XCR.

Speaking only to the recoil part... I've a 7 3/4lb .375 Ruger (scoped, no sling or rounds) and recoil is not bad at all shooting 275's. I'd think a sub 8lb .338 would be slightly lighter in the recoil department.

The 338 Win Mag, it will always be special cartridge for me, no mystical powers, just always got it done and maybe a touch of good luck.
Back in the late 80's when I was working offshore and I had money burning a hole in my pocket; I found a Sako AV action in the white, I took it to Walt Sherman who put a 24" Shilen bbl on it and bedded it into a Sako laminated stock. Like all of Walt's guns it shot great, it was no featherweight (and as I have gotten older it seems heavier). It is 9 pounds all up.
I never noticed the recoil being too bad (I know,subjective) but it does shoot.
I have lots of bullets on the bench and tried lots of different powders, after all of the experimenting I practice with 225 Hornadys and hunt with 225 Partitions on top of H4350, no muss, no fuss.
It has worn several different scopes over the years, 1.5-6X32 B&L, 4X Zeiss, 3-9X36mm Swarovski AV and now a 2-7 Leupold VX 2; never a problem with any of them.
The rifle has been a great hunting companion, it's been to Africa twice (Namibia and RSA), Alaska several times, out west and Canada a bunch, it's been refinished once, there are more hunting dings than safe dings.
I think back to the Colorado 2nd Season years ago, a 5X6 raghorn that got in the way of my 225 partition at 387 yds, what a great hunt with great friends and family; and really good elk steaks.
Of all the guns that have come and gone in my life, this one stays until after I'm gone.

Sorry for rambling; if you want a 338 there are lots of great choices.

Thanks

I walked into a small local gun shop to buy a pound of powder, walked out with a Savage 110, .338 WinMag. lh. First thing i noticed was it was hardly used. After getting it home the second thing I noticed was the stock was cracked between the action screws. At the time Savage used a very light colored wood for its stocks and the crack was hard to see. I had a good friend who worked for Winchester and claimed that in the Mod. 70 the .338 was a notorious stock breaker. The gun shop fixed the break for free, and I looked for a fiberglass stock. Ended up with a Lee Six unfinished stock that we filled and sanded and painted black. The recoil of my hand-loads was to say brisk and I never could master that rifle. Something about the recoil speed or something, but I sold it after a couple years and picked up a 30-06. If you can shoot it its a great caliber.

Talk you out of a .338WM? Nope. A .338 WM was on my wish list for many years and I finally put one together from parts. As to killing elk, there is very little mine will do that I couldn't do with my 7mm RM or .300WM, but I like it anyway and it is going elk hunting in a couple months.

Bought a M70 XTR Winchester just before they sold out to US Repeating Arms in 338 Win Mag. Shiny finish ,small Monte Carlo cheak piece and the famous short toe to heal WW recoil pad. Fully capable of killing anything and anybody on both ends. Safe queen for years with occ use, put Limbsaver on it last winter that was a prefit model. Same gun but a whole lot more enjoyable to shoot, it will get some action again, this fall. Magnum Man

[/quote]They were surprisingly easy to shoot considering the horsepower,and very accurate,too, with mostly 210 or 225 gr bullets....250's had a higher "crunch" factor on the recoil end.

An 8 pound 338 is a good thing and pretty manageable. [/quote]

My current .338 is also a older Rem 700 with a Brown Precision stock, and it weighs 8.2 lbs with its 2.5x8 Conquest. It is a pleasure to carry, is quite accurate, and for me, is a very lucky gun (B&C grizzly, 340-class Az elk).

But, like others have mentioned, 250 bullets seem to punish my shoulder with resolve, whereas I can shoot the 210 Noslers all day long, no problem. It's all psychological, I'm sure, but that is my take on .338 recoil. I'm not sure why I even bother shooting bullets heavier than 210 gr, cuz things fall dead just as quick with the lighter bullet as they do with the heavier one..... YMMV.

My first 340 was a 700 with a 23" 4.5 wt Schneider and with a 3-10 Leo on top it too was a fairy bit cheekier with the 250-275's.

But...it was a heck of a Yote round...grin

Dober

What about going 340 Weatherby? Id go with that or even better a 338 ultra. That 338 Ultra in a long action Remington 700 or Model 70 is a thing of beauty. I wish the 300 ultra used the same case to give one a little more COL latitude.

For the price of the Savage you can get a used Sako which is an easier sell should you decide the .338 isn't for you.

I have a XCR II in 338 Win mag and am happy with it

I just sold off a Rem 700 Sendero in 300 Ultra Mag. I've been thinking of getting a 338WM. How would you guys compare the recoil of the 300RUM to the 338WM in similar weight rifles? The RUM was stout off the bench but not intolerable.

I find the RUM to be sharper recoil. 338 is more of a push and the 300 a slap. Thats how I see it.

I just finished up going through my third .338 WIN MAG phase (already sold the M70 Classic and most of the bullets). Nice and accurate, but much more than needed in this area - actually need had nothing to do with it - I wanted another one. PM me when you have your new .338WM - I will make you a deal on some nearly new Hornady New Dimension dies and the few boxes of bullets and new brass I have left.

I love .338's! If I could only have two rifles, one would be a .338 of some sort.

I have three 338WMs. A Savage 116, Ruger 77 MKII boat paddle and a custom 98 Mauser. Over the next two weeks I plan to test all three from different shooting positions to see which one fits me the best. From the bench the Savage shoots the best. But the Ruger feels the best when I handle it. No doubt the Mauser with it�s trigger is the toughest and will hold up the longest in the field. Had the Savage for a few years and have shot some Texas deer with it. The Ruger and Mauser are both new-to-me this year. I plan to take one of these hog hunting next week. We have seen tracks of what must be a 350 or 400 pounder at one of the water troughs.

There are no cattle on the property this year. With the lack of rain here in Texas they would not do well. We are trucking water in to hold the deer and hogs on the place. With the cost of corn, protein and the cost of hauling water, hunting in Texas is real expensive. I don�t find the recoil of the Savage 338WM to be bad at all. Just pull it into your shoulder real tight and hold on. It will kick but it won�t hurt.

Years ago I had a gunsmith buddy of mine screw a 338 WM barrel on a 700 action, then I had Bob and lone Wolf stock it with a Summit. Whole rifle went 7 3/4 pounds all up, and it was a handful... I ended up selling it to Uncle Gus, who still uses it and lends it to clients. He never noticed that you can't kill everything there is to kill in Montana with a rifle that isn't a CRF

My big bitch was, it was a blued action with a stainless barrel, and I never noticed game shot with it was any deader than the 30-06 I was using....


Then my buddy Ed decided that he needed a hunting rifle (he has about two of everything any country ever fought a war with) He called me up and said, "If you were going to kill everything with one rifle, and mostly after Elk, can you see anything wrong with the logic that a 338 WM Montana 8400 will handle it all???" I said, "I bet it'd kill the hell out of Antelope too" It does spooky things with 225 Accubombs and good old IMR4831

Sounds like a nice 338 Dan, did you take any rig with the rig?

Build a 375 like that and then...you'd have something.

Dober

Well my current 338 Winchester Mag is a Sako 75 SS that I bought in 1997 some 14 years ago. While I lived in Alaska, I shot a lot of game with it. I zeroed it in when I bought it. And since then I just check with a couple of shots and go hunt. Its one of the rifles I kept when I paired down my collection. You can't go wrong with one as its a hunters cartridge, that is not fussy. My current favorite bullet is 210 gr Barnes X. I couldn't get the Nosler Partitons at the time so 5 boxes of those came my way. They shoot well and they work on game very very well.

Once I put together a 338/06, my need for a 338 Mag declined a lot...

They certainly do the job... but so will a lot of other calibers that kick substantially less and the average shooter can shoot them better...

Does anyone currently offer a 338-06? I've never owned either, but the 338-06 seems to make more sense in that it gives up only 100 fps for 10 fewer grains of powder.

I'm not really for, or against Savage's - being a Winchester fan . I am however a fan of the 338wm. I built one a few years ago on a New Haven Classic action and have never looked back.

Mine is:
- Model 70 New Haven Classic SS action.
- 26" Pacnor SS super match grade barrel
- action was blueprinted
- Williams extractor
- Williams one piece bottom metal
- MacMillan, hunter stock
- Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x32 scope

If the Savage is calling to you then you should buy it. You will not regret the 338wm. I cannot state that it kills any faster than a 3006 but it has dispatched critters steady with generally one shot since the start.

The first critter that it killed was a bull moose. I was breathing hard and actually screwed up on the shot snapping the spine at about 100 yards. That moose went down like a sack of potatoes! Since then all kills have been double lung and, with the exception of one large ill natured black bear, they generally run between 20 to 50 feet and pile up stone dead.

I shoot 250 or 275 grain bullets. These seem to fly well at distance and give great penetration and expansion. As well, I can generally eat the meat right up to the hole on either side.

The only cautionary note I would offer is recoil. Personally I don't experience it as noteworthy and can sit at a bench and shoot 50 - 100 rounds without issue. However, recoil is individually experienced and some will say the 338wm is tough to shoot. If you find the recoil of a 3006 stout you may not want to buy a 338wm.

Good luck with your purchase.

Some like the barrels on their 338's a little longer than necessary ( 21 - 23") to keep the blast a little further away from their ears.

With a brake, 26" is still painful !

There is a gunshop in Rennselaer, IN called Jerry's Gunshop that has a 1960's Model 70 .338 in mint condition with "factory engraving" all over it, and topped off with a Redfield 3-9 also mint or new condition. The price is $595.



John

If its a pre-64, at that price, I bet his phone will be rining off the hook today

youper - Weatherby used to chamber it but not anymore...not enough interest in the .338-06 to make it profitable. You are spot on in your evaluation but just not enough folks interested in the round.
Apply the same analysis w/.280Rem vs. 7mmRM...the big "7" thrives while the .280 survives in its shadow. Homesteader.

No

you will love the 338WM, I do.

Snake

+1, the 338 win mag is also one of my favorites.

I have always felt the Ruger MKII in 338 is THE 338 to own. Controlled feed, and built like a tank. I have one in stainless, wearing the boat paddle stock. Just had the barrel wacked to 22" to make it more handy in the timber/aspens. Only bang-flop I have ever had on elk was with that gun.

PS, like posted prior, they don't kick as much as they take you for a ride when you touch one off.

I might have to have me a Savage Bear Hunter too. In .338 WM also.

The ruger 338 win mag's I've owned have been geat rifles. Tough as nails and very accurate to boot. Win win situation.

Should be interesting to see how mine performs after having the barrel shortened. I have always thought a 338 does not need a long barrel like other magnums. I also think a 338 trumps a 300, you can shoot 180's, all the way up to 250+.

Now see, I do have a .338-06 already. It's a custom job on a CRF winnie stainless action, Brux #5 fluted @ 24", in a manners MCS-T.



I still haven't finished load development on it, but I actually thought about reaming it out to 338 win mag. Then I thought why do that when I have all the reloading equipment, and it would give me an excuse to buy another gun.

And, not from experience, but I was under the impression that the actual numbers on the 338 vs 338-06, were that real world the win mag had 200 or more fps on the 338-06.

Load development with the 210 partitions and H4350 was dissappointing. I have some 225 accubonds loaded over IMR 4064 and RL15 to test on friday. I'm also going to try the remainder of my partitions with RL15.

The .338 will load upto 300 grain Woodleighs and at that point, you have a real hammer.

John

You'll probably lose 50 fps per every 1" cut off.

You would have to open up the bolt face too......and you wouldn't be able to use .473 cases for a future rebarrel on this action should you decide you didn't care for the .338WM

Echo, I have owned four .338s Sako carbine to full custom M70(s) I now do not own any and do not miss them. None would do 2700fps with 250s. None were better than just OK accurate. I think a 30'06 with 220s @ 2600 is just as good and usually twice as accurate. Now, a 340 WBY pushing 250s @2950fps well under MOA is the only 33 left living with my other guns. Wish I had a dollar for every newby Alaskan with a 338 Ruger and a Tasco 4X12 onboard...

'Kinda like that 33 Whelen picture ya got up there. Best wishes.

Care to explain that?

The 338 mag seems to be the second purchase a newcommer to Alaska buys (after the 44 mag SRH). Just an observation. Seems everyone who wants (.375) performance buys an off the shelf 338 Mag, probably from Walmart.

It looks like alot of care and planning went into your 338/06. Perhaps you (too) would be disappointed with a standard 338WM.

"No brag, Just fact." (credit that quote from about 1967) Bill

That's your experience and from what I've experienced the 338 win mag has been very accurate:




These were shot with 250 gr. bullets too. What's your real agenda with the 338 win mag?

Killed an elk in 1985 with the Sako carbine, no complaint with the 210 Nosler, best accuracy (1.5 moa) was with 4064 and velocity around 2550 fps. At 225 yards the elk went over the hill and was found quickly, bled out and on it's back in the "field dress me" position. That was probably the only 338WM in Utah back then. Maybe the only Zeiss 4X too.

Any big game cartridge that would group around a foot at 225 yards would have worked more or less as well on that elk. 'Just could not get great accuracy in any of the four (338s) I have owned, Chrono numbers were less than I had hoped for.

I tried hard to like the.338WM. I was making progress with H414 the cost was flintlock-like delayed ignition, my testing was in Winter...never the less. Yup, tried the slowish stick powders too.

Three 338 WMs and a move to Alaska...Nothing (as far as I am can tell) will the 338WM do that cannot be done as well by an '06, 338/06 Whelen or 9.3 MM, with a bullet up to the task.

No problem with the belted case... (but five plus one beats three plus one) I took the filler block out of the M-70s 338s, fitted expensive express floorplates and tried quite a bit of off the lands load developement.

My Road to Damascus happened when I half heartedly started working with a 340 WBY. Why waste a long action on a short mag like a 338WM? Never looked back.

The big 338 bullet in the old days was the 275 Speer, that was an accurate bullet in my friend's 338WM at 2200fps or so, it made big holes through things like Caribou.

Today's bullets are better in every way. Lots of powder choices, perhaps I am, after all, just not open minded about the 338WM.

I am guilty of an agenda, I confess to verymuch dislike a compromise with the equipment I actually have any control over in the field.

1917, would you recommend Echo re-do his 338/06 into a 338WM?

Sincerly, with Best wishes to you all, Bill

I have a .300 and a .338 that are set up almost identically. The .300 still carries the factory barrel and the .338 has an Obermeyer and the scopes are slightly different, but otherwise, they have the same McMillan stock, same barrel contour and length, and subsequentally, the same weight about 8 1/2 lbs. I shoot 180's from the .300 and 225's from the .338. The .338 has noticeably more recoil and is no fun to shoot off the bench. The .300 is no picnic either, but not as bad as the .338.

That being said, I don't ever remember feeling the recoil from any firearm I have ever shot at any game ever in my life. Too worried about other stuff to notice it, I guess.

I worry less about 1/2 lb in rifle weight than a lot of people because my body weight fluctuates more than that in a day. There is a tradeoff between rifle weight and recoil, but 1/2 lb either wasy isn't going to make that much difference.
Fast Ed

Seems like a lot of guys use the lighter bullets in their .338 WM. It would seem that if that is the case, then the .338-06 would be just fine, where the .338 WM would shine is with the 250 grain slugs?? I have shot a few .338 WM, but never owned one due to the fact that I have a .35 Whelen, a .30-06 and a .375 H&H and just could not come up with a real "need" but I think it is a good round, but I would think the .338-06 would be about as good for 98% of the hunting that a guy would do?

Nothing wrong with wants but, the 338wm is unnecessary for much game and way too little for the rest. The USA hunters think more of the 338 than is thought in the rest of the hunting world. I have hunted for many years and have never felt the need for a 338. When I need something more than a 308 I use my 9.3 or my 375. The next step up would be my 450.

I have a GREAT 338. Ruger Hawkeye, sent off to Vais for a brake and they also glass bedded and reworked the trigger and put a new thicker recoil pad on it. Trouble is, I have a bad neck injury and can't shoot the dang thing anyway..but it does not stop me for pulling it out and sitting there working the bolt a little, ha !

Well, I decided that since I already have a .338-06, that I would move up a couple sizes and I would build a 375 Chatfield Taylor.