These conversations tend to follow a theme based on what was, what was known and what can be easily recalled and perpetuated. That is human nature. Where a change of events has occurred is with the additional and expanded range of bullets for the .338 caliber.
The .300's will always be a good as promoted and as bad as experienced, usually it coming down to rifle fit, stock design with bullet weights thrown in to validate which is legitimate personal concerns by each person.
I like 30's and have for decades, but lean towards the .30/06 as I get older for a lot of reasons. I also keep coming back to the .338 caliber as bullets continue to breed on my shelves and I have it all covered from 180 grains all the way to 300 grains, but as for cartridges, there is no better looking cartridge that a .340 Weatherby, but it is not for everyone. As I have written before it is the best .270 every made, meaning, it covers similar turf in most gun racks, though with more thump, bigger, wider, wound channels and instant results more often than not.
The .338/378 is more .378 than .338 with tremendous recoil and blast which is why more people talk about the .338 Winchester as we cover here. So what is my contribution to this conversation as outlined in the opening sentences? How about the overlooked 265gn bullets?
Most people are familiar with the 225's as they emulate the familiar .30/06 type trajectories with common BC's and excellent SD's for caliber and then conversation moves to the 250's which you either love, or feel are too heavy for immediate needs or, in other words, the turf covered by the .300 end of the discussion.
This is an interesting area because if the game is large and potentially dangerous, these newer 265 grainers offer perhaps not much in immediate consideration over the 250's but when you dig a little deeper, they have BC's and SD's that flatten trajectory and maintain that medium caliber thump way out where most of us will never shoot.
There is a 265gn Barnes TTSX and a LRX version for the purist and also a 285gn TSX that looks like a javelin and although "designed and planned" for the .338 Lapua, actually stabilize and shoot quite well in the standard Winchester case.
Conversation commonly extends to the .375 H&H as a practical step up but you guys with the short action fetish likely choke on that option and as long as I am teasing you here, there is a remarkably similar action cycle between the .300's and the .338 Winchester simply because they are the same action length, so the muscle memory and general feel is home ground for the user. I have 300gn Woodleigh Weldcore's on my shelf should I hunt timber or want expansion to next week with bullet weight retention and you will also get that from the 265's if you decide to take a look in that direction, as velocities up to around 2600-2650fps are achievable in standard 24 inch barrels, which is inline with the .30/06 factory loads most are used to, but there is a wallop there if you believe you need it.
Now the picture changes a little from .300 caliber and 180's, the usual conversation point, up to .338 caliber and 265 grainers. Doesn't that sound a little more interesting, particularly once you check your notes to see what ranges you commonly drop game?
