I really like the .338 caliber for bigger game but I just do not see these so called "new comer's" to the .338 line up going much further down the road as time goes by us. As was mentioned the .338 Win mag and .340 Wby are the real deal, in a magnum caliber on big game such as elk, moose and big bears etc. You can find ammo for the .338 Winchester magnum out West at most mom & pop stores, those others you will not.
Yes, I agree the .300 Win mag is one heck of a long range caliber and is within most experienced hunters recoil threshold. The .338 Win mag and .340-Wby are a little beyound that but there are certainly things to tame that recoil down, such as a PAST RECOIL PAD. I carried a .300 Win mag for over 20 years and NEVER had a shot out of that .300 mag smack a bull elk and show the visual response like the .338 Win mag with a 250 grain bullet. I just can't swallow all these so called new caliber FADS the industry has thrown at the shooting and hunting public in the last few years. Stick with what has a good track record and one you can find ammo for in a pinch ok.
..............And I`ll vote the other way and state that we won`t see the word "discontinued" anytime soon posted on the Ruger website for the RCMs.
1st.....Not everyone who wants to own or whom already has a 338, necessarily wants the power levels or the recoil levels of the 338 Win Mag or a 340 Wby Mag. Hence the 338 Federal as well. Instead, many prefer to scale things down a bit, realizing that most if not all of their kill shots are always averaging within 300-350 yards.
2nd.....Not everyone likes the belted casings.
3rd.....Not all, but many are inclined to go with and are attracted to handier, lighter, and shorter barreled rifles, with their shorter overall rifle lengths for easier carrying in the field, which still offer more than enough performance for the largest of N/A big game. The Hawkeye RCMs do exactly that. We also seem to read everyday where hunters are inquiring about shortening their barrels, that do shorten their barrels, and/or wanting to lighten their rifles in some fashion.
4th.....For the reloader, it doesn`t matter what mom or pop stores carry or what they don`t carry! For the reloader, all one needs is good brass availability for the RCMs.
5th.....Fads or otherwise, Ruger and Hornady were spot on in creating the 300-338 RCMs and the new Hawkeyes chambered for them.
6th.....Aside from the velocity differences, the 338 RCM shoots the same bullets just as straight and just as accurate as the 338 Win and the 340 Wby. So why is a long track record needed in order to prove a cartridge? Modern software, ballistic knowledge, along with modern cartridge design and development furthered by extensive lab experimentations, can rapidly prove a cartridge`s worth without years and years of proving and further testing in the field. The 375 Ruger has been out for 3 years now. Does it need another few years to be proven?.....Nope!...It was already proven before its introduction to the public. It was just a matter of time before the shooting public accepted it.
So if some feel that these newcomer cartridges and the rifles chambered for them are simply fads, then I`ll be the first to stand in line for these so-called fads! I guarantee ya, that I will not be alone in that line!
