Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 338 Federal range limit on elk?

I settled my apprehension....I' having this rifle rechambered/converted to take the 338 RCM round. Now I feel better, ha. Great discussion though, thanks guys!

How much alteration will it take to the action make the RCM work?

Not apple to apples and a sample of one, but we had a 225 Sierra not expand out of a .358 Win at close range on deer. Deer was shot out of a tree stand at about 10-15 yards. The bullet went through and down into the soft ground. We dug it up and it hadn't opened at all. They worked great out of a Whelen though. The .358 was switched to 200 grn Hornady's and never had a glitch.

prwlr- pretty straightforward. Open the bolt face/adjust, tweak extractor, set barrel back and rechamber, replace magazine box/follower with one for an RCM. (In my case, reindex my muzzlebrake. I had the brake put on back in 2007 because I had a wrist bone replacement and made my wife feel better about me shooting, ha) I could have killed everything with it in the original 338 Federal and any bullet, I know, I just like "more power" if I can get it in an existing rifle. I had even thought of just buying another 338 win Mag, but I'm already committed to paying off bills/taxes, etc. I can't leave a rifle alone, I like them set up a certain way (looney) ....and the kinds of rifles I like, even used are around $700, then throw in a bedding job, new trigger maybe, new dies ( traded them off years ago for 338WM) and you're way up over $1000 easily. No way. I'll be out around $350 for this project, I can swallow that.

Thanks for the info.

Well....after thinking about it "a lot", I decided to keep this particular rifle as is, 338 Federal. I know my grand daughter can use it when she is older as, with its brake, it recoils like a 243. So, I'm just going to be on the lookout for a 338 RCM or even another 338 Winmag later on. Not going to sweat it now. Thanks for the info guys, I enjoy it very much. I'm just going to work up some more 200gr loads ( my SIL has a load for the 180AB he used) use it, and see how I like it. I sure don't have $1000 to buy and have tricked out a used 338WM at present, though I can keep an eye out on a deal ( which I do all the time anyhow, lol)

Maybe I am missing something, or just have too many........ahem......a choice of rifles.
If I was hunting elk, and was thinking of shooting any distance, a 338 Fed would not
be my first choice.

I hear you, but I have access ( my wonderful Son in Law) to his 300 RUM with one of those big Husquemaw (sp?) scopes and Tikka T3 Lite in 7mm Mag, and a nice 35 Whelen Ackley Improved ( not to mention 30-06/.270 .444 ha) so its not a big thingy for me, ha. I've given him some nice rifles that "I" had tricked out, hunted with or were just gifts to him. Some of them would be heirlooms I just gave him before I'm gone...so he can enjoy them now and "I" can use them whenever I want, ha. This 338 Federal is one of them. The way I like to hunt and where I hunt, turns out I've never got a shot past 250, I actually average about 200yds out here...on everything! So I tend to agonize. I have a very accurate .270 and a 7x57 handy too.

Agonize, ponder, daydream. It's what we do.

First it's guns and hunting.

Later, guns, hunting and girls.

Then (mid teens to thirtys) girls, ladies, skanks, guns , girls and hunting.

At almost 50, females are getting back to where they belong.




Except, the 14 and 10 year old daughters,
they have me worrying about what mid teens to thirties are pondering

Jim, CDNN has Ruger Hawkeyes in 338 RCM for under $500.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/firearms.html#category_2=FIREARMS%2FHUNTING%20RIFLES&manufacturer=RUGER%C2%AE&caliber=338%20RCM

I saw that one Pard, thanks.

I'm late to this show...but for my 2 cents, I plan on using my 338F this year at 8,000 to 8,700 ft shooting the Fusion, most accurate factory load in my rifle, for elk. I will limit my range to 300 yards or so, my personal comfort level again for accuracy. At that elevation, with 2690 fps at the muzzle, zeroed at 200, I should be about 8 inches low (easy to account for on an elk), and be delivering 2200 ft/lbs at 2200 fps. Should punch pretty deep if not pass through. Me personally, in general, I want to deliver at least 1800 ft/lb and 2000-1800 fps to be comfortable on an elk hunt, just me.

Found a nice 338wm Ruger MKII wood stocked with Limbsaver for just a tad over $500...and on Layaway no less, ha. Back when I had my first 338wm, '93, it was also in this model and it was a nice handling rifle, but the trigger was crapolla. I took it to a local Gart Bros gunsmith who messed with it some, got it better, but he failed to tighten the guard screws. I was working two jobs, tired and neglected to check them myself...you guessed it, it split its bedding. since this was about a week before my second elk season with this rifle, I hastily put it in a B&C "club of a stock" and went hunting. It added a lot of weight to the rifle and ruined its handiness. I traded it off for a Mod 700 280 Mtn rifle which I used for years. I always liked how easy that MKII was to shoot and handle. My first season with it I packed it all week long out here in the Uintas, lots of climbing and walking, and it was a joy. In its B&C club it was torture! It shot the then available Remington 250 factory load which used the 250 Grand slam very accurately.

I need to add that the 338 RCM conversion would have worked just fine, but I felt like the barrel shank wasn't wide enough for the rechamber job. The barrel on this little Ruger 338F is pretty slim to start off. That was the biggest thing for me. Anyhow, its a fine round as it is and I thought I may as well jump back into the winmag game again at that price!