Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats The 338

L-61 Sako is the ticket!

Well, I’m not sure all of them are, Rick kills more animals than the Black Plague so I’m not questioning his killing ability but like you mentioned I don’t find my 338 tough to shoot. I do like my 338 though. It’s been a consistent killer with just about any Bullet.

I had a pre'64 Win. M/70 .338 WM that would shoot bug hole groups with Speer 275 gr. RN and a healthy charge of IMR 4350. It was the most accurate M/70 I've ever owned.

Ruger model 77 in .338 WIN MAG end of story ! All those 30/0SUX proponents cant handle a mans gun anyway ! My 6 year old niece shoots my .338 like a .22

338 Win mag. I have a 24” 340 as well that is a fantastic shooter. I would choose the 338 Win mag over others because it shoots down the middle in 338 cartridges, is not specialized and provides great horsepower.

I am sure I an the "odd man out" here but my 2 favorite 338 bore cartridges are the 2 smallest ones.
The 338-06 and the 338 Federal.

I have owned a few 338 Winchester Mags, built many 338 Win mags for several customers, seen them used many times and I also have seen the 340 Weatherby and the 338 Ultra mag used. All worked well. But none of them seem to cover the bases as well as my 375H&H. When I was hunting with my own 338 I could not see any real difference in how fast it dropped game from a 30-06 or my 270 Winchesters. Many men will scream at that statement as if I was speaking badly about their daughter, but that is what I have seen. It doesn't fit with the magazine articles, but the truth is the truth.

I have also built a lot of 338-06s and two 338 Federals. These shells seem to give extremely good performance for the size of the gun and the recoil they develop. Personally I have never shot a single animal with a 338 Federal, but I have seen 3 antelope and 2 elk killed with the cartridge and I have nothing bad to say about it.

I have killed a handful of game with my own 338-06s and I have seen about the same number killed by clients and customers with the same cartridge. Again no complaints at all. Several elk killed with the 338-06 dropped faster than the ones I killed with my 300 magnums.

Both the 338-06 and the 338 Federal fit 4 and many times 5 rounds in a standard bolt action magazine. Both kick less then the magnums. Both can be highly accurate. Both can be made with shorter barrels and give up no meaningful velocity. And the 338 Federal can be used in AR10 style actions for those that like the auto loader.

When it comes to big magnums, I have largely sold off most of mine because while they all work fine, the hoopla I have read over the last 50 years has not been anything I have actually seen from using any of them, except for the 375H&H. As of right now, the only belted mags I have not traded off or sold are my 375H&H and my 300 H&H. I also have a 404 Jeffery, but it's not called "magnum"

My 375H&H is all I could ever want in a rifle over 30 cal. I have used it so much I needed to re-barrel it about 20 years ago. Shot out the rifling in the throat. It really does work as well as the old writers said it does.

My 300 H&H I still have because it's just a cool old Mauser rifle, and it works very well, shoots MOA or a bit less, but I can't say with any honestly that I see a lot of difference on game shot with it and with game shot from my old 300 Win mag, my 308 Norma mag, my 338 mag, my 30-06s or even my 270s. I have nothing bad to say about the 300 H&H, but I see no "magic" in it's killing effect either. I just like the rifle. It's charm to me in in its ease of loading accurate ammo, it's classiness, and the fact it feeds so smoothy that you can't tell the difference in feel from cycling the action loaded or empty.

But the real unadorned truth is that in all the cartridges I have owned and killed game with in over 50 years of hunting, I see very little difference any any of the cartridges from a 270 Winchester, 280 Remington, 7-08, 7X57, 7MM Mags, 308 Winchester, 30-06, all the 300 mags I have used (6 of them) 8X57, 338-06, 338 Mag, if all of them are loaded with a good bullet that will give exits.

The 375H&H.....yeah, that one I can see a difference with. But even stepping up to the 375 I will say without any hesitation that on quartering shots and broadside shots, the effects are more pronounced, ----but not extremely so.

As a younger man I read the articles and believed many of them, I built or bought such rifles and I used them. They all work. But now that I am doing all my own thinking and drawing 95% on my own experience instead of someone else's. I have to say that the cartridge you own if far less important than the bullet you use in it and that is less important then how well you can shoot it. YOU are the key, not your rifle.

I like my big rifles. But I don't have a religious dedication to them. Truth is far more important to me then "object worship". I do not try to "evangelize" others to use what I like, and I need no "support" from them to justify my own choices.
50+ years of killing game in many states and in a few other countries has proven to me that an expanded bullet through the vital organs of any animal that can break bone and still exit is all you ever need. It's the bullet hole that kills, not the gun or the bullet itself . Get a good sized hole clear through, with an exit, in the right place, and you are just fine. No matter if you use a 600 Nitro or a bow and arrow.

So if I ever make myself another 338 Bore rifle it's going to be a classic British/ Mauser style with a 24" barrel in 338-06 ----or a short KAR action (or something similar) in 338 Federal with a 17" barrel, full stock and classic Schuler styling.
I'd load 225 grain bullets in the short carbine and probably the same bullet in the 338-06 but I also might use the 250 grain Partitions or Bonded bullets in the longer action.

Why?

Why not!


As I said, I keep rifles because I like them. "Need" has little to do with it.
Free men buy what they want.
Salves are allowed what they need.

338 WM for me. Its a dandy killer of cape buffalo based on the experiences of many well known hunters and it works about perfectly right on down to deer. Cant ask for more than that. Recoil is not that punishing in a reasonable rifle.

That being said...id rather have a 270 or 280 YMMV

YMMV?

Very nice, shoots a tint tiny bit better than mine, but these are dandy rifles

None, 250 gr Swift A Frame handloads at 2750 fps in any 338 Win Mag M-70 CRF will do it all, maybe you can find and buy factory equivalent.

Could be your problem with the .358 kicking too hard was the stock design.

B[color:#FF0000][/color]aloney

Also, I'll quit trying to squeeze in a quick post with the phone going off at 150 mph.

Szihn,
"But the real unadorned truth is that in all the cartridges I have owned and killed game with in over 50 years of hunting, I see very little difference any any of the cartridges from a 270 Winchester, 280 Remington, 7-08, 7X57, 7MM Mags, 308 Winchester, 30-06, all the 300 mags I have used (6 of them) 8X57, 338-06, 338 Mag, if all of them are loaded with a good bullet that will give exits.

The 375H&H.....yeah, that one I can see a difference with. But even stepping up to the 375 I will say without any hesitation that on quartering shots and broadside shots, the effects are more pronounced, ----but not extremely so."

Szihn,
I believe this to be true based on my own use and observations in the field with one exception. There is a 3rd tier when the .460 Weatherby is added to the list.

Mike378 told me perhaps 30 years ago that everything under .375 is just a big .270 and he was right and is right based on my own oversight. Again, he stated the .375 was a step up that can be noted and both he, you and I, attest to that. The .460 is a large enough jump in caliber, bullet weights and with similar velocities so that it elevated that visual aspect that can be seen to smack very hard.

Always remember clobbering a buffalo with my .460 using a 550gn Woodleigh Weldcore over 121 grains of IMR 4831 for 2509fps and 7690FPE. When the bullet struck with the wack of a broad axe on hardwood, the guide who had previously opined that he had seen it all, remarked, "Good Lord", as the huge animal dropped to the ground. Yes, there is a 3rd tier, but most will never see it.

John

Your mileage may vary...

This is why I like my 338-06, I can run a 225 grain Nosler Partition at 2700 fps. I have yet to catch one in a critter. The recoil of the 338-06 is less than it's larger brothers and kills the same.
I guess, I'm not liking recoil as I once did. It's my age showing. In fact, I'm liking my 30-06, 308 or my 7-08 much more now days.
Take care

Funny you should relate that story. I had the same thing happen when I shot a moose with my .338 WM- 225 Nosler Partitions @ 2950 fps. My guide was behind me after calling a big moose in to our location. As it walked across the trail we had just come up on I put one right in the shoulder at about 125 yards and he dropped in his tracks. I remember like it was yesterday "Je""s C'''st, what the hell did you use? I've never seen that happen before!" practically at the top of his lungs. He did smile as he complained that I could have dropped him slightly closer to the center of the trail so he would be easier to load on the ATV's to take back to camp.....:)

Bob

While not a custom, I have a Montana Rifle Company SCR in 338 Lapua, which has become one of my favorite all around rifles.

The recoil is moderate, substantially less than a friends’ Ruger M77 in 338 Win Mag. I don’t know why, but the 338 Win Mags always seem punishing to me. The 338 Lapua has plenty of muscle to push any bullet comfortably and good brass is readily available. I had a 338 RUM for a short while, which is a great round, but brass and ammo can be hard to find and quality is inconsistent. There are plenty of factory ammo options offered for 338 Lapua with Barnes, Nosler, Swift, and Hornady bullets.

My favorite load is the Barnes TTSX 225 at 3080 fps.

The 33 nosler is high on my build list.

I have only hunted moose in Alaska where I live, and have had several one-shot kills with my .338WM and the following bullets:

a. Moose broadside reaching some birch leaves up on a tree, about 200 yards. Aimed to hit the heart/lung area (low on the chest), and right behind the shoulder bone. Used a 230-grain Lubalox-coated FS (the original FS). The bullet hit the shoulder bone and clipped the heart arteries as it passed though the lungs, broke the far shoulder, and stopped on the hide. It just collapsed on the spot. My friends and I recovered this bullet, and I still have it.

b. A moose eating birch and willow about 50 yards away, unconcerned about my presence on a small rocky knob. It completely ignored me and continued eating when I shot it through the lungs with a 225-grain Barnes X. It took a step forward and dropped on its chest before I had reloaded the chamber with another round. When I was reloading the chamber before the moose dropped, I could see the squirts of blood being pumped by the heart and sprayed on the brush at the far side.

c. Moose about 175 yards away, broadside shot with a 250-grain A-Frame. The bullet hits, and the moose falls over on its side, where it leans against a tree's trunk, and there it dies. My friends and I recovered this bullet, and I still have it.

d. Moose about 250 to 270 yards. I shoot from the same rocky knob mentioned above, just before it walks across a trail and disappears. Shot with a Federal 250-grain NOS HE (a very hot load not longer produced by Federal). The bullet hits to lungs, and a few seconds later it drops where it dies. This bullet broke to pieces (there was lead everywhere), and the jacket passed though.

I have shot several other moose that required more than one shot, but that's because I haven't done my job properly. All the X and TS-X bullets I have shot moose with have passed though, as well as the 250-grain Partition, but all have worked fine once I aim for the right spot. My bullet of choice at the moment is the 225-grain TTS-X (the tipped one). I have seen moose shot several times with rifle calibers a lot bigger than the .338WM, and with smaller caliber rifles than the .338. In my view a good shot kills fast, regardless of caliber.