Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Thinking of a .338-06

Soon I'll have a Kimber 84L that I won't need. I've always wanted a .338-06 so I may have it re-barreled.

For those that have them, which did you go with and why?

I don’t have one, but, it is an extremely efficient round. Giving near .338 WM performance, and exceeding 338 Federal performance. You have a huge source of readily available brass. The “only” potential negative,is not factory loaded....a non-issue for the handloader. memtb

I went from a 338 Federal to the 338 RCM. Love it. The RCM is very comparable to the 338-06. I went with the Ruger because I liked the compact rifle design.

I started out with a Ruger No. 1-B that had been rebarreled to .338-06, and sold it here on the campfire after I acquired a No. 1-S in 9.3x74R. I have had two "improved" versions of the .338-06, and still have one: a beautiful custom built on a Mark X action. I basically got into the genre after I decided to move all of my hard-kicking "magnum" big game rifles along. Now that Norma and Weatherby sell brass, reloading has become routine. All of my rifles have shot very well and recoil is pretty much on a par with my .30-06s. I reckon that the custom .338-06 will be one of the last, if not the last, to go when my wife and kids decide that I have reached senility.

I have the AI version and really like it especially loaded with the 160 TTSX..I need to hunt it more often only killed two deer with it but neither took a second step.

I had a 30-06 that was not shooting very well.Sent it back to Remington for warranty repairs.After five months of waiting,I got it back.They replaced the barrel and the receiver.It shot a little better,but was about an 1 1/2" gun.I decided to send it to JES and rebore it to a 338-06.It shoots purty dang good now.200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips and Accubond are what I shoot in it.I can easily get 2800fps with several powders.210gr Partitions run around 2700fps. I think it will make quite a thumper.It cost me $250 for the rebore job with return shipping.I went with the five groove on mine.There and back was only two weeks.If you call,leave a message and Jesse will call you back.Here's some of my groups.

Fun round but may be too much in the Kimber with 225's and up. I had a 338 Fed in the Montana and it punched me HARD in the cheekbone every time I fired it.

Go for it, you will not be disappointed. Disclaimer: it is not a Creed.

I have had five, with my final and last one being finished right now.

Rem 700, traded for a Pre-64
Rem 7600, sold as it was built for my Dad who cannot handle the recoil anymore.
Springfield action, that I did not like
VZ24 that I foolishly sold
Model 70 Classic that a good friend wanted to buy

Current build is a Model 70 stainless classic, #3 shilen, 1:9 twist, McMillan edge stock.

Have used them on antelope to elk with no issues. 160gr if speed is your need. Up to what, 300gr? I really like the 200-210gr range, but a 180 or 225 is not a wrong choice.

With all of that being said, a 30-06 would be a more practical, mundane, common sense approach. But loonies do not comprehend that thought process

Another great thing is it's easy to make 338-06 from 30-06 brass with one pass through the resizing die.I've been using once fired brass bought from member crod1972.Zero issues making it.

Do it, that might push me to finally send one to JES

I think you should go with the .338 Sherman...just because I can then "live vicariously through your experimenting", ha. I tried to work with a necked up .280 back when you could (well, I could not find any) not find .280 in nothing but the nickeled cases. I tried fireforming with COW, then cotton balls, all over pistol powder. The necks split or the nickel flaked off at the shoulder/neck junction. If the shoulder formed right, the mouths of the case would be uneven, flowed too much to one side. I couldn't get good velocities either ( I used the 200 NBT) At the time, I needed the .280 head stamp, or I would have tried .270 brass, etc. Plus, I had a couple more projects going, on top of some demon possessed ( not really, they were just being toots!) staff. I ended up trading that rifle to my smith for some work to do on a .404 Jeffry Model 98 I had him build for me. I used the 35 Whelen AI for 20+ years and I just like the looks of the Improved case, but nothing wrong with a standard 338/06...especially with todays new powders. Go for it Pard! Lots of choices...

I had a 338-06 and really liked the cartridge. I was shooting 225 ABs and Partitions and built on a Savage 110. If I had to do over I'd probably go with 180s and 200s. In the 84L platform that thing is really going to have some abrupt recoil. My 338 Fed in an 84M is rather snappy. Unless I wanted to shoot a 338 cal bullet farther, I'd stick to the 338 Fed in a lighter rifle. It has enough oomph to put 338 bullets through critters big and small. However, with the 338-06 you can always moderate the loads and dial the 160s back to 3000-3100 and go kill about anything. That little 338 cal 160 TTSX hitting critters at 3000 fps is rather impressive. But know that they will ruin a lot of meat if shot in close. Edit: now that I think about it, an 84L in 338-06 shooting those 160s, perhaps 185s, would really be quite cool.

The 338-06 is a good cartridge. It gets you close to the 333 Jeffery, 318 Westley Richards, and other classic medium bores.

I enjoyed studying it, loading for it, and experimenting with it, but not being able to buy factory ammo in a pinch made it a non-starter for me. I'd go 338 WM today.


Okie John

I've had a couple of rifles in 338/06 and killed musk oxen, bison and elk with them. Shot 210 gr Partitions and 225 gr Hornady bullets primarily along with 250 gr Noslers. Fun cartridge, was effective but didn't do anything a standard 30/06 wouldn't do with 200 or 220 grain bullets.

Thanks for all the replies, especially this one mudhen, I didn't realize anyone made .338-06 brass.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the A-Square cartridge. Doesn't seem like much of a difference in case capacity, I'll probably just go with the plain old '06 version.

For those who've pointed out the snappiness of this cartridge in an 84L, I had considered that and will most likely go with a thicker barrel contour than the Kimber factory contour to put a little more weight up front. That, and probably a 20-oz. scope.



PS.....Anyone know if the AI version could be resized in a .280 AI neck sizer bushing die, with the right bushings?

I have made many of them, and owned 4 of them myself. At this time I have no 338 caliber rifles and the 338-06 is the only one I can say I miss.
It is a wonderful round.

Far more power then you'd need for deer and antelope, yet it works fine for such game and doesn't blast much meat. I like that. It's also one of the best elk-moose-bear rounds you can get. Kills very well, makes a good size hole even when bone is hit, and doesn't kick like the 338 mag. I don't mind the recoil of a 338 mag, but I see no reason to have it if I can get what I want from the 338-06.

When making that comparison it's important to not just look at velocity at a give bullet weight, but also to look at the fact that the 338-06 holds 2 more rounds in it's magazine, can get top performance from 2-3 inches less barrel, can weight less then it's magnum counterpart and works in a standard action with little or no modification.

There is just nothing to not like.........at least that's the way I see the round.

I had one done by JES on a kimber 84L and I would do it again.

I bought Ruger 338 RCM,s LH and a RH . When Ruger came out with the cartridge they made a LH 20" and it was a dream come true for a leftie. Liked it so well bought a 20" SS Synthetic RH for my wife.

Pretty much the same as the 338 06 Both of mine are very accurate and easy to shoot.

Shoot 225 Gr Nosler Partitions or Accubonds with 61 Gr of RL 17 in both around 2600 FPS.

Had one. Killed some stuff with it. Didn't see any difference between the 338-06 and a 30-06.

Just load 200 grain Partitions in a 30-06 and you'll have a 338-06 with easier to find ammo.

Though I certainly understand the appeal of wanting to build a 338-06 to try it out!

I had one of the Weatherbys. As I recall I bought it FTF from a guy in Rapid who posted it on here. I loved the rifle, for me, the cartridge was ok. I was a fledgling reloader, the webs were stretching on my cases and I just didn't feel like messing with it any longer. Once I added a .300 and a .375 to the stable, I had no reason to keep it. I hope your experience is better.