Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Boat paddle abuse..

I traded mine off for a Winchester OU in 20 gauge, best gun trade I ever did! I would still have that rifle if it had been in 30-06 or 308. I remember shooting the 338 over the hood of a friends Jeep Cherokee and the muzzle blast cracked his windshield! It was a pretty accurate rifle.

No doubt a 250g loaded high will create a lot of recoil. For my 180g/.300WM and 225g/.338WM loads the difference is abut 28 pounds vs 32 pounds recoil. I reserve "brutal" for my .45-70 "Rhino Blaster" loads, 460g @ 1812fps and over 50ft-lbs recoil. And the "Max Dram Equivalent" 3-1/2" turkey loads.

28 pounds...………………….32 pounds...……….34 pounds...………………. Kinda what I was getting at. Not a significant difference.

Not sure how you managed to break 4 scopes with it sighting it in. Just wasn't your day, maybe. I've not shot any .338 Win that I'd call "brutal". Shot a lightweight .338 Rum that was a fun ride. Still not "brutal". But definitely
snappy.

YMMV

Had a .308 and a 77/22. Prefer the new synthetics pretty much across the board, and also the Hawkeye's all-steel bottom metal.

The butt of that .308 was narrow and hard. The loop swivel on the front of the BPs is a PITA, and I always had a nagging fear it would pop off the stud. Apparently, I'm not the only one, based on all the ones I see pictured that have had their "collectability" forever ruined by replacing the loop with a regular stud.

I do wish I had a few nice ones stashed away so I could sell them at a nice profit to the admirers. "To each his own", said the lady as she kissed the cow.

One of mine had the studs installed by the previous owner. I was first owner for the other two and they have the loops, as pictured above. I prefer the studs.

Anyone ever re-grip theirs with the wooden inserts ??

Never was sure if that was cool or if that was gay...……………..

Gay.

No doubt. Really hard on the eyes big time. Like a Glock!

Price on these things fluctuate like crazy. There is a market for them currently

I have liked them since before they were cool. Have owned lots of them in lots of chamberings. Down to a 77/22, 77/22 Mag, .35 Whelen, and .300 Win Mag.

One moose trip, I literally had to us my boat paddle 338 win mag as a canoe paddle!

And did it work as advertised ??

I'm back to write about it! Lol!

Sold the wooden grips on my .300WM to someone for $50. Ordered the synthetics from Ruger. Found they take a different screws and had to order those as well.

Didn't like the wooden grips because they weren't as impervious to weather as the synthetics. Couldn't help but wonder what I would do 20 years later if one broke. It's been 15 years and still glad I made the swap.

Glad I got synthetics when I put your barrel on my Frankenstein .338WM!

I saw some inserts made from antler, those would probably hold up well and offer some visual appeal.

From my notes on weights of boat paddles.

Mold # (in forearm) "434" SA UL, .223 - 2.01 lbs
"436" SA Sporter , .223 - 1.99 Lbs
"438" LA Sporter, .280 - 1.93 Lbs

Multiply by 16 for ounces.

Me Too. Sorry I didn't think that through better, but you were more prepared to actually use it, and I'm glad you are happy with it.

The only problem I had with the barrel was the front sight was a bit off vertical. I suspect when the first owner had it fluted he also had shortened from 24" to 22" and the 'smith did a less than perfect job remounting the sight. Had my 'smith fix that when he mounted the barrel. It's been a tack driver with 225g bullets. First time at 600 it took me three shots to kill a clay pigeon. Two elk with that rifle, including my longest at 487 yards. You're welcome to shoot it any time you come to Colorado.