Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338/06 Rebore

Hey guys, recently had an old Winchester XTR reviews by JES to 338 Federal now I’m considering having on of my 30/06 rebored to 338/06 I have 3 options
1) a Ruger m77 blued walnut
2) Kimber 84l classic blued/ walnut
3) Winchester XTR featherweight with factory McMillan stock

I’m looking to make a nice all around western hunting rifle with a little extra punch than the 06 and without going to a magnum.

Thanks
Ryan

As bad as we all want it to, the .338-06 doesn’t have any more punch than a 30-06 shooting 200 gr. bullets… kinda been proven the world over. But, the 30-06 is far more boring. Whatever 30-06 you like the least is the one I suggest you send in.

Good luck,

Todd

I’d bet the Ruger or Winchester would be feel nice lightened up a bit with the rebore. Any one of them have pros and cons but the Win and Ruger are probably the heaviest and would be comfortable as 338’s.

Funny

Whichever one has back-up open sights.

I run 225 grain interbonds or 225 grain fusions for winter caribou or in the mountains. These are wide-expanding bullets that have greater killing effect on lighter skin game at longer range.

If i take a sheep, hike out is with the scope dropped, and the gun stoked with 275 grain a-frame handloads sighted to the open sights for the hike out. For that occasional bear that might challenge you for your pack full o bloody sheep meat.

That is the versatility of the 338-06/338rcm ballistics. A great mountain rifle cartridge in big bear country. But ive been saying this since 2008.

Do it

Ruger 👊🏻

I took a 270, brand new in the box, which I paid $250 on pre tax season close out....

Model 70, and had it bored out to 338/06.....

that was 20 years ago... even if it is not suppose to be an upgrade from an 06.... I didn't let my barrel know that...

so it thinks Its an upgrade from a 30/06....

definitely hits with what seems like more punch... yet you notice the lesser recoil than a 338 Mag gives ya....

That’s the absolute perfect use for a .270….I wish more people would do that. 😉

How big of sample of big game animals shot with both does your information come from? Have you compared them yourself?

XTR would be a nice one.

I rebarreled a kimber 84L to 338-06. I would do it again.

I vote the XTR as well...

What ever you decide, you have picked the right man for the job. JES does beautiful work. I have a Browning BAR and it would not shoot better than softball sized groups and some were bigger than that. Now it is a 338/06 and I have to use RN bullets because of the super short magazine but it will easily do an inch on a good day. I called several shops that specalize in reboring and they all told be that the Browning had a lot of chrome it the barrel and bla, bla, bla. They wouldn't touch it. When I got it back from JES the bore looked like a mirror.

Using the featherweight barrel and reboring to .338 will be getting awfully skinny with a muzzle diameter of .550 or thereabouts! FWIW the two winlite fwts I have had have both been very accurate and I am loath to tear apart a good shooting gun. (a lesson learned the hard way)

I have a .338-06, love it. However, I probably wouldn't build another. With bullets and powder we have today allowing smaller rifles to punch above their weight class, I find myself reaching for other rifles in my safe. I would probably bypass the rebore and just build a full custom, but that's just me.

I'd likely do the Ruger, as it has more barrel contour to work with. The other option would be to swap somebody for a .338WinMag sporter of comparable value and load it down a bit. That's what I did when I wanted a .338cal rifle. Powders in the 4895/Varget/RL15 class can work well with 185-210gr stuff. Accuracy can be fine.

Dream crusher

Rifle loonies and car guys live in a world where logic is subjective. lol

Agreed.. It is pretty fun though.

I do like the JES option of freshening up a rifle I would otherwise not use or have much interest in.

Pretty inexpensive to take a cartridge for a test drive. They usually shoot quite well too.