Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What to do with my 338 WM

I found I enjoy shooting my m70 xtr in 338 win mag more when it's loaded with 200 gr bullets at 2750 to 2800 for deer. If I need it for bigger animals I can step up to full power loads. Jpro said it first, jpro kills lots of critters and he has beautiful daughters listen to Jpro...mb

With Hunter Pink vests being an option now, I feel my most vigorous gallivanting days are still ahead.

I would just keep it. You can never tellwhen an elk/moose trip in grizzly country may come up.

I too convinced myself I needed a .338 after killing several elk with .308's and .30-06's (one of them never took a step but I put three 180 NPTs in it before it fell).

My new wife at the time(30 years ago) gave me the income tax refund to buy one with our second year of marriage. As a result I will likely never sell mine.

I bought a Stainless Synthetic, added iron sights and a Leupold plus a McMillan stock. I even had the barrel shortened and a KDF brake installed. I took the btrake off right away. It kills elk just fine but so does my '06. I now reserve it for when

I get a tag for a branch bull.

Do what I did with a poor shooting m70 push feed .338 WM: Trade it for a .35 Whelen and cut out the bruising.

Sell it, buy a Rem 700 & build a 338 Edge with a good 30" barrel & muzzle break, you will effectively eliminate the necessity or need for any of the lesser cartridges in one fell swoop

You'll be good out to one mile on elk while most of the lesser cartridges are struggling to stay above dirt at 600 yards

you'll be better off glassing / spotting game than gallivanting like a leper all over the place trying to jump someting within inside of a barn range .....

Hunting smarter puts a lot of meat on the table without risk of breaking a hip

Or, you can just park you butt in your effing rocker and order meat over the phone.
I have a 338 I seldom carry too. I also have 7mm and 30 cal. barrels for it. Everyone has rifles they like which don't see a lot of use. By the way, a 375 mag box fits right into that Classic, if you really want a longer magazine. GD

When I was in my late teens, I felt like I needed a 338 Win Mag. I was impressed by raw power and the literature written about the 338 always talked that up. I was even more impressed by the 340 Weatherby, but the rifles were too expensive and the ammo wasn’t easy to find.

The 338 seemed like a reasonable choice for elk, since I read how tough they were. I was convinced that any hunting cartridge had to have a belt and if it didn’t have 3500 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle, it wasn’t suitable for elk-sized game. My 7mm Rem Mag was relegated to deer-sized game since it just didn’t have the juice.

I’m older now and realize that most animals don’t need so much killing. Experience has shown that milder cartridges are easier to shoot and critters die just as quick. My “big” rifle has been a 30-06.

So, what to do with the 338? Keep it? I’m not hurting for options, so it doesn’t hurt to have it. Sell it to someone who “needs” it? Maybe rebarrel? Always wanted a 257 Weatherby. Its an M70 Classic Stainless, so not a lot of room in the box.