Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 338-06 and Elk

i haven't shot anything with mine yet. but, so far launching 250 grain round nose bullets, they sure sound like they hit the back board and dirt with some great energy levels.
sorry if ya'l gettin tired of these pics, but here she is in the laminated stock, the new yet to be fitted walnut stock, and the last group it shot at 100 yards.




we'll see this fall is i can get an elk with her...

I da HO, am sure you are correct about the shear #'s of 338 win mag compared to 338-06. Yeah, I got one of the 338 mags in a Browning Safari FN and it shoots clover leafs but it weighs 9 lbs and is pretty stout on my end relative to the '06 cousin. Not saying the '06 is equal to but it sure is a dream to shoot and it kills shiZ!

I have another 30-06 barrel bored to 338-06 that I continue to seek a pre 64 action(reasonable please) to mate up!

Splattermatic,

I for one like the pics. That is a sharp looking (and shooting) rifle!

That that walnut stock lighter in weight than the laminate? What made you decide to find another?

i have to weight them, but just by feel the walnut is lighter. i love wood. laminated stocks are fine for the wood feel, but nothing is finer than a gorgeous piece of figured walnut. imo.....

with the laminated stock the 338-06 mauser is heavy. ain't gonna lie about it, or tell stories, she's a heavy one. again, gotta weight it. it feels better in the hand with the walnut, and is noticably lighter.

got the walnut real close to fitted now, just a bit more relieving the barrel channel, and the bedding material goes in !
i'll keep the laminated, just in case it doesn't shoot as well, and most likely will take a wood bit and do a few holes deep into the buttstock.
that'll shed a few ounces...

Yeah, the .338-06 is gaing in popularity. Thirty years ago maybe one in 10,000 elk hunters carried one, now it's maybe one in 1000.

I have had three. It is a fine cartridge but never will be a big seller. Several people told Weatherby that before they brought out the rifles and ammo (after A-Square supposedly "introduced" it) but it never sold very well. If you are a handloader (and who else would buy one?) then you can make the .338 Winchester do the same things.

to me is a "just cuz". if we're gonna compare the 30-06 to a 338-06. then let's start tearing apart all the rounds based on the 308 case, or the 7x57, or for that matter, any cartridge that's based on the same case, just different bullet diameters...

variety man, variety.. how boring would life be with just 1 rifle...

i'm trying to think what i want next.. notice the word "want" ?

maybe a 6.5 ultra mag ? or a nice 22-250 ?
maybe a manlicher. sure would like a 7x57 model of some flavor.

i need not more, but i sure want many.....

Splattr,

I like the 338'06 for bullets heavier than what the '06 can handle, but with less powder and therefore less recoil. I'll be honest... I don't care a lick for recoil, and I hate muzzle blast.

You and I are on the same track... I'll be putting the finishing touches on my 338'06 in the next couple of weeks, have a 7x57 on a Mexican Small Ring '98 being customized right now (heat treating reciever, new bolt handle, 3-position safety, #2 Shilen, rust blue, the works!) another action set aside likely for a 338'06, and hopes for a 9.3x62 someday.

A 270 WSM would be nice for LRH work, too... a 6.5 WSM would be even better...

All want, little need after the 30 WCF my Aunt & Uncle bought me for my 17th birthday (and that was more than a few years ago!)...

Have a VZ 24 98 mauser with a Midway Adams and Bennet barrel which I had reamed to 338-06 AI. Paid $70 bucks on sale for the barrel, shoots sub MOA with 210 TSX. Love it.

Ed,

You are going to upset the crowd that pays $300 or more for a "premium" barrel with those groups.

my barrel is an e.r. shaw !

Well, I can tell you that I have read the many attributes of the Elmer Keith, Don Hopkins and Charles O'Neil .333OKH and in later years, the effects of the .338/06, which is just another make over of what Elmer Keith and company came up with first.

In my early going, it had to be a "magnum", or else you were not standing in line with the real big game (macho) hunters of America simply put, I couldn't wait to try out my first .338 mag rifle from the bench. Now that really never transpired, I got instead to shoot a .340 Weatherby, which I was told at the time, was just a shade more in velocity. Yeah, right! I didn't want to come back for a second shot after firing that shoulder cannon with the California walnut stock and Roy Weatherby's name on the gun.

Shooting that particular .338 diameter caliber that day, erased all thoughts of yours truely of ever owning such a hunting rifle in a flash. It wasn't until some years later, when I got the chance to meet a very knowledgable man, who being a gunsmith and top notch machinists, took me under his wing and then only did I start to realize the vast subjects of ballistics, hunting, reloading and wildcating.

I have come full circle you might say, during my stay on GODS almighty creation called earth. Now after aquiring a decent collection of hunting rifles over some 5 decades, I have come to know the true value in a lightweight, hard hitting no nonsense caliber called the .338-06.

My initial developement of this all happened when a 30-06 I owned became somewhat lacks in accuracy. I did some thinking about it and told myself, I will build a backup for my long range elk gun, a .338/300Ultra mag....Ouch! I don't really hunt with that brusier anymore but did go back to the old .338 mag I purchased about 15 years prior as my elk rifle.

The wildcat .338-06 was to become my backup rifle, just in case I had problems in the high country. Well, I can tell you now that it has replaced most of my rifles in the vault and at 6.7-lbs including scope, it is a joy to carry in that thin air up high looking for elk. It also hits with authority and works just as good as my .338 Win mag out to 300 yards if need be. This caliber is plenty for any elk, moose or blackbear and has taken down the likes of grizzly bears too.

Prwlr,

My first custom rifle is a VZ24 w/ an A&B 257 Roberts barrel cut to the AI version. She shoots sub-moa little raged holes with 75 gr VMax and at about an inch w/ 100 gr Interlocks.

The Savage 110 338'06 I glass bedded last night has an ER Shaw cut to 22" with a target crown. I'm looking forward to seeing how that "discount POS" shoots!

I've heard from pretty reliable sources that the A&B barrels are actually ER Shaw seconds? If a second can cut MOA groups, then I'm looking forward to seeing what a "regular" production grade barrel can do .

Tonk-curious at to what you built for a 338/06 that goes 6.7 lbs with scope?

Many thx

Dober

Almost as good as a .35 Whelen, so not too bad.

I had a .338-06 in the back of my mind for years, but never really liked the Weatherby rifles. Finally went a .35 Whelen in the Ruger. I still have an H-S Precision stock sitting here for a long action Remington. Maybe one day.

That article is the reason I built this rifle.
[img][IMG]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m238/Kevin_Teed/33806-1.jpg[/img][/img]
It was meant to be my Elk rifle. Unfortunately I've only been able to get one bull with it, but it has become my favorite for everything. It works great on whitetails without messing them up. It just hammers them!
No regrets!

The 338-06 and the IMP version was my all time favorite elk and deer rifle for a number of years, in fact until the .338 Win. came along and I switched to it..It was more of the same but better and on the same action and Elmer Keith told me so. A choice I have never regretted, as much as I like the 338-06, I have replaced it with the 9.3x62 and with the 338 Win...

All that said, like the 35 Whelen, the 338-06 is still a fine caliber and Kudos to those who prefer it....you won't regret it. I always used the 210 Noslers and they really work.

who's dogzapper.
i have to go find the rag, but someone wrote an article some years ago about the 338-06, and since then i wanted one. kept the rag, to remind me of something i wanted.

now i have it !

Dobber, it is a model 70 action with a pencil thin 22 inch blue steel barrel, wrapped up in a custom made plastic stock (lots of work in that stock) scope is Leupold VX-2 (2 X 7) as of last year. Also have a nice walnut stock to fit same rifle, not for hunting. The rifle scope weighs 9.5 oz. lense are 28mm.
Dobber I sure wish I knew how to use this internet better and especially pictures. I got a few dogs I would like to show off to hunters, also a couple of real nice mules two, not to mention a whole bunch of various pigeons.

Thx TonK, that sounds nice, got pics?

Dober