Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .338 RUM Sendero for Brown Bears & Moose?

Thanks all!

The 7 mm RUM, 30-06 & .300 Win Mag weren't on my list of cartridges to consider since they don't gain much over what I already have. My 7 mm Rem mag covers much of what they can do. The .300 RUM & .375 H&H are in a different class. I didn't seriously look at the .375 Ruger since it has little ballistic advantage over the less well designed .375 H&H while .375 H&H ammunition is available worldwide. If other manufacturers were building rifles in .375 Ruger & I knew .375 Ruger ammunition would be readily available it would be preferable to the .375 H&H, but I don't know that so I am left with the .375 H&H.

Ron

The 338Ultra retired my 375H&H's and 375H&H AI's.................

"Less well designed H&H"?..????? ??????? Apparently you have not experienced the rigors of what hard, tough hunting can sometimes dish out. Belts, outside of the theoretical realm usually found inside four walls, can actually serve a very useful purpose without hindering anything meaningful. Introduce a bit of wayward dirt, plant debris, or snow into the feed chute of either 375 and see which one chambers its rounds more easily. It's a low percentage deal for most folks perhaps, but when low percentage problems become expected and ordinary, they obviously lose their appeal. Kind of like running a M700 without ever stressing the bolt handle to know whether it would stay or leave under duress.

Written history claims that Holland & Holland first to use a belted ctg was to improve the function of a bolt action rifle.

Belts in most all instances are brainfarts of the grand kind.

Yes...there's plenty of shoulder on the 375H&H to headspace it or it's various Improved versions.

For starters.................

But what about getting decent brass?

Brass availability...argggggg

Frustrating fer me.

I never read about you Alaska folks toting around lever guns in 45/70.

Is there a reason? For a 100 yard thumper it seems to me it is nearly impossible to beat.

Lever guns are junk and the 45/70 hasn't had a leg to stand on since the advent of smokeless powder.

Few look to purposely add difficulty and make concessions...............

I don't know why, but you got me laughing so hard. You know you really should see a head shrinker about your suppressed and inhibited personality! LOL. You should learn to say what you REALLY think! LOL

Actually, there are more than a few lever guns in the 45-70 and 450 configurations which serve in many bear camps as back-up and special duty guns. They work quite effectively for those who can manage their simplicity. You're right, they are quite ideal inside of 100. Of course, with modern powders and loads they're also quite effective considerably farther.

It is what it is and why sugarcoat the suck.

Windshield wipers on a Billy Goat's azz,may sound good in Theory,but ain't quite all that in actuality.

Is a lever gun better than nuttin'? Assuredly. But that ain't much of a Sales Pitch...............

You don't like. Okay. That's doesn't make it bad, wrong, useless, etc. If you must, just say you prefer your Remington bolts or whatever.

More troubling is the fact that this is not your first reference to a goat's back end. What up with that? Mere coincidence or wierd obsession.........?

Sitting here thinking of ALL the stories I have heard over the years of situations where lever guns were involved, and usually in 45-70...

You could not give me one on a bet. Last one that fell in my lap was NIB and I gave it away. The really sad thing is the guy I gave it to thought I gave him something. Even he figured it out eventually!

Marginal at close range and worse than useless when the firefight spreads... Once a critter has been shot at the shooting needs to continue as long as the animal is in sight. Lots of luck with the pumpkins when the distance gets out there at all...

If I had a good 7mm Magnum I would just work up a good load with a big bear/moose capable bullet (i.e. 150 grain TSX, etc) and go find a nice bruin to turn into a rug or Bullwinkle into a wall mount.


With that said I love my .340 Weatherby. Its a rechambered .338 Winchester 700BDL that I bought from John Barsness here at the Campfire.

Recoil wise its not nearly as bad as the two .300RUM I owned and not any worse than my .300 Weatherby.


The .338 RUM I've shot were very accurate but also very brutal on recoil. Something about 250 grains of bullet and 100 grains of powder that takes all the fun out of shooting.

If a .338 is a must go for the .388 Winchester or .340 Weatherby. Or go on up to a .375 H&H or .375 Ruger.

Another consideration is ammo availability in case the airline ships you stuff to Bora Bora instead of Fairbanks.

You could probably find 7MM Magnum , .30/06, .338, or .375 H&H fodder without too much trouble. .338 RUM might be more problematic.

Hillbillybear,
You have a 340?

I knew you was OK!

Yep, I have a one of a kind .340 immortalized in print by JB in the December 2007 (No. 250) issue of Handloader.


I am also currently plotting another .340. I love the .340.

Don't disagree at all with the last part, which is why it hardly makes a first choice as a primary hunting arm, but...



Sounds like 30-06, 300 Mag, 338, etc as well to me....


BTW, you can bring your 340 to Little Diomede and be taken care of even if they lose your ammo. (Just make sure you have a walrus tag. )

I wonder what people get so roused about?

Those who want to use their lever ( ) do so.



Knowing its limitations - but also it strengths.

For dense bush bear they have no peer -

No long range needed - no MOA, no BC 0.5.

Reliability is king, handling paramount. Pointability not a buzz word. One handed carry - hours on end. Boredom - and sudden action. Condition three to one with one flick of the lever. And a 400gr. FN on the way quicker than from any other arm combining the attributes above.

No Mauser, no double can match the combination of handling, reliability and authorative voice of a Marlin 1895 G.

A specialty tool for a special task.

As a universal hunting tool I would recomment else (as I have above).


****************************************

Tim - some minor stuff in your sigline:

"Sprechen sie Spanisch in meiner N�he? Sie k�nnen mich mal am Arsch lecken!" -me

****************************************

Tim - some minor stuff in your sigline:

"Sprechen sie Spanisch in meiner N�he? Sie k�nnen mich mal am Arsch lecken!" -me
[/quote]


CMG,
I know, I saw it on a T-shirt, thought it was funny.
(My German isn't good enough to translate it myself) but I thought it said something along the lines of 'Speaking Spanish? Kiss my a**!'