Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .300 Win Mag VS. the .338 Win Mag = Your thoughts??

Finally someone sticking up for the lowly 300WM....I expected more Kudo's from Muledeer after all he did kill a big elk with one!

Since you already have an 06, limited range to 400 yards which your 06 will handle, and asked to choose between the 300WM and 338WM, the answer should be the 338.

Why - Because of the increased frontal area and the 250 grain bullets the 338 will handle.

One thing that is nice about the 338 Win Mag is that it can mirror the 30-06 in trajectory. Or, you can load 200gr bullets and shoot pretty flat.

I have a 300 Win Mag and I don't feel any more confident with it than I do with a 30-06. I do like being able to push 180gr and 200gr bullets a bit faster. I wouldn't pursue a 300 Win Mag if I already had a 30-06 unless the rifle had more to it than the chambering.

Frontal area only counts on expanded bullets,after impact,because bullets vary so much in expansion characteristics after impact.

After looking at a lot of recovered 30 cal and 338 caliber bullets,I think a guy will come to the conclusion that there is not much difference in expanded diameter between the two;or at least not as much as one would expect.This has a lot to do with bullet construction,the ability to retain weight and mass,etc.,and the ability of the bullet to hang on to the expanded petals under tough going.

When you move up to 375 caliber though,IME expanded frontal area takes a quantum leap and differences (at least to me and my wild imagination become apparent. I have one expanded 375 Bitterroot here with frontal area over .70 cal,and have never seen a 30 or 338 approach that.(Before someone comments on penetration, this was the only one of three on that animal I recovered, the other two blew gaping holes on exit)

You have to look a little harder at the 30's and 338's to distinguish, but the 375 is a bit different.I have often thought this was the reason some old timers considered the 375 "more gun" than the 338 (Hal Waugh, Master Alaskan guide, called the 338 .."All smoke, no fire"....

Anyway I have long felt a 300 magnum with GOOD heavy 30 caliber bullets from a magnum 30,is the practical equivilent of a 338....and if you want more than 30 caliber,375 caliber is the next step up if a guy wants "more".

338's a great caliber but stuck too much in the middle for me...if you're gonna go medium, get a "real one".

While I will not argue that the 375 has an advantage over the 338, the OP did not add that option. Of the two he listed, the 338 is the obvious choice IMO.

I have not shot game in the variety and quantity of some here, however I have shot enough to form some opinions. One of them is that bullet diameter and weight does matter.

Given the choices of the OP, I'll stick with the 338, and I do have an 06, 300WSM, 300WM, 338WM, and have killed game with all of them.

If you have an 06' seems the 300 is more same... 338 or 340 weatherby if you want 300 mag recoil with a bigger hole or a 6# 375 would be where I went, just cause..

W

I keep reading that, but my (limited) experience is exactly the opposite. I've got two 300 Win's that don't bother me one bit to shoot, both weigh around 8.5 lbs scoped. Had a 338 that weighed around 9 scoped and that thing beat the dog sh*t out of me, in two different stocks - one of which fit me very well. Was shooting 210's and 225's in the 338, 180's in the 300's.

300,

It's a wash IMO. Here's a few examples based on calculator #s:

Both zeroed at 200:

300WM, 180 TSX, 3050fps
400yd: -18.3" @ 2260fps impact

338WM, 185 TSX, 3100fps
400yd: -19.54" @ 2096fps impact

300WM, 200 TSX, 2900fps
400yd: -21.11" @ 2087fps impact

338WM, 210 TSX, 2900fps
400yd: -21.5" @ 2052fps impact

FWIW there's only about a 2ft/lb diff in recoil between the 200 and 210 loads in the same weight rig.

I can't see enough difference to amount to anything. I feel if any of those wont do the job, you need to be thinking a whole different class of cartridge(read much larger).

Flip a coin and go kill stuff

BTW, I was shooting a few rigs at the range a couple weeks back and the older gentleman a few benches down was shooting his 338. We shot the bull a while and he was shooting the 160 TTSX at screaming MVs. He said "Man, I just haven't found a combo that flattens deer any better.."

Have a good one,

loder

I have both and like the .338 WM for the bigger stuff on you list. IMO the .338 has more umph, on both ends!

Hard to argue with this rationale.


Jeff, build less, hunt more.

Had both. Prefer shooting the .338 WM. Recoil impulse of the 300 is brutal. Not saying the 338 don't kick tho.

I would just run the 30-06 and if you ever do book a trip for africa I would then pick up some flavor of 375. Unless your just looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle then I would buy a Ruger Alaskan 375 Ruger.

I would say that with you using a 30-06 now to skip the 300 mag. I would borrow someone's 338 and 375 and see which one that you like best and go with that cal. The 375 is a very nice cal, I have never shot the ultra light 338 bullets below 200 gr. Randy

+1

Africa you will need something bigger then a 338 for dangerous game. And the 300 win mag might not be agreeable since the armed forces are starting to include it on sniper rifles may make it a military round Otherwise all good.

The 338 Winchester Magnum: King Of The Elk Cartridges
by Holt Bodinson

Accurate and powerful, no other cartridge can match this old favorite for hunting North America's most majestic game.

The one cartridge that can legitimately carry that mythical label of the "all-around North American big game caliber" is the .338 Winchester Magnum. Here is a modern, efficient .30-'06 length case, chambered in a bevy of reasonably priced rifles, blessed with some of the finest game bullets ever developed, approximating the smashing energy of the .375 H&H and the stretch-string trajectories of the .300 Win. Mag.

A middle-of-the-road compromise cartridge? Don't you believe it, It just happens to be the finest general-purpose elk cartridge available.

Id worry more about the rig than choosing between the 300 or 338 win mags. Of course id bypass both and get a 300 Ultra...
Dobers advice on the 375 is sound too..

Or 35 Whelen!

Here we go.....

9.3x62mm.....

Ackleyfan,

I've killed far more than a 6-point elk with the .300 Winchester. Have also killed one of my biggest mule deer, quite a few other North American animals, along with a bunch of African game. It's a great round, and I'll always have one rifle chambered for it. But it ain't magic. No cartridge is.

I wrote my opinion, which is based on some field experience, and addresses the original question: If you're going to buy a rifle for a cartridge bigger than the .30-06, and have any plans to hunt Africs, it should be a .375 H&H. And I gave what I considered rational reasons for my answer. That doesn't mean I don't like the .300 Winchester Magnum.

I'm always amazed that so many cartridge discussions on the Campfire are either/or.