Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 WinMag at 10 pounds

I used to have a fairly light weight 375 Mag. and I used it for elk hunting but never wanted to shoot it more than to sight it in each fall.
I had a 338 custom rifle built and I ended up with a rifle that weighs 10 pounds with the scope. I'm now selling it and haven't had much interest. Do you think 10 #s is too heavy for most hunters? I find it a pleasure to shoot more than the earlier 375. Have had to give up hunting sadly....

Had to give up hunting? That's no good....

Regarding the .338, what are the build components and what is the scope? How is balance?

Depends on the hunter and where/what they're hunting. 10lbs may be heavy if elk is your quarry, but not for the person hunting in a stand that is in close proximity to the car/truck.

Since you mentioned elk, 10lbs is a little on the heavy side especially if you're not fit and the terrain you're hunting involves a lot of elevation gain and miles on foot. For some of the fittest hunters, 10lbs isn't that big of a deal.

However, the adage "light is right" fits for most. The lighter the better as long as you can still shoot it well.

Maybe you should try something in a 270/30-06/308/7-08 flavor in a light rifle before calling it quits? Unless you're calling it quits for reasons other than the rifle.

10 pounds for a 338, all up, is not out of line though I would want to lose maybe 1/2 pound. Balance is a huge factor. My 308 Norma ( a pre-war Model 70) weighs in at nine and a half ready to hunt. It is, perhaps, a bit heavy but I have carried it quite a bit in some pretty rugged conditions and don't mind it too much. About that same weight is about right for a 338, I think.
I find that when I am in good shape, the weight doesn't bother much. If I have let myself slide a bit, even light rifles feel heavy at the end of the day. GD

10lb for a 338 is outrageous. Hell my 450 double weighs that much!

Definitely needs to go on a diet! Needs to drop .5 - 1.5 lbs

There are pictures on Guns International #100308198 and if I could I'd put them here. Problem is I don't do the 'puter stuff enough to do it. Had a friend do it on G.I.for me.
It's well worth a look see as it's one of a kind.
The scope is the lightest I could find....a 1.5 to 5 Leupold III. The action is an FN commercial. And I don't mind carrying the rifle as it's balance is rather good.
Health is the reason I have to give up hunting but I'm 69 and done my share of hunting big game and birds. Believe me, it's worth taking the time to look on G.I.

Well, the market for $2695.00 rifles is pretty limited. I would have no problem with the 10 pounds.

You are quite right WRT the price/market size. Thanks for looking. I've recently had a full price offer but I don't take payments unless I keep the rifle till all is paid up.

Each to his own, I have my first and beloved P-64 Alaskan in a Clifton Arms stock that I installed in 1988. It weighed just about 10 lbs, with the 2.5x8 Vati-X III, in a Leupy 1-pc. mount, with a Lyman 48 and Redfield Sourdough, added.

I packed it on "fire lookouts" in the Rockies and on a long, harsh horsepack trip into some of northern BC's wilderness. I was only in my early 40s at that time and it still felt a tad heavy.

I now have it in a Micky Fwt. Std-fill, Talley-Brockmans and a Zeiss Conquest 3x9x40, with the Redfield front. It is a pound lighter and MUCH nicer to carry.

All in all, after owning and using about a dozen .338WM rifles in the past 45 years, I feel that 10 lbs. is too heavy for optimal overall performance and 8.25-8.75 lbs. is just right. Lighter .338s CAN be obtained, but, with my favoured 250 NP loads, they will "boot" ya some.

Don't people chase around after cape buff and elephant with 10 pound (or heavier) rifles? If you can carry a 10 pound rifle you can carry a 10 pound rifle -- doesn't matter what the caliber is.

...People..., do NOT ...chase around... after Cape Buffalo and Elephant, on mountain sides so steep that you can touch your toes and your forehead to the ground while standing erect. They do not fight through brush so thick while hunting that you need both hands to get through it and are often on steep hillsides.

A rifle that weighs 10 lbs, is TOO HEAVY in ANY chambering UNLESS this weight is necessary to mitigate felt recoil and that is NOT the case with the .338WM. A .375H&H is too heavy at 10 lbs. and this is thr weight that a .416 Rigby should be, at most, to deal with recoil.

I CAN carry a 10 lb. rifle, but, it is a drag on a backpacking mountain hunter. Any rifle much past 8 lbs. weighs one down considerably in mountain hunting.

Well said Kute. For me for a hunting rig, I'd want lighter. If it was a shooter/range rig then I'd be fine with the weight.

Dober

Dober,my Dakota 76, in a Hill Country Micky, custom irons and other tweaks by Ralf Martini, shoots the 250 NP over 77-RE-22 (old stock) in WW brass lit by CCI 250s into bugholes and this runs 2700+ from the 23" tube.

It is among the half dozen best balanced-handling rifles I have ever owned-out of close on 150 since 1965 and I carry it in one hand in bush travel, after a Grizzly situation in remote northern BC.

The weight is less that 8.5 lbs, with it's usual Leupy 1.75x6 MHD scope and only installing an Echols mag 4+1 box at another close to two Gs, would improve this rifle for BC hunting. I am too old now and thus would not spend the coin on this.

I won't say that everyone must have a .338WM just like mine, but, once I carried lighter ones, even when I was young and living in the mountains, in excellent shape, I soon figured out what was what for rifle weight.

Same issue, I am selling a pristine Brno ZG-47 '06 as it is more $$$$ than I can spend now to "plastic it" and it is over 8 lbs, with mounts and Leupy 1.5x5. I have no use for a .30-06 over 7.5 lbs, all up and an even 7 would be my ideal.

Then, there WAS this Sako Classic a buddy re-tubed to .416 Rem. some 20 years ago, I could shoot it, then, well and off the bench, but it was one RUDE sob of a rifle and he soon punted it.

Actually, if there were no Grizzlies here, I would buy a Martini-Hagen SS rifle in 7x65R and hunt that with 160s, and call it good,this would weigh 7 lbs. ready to rock.

If the rifle balances well and fits well in the hand for carrying, it's still OK at 10. I'm assuming that's the scoped and slung weight. If it's the weight of the bare rifle, it's a hog!
If I'm hiking into the high country with a pack, the rifle will be in my hand so I want it to balance well and fit my hand. Weight is a bit of an issue but nine and a half is OK and I would call ten max. My old TC Hawken weighs nine and a half and is pleasant to carry. The 308 Norma weighs the same and is not as nice to carry just because a bolt action rifle with a scope on top doesn't fit in the hand so nicely.
I walk almost every day and always carry one of the heavier rifles just to stay comfortable with it. I walk three to four miles over rough terrain with some steep climbs and The 9 1/2 pound rifle is OK. Consequently, it's OK in the fall on a hunt as well. Maybe, in a few more years, it won't be. I find, if I gain five pounds, the rifle feels like it has done the same! GD

I live in Idaho....one of the steepest places in the continental U.S.A. overall. While hunting chukars for many years along the Snake R. I found a very light shotgun was the best for me. My 20 gauge shotgun (Rem 17) weighs close to nothing but its balance is terrible. So I put up with it.

I've owned a Hollis 500-465 and a Hambrusch 500-450 and the Hollis was a piece of crap IMO as the balance was out in the barrels somewhere. I sold it and kept the latter as it balanced wonderfully. Much like a 20 gauge Bel. Browning O/U which swings like a dream and weighs more than the Mod.17 by a bunch.

My light weight 375 was made to carry in steep country and I figured I could shoot it once or twice w/o my teeth coming loose. But that's all I ever wanted to shoot it.

I didn't make plans to have a 10# 338....it just turned out that way because of the stock shape. I love to shoot this rifle and since it is balanced well, I figured I could carry it around. Yet I've never carried it in the steep mountains and probably never will (ugh). I knew it might be a bit heavy for some and thus it's a bigger push to get it sold.

There's been some good points brought out and even though a bit different in opinions, I think I'd be ok with a 10 # 338.

So thanks guys for chipping in here. "TO EACH HIS OWN"