Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 338-06

And on barrel length.....

Mine was originally a 23" tube, and I did all the load work at that length, then had the threads cut off and re-chambered with the same reamer and a half inch off the noisy end, 1 1/2 shorter overall, and the accuracy loads stayed the same, as did the velocity.

I think 22" is plenty.....

Good to know and from someone I trust... 22 works then.

22" works just fine in a 30-06, a 338-06 with the larger bore will work just as good at 22" or a bit shorter.

When I had my 338-06 built I went with a 23" my smith said I could go with a shorter bbl. I went with a 23" #3 it works great for me.

Each to their own.

Sow's ear rifle! Mickey Mtn Rifle, Leupold, Talley's, ER Shaw barrel and a Steven's 200.

22"

Mike

The lousy old 210 gr Partiton from my simple old rebore...

I have had two. One was a beautiful custom on a 1903 Springfield wearing a 24" barrel. The other one was a BAR rebore by cliff LaBounty. The bore was less than perfect near the gas port, but it shot most everything I loaded for it quite well. I tried several brands of bullets ranging from 200 to 250. As another poster stated, the 200 Hornaday (or Speer) would kill as well or even better than most heavier stronger bullets. I hunted this one for 5-6 years before moving on to something else. Really, I wish I had kept it. The metal taken from the bore made for a pretty nice rifle and the gas made it a joy to shoot.

(That having been said, I am considering having a BAR imported from Europe where the 9.3x62 is a standard offering.)

Back to the .338-06, I can tell you that the 250 Woodleigh just punches holes in coyote. Once while hunting hogs in south Texas, I shot a coyote from a box stand at about eighty yards. I thought him dead. After about an hour, I saw him stagger to his feet and fall, but he started to crawl off. I chased him down and finished the job with a .22 pistol.

Like I said, I finally figured out that 210NP and other premium bullets were a waste on coyote, javilina, hogs, and deer. It really is more gun than is needed for those quarrys. Jack

Mine is on a FN action with a 24" Douglas barrel 1 in10 twist.Stocked in a B/C Carbelite syn stock with a Timney trigger. A frt sight that looks to be salvage from a Rem 700 the rear is a flip up peep on the back of the rear Redfield base.200 gr Hornady SP's and SST's shot so well I've not bothered with any others. WW 30-06 brass formed in 1 stroke just like full length sizing any other cartridge with Redding dies (they have a tapered expander ball that makes the whole thing a totally painless operation).Shoots deer and coyotes as good as anything you have ever used not magic just works. best of luck, Jeff. Magnum Man

it's a modern 318 westley richards. what's not to like? i think one of you should go with a 250 grain rn at 2400 fps and report your results as these were typical of the 318 and tell us what you get.

Was hoping berger offered a good bullet, they don't for this round.

Looked at the SST the other day, it may well answer the problem RE longer ranges, though I"m not offended yet with Barnes results way on out there.

Gimme a year or so for the gun, and then have to have the right moose show up eventually and we'll have a report.

Won't be typically using it for anything other than that for most of its life likely.

Here are some of my load info.

200 grain Nosler Accubond
57 grains of IMR-4064
Norma brass
Fed. 210-M primer
2900 fps.
This load is very accurate in my gun. It will make one of those 1 hole groups at 100 yards. about 1/2 in size.

210 Partition
54.5 grains RL-15
Fed. 210-M Primer
Norma brass
2695 fps.
This load will also do 1/2 inch group

225 Partition
61 grains IMR-4350
Fed. 210-M Primer
Norma brass
2700 fps
This load is good too. It will do 3/4 inch at 100 yards.

I tested the 225 P. load with 61 grains H-4350. on avg. about 1 inch group and 50 fps less than the IMR load.

Hope this helps you.

These loads were safe in my gun. You should always work up a new load in your gun.

I did not see any pressure signs in my load...

Who can argue with success? RE: the 180gr Barnes cited on the last page???

Actually, I own a .338-06 and think it a bit on the small side. The .338 bore really shines in the high Ballistic Coefficiency dept. Something the bullets below 250gr really lack. So what?

Those African critters have been taken with .257 bores by other hunters, maybe even a 6mm or two... Sure, Karamojo Bell would've loved the .338-06. But, he was shooting elephant with 7mm Mauser and heavy fmj roundnose bullets. Thinking sectional density was the big factor. Seems like anything under 225 in a .338 is really just a backwards step into .30-06 country.

The .35 Whelen shines in comparison due to the shorter length of heavyweight bullets. That it can be used with .357mag pistol bullets as well is a factor the .338s cannot compete with. Got a .357mag handgun or maybe a Marlin 1894? You are missing a real treat...

My .338 of choice is the .338/300win with 250gr and heavier boattail bullets it is right there with the .340wby and Lapua but allows a bit more room for bullet seating out from the neck and will handle reduced loads or the 220gr Lee cast bullet and 290gr long rn bullet I also cast. No, it won't share bullets with my .357s but they are too small-bored for field use where I live anyway.

As far as light bullets go, that is why God made the .30-06 AI... Get the better sectional density and ballistic coefficiency plus the great variety of 200 & even 220gr bullets.

Think the real hot ticket in .338 bore for a non-magnum ctg is the .338/284... You get the exact .338-06 performance & load data but in shorter case of .500 diameter; able to load those long high-BC bullets w/o intrusion into the case body in a long action receiver.... But then there is the .338/300win, or even a .338 saum or wsm, not to mention the same loading flexibilities in the .338win mag. Just be sure to have your belted magnum setup to headspace on the shoulder not the rim...

I had a 338-06 built about 12 years ago and ran it for a while before I sold it here on the fire. I think Bruzer bought it. I took a nice steyr build 1940 Mauser to this old smith in Boise when I was finishing my bachelors degree. He said that's too nice of Mauser to drill and tap so I bought a ruger ss mkII. He put a #3 shilen 10 twist on it and cut it a 24". It shot well with h4350 for 225's and up and h4895 for anything lighter. The plain old 200g hotcor at 2800 shot cloverleafs. I just bought whelen brass and necked it down.

In one of my thinning the herd moments I sold it and everything with it too cheap. IMO 22" barrel is enough, #3 contour or less is enough, don't bother with the AI because you don't gain much and the standard feeds so well.

My only 338 these days is my RCM. I get about the same speeds from its 20" tube that I did from my 338-06's 24". I've been running 225g interbonds from it at around 2650. They fly well with a .515 BC. I hope to use them on game this fall. It's a pretty handy little rifle and accurate enough to pop milk jugs full of water consistently at 500 yards. I usually carry it on the island park spike elk hunt because of all the bears but have yet to see a spike.

Bb

The 30)06 is taylor made for a 165 grain bullet and the 338/06 is taylor made for a 210 in my opinion. Sure you can step the 30/06 up to a 220 grain bullet but then again you can step the 338/06 up to a 300 gr bullet. If you like lighter bullets then get a 30/06...... but if you like shooting the heavier bullets the 338/06 will stomp the lungs out of the 30/06.

Shod

Hogan,

Good post, but simply must make one historical note: Karamojo Bell didn't kill all of his elephants with the 7x57. He also used the .303 British, 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer and even the .416 Rigby. He also shot quite a few with the .318 Westley-Richards, which is very close to being a .338-06, especially when he wanted just a little more penetration than the smaller bores.

For what it's worth, the ogive on the 185 and 210 versions of the Barnes ttsx look identical to my eyes. The difference seems to be simply a longer shank and one more groove for the 210. The 130 and 150 grain .308" versions are the same way. And since Barnes designs these things to quit expanding basically where the ogive turns to shank, I don't see a lot of advantage in the 210 over the 185 for a 338-06.

Also, the 200 grain ballistic tip appears, to my eyes and seating die, very close to the 225 accubond. The 250 accubond is noticeably more sleek in the ogive than the 225, though.

I take most published B.C.'s with a large grain of salt.

I think a 338-06 would be great with either the 185 ttsx or 200 ab/bt.

You don't have to convince me

Though I have not run the numbers, has to be some difference, may be a wash though and if a wash, I err to heavier...

RE BC of the 185 vs 210 vs what MV you can get out of them...

Looking at my JBM charts again and assuming MV from the 2 bullets, the 210 is not behind the 185 basically and starts to edge it as you get further out. In wind and energy. The drop between the 2 is so close I can deal with it. couple inches difference out around 400 only.

Question, anyone run the 210 ttsx vs the 185 on moose like game and can tell me a difference?

I'm always leaning to heavy bullets generally, but concede that one bullet lighter in barnes is usually no big deal, other than loss of BC.

Thanks, Jeff

I seem that there is a listing for a 165 grain ttsx at 3015 FPS anybody have any dealings with these in the 338-06

Inherited a 338-06AI built on a Zastava (Mauser) action with a 24" 1:10 Shaw 2 1/2 contour barrel. I bedded it in a B&C Carbelite and it shoots pretty good. I originally tried to install with a rear ferrule and that was a mess. Finally tapped it out and just bedded the rear tang real well and groups tightened.

It's a chunk with that heavy sporter barrel.

Seems to like 215 NPTs and Re-15, although I still have a pile of 230 Fail Safes that I'd like to get it to shoot. Think the last time I tried I was using W760.