Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anybody shot deer with338 lapua?

My 8 lb .300 SAUM kicks like a .308 with 165 gr bullets, and a .30-06 with 180 gr bullets.

I wasn't trying to chew your azz, just trying to make sure you go about it the right way, I'm a little jumpy because another member here recently shot a bear in the azz with an Uber-mag and bragged that he was glad he had that gun because a smaller one wouldn't have anchored the bear (which was still alive and suffering when he found it the next day).

Sorry I blew up.

Really? Why? And yes you are crazy.

Do you think it's gonna be a much more dramatic kill because you shot it with an Uber-Mag? It won't be.





Not sweat off my back man. I understand what your saying completely and agree. One of the worst kicking guns I've had was a ruger 77 as composite in 300wsm. I havent owned another ruger since. Not a fan of the lightweight magnum anymore
I'm gonna shoot the big boy today sometime and I'll let you know about the recoil. I really don't think it will be to bad with the break and 14lbs to hold it down.

Probably not, sounds good.

No argument there.

NMSS,
I run H1000 in my rifle. You can beat the velocity with a couple of others, but it is a very consistent performer for accuracy in most rifles.
The wife also put it to good use on this bull at long range.


The middle daughter isn't afraid to shoot it either. She ended this coyote at 585 yards.

160s go about 3500. But you can throttle them down some easily

My son-in-law likes to hunt squirrels with his .338 Win ....... cooking time is greatly reduced....... "whatever"

My 416 Wby does great on antelope! Got 3 so far.

Hope these qualify.


"Ever get bored shooting at speed goats with regular (God's Chosen) cartridges? I did...again... so my 10 year old son Stephan wanted me to use the 416 WBY Mag for my third antelope tag, a doe tag. I was planning to use my 30-06 with 150 BT's but I said sure why not? Being a Crazy Greek explains it! :lol:
So my buddy Ray, Stephan and I headed west of Laramie Wyoming.
We located a mature doe 313 yards away. By the time I got set up for the shot she was 363 yards away. My 416 was stoked with BARNES X 300 grain with a stiff charge of H4350. Velocity at the muzzle is 3125 all day long as are the 1/2" groups at 100 yards.
I took the shot and the doe took off at a dead run. You can imagine my surprise! She ran 136 yards and dropped.
Upon closer examination turns out I hit her a little lower than I wanted. This is my fault due to the difference from 313 yards (initial reading) to 363 (when she stopped). Either way that 300 Barnes X did the job and beyond. Heart/lung--JELLO. Blood looked like it had been layed out with a pale!

Overall a great hunt!

PS: THE "BEE" STINGS!
entrance wound immediately behind front left leg



exit behind right leg far side---what a hole!



Doe --notice blood in backround!!







Ray and my boy Stephan---



[/COLOR]

Another...

Well, after getting my order of .416 330gr HV bullets to Cheyenne WY in less than 2 weeks, all I had to do was work up the load and shoot the bullets. I tried 3 different loads and got less than 1.2" at 100 yds with 2 loads and the third load yielded the following results: 120 gr of RL 19 = 3080 fps and under .7" Thanx for making an awesome product.





The Hunt...

Great day yesterday. One buck and two does in the bag. Conditions were not that great. In fact it was very, very windy. I went out with my buddy Ray and my boy Stephan.

First doe fell to the 416 WBY (Heck it is a new gun with no "blood" on it and I could not wait to get to Africa in order to shoot it).
Shot was taken at 452 yds. Right behind the shoulder and out the other.

Second doe was at 277 yds. One spine hit and she was dead.

BTW... I am really impressed with the GS Custom performance. Even though antelope are small, frail creatures the 330 416 cal GS HV's expanded beautifully at those extended ranges as was evident by the interior trauma.








The Bullet

[img]http://www.gsgroup.co.za/hvbullet.jpg[/img]


BTW you can add two BULL elk with the 378 WBY Mag. One in 1995 and one in 1996. I have a picture of the 1995 one only. Both were wel over 500 yards away.[/QUOTE]

I am with Gunner on this. I have been shooting a custom that replicates 338 LApua ballistics for about 25 years, I call mine the 340 Tyrannosaur. After trying several bullet combinations and failing to get pass through shots on Eland and Zebra, I settled on the 225gr Barnes (now TTSX style) As my do all bullet when I take that rifle out for anything. As to the staying in practice part, back when I used to travel to Alaska and Africa a fair bit I made myself use my 340 and 416 Rigby on ground squirrels and other varmints to stay tuned up in between big game hunts.

IMO, (and that of Craig Boddington - in print more than once) the fast 33's are some of the most useful all around cartridges extant. I have personally heard with my own ears more than one Alaskan outfitter/guide and Elk hunting guide proclaim the 340WBY (and by extension your Lapua and my 340 Tyrannosaur) as the finest all around big game cartridges available to the modern sport hunter with larger species in their hopes.

When you become proficient with that rifle and successfully blast a dozen or so deer with it, you will be more familiar, capable and confident with it on larger, more adrenaline producing game animals.

Using a Barnes monolithic bullet will cut down some on excessive bloodshot meat and ruinous exit wounds on the smaller deer. Both your Lapua and my Tyrannosaur push a 225gr TTSX at 3100fps, and THAT is a flat shooting, hard hitting combo for about anything short of an Elephant.

Good luck and good hunting! Go forth and slay a bunch of stuff with that if you like and enjoy your rifle as much as I do mine.

I agree with Safari Guy in that quote. If you're constantly using your .338 caliber rifle when hunting "everyday" big game back home (whitetails, mule deer, antelope, woodchucks, prairie dogs, rabbits, tree squirrels, etc) then when it comes time to go to Alaska and kill a brown/grizzly bear, you're probably not going to mess things up by making a poor shot. It's actually kind of amazing how many guys show up with hyper-velocity magnums and then can't hit what they're aiming at because they've limited themselves to highly controlled benchrest shooting only.

I was really impressed with the break on the big gun. Recoil was very manageable. Almost no muzzle jump,only a push. The big 300gr a doing about 1" now but hope to tighten it down a bit more.
Wish I could see a coyote somewhere to try it on

Killed 4 bear with my lapua, one went about 10 yds. definitely over kill for deer. Load it with Barnes bullets they don't make a mess of things, won't blow apart. Exit hole is about the same as entrance. Love my Sako 338 Lapua !!!!!!