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I'm thinking about building my first custom rifle. I was just wonderding what you guys think about the 338-378 Wby caliber. Thanks

its an awesome round for your intended use...... itll kick like an Arkansas mule.... 721

50 BMG . . . . (grin)

BMT

I have a .338RUM and love it. I use the 210gr TSX and get very good results. The weatherby is similar and I would think you will love it. The recoil will be substantial. Practice will help. I say go for it. HAPPY HUNTING

The 338 RUM is a great LR elk cartridge. Shoots the 225 partition at 3200 FPS out of my 30" barrel. However the
338-378 would make a great elk whackin stick, no doubt.

Pic of my custom RUM.

Nathanial-that looks to be a McMillan General Purpose stock, true and or no.

One of my long range elk rigs is a M70 push feed with a 25" 4.5 weight Schneider on it chambered in 340. It is bedded in a McMillan General Purpose in Desert Camo.

I run the 210 TSX brand and it works just fine.

I've been using the 340 for a lot of years and am on my 4th tube if I remember right.

It is one wonderful round and for a long range elk rifle it and the 338 RUM are IMO without peer.

Mark D

SWEET!!! guaranteed elk getter. HAPPY HUNTING.

Mark, It is a HTG stock. The 340 is a wonderful cartridge, I just have not shot mine in some time. My 340 is built on a German Weatherby action and stock with an Obermeyer #5 barrel.

This might be kind of a dumb question, but what will I gain with the 338-378 over the 300 win mag. I was looking into it and I'm starting to think it might not be worth it. I was looking at a 180 grain bullet in the win mag, and a 250 grain bullet in the wby. With the price of brass and the amount of powder I'm really starting to think it really isn't worth it. What do you guys think.

I've never seen an elk shot with one but there was guy at my range with one. Talk about muzzle blast. He might as well been shooting a 50 BMG. We were both on the 200 meter range. He was shooting 12" groups with it because he was flinching so bad. I think the ammo for that thing is about $100/20 if you buy it. My 7STW was keeping all the shots in the 2" bull at that range. If your planning on humping that thing up and down mountains you might want to think about it too.

My LR elk rig is with a 7mm Dakota with the 200 grain Wildcat Bullet. I use a Holland QD brake and it's recoil is all but nill.
Lilja 1-7 Twist barrel in a center-grip XP-100. I'm running 2700 fps, but in a rifle length you will get about 300 fps more.

Ive used a 340 weatherby for over 30 plus years, almost excluesively with 250 hornady spire point bullets, it hits NOTCIABLY harder than a 300 win but I doubt it kills any better if your only looking at the quetion from," will a single well placed hit kill." yes it hits hard and tends to drop ELK close to the impact point, thats why I use it, but Id also point out that in 35 years of hunting ELK Ive had less than 5 chances to take shots at over 450 yards (I passed on three of those chances) and all but two of the ELK Ive killed have been well under 300 yards, so an extremely flat trajectory may be an over rated function in an ELK RIFLE
I also have a laminated card taped to the rifle stock with the drop data for my specific load and site in data, from 100yards to 500 yards in 50 yard intervals, and a lazer range finder.
the data looks like this for my load
range drop...tof............10mph wind drift
100...+3.36........................
200.. +3.46...2 tenths........2.7
300....-1.91... .35 tenths....6.3
350.....-7....... .41 tenths....8.7
400....-13.8.... .48 tenth.....11.6
450....-22.4.... .55 tenths....15
500...-33.1.... .63 tenths.....18.3
550.. -45.6... .7 tenths.........23.2

youll have a hard time finding a better ELK rifle in my opinion!, hits like THORS HAMMER loaded with a good 250 grain bullet! zips thru ,exits, leaves a huge but usually very short blood trail, whats NOT TO LIKE??? basically if your a good shot,have a good rest, any ELK you see inside of about 500 yards is potenially in your freezer with a single well placed shot! you won,t be wondering (DID I HIT THAT ELK?) YOULL KNOW)
the 338-378 Wby caliber costs ALOT MORE ammos MUCH more expensive and you only gain about 100 fps, Id suggest getting a 340 wby

+1 on the 340 Weatherby. If you need a long range hammer, it and the 338 RUM sit at the top of the heap.

I think a 300 Win Mag will effectively do the same though.

Nathanial, Luv that rig. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Will be well worth it if you are serious. But if you are starting to think cost and powder amounts, bullet cost etc.... you are already lost. Just use what you have. No one can justify the expense and if you are wilting, get a BDL type in a normal round.

My choice when I get that far is the 338 on the 300 RUM case. It'll be a heck of a round too. 338 Lapua has been on the list a bit too.
Have the 50 bmg but need something a bit more portable.

IMHO when you deal with large game, a large bullet is a help.

And another IMHO, wind drift is always more important than drop, drop can be handled easily with a rangefinder which you need much after 300 anyway....

Regards, Jeff

I think I agree. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I was just out shooting some 290's in the 300 RUM.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Dead on about wind drift too. Elevation is easy in comparison. I'll cheat any way I can to reduce drift.

Elevation is by far the easies component to deal with.

Mirage/angle/wind is another deal.

Mark D

What do you call long range?

My long range elk rifle is a 8mm remington mag, 340 weatherby is a awesome long range elk rnd,I have one like new in classifieds if anyone is interested grin.

My Long range gun is a Ruger #1 in 338-378 weatherby with a 30" Stainless Gaillard Barrel. Nothing escapes it`s wrath <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />