Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Long Range Elk Rifle

WOW!!!!

Don

The gain as you go up into the SOOPER mag range is not that great until you start shooting beyond 300 or 400 yards.

Within 300 yards--for Elk--the 35 whelen class is as good as any.

After that, the 338 Ultra, 338 Lapua, 340 Wby, etc, really start to pull away.

If you are loking at getting more bang for your buck, the 338 Ultra, Lapua, or 340 Weatherby will get you into a great Elk rifle, that might could be re-sold.

I have personaly seen gunshops refuse to take 378 based rifles--TWICE. A 30-378 was refused as a consignment, a 338-378 was refused as a trade in.

If you are serious about this project, I suggest the 338 Ultra (a factory rifle that you could re-barrell to the 300 Ultra if you are dissatisfied with the 338.)

Just more grist for the mill,

Good Luck,

BMT

The 338 Lapua is serious medicine and has ... a lot of military printed material on the round. I like the idea of something with so much documentation, where someone else has done the academic work for you.

I think the 338-378 had its "hey day" with some other long powder keg inefficient catridges. But the good news is you may find a good deal on a great rifle.

What do I know though? I talked my brother into the lazzeroni thing. I was facinated with it and John's work, and the Warbird. Still am. Won't shoot it without a lead sled, but think of it highly. He used it last season with "great" success on a nice bull. I had never seen anything hit so hard, but I am much less experienced than my peers on the board on this. I enjoy the academics of it.

I vote with petr, I have a 338 Lapua and while similar to other large case capacity 33 cals, it lacks the belt and head spaces on the shoulder.

IMO anything bigger than the .340, .338 RUM, or .338 Lap would be a big mistake; pun intended.

I'm no zen master elk hunter but after bouncing 5 200gn 30cal partitions through elk at distances from 350-500yds I wonder what more could you ask for? These are from a bone stock win SS classic 26" using lots of orange can 4831 to get 3020fps from the muzzle. Recoil is stiff but manageable in an 8.5# rifle. Switched to the 200 TSX and haven't had an opportunity at an elk since, but I'm hoping to change that the week of Halloween.

I shoot a Sako in .300win/mag. for elk, and have dumped quite a few across canyons, with good results. One was about 480 to 500 yards, hit him just in front of the right hip & exited the brisket after passing through the heart.
My pet load is 75gr of IMR7828 in WW brass cci 250 primers pushing a 200gr barnes X at 3000 fps.
Next year I'll have to start working up a new load for the TSX, as I'm about out of X-bullets.

Any of the fast 338's are great elk rounds.
I shoot a 700LSS in 338 RUM which is hammer for elk.
The 338-378 Wby will give you a very modest gain over the 338 RUM and factory ammo/brass is very expensive.

JD338

I have both the 340 weatherby and the 338/378 KT on a weatherby mark v action (born before weatherby started their 338/378), either rifle will snap your teeth together if you don't hold them correctly. your choice of a 338/378 cannot be bettered (in my opinion) all the best.

"This might be kind of a dumb question, but what will I gain with the 338-378 over the 300 win mag."

I don't think you'll gain ANYTHING with a 338-378 over a 300 magnum. I think you'll lose something.

Remember that you are going to be walking a lot farther than you are shooting, and it is impossible to make a leaping blasting 338-378 as light as an accurate 300 magnum.

My Wby Ultralightweight weighs about 8 pounds with sling and scope and 26" bbl, and shoots MOA.

You didn't answer the post asking what was long range, but unless you are going to park yourself at a bench and shoot consistently beyond 500 yards with a 20 pound or heavier target rifle, you are handicapping yourself with a 340 or larger IMHO.

I kinda like my new 300 WSM with 168 TSX's.......

What kinda ranges are y'all talking??

The .300 mags, .338 win mag and its bigger kin the .340, the .338 RUM and the Lapua will all deliver all the energy to 400 yds you'd want and with the trajectories to be able to hit the vitals. I don't think you should plan on shooting at elk at further ranges in general prinicple.

The .378 Wby case derivatives, the .300 and .338 are longer of barrel, heavier, and with much more blast and recoil than you need to put up with. I can envision only a few special scenarios where you could put them to good use on elk and none of them would include climbing, hiking, or walking far in the mountains with them.

Weight is exceedingly important when you're hunting in the mountains and I wouldn't have a rifle all up heavier than 8.5 lbs personally.

I doubt few people can shoot the .338-378 well enough to use it even in the special circumstances it would be appropriate and the .300-378 give you nothing positive over the other .300s without undue cost.

And some would argue with good points that the .30-06 would fit your bill and do well and I wouldn't argue against them.

This all is assuming the use of good and appropriate bullets so that they are not the issue and the usual rifles so chambered; sure you could have a .338-378 built "lighter" and perhaps shorter but that would also be compounding the mistake.

George

If it was me I would go with a 7mm RUM with 160gr TSX and keep the rifle 7.5lb or under if you are hunting in the moutains. Randy.

A 300 Roy would work good.Also a 7mm STW is pretty flat shooting son of a gun.

if the ranges are getting long i run a 7mmRUM with a 160 NAB with great results, btu may buy a 338 RUM soon as the GF has taken to my A-bolt. 338 as if i needed a reason to by another

I have owned and used most of the .338's including the .338/378 and I settled on the .340 as the best balance of performance. Mine was Magna Ported for a review about 10 years back and it is easier to shoot than many unported .300's but there is a wollop that no .300 can match.

I recommend the .340 as that is where I untimately demonstrated my opinion. The .338/378 is much noisier, heavier recoil and blast, does not appear to hit any harder than the .340 and too often thinks it is a .378 which is the only cartridge ever to launch a personal attack upon its user as a mate of mine used to say.

To digress a little:

Roy Weatherby called the .378 "the Mule" because of its recoil. I have used them all and the .338/378 is very like the .378, especially when you use the 300 grain bullets which can be driven faster than they were designed to be launched.

.340 Weatherby.

AGW

I find the 338/378 to be fun to shoot. In identical Accumarks with factory brakes I don't think the 338/378 kicks that much more. My 15 year old doesn't have any trouble keeping it under 1 inch. I can shoot 3 shots cutting each other with it. We are shooting 225 grain TSX's out of it at 3300. My 300Wby shoots 200 grain Accubonds at 3100. Just watching impacts the 338/378 hits way harder. My 16" gong weighs 88 pounds. At 500 yards the 300 will make it swing back to maybe 30 degrees. The 338/378 will smack it back to 45 degrees straight back. It's a big difference. On lighter gongs where my 300 will knock it straight back to 90 degrees the 338/378 will swing it around the support. Trying to recover a 225 TSX at almost 400 yards took 7 gallon jugs placed end to end to slow it up and the bullet was caught in the 8th jug.

In the Accumark it is just as handy to carry as the 257Wby. In fact it weighs a few ounces less than the 257Wby. Right at 10 pounds even without the sling and a 6.5-20x50LR Leupold mounted on it.

Nobody really shoots factory ammo so that point is moot. The brass costs about $200 per hundred but so far have lasted 10 shots each and are still going. 100 brass will last a very long time. It does use a lot of powder. 115 grains of RL25 to launch the 225 TSX�s at 3300+.

At 600 yards it will lay the smack down on that trophy bull a heck of a lot harder than your 300 Win and 180 grain bullets. If you feel the need, it is a dandy round. If you want a packing rifle I would just pick up an Accumark and go hunting. If you want a specific, �landing gun,� I would be looking at a 30� barrel with a Defensive Edge brake on it.

I came to the .340 too for all the reasons you suggested. No bull has traveled more than 20-30 yds and the last at truly long range - time and circumstances prevented me from cutting the distance - simply belly-flopped with a 225-gr Lost Rivers Tech bullet (not unlike an "X" bullet) started at 3000 fps through the shoulders.

I think the point overlooked in all of this debate is the creation of a "shooting system" which includes caliber, bullet weight, optics with ability to compensate for range, platform (lower on the list), rangefinder and most importantly a shooter that is practiced and prepared to provide the launch code correctly. The fallacy of elk hunting is that you need a really big gun to kill an elk as I see so many times at the range of the cowering recoil shy visitors shooting the superduper big bangers. I personally am a short range shooter 3-400 yards so I am very comfortable with my choices. I stay with the 30-06 based cases. All of the above mentioned CALIBERS are capable of the shots you are talking about but consider the rest of the shooting system for this question as well...

I agree with ya, I shoot a 30-06, 6.5-06, 300H&H for most elk hunting, out to 2-300 yards. Past that, I like the horse power of a larger cartridge for intentional long range hunting.