Back in the 50's my Dad and his buddies "sportarized" some Remington 03A3 Springfield's. That is what I used for several years on moose and caribou. My brothers son had it for several years after my Dad passed and I believe he ruined the bore by firing old WWII tracer ammo in it and not cleaning it. Found that out after I gave him 500 bucks for it.............

Off it went to Jess in Oregon and I now have a 338-06 for my big strong 14 year old grandson. I have a Boyd's salt and pepper Classic laminate stock coming for it and I will donate a very reliable Leupold Vari X III 2.5-8x36mm scope to him also in QD Warne rings. Once we get the stock bedded and see how it shoots we will probably get the Springfield type safety from Ed LaPour installed and a new bolt handle and eventually some NECG iron sights and finally a ceracote matte black finish.

Some WW brass and H4895 will be used to push 210 grain Barnes TSX bullets and it will prove to be a good killer of all Alaskan critters. If all goes well him and me will go bear hunting this spring.

I know I would of been money ahead to have found him a good Mod. 70 "Classic" 30-06 with the old style Winchester trigger, but I just hated to see the old rifle leave the family.

Good on you for resurrecting an old war horse.

I've been eyeing the 338-06 for quite a while but can't make myself do it when I have a 300 WSM in the safe that shoots 200 gr Partitions well.

Only rifle he'll ever need.

The 338-06 is fantastic. H414 is the stuff in mine (AI'd). It moves 210 PT's at a pretty good clip.

I was gifted with a nice custom .338-.280 Improved in a custom Interarrms action a few years ago. It has proven to be very accurate with a 210 Partitions, 200 ABs and 185 TTSXs. It is one of the last two rifles that I will ever part with. After messing with fire forming various .280 Remington and .30-06 cases, I now just buy Norma .338-06 brass and fire form cases to my chamber during load development and hunting.

I like your story and I've been pretty close on several of the points, e.g., gun deals with relatives. I, too, use an inherited 338-06AI, and I've predominantly loaded Re-15 under bullets like the 200 NAB, 215 SGK and 210 NPT. I'm now trying Re-17 with some of those bullets, as well as 210 Sciroccos. I have it stocked in a B&C with alum. bedding block (debating whether to skim glass bed it--accuracy is pretty respectable right now).

I'm a drinker of the 338-06 Koolaid. My CZ550 likes RL-15 and 210 gr. Sciroccos.

My Encore handgun likes the 200 gr. Accubonds.

Great story, looking forward to pics of the completed rifle.

Foolishly sold my .338-06 but then again, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.

Don't ignore Varget with the lighter bullets. Best combo for me has been 210 Partitions and Varget. 200 grain Ballistic Tips seem made for the cartridge too.

185 Barnes TTSX work great with Varget, and also R15 in my rifle anyway.

I think picking up Norma 338-06 brass is a good idea.

It's what I use. With great results.

I like the practicality of standard chamberings, but a .280A1 and a .338/06 would be a damn fine pair of matched rifles.
John

Yeah John, that would be a good match.

+1

Akshooter nice story. For sure it will prove to be a great killer. I too have one with a Boyds salt and pepper classic in the AI version to compliment a 270. The 338-06 is easy to shoot considering it's a 338. Recoil is very manageable. I see from this thread there's a few guys shooting the 210gr Scirocco. If those Barnes don't work out you might wanna try the Scirocco. It's what I shoot also with great success using RL17.
Good luck with your project.

Following this thread with much interest and am thinking this exact same thing. Am chewing on the 338-06 AI version. I'm getting to hate trimming cases plus Id like to get 2700 with a 225. If I do build one, thinking of having it built around the 225 Accubond. A 225 NAB moving 2700 would be a potent near and far combination. Thinking a Night force SHV 3-10 would be ideal. Still chewing on it. My hold back is the 300 WSM M70 sitting in my safe. It flings 200 Partitions at 2800. But I've always wanted a 338-06......

Lager - what velocity and loads you running for 225?

Also what velocity you guys getting out of the 210 Scirocco? I didn't realize that BC was so high - is it real or inflated?

Varget and 210 ttsx and I don't think I'll ever have to look for anything more. Not sure using better brass could help but weight sorted LC67 necked up has been fine. JES rebore, and its not as accurate as I prefer but its solidly 1.5 Moa at 100 and beyond. Easily a 300 yard gun.

Took a moose with it a few years back, 125 steps appx, quartering to, broke the neck on entry, took out the offside shoulder blade, IE penetrated it, and was barely caught by the skin on the off side. Weight is 210 as expanded... I don't recall exact weight with tip missing but suffice to say it lost no bullet weight. It might have weighed 209. something...

Since Varget is so dang temp stable I use it.

Need a bigger bullet will go to a bigger gun.

How fast are you shooting the 210's? Seems like a heck of a thumper load.

I am getting 2695 fps with a 225 accubond and 2655 with a 230 eldx both in a standard non AI 338-06 with a 21” barrel. 210 sciroccos are at 2835 fps as well.

Good info. Recipe?

I have long considered the 338-06 to be a non belted 300 magnum, as it pushes same weight bullets to roughly the same velocities.

But you do lose BC and SD against the 300's. I have not found that to be an issue, as the longest shot I ever had to make was 275 yards.

I foolishly sold my last one to a friend, and have another being put together right now. I would not be disappointed if he calls wanting to sell it back.

Gracias, impressive. I wonder how many more fps you get with an AI in that case. Probably not a lot.

RL17 is pretty good in my 338-06 with 225s.

My 338-06: 61 grains IMR-4350, Nosler 225 grain Partition with Fed. 210 M 2700 fps Shoots great in my rifle, I have a 23 inch #3 Shilen SS barrel.

FYI

Take care

bwinters sorry for the delay. When using 61.0gr RL17 and 225gr Accubonds I get 2750fps. The Scirocco using 62.0gr of the same powder gets 2865fps. Both will shoot an inch or better. The Scirocco on game performance is outstanding. I use mag primers in both loads. Also, case trimming is almost non existant with the AI version. Hope this helps you with your decision.

Thank you. Trying to decide exactly what to do. It seems Fred Zeglin isn't doing the Hawks any longer and can't seem to find any 338 Scovill data. I doubt the increases in velocity over the standard 338-06 are significant - given identical pressures.

I'm happy with the standard 338-06.

Not much difference.
Wish you the best.

I got 2690fps with 225 Grandslams over 55grns of RL-15. 22 inch barrel. Standard chamber.
Planning to switch over to 185TTSX's though.

I'm building my second one. I didn't shoot the first one enough to formulate any concrete ideas. Looks like RL17 might be able to perk up velocities somewhat. I'm just going to play w/the 160/180/185gr bullets. No need... living here in Texas. We do have some large hogs but our deer aren't really that much of a challenge. In my first gun H4350 and the 210gr Partition reached 2750fps which matched Weatherby's ballistics. That gun also did not do well w/RL15 or Varget. powdr

I have made a lot of them over the years. It's a caliber that is in slow but steady demand here in Wyoming.

I kept 3 of them myself from time to time, but every time someone offered more money to me than I could stand, or offered to trade guns I liked better at the moment, and I let them all go. I now have some rifles in 9.3MM and they do what I need, but I have nothing bad to say about the 338-06. They killed everything I ever shot and I never needed to shoot 2 times at anything with one. In fact it's my absolute favorite of all the .338" bore rifle shells.

I keep thinking I should build one more for me and never sell it, but I have a 9.3X57, and 9.3X74R and a 9.3X62, so I can't seem to make myself build another one for my own collection. But that is not for ANY lack of merit of the cartridge.

I think it's interesting to see how the 3 most popular planes-game guns in Africa for many of the "glory years" were the 333 Jeffery, the 318 Westley Richards and the 9.3X62. The first 2 are in the same league as our 338-06, (or close) but don't quite fire a 250 grain bullet as fast.
The 333 did have the availability of a 300 grain however, but with the bullets we have today, the 338-06 could actually beat either one of the 2 British rounds for most hunting.

The 9.3X62 is more powerful, but for anything up to elk size I can't see how more power would really help. Once you can blow a good sized hole through the chest from any angle, including hitting big bones, having a heavier and larger diameter bullet is not going to really put them down enough faster to matter.

Might see some difference on Bison or maybe Moose.

Elk hit with my 338-06 or any of the 9.3MMs I just mentioned fall instantly, or within a very few seconds. What's not to like?

Yeah, I think it's a great round.

Have a rebored pre 64 model 70 FW 338/06 standard with composite stock 2650 210 NP one hole shooter SK rings and mounts 2.5 x 8 Leupold. Wayne your out of Pendleton OR did work . Have only shot one bear 250 pound male with it 180 yards flattened him full pass though broke both front shoulders

Shoots good nice fast handling rifle in the timber.