338s Are A Great Caliber

[MS 9x56]

There isn't anything a 338 will do that a 358 can't do better

 

[CoElkHunter]

I have a friend who shoots the .338/06 & is very tickled with it. Elk melt at the shot!

They'd "melt" more with a .338WM! LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

Bob I have 7 35s. I need 2 more 358win and 350rem. Of course I have 2 whelen.

You need to dump at least one of the two Whelens and get a .350 Remington Mag! I have the dies for it, I just need a rifle at an almost FREE price. LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

There isn't anything a 338 will do that a 358 can't do better

Except kill anything over 200 lbs. LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

Bob, you are right about that, but I just like stuff. I have at least 1 of every bore size from 17 to 585 except 9.3 and I’ll fix that. Frank

You don't have a .600 Overkill? What's a matter with you! LOL

 

[Flewis]

@Flewis
As you have enough 35s why do you need the 338s.
A 225gn 35 at 2,950fps will do everything thing the 338WM will do with the same weight.
There's no flies on a 310gn 35 cal at 2,455fps with the same sd as a 375 350gn. Mightn't hit as hard but still a bucketful of hurt.
To me the 35s make the 338s redundant unless we're talking the big ultra mags, then it's a wash tub full of hurt a looong ways out and a shit load of brutal recoil to go with it.
I'll stick either my mild mannered hard hitting 35s.
Bob

Bob I don’t have enough 35s, still need at least 2.

 

[Flewis]

You don't have a .600 Overkill? What's a matter with you! LOL

Yet!

 

[Flewis]

CEH, I do have the action. I’m 1/3 there.

 

[casey]

I have a m70ss lh in a wildcat .338-375RR. It's basically a .340 improved. Right about 3000 with a 250grn. Barnes.

 

[casey]

I have a m70ss lh in a wildcat .338-375RR. It's basically a .340 improved. Right about 3000 with a 250grn. Barnes.

416 Rigby for comparison

 

[ldmay375]

No lack of velocity with that one !

 

[Dr Ray]

Now that’s power with that velocity

 

[casey]

I've gotten up to 3050+ without pressure but it seems to shoot best at 3000. Plenty of power for my needs. Going to work up a good 225grn. load and just use it. I don't think I need the big boys all the time. I do have some 300grn. MK around here some where!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Here's another "new(er)" .338 I just came across. 250gr bullet in a 10mm pistol case. Maybe Townsend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen could get one built for hunting scrub bulls or camels? LOL

 

[Boyd Brooks]

Here's another "new(er)" .338 I just came across. 250gr bullet in a 10mm pistol case. Maybe Townsend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen could get one built for hunting scrub bulls or camels? LOL

I’m @Bob Nelson 35Whelen would just put a 250 gr. 35 cal bullet in the 357 SIG cartridge case! Save a step in making the brass, and it would be a 35.

 

[fourfive8]

There isn't anything a 338 will do that a 358 can't do better

And there isn’t anything a 338 or 358 will do that a 375 HH can’t do better.

Historically, my hunting battery calibers over the years kinda of jumped right over a few fine and popular calibers like the 338 WM… maybe only due to chance. I went from 270 and 30-06 directly to the 375 HH. However, more recently, my primary caliber in less than 375 HH has been the 338-06. That has basically orphaned my 270 and 30 cals. Don’t even own a 30-06 anymore and my lone 30 is a Win 94 30-30. Not to say the 338 WM isn’t a fine hunting caliber. It’s absence from my gun history is just fate and change. I find the 338-06 outstanding for PG up to but not including eland. If eland, then easy choice, I go straight to 375HH or 416 Rem Mag.

 

[fourfive8]

I think historically, not much new under the sun in caliber development since the post war era boom of wildcatting. Two areas of “effectiveness” or ballistic advancement IMO can be considered real and not just marketing hype. To some degree, powders have improved but possibly the greatest leap ahead has been in bullet design.

I mentioned skipping right over the 338 WM and going straight to the 375 HH level of power. I failed to mention I did quite a lot of shooting and experimenting with a couple of “tweeners”. One was the 35 Whelen, in both standard and improved form, and the other was the 8 mm Rem Mag. In the end I did settle on the 338-06 in the intermediate power range. No matter the current buzz and hype, none of the trendy cartridges like the STW and more recently the Nosler and PRC iterations have much if anything ballistically over the older 8mm Rem Mag which predates most of them by decades. The issue I found with loading the 8mm was supply and data for best powders. But the most limiting factor was availability of decent bullets for the higher impact vels of the 8mm. They simply didn’t exist. I sold my 8 to a friend who later called it the most effective elk killing machine he had ever used or witnessed being used, having the opportunity for dozens of kills. By that time, better suited powders were common and several superior bullets were available. IMO, the lack of popularity of the 8 Mag may have been simply an example of a cartridge developed before its time.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I think historically, not much new under the sun in caliber development since the post war era boom of wildcatting. Two areas of “effectiveness” or ballistic advancement IMO can be considered real and not just marketing hype. To some degree, powders have improved but possibly the greatest leap ahead has been in bullet design.

I mentioned skipping right over the 338 WM and going straight to the 375 HH level of power. I failed to mention I did quite a lot of shooting and experimenting with a couple of “tweeners”. One was the 35 Whelen, in both standard and improved form, and the other was the 8 mm Rem Mag. In the end I did settle on the 338-06 in the intermediate power range. No matter the current buzz and hype, none of the trendy cartridges like the STW and more recently the Nosler and PRC iterations have much if anything ballistically over the older 8mm Rem Mag which predates most of them by decades. The issue I found with loading the 8mm was supply and data for best powders. But the most limiting factor was availability of decent bullets for the higher impact vels of the 8mm. They simply didn’t exist. I sold my 8 to a friend who later called it the most effective elk killing machine he had ever used or witnessed being used, having the opportunity for dozens of kills. By that time, better suited powders were common and several superior bullets were available. IMO, the lack of popularity of the 8 Mag may have been simply an example of a cartridge developed before its time.

The problem with a cartridge larger than a .338WM or .300WM for hunting elk in the mountains is the weight of the rifle. My scoped Browning A Bolt .338WM weighs 8.5lbs unloaded. Not many .375 rifles available at that weight. When you're carrying even a 25-30lb. backpack like I do, 8.5lbs of rifle is enough for me.

 

[fourfive8]

The problem with a cartridge larger than a .338WM or .300WM for hunting elk in the mountains is the weight of the rifle. My scoped Browning A Bolt .338WM weighs 8.5lbs unloaded. Not many .375 rifles available at that weight. When you're carrying even a 25-30lb. backpack like I do, 8.5lbs of rifle is enough for me.

Agreed. Lighter weight, so called mountain rifles are nice to carry if you are hunting on foot. But at some point larger calibers take their toll on accurate shooting with really light weight rifles offering no recoil mitigation. I have never hunted elk in the mountains with a 375 HH or larger IIRC, my 8 Rem was on the order of 9 lbs. I did carry it once when I was backing up my nephew on his Kodiak bear hunt. I will guarantee that island has some extremely difficult, thick and steep terrain. I have in more recent years lugged heavy 11-12 lb DG rifles long distances in Africa... with 500 foot rock kopjes, steep as they often are, being the only mountains Steady slow pace is the secret no matter what terrain. I have many times carried a very heavy 11 lb replica Hawken muzzleloader all over steep mountain country hunting deer and elk. And when I was 20 or 21?, a buddy and I did a backpack hunt for elk into a mountain wilderness area- about twelve miles in. I was carrying a regular but heavy rifle that was 10 lbs or so. Youth is nice for sure and I'm not 20 years old anymore. I have always hunted very slowly and pace myself when in timbered, high elevation, steep country. I'm not glassing for nor interested in long range shots anyway.

 

[MS 9x56]

The only thing I need a belt for is to hold up my pants and have a place to hang my knife and extra shells