338s Are A Great Caliber

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Recoil of the 338 and 375 are almost identical except I find the 338 is more of a sharp recoil rather than push.
That could be just my interpretation though and not necessarily true.

I've not fired .338 win mag but I can concur that .340 weatherby is a sharp recoil I have one and we're in the midst of a love hate relationship. She's beautiful but she Hateful , I feel it would be devastating on bears though.

 

[Tanks]

I found it interesting when you commented "Not a choice for dangerous game" as I've heard many hunters comment on forums that they would use it in a heartbeat on dangerous game - if legal.

Woodleigh make a 300gn solid in .338 with a SD of .375 and it can be driven at around 2400ft/lbs... surely this would be satisfactory against dangerous game - IF LEGAL?
That is a genuine question guys as I honestly don't know - I'm just going by what people have told me...
...

Whole discussion on this here:
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...use-a-smaller-calibre-if-it-were-legal.56208/

 

[318AE]

The “mid-thirties” are highly effective, and I believe underrated caliber. A larger bore doesn’t help you as the bullet is traveling down the barrel - pressure drops off more quickly. It doesn’t help you in flight - resistance and velocity drop off are greater. It’s terminal benefit is reduced, as modern controlled expansion bullets have improved.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The “mid-thirties” are highly effective, and I believe underrated caliber. A larger bore doesn’t help you as the bullet is traveling down the barrel - pressure drops off more quickly. It doesn’t help you in flight - resistance and velocity drop off are greater. It’s terminal benefit is reduced, as modern controlled expansion bullets have improved.

318AE
With modern powders such as cfe223 and superformance the pressure curve last longer and uses more of the barrel to maintain a flatter more consistent pressure curve than the traditional parabolic pressure curve.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[Dr Ray]

I've not fired .338 win mag but I can concur that .340 weatherby is a sharp recoil I have one and we're in the midst of a love hate relationship. She's beautiful but she Hateful , I feel it would be devastating on bears though.

Just like a woman! (Joking!)

 

[RayAtkinson]

I also am a .338 Win. fan, started out witht he 338-06, then the IMP version then to the 338 win and never looked back, love it in AFrica especially for PG in a DG concession, you never know when you might bump into something wanting to eat you or just get even..
As to DG, I have shot a couple of buffalo, a hippo and back up on an elephant with it with both solids and 300 gr. WOODLEIGHs, and 250 gr. Noslers..I have not been able to tell any difference in the 300 gr. 338 and the 300 gr. 375 both at the same velocity of 2400 to 2500 FPS..and why would I...Its just a damn good caliber, today I especially like my .338 win Ruger no. 1-a...and my African model Ruger...but I still have my Ruger hawkeye wood and blue 7.5 lb. 375 Ruger..both great calibers.

 

[Saul]

I had a love affair with the 340 Wby for a while. I never got into the 338 win mag. My next rifle will be a 338-375 Ruger.

 

[Rob404]

I'll be taking my 338 to the range tomorrow weather permitting loaded with some 180g Bergers just to see How accurate and what kind of Muzzle velocity can be developed

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I recently tested two different factory loads.
Hornady Superformance (225gn SST's) and Winchester (225gn Accubonds).
They both returned 2900fps + or - 10 fps and both printed groups at or less than 1" at 100 meters. It's been a long time since I've seen factory ammo perform so consistently.
Stunning performance from both loads really.
225gn pills at 2900fps, that's a substantial pay-load for most game in most situations so long as the bullets stand up to the task, you're ready for most things.

@PaulT
If that's the superformance load what is the standard load doing
A 225 gr accubond out of my Whelen is doing a chronoed 2,850 fps while the 225 grainWoodleigh PPSP is doing a chronoed 2,950 fps..
So wouldn't the Whelen be just as good as the 338 out to 400 yards. Both loads cut clover leaf groups @100 yards.
Bob

 

[bruce moulds]

when elmer kieth got into 338s he was thinking about 250 to 300 gn bullets to emulate or better the 318wr.
the 35 whelen was also a heavier bullet cartridge in original form.
nowadays 225 gn bullets are more the norm for these, partly I suspect because guys think they are longer range hunters, and partly because bullet design might have improved.
there are all sorts of bullets less than 200 gn available for 338 all of which have low s.d. and b.c but can be driven fast to shoot flat.they will lose energy and have greater wind deflection which raises the suggestion.
if you want less bullet, get a smaller gun.
bruce.

 

[krish]

I've had a Ruger Mark II Express for a while but never got around to using it. Even thought about selling it. But last year I had a moose combo with my mountain goat hunt so put a Zeiss Conquest HD 3-15 with the Rapid Z 800 reticle on it and started shooting it. That thing is a tack driver! Unfortunately I did not get a chance at a moose but this rifle is going to get a lot more use going forward.

That is a RARE COLLECTABLE Rifle. Cant find one for my collection.

 

[krish]

Interesting? Two of my hunting buddies are Browning BLR .30-06 Federal 165gr Sierra cartridge shooters. But when they shot my Browning A Bolt .338WM 225gr Core Lokts they both said the recoil “wasn’t bad”. One since found a barely used .338 A Bolt as his new hunting rifle.

You should get a 340 why you will love it. I call it a wonder rifle. I have one in accumark mark v sythetic stainless 26 inch fluted barrel. Yuo can shoot a water jug at 500 yards most of the time very first shot with 210 gr nosler partition and with 6.5x56x30mm Leopold LR SCOPE. YOU COME UP WITH A LOT OF GOOD STUFF.

 

[krish]

Correction 6.5x24x50 with 30mm

 

[Bonk]

I'm interested in 338Win but I already have calibers that encroach on the 338's sweet spot. A 30 caliber with 220gr bullets approaches the low end of the 338 performance envelope and 366/375 calibers top it on the big end. I could say the exact same thing about 35 Whelen. Despite that I still look at any rifle I see for sale in 338 and 35 Whelen. The only negative I will say about either one is the 338 is still pretty new. It's only about 60 years old. So far so good but another generation of shooters still needs to wring it out to make sure it's not another flash in the pan caliber.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I had a love affair with the 340 Wby for a while. I never got into the 338 win mag. My next rifle will be a 338-375 Ruger.

I believe the .338 Ruger Compact Magnum (RCM) cartridge is a necked down .375 Ruger? I’m guessing it’s a great cartridge.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I believe the .338 Ruger Compact Magnum (RCM) cartridge is a necked down .375 Ruger? I’m guessing it’s a great cartridge.

CoElkHunter
The 338 RCM isn't even as good as the 338/06.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'm interested in 338Win but I already have calibers that encroach on the 338's sweet spot. A 30 caliber with 220gr bullets approaches the low end of the 338 performance envelope and 366/375 calibers top it on the big end. I could say the exact same thing about 35 Whelen. Despite that I still look at any rifle I see for sale in 338 and 35 Whelen. The only negative I will say about either one is the 338 is still pretty new. It's only about 60 years old. So far so good but another generation of shooters still needs to wring it out to make sure it's not another flash in the pan caliber.

@Bonk
Mate stop looking at the Whelen. Get one load it with 225 grain accubonds and use the Nosler reloading site. Gets 2,800+ fps and will do everything your 338 will. Then you can sell the 338 and just use the Whelen for everything without worrying about those expensive superformance loads to get the same velocity as the Whelen.
Bob

 

[bruce moulds]

one thought.
225 gn 338 bullets and 250 gn 358 bullets both have a sectional density of about 0.280.
250 gn 338 bullets are about 0.31 from memory.
comparing same weights for the 2 calibers might not be fair.
my own experience with the 338 was not as good as others report.
i could only get 2800 from the 210 nosler partition, and 2600 from 250 gn bullets.
and then the partition turned out to be disappointing in reliability of terminal performance.
bruce.

 

[Saul]

I believe the .338 Ruger Compact Magnum (RCM) cartridge is a necked down .375 Ruger? I’m guessing it’s a great cartridge.

Unfortunately, Ruger decided to shorten the 375 Ruger brass to make it a "compact magnum," so it has capacity now slightly below that of the 30-06 if I am not mistaken. A true 338-375 Ruger has around 99gr H20 capacity, matching the 340 Weatherby.

The RCM line of brass has found some use as the basis for the 6.5 PRC, while the 300 PRC uses the proper, full-sized 375 Ruger case. If I did not have such an aversion to stubby fat cartridges, I would have a 6.5 PRC necked down to 6mm so I could match 240 Weatherby.

 

[Standard Velocity]

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/338-caliber-rifle-cartridges/377434