The 338 Winchester Magnum Overlooked or Overhyped?

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Coolhand_Luke

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So with the 338 Win Mag turning 60 years old this year (introduced 1958 by Winchester) now that the dust and all the hype have been settled where does the now classic 338 Win Mag fit in for the medium bores? Have all the bigger 338 Magnums like the Weatherby's, RUM and Lapua on the one side, and the 338 Fed/ 338-06 as well as 300s left the poor old 338 Win Mag caught in the middle?

Is it still the top choice as a hard hitting big game hunting cartridge for elk/moose and bears or is it fading away with the fast 300 mags and faster 338 mags, plus the 375's stealing the thunder away from the 338 Winchester Magnum as the 'go to' medium bore choice?

Or said another way, if you were shopping for a medium bore elk/moose rifle would you still pick the 338 Win Mag or pass it by for something else, maybe a 340 Bee or a 375 Ruger or H and H ? Or even stick with the 7mm Mag/30-06/300 Win Mag class of cartridges.
 
It's more than adequate for all North American game and you can buy shells just about anywhere. It is still an excellent cartridge. The same can be said of the 7mm Remington Magnum as well... Winchester and Remington came up with two winners back then.
 
had one a few years ago, plenty accurate and powerful but here in NB I didn't really need it, I use a 308 for everything now
as for the other calibers out there competing with it that are more powerful, they all have there place but the 338 win mag has plenty power for anything in North America
 
I read somewhere that's it's the number one choice for Alaskan brown bears.

Probably one of the best big game cartridges ever developed.

I have a Remington 700 in 338 that I use mainly for spring/summer hiking here in the Rockies.
But I feel it's a bit much for most of the deer hunting that I do.

Most of my days hunting in the fall, I'm usually looking for more than one species,
so I try and take more of a "do it all" gun.

If I was going to hunt griz, It would be my caliber of choice though.
 
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For big game hunting, I'd take a 338 over any 30 cal, any day of the week. I haven't found anything a 300 (WM, H&H, Wby or RUM) will do that a good 308 or '06 won't do for me. If you know your ballistics, rifle, and can read the wind, they'll go out to 400 yds., which is the furthest I would ethically (for me) shoot a critter.

The 338 makes a bigger hole with a heavier chunk of lead, which normally leads to less tracking.
 
.338 WM is not the kicker that many report, it is a manageable jump from .30/06 for just about anybody comfortable with stout .30/06 loads... I think the perception that it is a prodigious kicker is what holds it back. It is a very good cartridge, however for me personally, I skip from .30 cals to .35 cals... in the east/middle (not to be confused with the middle east), the common .35's are just about perfect for medium bores, namely; .358 Win, .35 Whelen and .350 Rem Mag... when I step up from the 7mm's and .30 cals, I just naturally go to the .35's.
 
It seems to me that with the lighter bullet weights 160-210 the 300 Win Mag can get pretty close maybe to within 75-100 fps of the 338 Win Mag, maybe that is why the 300 has always been so much more popular. Same with the heavier 250-300 gr bullet weights, the velocity starts to drop of compared to something like the 375s that can launch 250 or 270 gr bullets much faster than the 338 can muster.

Where the 338 Win Mag seems to really shine is with bullet weight versatility. You can run bullets from 160 gr Barnes all the way up to a 275 gr A frame or 300 gr Woodleigh RN, plus some pretty slick long range bullets and do a pretty decent job with all of them.
 
If there is a "problem" with the .338 WM it's that it doesn't really do anything that a .300 won't do, and a .375 will do more. It's not like a .338 WM won't work though.

After using one for a bit and not noticing any difference between my 300WM I decided to sell it and get a 375 H&H, and then upgraded to a 375 Ruger when it became available.
 
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I have one in a pre-64 M70 and it is a fine rifle. . Hits like a freight train with recoil posing no problem. . Mine is a tad unusual as the original owner ordered it with the conventional steel buttplate rather than the pat. dated pad. . He just didn't like recoil pads but the monte carlo stock is a good fit and I believe stock fit is the important factor for managing recoil.

Also, the 338 WM is a nice caliber to reload for, and once you have the brass, the cost is close to the level of a 30-06. What's not to like?
 
Have had a 338 win since I was a teenager. Bought a brand new ruger stainless m77 with the boat paddle stock.
It's my go to moose / elk gun / black bear gun.
Love the caliber.
 
Gatehouse said:
If there is a "problem" with the .338 WM it's that it doesn't really do anything that a .300 won't do, and a .375 will do more. It's not like a .338 WM won't work though.
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Conversely, you could sell your .300 Magnum and .375 Ruger (New Princess) and replace both with a .338 WM (in NA at least).
 
fraserdw said:
If I really need to have a cheek buster for big game, I go with 300WM, 308 bullets for reloading means not having to buy for a size of bullet.
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Cheek busting has more to do with the height of the comb relative to the height of the sights, than it has to do with the size of the cartridge in the chamber, but your point is taken.

There was a time I was all-a-flutter over big case .338 and .358 rifles, but now I'm pretty much married to the .375. Still, any medium bore cartridge having a similar powder volume and pressure to the .30 caliber cartridge in question, results in an impressive increase in power, relative to the .30, even when bullet weights overlap. Provided a comparison of similarly styled and constructed bullets, a bullet of a given weight must be shorter with the diameter is larger. Due to having less bearing surface with the bore, and due to the propellant gas pressure acting on a larger surface area, the larger bullet has higher velocity.

Still, I have to buy bullets that are constructed appropriately for my various .30 caliber cartridges' performance levels (1200-2200, 2300-2800 fps, and in excess of 3000 fps) and for the specific jobs I want them to do, just as when buying bullets for other calibers. Therefore, I doubt if my bullet inventory would be reduced very much by having just one caliber to load for, though my brass inventory might be.
 
I find it in an awkward place. It's to slow to push the heavies to their potential while being neutered when used with the light weights. If i want the throw a 250+ 338 bullet ill go to a faster cartridge. If i wanted to throw 180-210 gr 338 bullets I'd use a smaller case. That's just me. For me if I Owned a 338 wm I'd load it with 250 gr round nose and use it for close range thumping the same as my 45/70 or 458wm
I chose a 300 wm for the options of lighter bullets for flatter trajectories and 180-200 gr bullets for what the 300 was designed to be and that works for me
 
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