First of all, thank you for the friendly post, I appreciate it.
I own a few 375's and 416's so yes, I know the 338 is not a crusher.
I said the 338 was a good answer not the end all be all solution.
You said, "Short of Africa, there is nothing that I would take on with a .338 that I wouldn't take with a 7RM"?
Saying things like that made me think you were some young kid that had shot his first few animals and had yet to have something go wrong (that would be why you got the jab).
It now seems you should have included more detail in that statement?
I actually did add more detail- here is my original statement:
"Short of Africa, there is nothing that I would take on with a .338 that I wouldn't take with a 7RM. If I want bigger than a Big 7, I'm going straight to the NEW KING (grin) of the .375's. The .338WM just doesn't offer "enough" more than the 7RM for me to bother with it."
It's just my personal preference, but if I feel that I need more than a 7RM, I'm going WAY up, right on past the .338. In another instance while guiding in the NWT, I woke up at night to take a piss, and as I got about 10 feet from the grain bin where we were sleeping, I heard a noise. I shined the flashlight to my left, and there was a big grizz about 10-15 feet away. Luckily, the bear ran away from me instead of over me. I have stared down more than one grizzly at close quarters, and while I would feel perfectly comfortable hunting the big bears with a 7Mag, I would only do so if I could take the shot from a distance, but if it had to be an "up close and personal" affair, I would want someone beside me with a .375 or bigger.
What happened to your client and the caribou is a common occurance on small to mid sized game with the 338. It happens as a direct result of light resistance, moderate velocity, and very heavy bullet construction....The animal is dead, but doesn't know it yet and usually travels a short distance (usually).
A 338 Ultra would have floored the caribou like lightning .
As likely would have the 300Win BTW.
I agree that what you described can be a common problem with larger calibers on lighter game, but what happened in the case of that caribou is different, I believe.
Like I mentioned above, when I opened up the caribou, the internal destruction was massive, which led me to believe that the bullets were expanding just fine. Destroyed tissue is destroyed tissue. I don't believe that any other gun or bullet would have dropped that bull any quicker (maybe a VLD, but I guess we'll never know). If you had seen the condition of the heart and lungs I think you would agree with me. My conclusion is that some animals, much like people, are just plain tougher than others. In my experience, some animals drop on the spot from a FMJ through the lungs, and others run a long distance with vital soup in their chest cavity. I have also observed that most animals (especially caribou) get exponentially tougher after you put the first bullet into them, with subsequent bullets having less visible effect.
Anyways, it would appear that you and I agree more than we thought, after all.
Have a good weekend.