.338 win mag and its effects on deer?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Moose Country, Ontario
I'm looking at gettin a Sako 85 Stainless Laminate in .338 win mag. I like how versatile the round is, and the heavier loads it can use as compared to my 30-06. I would be using this on moose primarily but would also use it should I find myself in front of elk, bear, etc. if I can ever afford to head out west to hunt.

In my area there is really only moose and deer, so I'm wondering what peoples experince is on using there .338 win mag on whitetails?

Is there excessive meat damage with such a large calibre?

Another round I was considering was a .300 wsm...

Thanks for your input,

Potshot21
 
338 WM, are you kidding??? That's way too small, you need at least a 375 to be an ethical deer hunter..... Sorry, I had to.

It all depends on shot placement. A broadside lung shot won't go through much meat. If it's a quartering front shot you could get one front shoulder and a hind quarter on the opposite side. Bullet choice makes a big difference too. I would go with a 300WM as fine while also being easy to find less expensive ammo.
 
With proper ammo choice you should be fine on deer. Go with a light for caliber round and there should not be too much waste.

You will NEVER be undergunned...that is for sure.

the RECOIL can be humbling at times...here is a pic of me deer hunting with a .338

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The .338 WM kills deer just fine. No excess meat destruction. I use 250 gr bullets almost exclusively. You get less meat destruction with a heavy for caliber bullet than with a light for caliber bullet. All the light bullet does is reduce recoil for those sensitive folks.
 
In Africa i used a .338 to kill a 80lb bushbuck @ 40 yards so you should be good to go for white tail.
I believe daddylonglegs is correct concerning the heavy bullets,but you may still find the insided on the outside.
 
Yeah, I've been thinkin about the recoil too. I've read alot about it being managable with a good quality recoil pad on them. I'm not overly recoil sensitive, but i dont like gettin the crap kicked out of me either.

That being said, is it a real heavy hitter? I dont know anyone who has one or else I'd try one out. The sako is supposed to weigh in at 7 3/4 pounds unscoped, so I would imagine that would help soak up some recoil aswell. Has anyone had experience with recoil pads on them? Make much difference?

Pinkmoon - It must slipped off the lifejacket I assume :D
 
While I can see no reason the .338 cannot be used as a deer rifle, I see no reason to tolerate recoil levels that are obviously a concern for you when there are so many ideal deer cartridges for which recoil just will not be a serious consideration.

Why would you bother to use something that you think might bother you?
 
I use my 338wm for most everything and shoot 250 grn Nosler Partitions or Swift A Frames almost exclusively for hunting. I generally double lung critters, including deer, and you can pretty much eat up to the hole.
 
The 338 Win is hardly a recoil monster.

Lots of guys use the 300Win on deer and I think it is sharper recoiling and few guys wines about it? Heck a real lightweight 30-06 kicks pretty hard too.
Guys that can't handle the recoil of the 338 don't shoot enough.

The 338Win is one of the cleanest rounds you will ever find on meat.
More power than needed? Whatever.
The same can be said of the 270.
Looking at the damage it does to the meat (with a conventional bullet) I tend to agree.

Dead is dead.
A little more power hurts nothing.
In the case of the 338Win it actually saves meat.
 
you're wants with recoil as well as projected animal targets explains a man in need of a
7mm rem magnum... just sayin. :De
if you're honestly concerned on destroying a little meat then a slow heavy core locked bullet is the way to go, or as always just wait for clean rib shots.
i like fast flat guns with high expansion bullets on whitetails. this allows for even "poor" shots to result in a quickly killed animal. but i'm also a "high shoulder" shooter
 
7 mm rem mag is on my list already.

I agree X-Fan, there is no such thing as overkill, dead is dead, but I was more concerned on was losing large quantites of precious wild meat due to using a "howitzer":D

I think I'll stick with my original round choice for my all around steak producing rifle.

Anyone have experience with the Sako 85 stainless laminate? I was also considering a Browning X-Bolt white gold...
 
Here is a spike moose ribcage from 3 or 4 years ago. This was a double lung at about 100 yards with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. I don't think the blood shot meat on either side of the animal would have filled a coffee cup.

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I have a Sako 85 in 338WM but a synthetic stainless, extremely nice rifle IMO, depending the load recoil was tolorable but I braked mine (its a pussy now).
While I haven't wacked a deer with it the animals I've seen dead have the most damage with light fast bullets. The big heavy's seem to just bore a hole much like the previous pic, I've seen little 6.5's (albeit 6.5/300) blow several ribs to schrappnel and turn a lot of meat into goo...
 
I hunt mostly with a Ruger in 338win. 250gr SGK result in dead deer with little meat loss... 200gr nosler BT result in a god awful mess, stick to the heavier bullets.
 
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