.338 win mag and its effects on deer?

Potshot21 said:
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...
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I've shot game with both and the high velocity 7mag is a lot messier.
The 338bullet jackets are very thick, heavy, and are intended for much larger game.
Shoot a deer and it will generally bounce 20 yards then tip over.
The bullet just goes clip, clip, in, out....Dead.
Eat right up to the bullet hole....Dozens of animals with little to no meat that looked like blood pudding.
I'm not guessing.

If you asked about the 338Edge I would give you a very different advice, but then again adding 500fps to any bullet will make it a bit more varmint like.
Not ideal on deer. ;)
 
I have owned 4 .338 rifles over the years,(I still have my Ruger Mk II S/S) and I find the recoil less punishing than my .300winmags. The recoil is kinda like a big thud/push, while the .300wm was a lot sharper/faster. Keep your bullets either 225 or 250grains and you'll be "Cookin with motoroil Bucky" !!!!!
Bet you'll be glad its in your hands when one of those big ol' northern Ontario moose walks out in front of you!
 
My experience with shooting deer with a 338WM is that the deer die
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X2, kills bears and moose too. Imagine that.:D

A buddy of mine has settled on the 210 gr Partition for everything.
 
My 338 was my main hunting rifle for years.

Shot everything from gophers to antelope to bears and moose.

Works well on everything.

Shame I haven't shot it in 5-6 years.:redface:
 
At one point i had a 30.06 and a 338mag. Years later i still have my 338mag. By far my favorite, and to be honest i found the recoil with the 30.06 to be just nasty. Same for the 300's.
 
Here's a baby buck I shot this year with my 358 Norma. Hunting elk at the time and he walked out and wouldn't go away. I was using the 225TSX at 2900+ fps, and shot Bambi at 170 yards.

It was thrown about 30 feet through the air, and it's hair caught on fire. Other wise an uneventful kill. ;)

Minimal bloodshot meat actually, certainly less than others I have shot with smaller, faster cartridges.

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First deer I shot with the 338 was at about 150yds, in the back of the head, between the ears. Saw the red mist thru the scope. There was one eyeball and one ear still attached to the skin on the right side, that was all that was left.
Shot one thru the frt shoulder on a hard quartering shot at about 200 yds, I just cut that shoulder off with the hide. Shot one head on at about 40 yds, travelled about 1 ft down the spine, stopped just poking out the top, lost about 3 inches of backstrap.
Just don't pound it thru bone if you want meat.
 
If you want to save meat, the answer is bullet placement, but if you just have to shoot through the shoulders, then the TSX is the other answer, regardless of caliber.
 
I have used my Ruger No1 in 338 for years on VI deer. I use a 225 Grandslam. It all depends on shot placement. Use a good quality bullet and it will do anything you ask. Recoil is less than my 300win in the same gun.
 
RickF said:
Here's a baby buck I shot this year with my 358 Norma. Hunting elk at the time and he walked out and wouldn't go away. I was using the 225TSX at 2900+ fps, and shot Bambi at 170 yards.

It was thrown about 30 feet through the air, and it's hair caught on fire. Other wise an uneventful kill. ;)

Minimal bloodshot meat actually, certainly less than others I have shot with smaller, faster cartridges.

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did it gut the deer as well?
 
Just love seeing & hearing stories of fans of the 338 win mag, I just can't believe so many truely love this cal & I'm one of them. Yes it is a great deer gun & ya dead is dead seen a few elk caribou moose bear & deer get thumped by this amazing round with the right bullet weight one can hunt any game animal in North America & many more abroad. It really does shine with the 250's, but I reloaded a batch of 225's & it ran pretty flat & fast for a big bullet very little damadge as well like every one else has stated. So you would be doing yourself no harm in getting a 338 & kick, who notices it when you're shooting at game???
 
I took this doe with a .338 Win mag at 250+yards with a chest shot and it was probably one of my cleanest kills in terms of entrance/exit holes and meat damage. Deer dropped so fast I had no idea where it went after the gun went boom.

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All of us here used to use the .270 extensively, even on Grizzlies. Since we've swithched to the 200 Ballist Silvertip in the .338 were almost batting 100%. We found that you waste a whole lost less meat with one shot from a .338 than 2 or 3 with a smaller caliber.
I use two callibers for everything I hunt, a .22 and a .338
 
.338 win mag for deer

I usually hunt deer with an older sako finnbear .338 with 250 gr. NP bullets. My gun and scope weighed 9 lbs. and with the new bipod it is now 10 lbs. I shot 2 whitetail last month and because of the gun weight I did't notice the recoil.
 
I have shoot 2 deer win the 338 Winmag.
bullet use : 200 Ballistic Tip.
Very happy with the result.
Dead on the tracks, perfect shot.
didnt lost any meat.
First one : ribs
Second: front, facing me. in the white spot.
 
emerson said:
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.
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No, no, no......to be an ethical deer hunter you need to use a .338 Lapua minimum, preferably a .50 BMG. :D
 
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