338-06
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Weatherby chambered it for a couple of years and then dropped it. No other companies have bothered with it as it doesn't have the magic word "magnum" anywhere in it's name. 
A few used Weatherby rifles are kicking around but by and large it is a custom proposition. Thanks to the factory Weatherby ammo loaded to the teeth still kicking around I would suggest that if you have one built have your gunsmith cut the chamber with a long Weatherby type throat.
It is a very nice cartridge and only gives up about 100 - 150 fps to the 338 Winchester with bullets up to 250 grains. It gives a sizable performance gain over the parent 30-06 and can throw a 200 grain bullet about as fast as a 30-06 can shoot a 165 grainer. It holds a very small edge over it's cousin the .35 Whelen when used up close with heavy bullets and a more noticeable increase in performance at ranges over 250 yards.
With bullets to 200 grains it is a bona-fide 350 yard caribou, deer and sheep round. With 250 grain bullets it will cleanly take large bears and bison.
It is an easy round to load for and it is generally not fussy about what you feed it.
A few used Weatherby rifles are kicking around but by and large it is a custom proposition. Thanks to the factory Weatherby ammo loaded to the teeth still kicking around I would suggest that if you have one built have your gunsmith cut the chamber with a long Weatherby type throat. It is a very nice cartridge and only gives up about 100 - 150 fps to the 338 Winchester with bullets up to 250 grains. It gives a sizable performance gain over the parent 30-06 and can throw a 200 grain bullet about as fast as a 30-06 can shoot a 165 grainer. It holds a very small edge over it's cousin the .35 Whelen when used up close with heavy bullets and a more noticeable increase in performance at ranges over 250 yards.
With bullets to 200 grains it is a bona-fide 350 yard caribou, deer and sheep round. With 250 grain bullets it will cleanly take large bears and bison.
It is an easy round to load for and it is generally not fussy about what you feed it.
Epps just sold a used Weatherby Ultralight .338-06 with dies for $1500. For that $$ you could build one on a used Rem 700. I looked for a .338-06 last summer, but couldn't find what I wanted, so I kept my .338WM. You could load it down to the 06.
I'm in the process of having one built...been wanting one for a number of years now.
I had a lightweight 35 Whelen built a few years ago (7lbs scoped) and it was an amazing rifle...super lightweight and plenty of horsepower.
Hunted it one season and it accounted for 3 blackies (buddy shot one), a nice bull moose, a whitetail and mulie buck.
I ended up selling it, as many rifle loonies will understand.
I swore the next one would be a 338-06, due to a few things:
338 bullet selection is amazing, and the BC/SD of 338 bullets is much better than 358 bullets of like weight.
The 338-06 will push 225 and 250gr bullets to the same speeds as the identical weight bullets in the 35 Whelen.
This one too will be a lightweight w/Pac Nor # 2 contour bbl and McMillan edge stock on a Rem 700 Stainless action...I'll let you know how I like it when it's finished (hopefully in time for bear season).
I had a lightweight 35 Whelen built a few years ago (7lbs scoped) and it was an amazing rifle...super lightweight and plenty of horsepower.
Hunted it one season and it accounted for 3 blackies (buddy shot one), a nice bull moose, a whitetail and mulie buck.
I ended up selling it, as many rifle loonies will understand.
I swore the next one would be a 338-06, due to a few things:
338 bullet selection is amazing, and the BC/SD of 338 bullets is much better than 358 bullets of like weight.
The 338-06 will push 225 and 250gr bullets to the same speeds as the identical weight bullets in the 35 Whelen.
This one too will be a lightweight w/Pac Nor # 2 contour bbl and McMillan edge stock on a Rem 700 Stainless action...I'll let you know how I like it when it's finished (hopefully in time for bear season).
I have one,FN/Shilen.I load mine with 225s at 2650.It allows loading 4 in the mag,and thus a better fit than a magnum in shallow mag.action. With the longer mag of a M-700 you can get a little more powder than I can,then you could stuff it full of sc H-4350 and get 2725,which is pretty close to the 2800 of most 338WM.
I'm also having one built. All the parts are gathered, I just have to get the action and blank in the mail to Mr. Leeper. I'm pretty excited about this one, expecting it will be my main rifle for mountain/foothills hunts.
The goal is to keep it as light and handy as possible.
-LH Winchester M70 action trued w/ Williams extractor & trigger job
-22" featherweight contour RKS barrel
-Williams Orberndorf bottom metal
-Talley LW rings
-Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x36
-Factory wood stock for now, McMillan Edge Compact eventually
The goal is to keep it as light and handy as possible.
-LH Winchester M70 action trued w/ Williams extractor & trigger job
-22" featherweight contour RKS barrel
-Williams Orberndorf bottom metal
-Talley LW rings
-Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x36
-Factory wood stock for now, McMillan Edge Compact eventually
I had one and was quite disappointed in the velocity it got. Wasn't even close to 35 Whelen speeds. Had it rechambered to 338 Win, and got factory velocities easily.
Will be interested in what kind of perfromance you guys get.
Ted
Will be interested in what kind of perfromance you guys get.
Ted
I had one and was quite disappointed in the velocity it got. Wasn't even close to 35 Whelen speeds. Had it rechambered to 338 Win, and got factory velocities easily.
Will be interested in what kind of perfromance you guys get.
Ted
2550fps with 250 gr TBBC,
2740fps with 225gr Hornady SP,
2850fps with 200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips,
3000 fps with 175 Barnes "X"
My rifle has a 24" King barrel and "Weatherby" length throat. Brass life is excelent and some Weatherby (Norma) brass have been loaded over a dozen times and have yet to be trimmed.
I found the perfect powder to be 4 grains slower than the 4064 class and 2 grains faster than the 4350 class to be able to get the velocity with the 225gr. Ramshot Big Game worked great for me,but IMR-4007 and N-550 are in that same in between class.
Lhm70 338-06
Thanks, Rob. I hope so, I've been planning this one for a long time. Lot's of the details have been changed / refined over time, (barrel length/contour, bottom metal/ no bottom metal, etc.) I guess that's the one advantage of moving slow.
It was always gonna be a 338-06 though.
It's been awhile since I've been this excited about a rifle, can't wait to hunt with it.
Thanks, Rob. I hope so, I've been planning this one for a long time. Lot's of the details have been changed / refined over time, (barrel length/contour, bottom metal/ no bottom metal, etc.) I guess that's the one advantage of moving slow.
It was always gonna be a 338-06 though.
It's been awhile since I've been this excited about a rifle, can't wait to hunt with it.
Well, there goes that.........
Guess this one will be going on the back burner for awhile. Overnight some upstanding dirtbags stole my cargo trailer and its contents from the jobsite. I'm so pissed........... I haven't the words.
Why can't people earn an honest living?? Seems like a pretty lousy job, being up at 200 on a winter night dragging a trailer off.............
Guess this one will be going on the back burner for awhile. Overnight some upstanding dirtbags stole my cargo trailer and its contents from the jobsite.
I'm so pissed........... I haven't the words.Why can't people earn an honest living?? Seems like a pretty lousy job, being up at 200 on a winter night dragging a trailer off.............
On my second, great caliber, one of the best for all around hunting. - dan
