338 Marlin Express -- any thoughts or comments?

I guess I haven't been paying attention as the .338 Marlin is news to me. Apparently it is based on a rimmed version of the .376 Styer, which is a bit of a head scratcher as there are other .30/06 capacity cartridges designed for short actions like the .284 Winchester, and you can add a rim to almost anything. They make a big deal about the advantages of .376 Styer's thick web, but that is lost on cartridges designed to function within the pressure limitations of a traditional lever action rifle. Perhaps the investment in .376 Styer tooling wasn't paying off due to the success of the .375 Ruger, and they needed to breath new life into that dead dog. Ballistically, the cartridge doesn't set the world on fire, although new cartridges with big hype do sell rifles for a while.

IMHO, a better idea is a 95 Marlin chambered for a cartridge that seats a .358 caliber bullet in a necked up .348 Winchester, with less taper, and a neck about 1.5 calibers long. The .358 has greater versatility thanks to a much broader range of bullet weights from 90 grs pistol bullets through to 300 grs rifle bullets. Because any given bullet weight in a larger caliber will produce higher velocities than the same weight of bullet in a smaller caliber when fired in a cartridge of similar capacity, a .348 or a .45/70 reconfigured to .358 would produce better ballistics across the board than the .338 (Styer) Marlin, without the necessity of reinventing the wheel.
 
So what is the difference if they used a 376 Styer or some other one?

It may not set the world on fire, but in my opinion there's nothing wrong at all with a 338 caliber at 200 gr. with the same velocities as a 180 gr. 30-06. And for us lever fans, it is a sweet package.

And my guess is that a 35 caliber version of the Leverevolution will come along shortly. But I guess some people figure we have all the calibers we ever need, so no need to develop anything new.
 
The difference is that the .45/70 and .348 Winchester cases are already a proven design for use in lever action rifles, that provide slightly more capacity than the .376 Styer. Design and innovation occur for two reasons; to make a superior product and/or to make money. If the design does not result in a superior product, then its purpose is to increase profit, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it does not benefit the consumer. Years ago, there was a .375-284 designed for the Savage 99. A 270 gr bullet at nearly 2700 fps is pretty impressive for a lever gun. Now there was a lever action cartridge that was better than anything else available at that time. A new cartridge that offers nothing better doesn't interest me much, but clearly the .375 Ruger and any family of cartridges developed from it, the .22 and 6PPC, the WSMs, and the Ultramags have been major improvements, were as the .376 Styer, the .416 Remington, the WSSMs, and the SAUMs are, IMHO, answers in search of questions.
 
i've been at this game for going on 40 years, yet i only have 2 cartridges- and about the only thing that DOESN'T inhabit the rockies is BIG BEARS- relatively speaking- to me a 9 footer is a big bear- and i've seen them that big- anyway, the two cartridges- a 308/180 and a 338 win mag- and i only use the win mag when its a long shot on a BIG animal- got it for that once in a lifetime trip to kodiak island, which probably won't happen at this stage in my life-
so 99 % of the time it's the 308/180- and there's ONLY 200 fps twixt that and the '06- if a new rifle doesn't offer anything SPECTACURLY different, i won't buy it- i haven't bought a big bore since 91
 
Admittedly, I am not into this stuff as much as most of you guys are, and my knowledge is very limited, but I still don't get your point entirely Boomer with respect to the use of the 376 Styer or one of the others mentioned. Whether they necked down a 45/70 or a 348 Win or a 376 Styer, I don't see what the deal is.

Having said that, for me personally, I am a lever fan, and particularly a Marlin lever fan. I absolutely love the look and feel of the classic tube-fed lever. I also like that the Leverevolution has helped somewhat improve the performance of older lever calibers like the 45/70 and the 30-30 and now you can use spire point versions of these calibers in tube-fed levers. The Leverevolution has also allowed for newer, more powerful cartridges to be used in tube-fed levers (the 338 ME for example). To me, who is a lever fan, this is a good thing.

Over the last few years, my rifle of choice for the hunting I do has been either a Win M70 or a Browning BPR, both in 30-06. I primarily hunt deer, and hopefully some decade soon I will get drawn for a moose tag once again. And every few years I'll do a little black bear hunting. So now I can get almost identical performance to the 30-06 in a slick tube-fed lever Marlin, which I could not get before. Now the BLR is a great lever gun that was chambered in great calibers, including the 30-06 and many that are more powerful, but in all honesty, I am not a fan of the BLR (or I should say I do not like it as much as I like the Marlin although I will someday own a BLR, likely in a varmint caliber). And, although I would love to have one someday, the 45/70 does not fit into my hunting plans right now as I don't hunt the big dangerous game seen up north or out west.

So for me, the new 338 ME is a very attractive option and I don't care what base case they used. It has the performance I want in a package I really like. And talking to perhaps the largest hunting shop on the east coast, getting ammunition is not going to be an issue.
 
My .308 MXLR sadly has become one of my safe queens, Got tons of brass powder, FTX bullets, and more factory loads. BUT its just to pretty to lug through the bush. So she don't get out much.

So how much is a box of ammo for the .338ME?
And how many can you get?
 
When I seen the $43 a box for the .338 I thought it was @ par with my .338 Federal. Although, the $40 for the .308ME is pretty high. I've always paid $25 to $29 for it.
In these situations with new cartridges, for the long term , I would by all the ammo I could.
And of course "Save Yer Brass."
 
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