.338 Win Mag Ammunition?!

.338 Win Mag is very common in a lot of stores, and usually has a decent selection avail. Mine has only ever shot one box of factory ammo. My experience with that one box, was, that it was advertised at 2660fps, shot 2440fps, 250gr Partition in Fed Premium. That was about 1990.
I use partitions in it now, a 210 at 2950 and a 250 at 2750. I see no need to use the 250's, the 210 does the job to a tee.
Japanese made guns are as good or even better than quite a few others. They can compete with anything out there.
 
I have s vanguard s1 in .243. Great gun for the money. It is from the end of the s1 run and the trigger is amazing on it. I was very impressed. You shouldn't have a problem finding ammo. I have a .340 and it rocks the 225 grainers.
 
Ganderite said:
338 is not one of those calibers where you need a lot of ammo. not exactly a plinker.

Availability of ammo is an issue only in that if you travel and lose/forget your ammo, you will want to consider how readily available local ammo would be. 338mag is common enough that it should be available.

You can order in 5 boxes of ammo and be set up for life.

The Vanguard is a good cheap rifle. A gunsmith could improve the trigger a bit and it would be a very good rifle.

It will handle all weights of bullet, but I elected to settle on just one bullet, for all game - the 250gr. In smaller game, like deer, the heavy bullet is slow enough that it is not terribly destructive.
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I don't very often disagree with you, but I do in this case. Powerful rifles take dedication to master, and maintaining a degree of competence requires regular shooting. If you experiment with a few different bullet weights or styles, that ties up brass. I like to keep a minimum of 300 pieces of brass on hand, and usually I have quite a bit more for my powerful rifles. If you’re married to a single bullet, that changes things . . . a little, but few of us are.

I do agree with your comments on the Vanguard though.
 
It is, but I don't really consider the 338 WM a "powerful rifle". I have had one in a Ruger Mk1 for 20 some odd years, shoot it with handloads, 210 gr Partitions at 2900 fps. Great killer, but not terribly obnoxious in the recoil department. I find the jump from 338 WM to 340 Wby and 338 LM in like weight rifles much tougher to deal with, though I still run them in unbraked rifles, as the noise is worse then the recoil.

As to the Vanguard, it was a bargain as a Mossberg, a S&W, a Wby or a Howa, good rifles for the money. Used to be able to buy just the actions and I saw a lot of custom hunting rifles built with these actions back in the day. - day
 
The term "powerful rifle" is certainly a subjective one, and terms of reference should be established. But for the sake of this discussion, lets draw a line at the .30/06, where cartridges firing heavier bullets with similar powder charges generate enough recoil to challenge an occasional shooter. Now and then someone even objects to .30/06 recoil. while others go prone with their .375s and .416s. But those of us who have become comfortable with the heavy hitters, weren't born that way.
 
But those of us who have become comfortable with the heavy hitters, weren't born that way.
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I tend to forget what it was like when I started, with 30-30s, .270s and 1 1/4 oz duck loads leaveing bruises and assorted trauma. Poor gun fit and jokes for pads played a big part, as did being basically skin and bones. If someone had told me then that a .375 was a fun plinker I would have doubted his sanity, but perceptions and reality changes.
 
I find the threshold of comfortable plinking at the .338-9.3 range personally. If you increase the LOP to 14" for I it is much more comfortable.
That said, if you get sighted in and away from the bench to actually pratice, the .338 is quite easy to manage. Its the super .338 to .416 crowd that will ruin retinas and shoulders.
 
Stock design and how you mount and hold the rifle can have considerable effect on managing recoil. . My 338 WM is a pre-64 Model 70 that was originally purchased with a steel buttplate rather than the normal 'Alaskan" package that included a patent dated pad with the earlier models and a Winchester webbed pad in the last few years. . The NRA stock design with the large area of the buttplate combined with a high comb monte carlo stock allow the recoil to be quite manageable. . Light slender stocks with excessive drop can be down right rude.

Shooting from the bench can be a problem because sitting there with the butt stuck in your shouilder and your upper body hunkered ahead and looking into the scope allows the recoil to drive the rifle straight back into your shoulder. If you don't keep your face down on the comb of the stock it'll smack you a good one on the face. . With the heavy hitters, it's sometimes better to take the first few shots from the standing position. That way your body will rock back and help to cushion the recoil. .Once you're comfortable shooting the gun from the standing position, then take a few shots from the bench to sight in the scope. . You'll soon learn how to hold the rifle from this position to help allow your body to cushion the recoil. .

I will say, my 375 pre-64 is a little easier to shoot, but I contibute that to the C-1 heavy barrel that Winchester used. The first year or two, the 375 Mag, used the standard barrel, with the sight boss, but the recoil was extreme so the barrel was design heavy and this held it down to a manageable level, The 338 WM has the standard barrel and does whip up a tad and will smack you one if you don't keep your face firmly down. A high comb stock and the height of the scope rings are important. You don't want to be raising your head to see into the scope.

Rod
 
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