Looking for opinions on new 300 or 338

tzclark

tzclark

Member
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Location
Chilliwack, BC
Ok, so i decided that I am going to purchase a new rifle, I have all the pistols I need for now. I am looking to get a 300 win, 300wby, 300 ultra or 338. I have my eyes on a weatherby vanguard as the reviews seem to be fairly good. Now heres the issue, I dont want to spend over 1000 including having a muzzle brake installed. I like taking my wife and kids out and a 300 or even worse a 338 is going to be pretty hard on my wife.

I like the looks of the laminated mossberg 4x4 but the reviews make me question it too much.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
As long as the 338 isn't a six lbs package it wont kick to bad. Assuming you are refering to a 338 win mag, the 300 ultra will probably kick worse due to the increased velocity.

For what its worth, my wife and my mom have both taken game with out 338's over the years.
We have 6 in the family, and favor it as the best cartridge for BC hunting. Obviously others will disagree with us. But we've run into the big bears enough times to know better....
 
Any 300 is a waste of your time then, you already have two!! Id say a 338 isnt bigger enough to even be worth it in your case. Load 220's in the 30-06
Get something in a .35 cal and up
Maybe a 375 could be fun...
 
Me? Totally depends what you want to use it for and your budget. I always find myself buying a gun because i like it and justifying it with whatever reasons i can come up with that will get my wife to release the funds :)

My idea of fun may be totally different from yours. But id be happy to bs with you and tell you all my biased opinions
 
If you want something shiny and new to shoot at targets then get a .223

Why bother with the recoil + extreme noise of the muzzle brake (if you need one, btw, I think it is too much rifle) and large amount of powder when guys are shooting .223, various 6 and 6.5mm cartridges out to 1000 yards?
 
Go for a 325 wsm in the balistic chart I was reading from winchester the other day it has a better trajectory and more energy at 500yrds than the 338 winmag with similar grain bullets
 
That and (in my opinion) the 325 is destined for obsolete status.

Putting big holes in paper, or game, is very fun. Try a 45-70 as its the poor mans big bore and recoil with factory ammo is similar to a 30-06.

I looooove my big bores. Lots of fun.
 
I personally really like the .300win mag. It may be slower than the .300wby and the .300RUM but, for the price difference in ammo and the extra recoil, it’s not worth the extra 100 - 200fps. I like how the .300RUM is actually the .300 Canadian Magnum but Remington purchased the design but other than that I’m not spending $70 + for a box of 20 rounds. The .300win mag in the Winchester Super-X Grey Box is only $27+ for 20 rounds. Although I would use the Winchester Ballistic Silvertip Black Box. It’s a good middle of the road quality stuff. The .300 win mag has won countless 1000 meter shooting competitions so it’s a proven round. If ammo cost doesn't mean anything to you then a .300 RUM and wby have a small clear advantage over the .300win mag.
 
Yeah, a 300 win mag is great. Only thing is, he already has two 308 cal rifles....

Although, i guess I'm one to talk. I have two 338 win mags and two 458 cal.

Get a 358 Norma on an old Husky.
Or a something chambered in 9.3x62
Ahh too many choices.
 
Last edited:
Well, seeing as how you asked, I have a lot of experience with all the above cartridges and I've had a 30 year love affair with the 300 Wby. I found the 300 Win not quite up to all that I needed it for and I played extensively with the 30-404 30 deg wildcat, now known as the 300RUM, but the recoil and blast were significantly more than the Wby or Win. I have used the 300 Wby literally all over the world on all sizes of game and I find it superb. If you like loading you can drive 150 gn TTSX at extreme speeds and you can load 220 Parts that make a 338 look anemic. Don't let anyone tell you it's no better than an '06 because I can tell you from real world experience, that's like saying the swift is no better than the 222, it just isn't true.
I've taken game as small as red duiker and suni and as large as Yukon / Alaska moose and Eland and pretty much everything in between. I've taken game at over 600 mtrs and at 16 mtrs. It is the rifle I grab if I'm just heading out for an afternoon or Africa for 4 weeks, and I wouldn't think twice about unleashing it on a huge bear or lion, with the utmost confidence in the outcome. Hell, given some 200 gn TSX's I would hunt Cape Buffalo with it and not feel the least bit undergunned (of coarse they don't allow this), but that is the kind of confidence I have in the 300 Wby and bullet combos we have today.
I've owned several 338s and was never impressed by this cartridge shot several head of game and was always disappointed in the reaction, just not a great killing cartridge, and was never impressed with the 308 trajectory of the 338.
The 300 RUM is also an outstanding cartridge but not for the uninitiated, the recoil is worse than my 340 Wby, way worse than my .375 H+H and is really only for the seasoned and desensitized shooter, but it IS a devastating killer.

Again for what it's worth, JMHO.
 
c-fmbi - I've also owned and hunted with both the .300 Win and .300 Wby. Why was the .300 Win "not quite up to what you needed it for"? I like both, but realistically speaking they are the same, performance-wise.

My pet load for the .300 Win Mag uses a 220gr Partition @ 2858fps out of a 24" barrel - powder is H1000. With the .300 Wby I used 200gr Partitions and IMR 7828 at just over 3000 fps. My various .338's have propelled 225gr bullets @ 2900 and 250gr bullets at just over 2700fps. Hardly anemic, by any definition. Again, I like them all, but realistically speaking there is hardly any difference worth noting between the Win, Wby and Norma versions for that matter.

Not me - this guy has way more talent then I do, but it goes to show what a .300 Win can do - the Wby would have done exactly the same thing.

[youtube]cWAXQUCv8qo[/youtube]
 
Last edited:
todbartell said:
f:P:f:P:
Click to expand...

No kidding.

Read a couple Guns and Ammo and PRESTO! Internet expert.

The .338 hits quite a bit harder than the .300 if you ask those with lots of experience. I still stand by the statement that the .338 is the first real step up from the .277 to .308 cals.

The .325 is cool, but doesn't come anywhere close to .338 Win. Mag. ballistics all things being equal.

A 9-10lb .338 is not too bad, and if you break it, it will really feel like a .270. I'd buy a Winchester Sporter or a Ruger No.1 if you can find one. That is about the right weight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom