Reality about 338 Win Mag Recoil
- Thread starter alberta.elk
- Start date
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Remember that when one is sheep/elk hunting you are also defending your freshly killed game from 4 legged BMF'ers that also like meat.
Personally, i have had too many crashes to climb mountains ....or trees.
There comes a point were the laws of physics kick in with trying to push bullets down tiny barrels. By which i mean the point were one gains little except recoil, muzzle flash/blast, over bore amounts of powder, barrel wear; to gain little, in energy and speed. For me the calibers to bores, beyond which you gain little would be.
.264>>>>264wm
.284>>>>7mm Wea
.300>>>>300 Wea
.338>>>>340 Wea
.375>>>>375 H&H
I own some of those, the 338 sits behind the 340 Wea, but also does 95% of what the Weatherby will do while burning 10+grs less powder. It is simply one of the great medium bore calibers, in that it sits right at the nexus where great game performance meets overbore.
Personally, i have had too many crashes to climb mountains ....or trees.
There comes a point were the laws of physics kick in with trying to push bullets down tiny barrels. By which i mean the point were one gains little except recoil, muzzle flash/blast, over bore amounts of powder, barrel wear; to gain little, in energy and speed. For me the calibers to bores, beyond which you gain little would be.
.264>>>>264wm
.284>>>>7mm Wea
.300>>>>300 Wea
.338>>>>340 Wea
.375>>>>375 H&H
I own some of those, the 338 sits behind the 340 Wea, but also does 95% of what the Weatherby will do while burning 10+grs less powder. It is simply one of the great medium bore calibers, in that it sits right at the nexus where great game performance meets overbore.
I saw sheeps almost every time I mule deer hunted this year, see the same sheeps while fishing. I can confirm the presence of 4 legged BMF'ers as well. Some days I saw more blackies and grizz than mulies this year. Always felt a lot better carrying the .338 WM than my 7.62x39 Zastava...
Sounds like a nice part of the world, man.
Good God. I've only ever driven through there.
I moved to BC from Nova Scotia 100% for the mountains, and married a girl who thinks Burnaby is too far from Vancouver. Can't make that #### up!
Enjoy it for me!
I'm certainly envious, I was going to PM you asking your location till you posted this.
Truly a beautiful area..... Thanks for posting..
my experience mirrors yours.
I have a ruger 77 standard, 7mm RM that was no fun to shoot due to stock recoil pad ...err.... hockey puck LOL , actually physically hurt too much too shoot after the 5th shot of 165gr.
right about the same time I got a rem 700 bdl in a b&c glass stock in .338 winmag with a decelerator pad. Shooting 210 nosler partitions, I had little trouble hitting 12 rounds before the should wanted a break. I was expecting much worse felt recoil due to all the comments I had read on the stupid internet and was very pleased that my 5 ft 10 , 160lbs , permanent back/pelvis injured body had little problem shooting the .338 WM.
I went out and got a limbsaver recoil pad for that 7MM RM ruger and it's a whole new rifle and doesn't hurt my shoulder anymore
Sadly I am back in the city now, and not the good city Bartledan lives in. Speaking of which I am envious of your access to the Gulf Islands, probably my favourite place in the world.
This area has the same problems with hikers conflicting with hunters and shrinking zones that the lower mainland does it appears unfortunately. I guess you have to be willing to walk a long way uphill and back with a deer to avoid these conflicts, the benefit in my eyes would be no one on atv's or in trucks. The elk seem to stay in the areas where only bowhunting is allowed unfortunately.
It is pretty neat to see some animals grazing on grass in a distant meadow from the mountainside, take out the binos and see that they are in fact grizzlies mowing down on some grass like extremely deadly cows.
I have diverged totally now though.
This area has the same problems with hikers conflicting with hunters and shrinking zones that the lower mainland does it appears unfortunately. I guess you have to be willing to walk a long way uphill and back with a deer to avoid these conflicts, the benefit in my eyes would be no one on atv's or in trucks. The elk seem to stay in the areas where only bowhunting is allowed unfortunately.
It is pretty neat to see some animals grazing on grass in a distant meadow from the mountainside, take out the binos and see that they are in fact grizzlies mowing down on some grass like extremely deadly cows.
I have diverged totally now though.
C-90, I have taken sheep with 264 WM, 7mm RM, 7mm-300 WM, 7mm-300 Wby, 300 WM and 300 Wby. I have never actually taken a ram with the 340, but I have taken caribou, goat and several bears with the 340. Just the way things worked out I guess.
c-fbmi that is a pretty good selection of the hot sub .30 cals, that is a whole world of shooting I have never dabbled in.
I bet they all work well for elk/mountain sheeps. .338 win probably shoots like a rainbow by comparison.
I bet they all work well for elk/mountain sheeps. .338 win probably shoots like a rainbow by comparison.
Mountain sheep is without a doubt the finest eating game animal in North America !!!!!!! There is no such thing as a tough cut on a sheep and I have shot the oldest ram recorded in the Yukon and my buddy the second. It is finely textured meat and quite dense but tender. IT DOES NOT TASTE LIKE MUTTON !!!!!! But it would somewhat compare with very good lamb. It is not as strongly flavored as most deer and elk I have had, not that a lot of the deer/elk I have had was strong but sheep is a little milder and possibly a little sweeter.
At at one time I would have never believed this, but Doug is bang on. There is nothing better than sheep ribs cooked over the fire before you pack up and head out. Sheep is one of my favourite wild game meats, it's something everyone should get a chance to taste. Sheep steaks are awesome and tender. WILD sheep that is, you couldn't pay me to eat one more bite of domestic.
That's enough motivation to make me climb a mountain. Thanks. I'll never be able to afford a sheep hunt unfortunately. I have to make it to Africa and new Zealand first
I have a Win M70 CRF Alaskan in .338WM. Really nice rifle. Weight is 8lbs 8oz topped with a Zeiss Conquest HD5 2.5-10x42 Z-Plex. Talley Rings & Bases. Total weight is around 10lbs. Haven't had a huge amount of time to play with it. Only broke the barrel in so far. Recoil is fairly stiff from the bench. Offhand is brisk.
