The 338 Winchester Magnum Overlooked or Overhyped?

I have chambered many .338 barrels from the .338-06, the 338 Win Mag, the .340 Weatherby Mag, the 338 Ultra Mag, the .338 Edge, the .338 Lapua, the .338 Lapua AI.

If you want a 22 inch barrel the .338-06 performs well, probably out to about 400 yards, the .338 Win Mag with a 24 inch barrel will gain considerably velocity, the .340 Weatherby with a 26 inch barrel with gain considerably more velocity, it's really stretches out there with a lot of smack ... every one I have talked to that has used a .340 Weatherby really likes it, how devastating it is on game. The rest of the larger cases really require 28 inch and longer barrels to get the most velocity... big heavy bulky rifles.

If you can handle the recoil a relatively compact .340 will outperform a .338 Win Mag by a lot...
 
Well Buckmastr, I can tell you have never used a 340...........I have gut shot 2 animals with the 340 and it killed both instantly on the spot. So it is obvious to me that you have never shot any game with the 340 Wby. Just more internet ballistic assumptons............One was a caribou and the other was a wolf.
 
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c-fbmi said:
Well Buckmastr, I can tell you have never used a 340...........I have gut shot 2 animals with the 340 and it killed both instantly on the spot. So it is obvious to me that you have never shot any game with the 340 Wby. Just more internet ballistic assumptons............One was a caribou and the other was a wolf.
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and this is the minima caliber to use for that kind of game up here ...
 
c-fbmi said:
And just what is that experience, pray tell.........I have successfully hunted and taken game with both larger and smaller calibers and cartridges, so it is not my shooting as you insinuate. I quite handily shoot 375s and 416s with great aplomb and many 1 shot flops, as well as my 340 so obviously it is not my shooting, the cartridge is flawed and does not kill like it should..........period. I can assemble a herd of guys I know who have tried it and all found it lacking in it's ability to anchor and kill game as it's paper ballistics says it should. I can also assemble a herd of guys who will tell stories of how the 350 RM kills all out of proportion to it's paper ballistics. What the paper and tables say is not necessarily what happens when taken afield and used on actual animals.
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c-fbmi said:
Well Buckmastr, I can tell you have never used a 340...........I have gut shot 2 animals with the 340 and it killed both instantly on the spot. So it is obvious to me that you have never shot any game with the 340 Wby. Just more internet ballistic assumptons............One was a caribou and the other was a wolf.
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So about that shooting....
 
When I wanted too start moose hunting the guys would not take me the first year because the biggest gun i had was a 30-30,, was told it was not big enough .. So the next year a guy offered too lend my a gun .. He had a 300 min mag and a 338 win mag both model 70..I took both with me as he offered both and I wanted too try both out ,, Did not think I would get too try both on a moose but wanted too shoot both anyway .. Ended up shooting a moose with the 338 .. first year moose hunting .. first year hunting anything on cuts you could see forever on .. so was inexperienced for sure .. Moose was walking through some poplar and i should have waited a second for the bull too walk out of that stuff.. anyway shot though a 4 inch tree and hit him in the shoulder .. he died right there .. I was impressed with how it worked for sure .. But in my case anyway the 338 was every thing I wanted as far as recoil .. the next day i met a guy hunting with a 340 weatherby .. he showed my a shell and I told him I wanted too buy a shell off him .. he gave me one and I still have it .. I pull it out every time I think I am a real man and just look at it LOL I now own a 300 and 338 of my own .. I believe a 338 is all the gun a guy would need in north america .. and the recoil is just about at the limit for most people anyway too shoot with out flinching . With the bullets today the 300 will kill for sure .. and I have took moose at 250 - 300 yards with no issue ,, But I still hold HIGH regard for the 338
 
RRH.........not everything works as one would hope in the bush or the barrens, the wolf was running about 200 mtrs out, I thought I was pretty lucky to hit him actually, and I underestimated the wind on the caribou, sh!t happens..........such is real world hunting.
Everyone should try hunting caribou up on Eagle Plains when the temps hit -35 and the wind gusts up to 60 Kts........it's a riot.
 
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c-fbmi said:
RRH.........not everything works as one would hope in the bush or the barrens, the wolf was running about 200 mtrs out, I thought I was pretty lucky to hit him actually, and I underestimated the wind on the caribou, sh!t happens..........such is real world hunting.
Everyone should try hunting caribou up on Eagle Plains when the temps hit -35 and the wind gusts up to 60 Kts........it's a riot.
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Exactly,#### happens. Thats why this sounds so silly,

c-fbmi said:
"so it is not my shooting as you insinuate. I quite handily shoot 375s and 416s with great aplomb and many 1 shot flops, as well as my 340 so obviously it is not my shooting"
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-35 and high winds? You should spend a few days on a service rig in that ####, hunting would be a nice change.
 
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Slamfire said:
The hydrostatic shock did those in? In theory the higher the bullet impact speed the greater the shock. Not that gut shots are recommended of course.
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I suspect the high velocity had something to do with it coupled with the massive tissue damage to both animals. Nosler Parts are very disruptive during their initial upset phase, the impact on the caribou caused some of the stomach contents to be forced out the nose and he collapsed as though a switch was turned off. He was not a very nice gutting job though, but on the bright side, the heart was intact and excellent eating.

RRH..........I have worked in those conditions as well, remember I lived and worked up there for 40 years and believe me it weren't all roses. I spent one whole winter, my first year in business, north of the arctic circle working on a rig, we saw -82 that winter, it was ugly!!!!! Then the company neglected to pay any of the contractors.........that just made it so much nicer...........

As far as the gut shots and other faux pas I have done, I'll be the first to admit that I have missed animals and flubbed some shots, some very easy shots even. This all is part of hunting and the taking of big game. I am not infallible, nor is anyone and I have blown my fair share of shots. I have taken shots, that in retrospect, I probably should have passed up and I have made some shots that can only be attributed to the Gods smiling on me. It is all part of hunting and learning. All this not withstanding I am generally a pretty fair shot and can call my shots when the trigger breaks, in other words I know when I screwed up and when I didn't. So for me to say the failures, when using the 338 WM, were not due to my poor shooting, I think I can say this with reasonable confidence.
 
Are we going to recoil sort the mediums now? Come on they're mediums, not a near death experience. Most will land somewhere between 30 and 40 foot pounds according to weight. If you can shoot any of them, you can shoot all of them.
 
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