Had pretty much all of them. 338-06 Imp, 338 Win, 338-8MM, 340 WBY, 338-378, 375 H&H, 375 Ackly, 378 WBY. Currently shooting an 8 1/4 Lb. 338 Win. Made my longest shot ever with it. Plenty of killing power for any game in B.C. The 340 is excellent too but in a different leauge for recoil. The 338-378 is awsome but a ton more recoil and to be honest, a little too destructive. The 378 is the long range king but all together too much. Massive recoil pretty much rules out prone shots and light holds. No matter what some may think 338s are a big step up from .30s. If you're a seasoned shooter that can take recoil go 340 otherwise take the 338 WM. A whole new world is about to open up, welcome aboard.
what's a large flat shooting calibre?
- Thread starter Mr. Friendly
- Start date
MuleyMadness
Regular
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
.340 Weatherby mag, .338 RUM, or for a twist of the exotic nothing better then the .338 Lapua. .300 RUM is flat shooting but sending a 225gr pill over 3000fps is some serious medicine, and all three the above can do that, plus the higher ballistic coefficient of a larger bullet...high velocity+large bullet+high bc = one serious rifle.
Sure enough, spell check does seem to have quite a few English language options: Canda, Australia, New Zealand, etc. I wonder how different they are. My understanding is that the US uses different spellings based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary, whereas the rest of the English-speaking world uses the British spellings given in the Oxford English Dictionary. Apparently, Noah Webster had some different ideas about spelling.
westcoaster
CGN Regular
- Location
- Central BC
I regularly shoot targets and steel at 300 to 500 yards. I shoot 338wm, a hunting partner that comes out to practice with me regularly has a 7mmRM.
I has been my experience that the actual holdover distance is slight. For example (going by memory here), at 400 yards my 338's holdover is about 22inches, the 7mm is about 18 or 19 inches. Is this meaningful?
Elevating the barrel a fraction of an inch compensates for any difference in drop and the 250 grain 338 seems to be more consistent in a breeze.
While certain caliber ranges seem to be better than others wrt to ballistic cofficient the bullet design you choose can cause the bc to vary broadly from another bullet of the same weight in the same caliber. For example, Nosler lists two 180 partitions with bc's of 361 and 474 respectively.
Your constant practice and firearm package quality will have more to do with your success at distance shooting than the "flat shooting" ability of a cartridge or caliber.
Anyway, in response to your question. The 3006 will perform at least as well as a 308 at distance. There is no meaningful difference between a 3006, 308 or the bazillion different 300 mags in the cartridges ability to hit stuff at distance.
The various 338's do seem to fare better at distance than the lighter bullets - if you can shoot them. Many people don't care for or cannot tolerate the various 338's level of recoil.
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"Flat shooting" has little relevance in the world of long range hunting and shooting. Beyond 400 yards or so one must compensate for trajectory regardless of how fast the cartridge. Things like retained velocity, retained energy, amount of wind drift, accuracy at range are 100 times more important than "flat shooting".
Not much beats a fast 338 for downrange horsepower. Conversely nothing much beats a shooter harder than a fast 338.
As Guntech mentioned the 340Wby is the most sensible of the faster 338's. It has similar trajectories to the 300 Win. along with more more horsepower, but will not beat you up too bad in the process.
The 338Rum, 338 lapua, 338Edge, and the 338/378 are what you need if this is really what you want. I own a few of these and love them, but I would never let an inexperienced riflemen shoot them. The difficulty you will face with one of these bad boys is turning all that horsepower into downrange accuracy.
Without shooter and rifle accuracy all the power in the world is worthless.
Think about it....you are the weak link.
I find myself wondering why you discarded the 300Win?
Loaded with an aerodynamic 200 grain bullet it just flat works.
Good luck man!
Not much beats a fast 338 for downrange horsepower. Conversely nothing much beats a shooter harder than a fast 338.
As Guntech mentioned the 340Wby is the most sensible of the faster 338's. It has similar trajectories to the 300 Win. along with more more horsepower, but will not beat you up too bad in the process.
The 338Rum, 338 lapua, 338Edge, and the 338/378 are what you need if this is really what you want. I own a few of these and love them, but I would never let an inexperienced riflemen shoot them. The difficulty you will face with one of these bad boys is turning all that horsepower into downrange accuracy.
Without shooter and rifle accuracy all the power in the world is worthless.
Think about it....you are the weak link.
I find myself wondering why you discarded the 300Win?
Loaded with an aerodynamic 200 grain bullet it just flat works.
Good luck man!
Just in case you need to take down a taliban elk at 1500y?
Mr Friendly, try a magnum, any magnum, before you decide you want to buy one. If you aren't prepared, they kill on one end and maim on the other. My personal recommendation is the good old 300wm, but for God's sake, try one before you buy one, they are not for everybody.
ETA, good idea getting a bolt action though. They are much more accepting of not being clean than SKS's. My 300wm won't rust if I leave it for a week.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
I'm in the Calgary area. I'd love to shoot a couple
Sure, will be a blast. I have a few other big ones that I can bring along. Are you a member at any of the local ranges? I go to TSE and CDTSA. Might be better at an outdoor range though
- Location
- British Canuckistan
I was just thinking of getting something bigger to shoot for fun and use for larger game, once I've adapted. I will admit my knowledge of ballistics is limited to what is apparently hearsay when it comes to the .308 being the flatter shooting round vs. the 30.06. that's what I hear everywhere concerning those two. I have a couple 30.06's and I'm debating whether to get something bigger or something smaller like the .243 and use that on smaller game.
