Have an itch that some of you may have experienced... thinking up a new PG rifle.

Was looking through the Speer No. 13 manual to do some comparisons on various possibilities with a non-magnum and noticed the 250 gr. 338-06 out of a 23" barrel is just 134 fps under a 338 Win Mag. from a 24" barrel with a whole lot less charge of Reloader 19 (60 grs./2,531 fps for the 338-06 to 72 grs./2,665 fps for the 338WM). These are max loads.

According to Speer, the 338-06 also has the 35 Whelen beat with the 250 gr. bullet.

Anybody out there have any experience with the 338-06?

Am thinking hard on a Ruger M77 action, 24" match grade barrel, Timney trigger, pillar/glass bed and a synthetic stock...

Do it. I love mine. You are getting nothing really by going with the 338 WM other than one less round in the magazine. I built mine on a VZ24 using a Houge stock, 24" bbl. It really shoots, and performance is excellent. Go with the 24" bbl. Velocity is right up there with the 338 WM. Most people say that the 338-06 gives you 80% of the performance of the 338 WM, but I think it's over that by a significant margin. maxman

While the .338-06 is my favorite cart., the .338WM is a step up. Basically you get a .338WM w/ 75 yds. less range. 250gr @ 2500fps vs 250gr @ 2700fps. Comparing handloads, this gives an edge to the .33WM but @ an increase in blast & recoil if rifles are of the same weight & bbl. length. It makes a great elk rifle @ 8# scoped & ready to go. I like a 23"bbl. but I'm only 5'-10". It's cheap to feed, using the many good .338 bullets & 06 brass. The only down side is no factory ammo except Weatherby. If you handload, this is a great cart.

The lineage of the .338/06 is noble and ancient. A-Square got it from wildcatters who got it from Elmer Keith and his .333 OKH who got that from the Brits' .318 Westley Richards. The formula of a .33 caliber 250 gr. conventional softnose at around 2500 fps has been successful for nearly a hundred years, now, and the animals haven't gotten any tougher in the interim, all rumors to the contrary. Shoot, Karamojo Bell ended up using it as his favorite elephant rifle after he decided that the 7x57 was a tad light, even with his spectacular marksmanship. Personally, I've never shot an animal at over 150 yards and within that range and out another hundred yards, you lose nothing on the WM and gain a great deal of comfort in your shooting.

By any measure, the .338 Win. Mag. is a better, more versatile cartridge than the .338-06 by the tune of 200 fps. or better across the board..........

AD

All of what Allen said plus factory ammo, factory rifles and better reloading information. If you love to tinker about with rifles a 338-06 is as good as anything. If you just want to go hunting I see no good reason to go for one.

The .338 Win. Mag is definitely faster than the .338-06 and if one's formula is "faster=better" then it is better as well. And the .340 Weatherby Mag and .338 RUM is therefore much better than the .338 Win. Mag., the .300 RUM is much, much better than the .300 Win. Mag., and on and on.

Hoping I don't make these analogies too ridiculous...

Why in the world would one ever buy a .22 LR when you can buy a .220 Swift which is much faster, hits harder and is better all the way around? And if you want .22 LR velocities you can always load down a .220 Swift.

Why in the world would someone ever buy a Toyota Camry when a Ferrari will go much faster? You can always drive the Ferrari slower but you can't drive the Toyota faster.

Not trying to be a smart-a here, just stating my case that I don't see faster = better all the time. Sometimes one wants a .300 Magnum and sometimes a .30-30 is just the ticket. Sometimes a .338 Win. mag is what is called for, and sometimes a .338-06 will do the job just fine in a lighter rifle with less blast and less recoil.

The key to my post was "non-magnum". I have and have hunted with plenty of magnums. Am in the mood to try an alternative and was impressed with the ballistics of the 338-06 for PG, elk, larger deer, etc. 225 gr. @ 2,700 and a 250 gr. @ 2,500 fps seem right on for what i want to do...

Nothing wrong the .338-06 and there's nothing wrong with the .338 Win Mag. It's kind of silly how we all tend to argue over such minor things on these boards sometimes. I guess that's the way enthusiasts / hobbyists are. My car is faster than your car; Ford trucks are better than Chevys; my .338 Win Mag beats your .338-06.... All kind of silly, really.



Well, I've owned both a .338 Win Mag and a .338-06. I never hunted with either, however. I found the .338-06 to be a mild-mannered cartridge that had some good ballistics. Easy to load for and just kind of fun. But I sold it and purchased a 9.3x62 in a CZ American. Basically more of the same with just a little bigger bullet.



A 250 gr .33 caliber bullet starting out around 2400 to 2500 fps has a long and proven track record in Africa (and elsewhere) as shown by the .318 Westley Richards (.330") and the .333 Jeffery (.333"). Those ballistics worked then and they work now.



Just my ramblings.....

-Bob F.

Just thought you would want to see Bells 318. it was made by Thomas Bland in 1911 for Bell, and used in his hunt of 1912.He had problems with split casings, and fired the rest of his ammo at birds in the air.

Howdy,

I have two - one M70 action, one Springfield 03a3 action (rebored from 06)-both shoot very good.

Was in South Africa this year and the 210 partition out of the M70 accounted for Eland, Blue Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog, Waterbuck and Bushbuck - worked great - 40 measured inches of penetration on the Eland.

Adios

Sport

Why take a .338-06 and try to push it to duplicate a .338 Win. mag. when it is easier and SAFER to take a .338 WM and load it down to .338-06 balistics!

Hipshot

Why not consider a 9.3 x 62?
Great Africa history, great all rounder, bullet weights 250 grains to 320 grains, accurate and hard hitting.
I run 270 grainers at 2550 fps with 56 grains powder (26" barrel). Mild to shoot.
Stu

My advise go for it you will not be sorry. My wife started with a 270 Winchester and wanted something larger for elk and the bigger Plains Game. She's left handed and we found a new Remington 700 for a GREAT DEAL and I have three friends who have 338/06's and I figured this would be good for her.

I sent it to Hart barrels and they did the work, and a very good job I might add. She used it in Africa last year and took 9 of 11 animals and with the exception of two were one shot kills out to 311 yards, zedra, kudu etc. on down.I loaded 210 grain Barnes triple shocks and Nosler Parittions and they both worked perfectly well.

This gun is now her preferred choice even for deer. She is 5' 3" #120 and shoots it like a 243, I might add she also has a 375 H & H and shoots it very well also.

Yea, a 338 Win Mag will give you more but with quite a bit more recoil and muzzle blast. No free lunch but you get a great deal with the 338/06!

ENJOY!

I like a .338 Win. Mag., but the difference is really academic. I can load 210's to 2800 fps in the .338-06, 2930 fps in the Mag. For some reason, probably a mental condition, but I don't feel silly shooting deer with the .338-06, while I feel kind of self-conscious shooting them with the .338 WM. I'm not sure there is any rifle better suited to taking African plains game than a .338 of one variety or another.

This is a four-year old thread bumped so someone can post a picture of a different rifle. I do not think the original poster is still asking about rifle choice.

RHS, I've taken 10 of the large African antelope with my 338/06 along with two elk, some deer and a moose. I shot most all of these animals with the old barnes 200gr bullets @ 2,820 fps. Most were one shot kill. Its a great round with much less recoil than my friends Browing A bolt 338 mag.

I hunted and shot the 338-06 for years prior to the 338 Win, and it is a good caliber, but anyone that believes the 338-06 is comparable to the 338 Win.is playing with the figures or the figures are false and not taking everything into account. I did that for awhile after I got my first .338 Win but the final talley was the 338 Win. would give me a 210 Nosler at 3005 FPS and a 300 gr. Woodleigh at an easy 2500 FPS with acceptable pressure and the 338-06 cannot do this, nor can the .338-06 handle the heavy bullets well and stay within acceptable pressures...

The 339-06 is at its best with the 210 nosler and it will kill about anything on the NA continent..

Too many folks get themselves a wildcat cartridge and load the crap out of it to duplicate a more powerful round as opposed to getting the more powerful round and loading it down..all this to make a point, but the point is false and misleading.

Long ago I learned that the case that holds the most powder is the winner every time...the only thing that I am not taking into consideration is recoil and the case that holds the less powder recoils the least in like rifles, but I cannot tell any differnce in recoil between most of these rifles including the 338-06 and the 338 Win, probably because I shoot so many big bores that neither one of them bothers me in the least, even with long strings of firing, and we have to take into consideration that recoil is a personal thing, some folks can just take more recoil than others, some folks just think they can, some claim they can and cannot, some rejoice in it, I on the other hand get plumb jumpy and get to biting myself in the gut like a wounded coyote, when recoil goes beyond a .458 Win...At least I do know my limit...

Howdy,

When I jumped on the 338-06 bandwagon it was because I did not want the recoil and additional cost of another magnum - I realized the 338-06 was not a 338 Win mag but it is about the best you can do in a 06 case.

It is a very balanced cartridge - reasonable recoil, easy to load and very deadly and without a lot of damaged meat.

Adios and let the debate go on and on and on.

Sport

RHS

Take a look at the 9,3x62.

I think it is the best of the bolt rifle medium bore non magnums.

Many people desctibe it as the power of a 375 H&H and the recoil of a 30-06.

Again, guys, the original poster made his decision 4 years ago!!

This post is now about Bell's 318, it seems.