If you was going to build a hunting/target rifle based of any of the 338 round avaiable which one would you use?

I really like the appeal of the Remington 338 Ultra Mag. but I just like it cause its got alot of bang and alot of power. So my answer doesnt count.

I have been tossing around the idea of building a rifle with a 338 cartridge on a spare Mauser 98 action I came across.

quote:

I just like it cause its got alot of bang and alot of power.

It does. It is also (somewhat) economical when compared to the 338 Lapua. This would be my choice packaged in a Remington Sendero.

To my mind the 340 Wby is the biggest 338 that floats my boat. The others are too much of a good thing. Actually, it's hard to beat the 338 WM.

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Originally posted by Dr. Lou:
.....Actually, it's hard to beat the 338 WM.

Well said Lou. For practical hunting situations, it IS hard to beat a .338 WM.

Hands down the .338 WM.

I agree with Dr.Lou!!! Before making up your mind on a .338 caliber, shoot a Weathetby .340 a few times. Some consider it one of the most versitile caliber avaiable.

What I would like to get out of this gun would be a portable moderately heavy rifle that I could use to hunt and still be able to shoot a clay target at 500+ yrds.

you just described a 338wm....i have a 338rum and really like it BUT if i had to choose i would stick with the 338wm.

Unless all your hunting is within 50 miles of your home, I would stick to the .338 WM. Sooner or later you and your rifle will arrive and your ammo will not. The .338 WM is ubiquitous in the US and available in many foriegn countries. The others are extremely rare even here in the US.

Between my son and grandsons we shoot a .338 Lapua and .340 Wby, and have for several years. Both have taken much game from Elk size up. With North Fork bullets these rifles are awesome. I had a .338 Win and it served me extremely well, I then desired something flatter shooting, and got these two. Good shooting.

On a M98 I'd go with the .338 Win. The .340 Wby is my favorite cartridge but it will take more work ($$$) to get it into and function properly in Mauser.

Winchester's .338 Magnum. It is my favorite caliber and one I have taken a lot of game with. It has been my light rifle on two safaris.

Sounds like the 338WM is the highly favored round...

Any reason besides ammo availabilty for not choosing the 338RUM? I never plan on traveling on an airplane with a rifle. At most I would do would be to travel to another state but I would drive. And I will be rolling my own ammo for this rifle if I decide to start it up. Also the Mauser action I have came into is a VZ24 if that makes any difference. My father came across the rifle and said I could have it. He says it has some rust and pitting, but nothing a blueing job and a smith couldnt clean up in a matter of a few hours work. The stock and barrel apparently are in terrible shape. but he says its a long action action basically in stock form.

I just think I need something to fill the caliber gap between my 308 and 7mm mag to the 500AR that is going into produstion very soon.

Eventually I will probably find something along the 458 Lott, but that is another thread.

Almost 35 years of .338 Win. Mag. shooting here in Alaska for me. A good .338 and CRF Mod. 70 will always be my "go to" set up in this state. Yup, there is bigger and badder. I ain't man enough for them or talented enough to shoot them to their potential. The .338 Win. Mag. is all I need and if I want more power I will grab my .375 H&H. Still, if a guy can handle another 10 grains or more of powder then I take my hat off to them.

I own the 338 RUM And i like it like that. But you want to build another 338 Well you have a wide choise. What more can I say.

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Any reason besides ammo availabilty for not choosing the 338RUM?

I'd say the biggest reason is that it is going to kick significantly harder than the 308 and 7 Mag you currently have. Unless the gun has a muzzle break (which has it own drawbacks), then I hope you have some serious tolerance for recoil.

As you mentioned, you want to hit clay targets at 500 yards and for a lot of guys, big recoil is a distraction to accuracy.

If building on a 98 mauser, you are pretty much limited to 338-06 and Imp or 338 Win Mag. The 338-06 will require a long enough magazine and a 338 Win Mag will need that as well as opening the rails and bolt face as well as extractor fitting. I don't like cartridges longer than 30-06 length in mausers. It can be done but there are better options.

quote:

Originally posted by airgun1:
If building on a 98 mauser, you are pretty much limited to 338-06 and Imp or 338 Win Mag. The 338-06 will require a long enough magazine and a 338 Win Mag will need that as well as opening the rails and bolt face as well as extractor fitting. I don't like cartridges longer than 30-06 length in mausers. It can be done but there are better options.

You could build as well the wildcats .338 Gibbs, .338 Hawk and .338-375 Campfire if you want to do things a little different. I've been reading up on the Gibbs line of cartridges and find them interesting. Real world difference between it an the .338-06 and Hawk probably isn't that much. Don't know much on the .338-375 but it seems pretty interesting as well.

Well, after looking around and weighing some options. I think it would be better for me to buy a rifle in stock trim from Remington and go from that. I think I will be going with the 338RUM in the XCR II model 700.

Then just sell this extra Mauser action to someone on here.

I like the .338 winnie myself. I find it easily tolerable to shoot with pretty damn deadly ballistics. My only reservation is the low mv compared to the Weatherby and RUM. Not cause of terminal performance but simple the amount of holdover and wind compensation. Tomorrow I'll be heading out to shoot my .338 wm in 20+ mph wind - I'll probably have to hold a foot high and a foot or more left or right for wind for the 300 yd target. Faster mv would cut those nearly in half.

i voted 338wm previously as i felt it fit your post. i have 2 338rums rem 700s ss models. had mcmillian hunter adj cheekpiece w. limbsver and 12oz sniper fill added. it works well for non mountain carry and off the bench is tolerable for up to 40 rounds -- barrel takes a while to cool between shots.

mine shoot very well w 225 hornady interbonds an rl 25.

happy shooting. just reemmber to keep your jaw closed and be wary of scope cut. after 40 or so full power rounds mine blew the epoxy that holds the adj cheekpiece in the stock.

anyway, with good loads, form, and concentration you can see 5 shot half incheres.

im not an amature to shooting larger than 30 caliber rifles. I had a good teacher and learned my lesson early in my shooting life.

My mistake was minor in nature, but I didnt weld my cheek to the stock and I pulled the trigger on a 375RUM. Thankfully it had a red dot sight and not full optics so I was spared of a black eye.

IMHO the brutal honest truth of the matter is this:
Unless you plan on devoting large amounts of time, effort and even larger amounts of $$$ in optics & ammo to become proficent at distances beyond 500yrds, it makes no sence what so ever to use any .338 caliber more powerfull than the 338WM. I have a 100% factory M700 in STS/SYN in 338wm toped with a now discontinued VariX-II in 4-12x40mm with my reloads that will shoot sub MOA and that is the zero BS truth. My favorite 338wm reload is one of these two as they both shoot equally well:

225grn Nosler Accubond
77 grains of RL-19/OR
75.5 grains or RL-19
Fed 215 primer
Win new NVR fired brass
MV of 2860 FPS

The above loads will knock any north American antlered animal on its butt cleanly and humainly as far as I wish to shoot or to around 600yrds or so, even farther if I become really good at long range shooting.

And another bruttal truth is this:
An extra 150-250fps is not going to some how magickly make up for any lack of long range shooting skill on the part of the hunter. My 338wm with a MV of 2860fps & a 225grn bullet will be no less efective or capable to take a big bull elk at any range of 600yrds of less than any other 338 magnum out there. And any hunter who posses the marksman capabilities to shoot a animal at ranges beyond 500yrds is not going to be any better at it with a 338Lapua VS a 338WM. The elk certainly will never be able to tell weather or not he was hit with a 33wm or 338 Lapua. I agree with there is no such thing as hitting a big bull elk to hard, but you can not get any deader than dead.

From a purely practicle point of view of cost and component availabity for building a gun and reloading for it, as well as what happens when you gun shows up and the ammo does not, and lastly no other 338 magnum has a better rep for accuracy then the 338wm, it simply FM MPOV makes little sence to use any other 338 magnum, unless of course $$$ is not a factor and you have your heart set on a different 338 magnum.

Personaly if I wear to deside to go up in FPS in the 338 mag class, the most common sence approach would be IMHO the 338 Remington Ultramag as it would be undoubtedly the most economical of the new 338 magnums to reload for.

If money, pain and loose teeth were of no concern than I would most likely go with the Weatherby 338/378 magnum. I could have bought one about 6yrs ago in STS/SYN (a beauty in Weatherby's gry syn stock with BLK spider webbing W/ a fluted barrel)for right at $900 as the owner simply could not handel the recoil. But this gun new would most likely cost at least 2x as much as a M700 in 338 RUM and the brass would also be 2-3x as costly.

Bottom line:
If you wish to get the most mag for your buck chose the 338wm, if cost is not a concern, then the 338RUM, the 340Weatherby the 330Dakota, the 338Lapua higher FPS would all undoubtedly serve you well and help you "dispose" of your "disposable income" equally as well and almost as fast.

Just my .2c worth.

I have already shot my 7mm Mag out to 465 with good results. I could hit 8" plate out that far, and the error in my shots was purely human factors and not having a solid enough bench rest.

The whole reason behind me wanting to get into a 338 caliber is because I want the bigger bullet along with the capable ranges it will give me.

Will I ever take it out west and try to engage a Bull Elk at 500 yrds? Maybe, maybe not... It would be more likely in my field to engage a Whitetail at the distance and I know my 308 is capable of doing the job. But I want that added cushion of the 338 larger rounds available and still just as accurate as my 308.

I have been searching around and trying to see what some people have accomplished with there out of the box 338RUM and havent found too many people that try and see the limits of the actual round. Seems most people that get into a 338 either buy a custom made rifle, or buy a base model and instantly start upgrading it and then start shooting at distance. My only planned mods for an out of the box rifle would be a trigger job and of course a good handload.

If you plan on loading/shooting the heavy 300gr projectiles out of the 338 chamberings,by all means build/purchase a 338RUM,338Edge,340 Wtby,338-378 Wtby or 338Lapua.

If you plan to load/shoot 225-250gr projectiles build/purchase a 338WM or 338NM.

If you plan to load/shoot 180-220gr projectiles shoot a 30-06,300WM,300Wtby.

The 338RUM stops AK/Yukon Moose & Bears in their tracks w/ quality projectiles(Nosler P's not being of quality)

according to my calculations the 338RUN produces almost 1000ft lb more energy than the 338WM.

338 Win Mag........for what you want, there is no question in my mind

It is hands down my most fave chambering for all round use.

I love building and shooting the 'big' .338's especially the 'Edge'. (See my post ".338 Edge" on this form) With a 1-9 or 1-10 twist they will shoot the 300 gr. bullets very accurately. This all comes at a price, recoil and noise. The 'big' .338's have the same or more recoil than a .470 NE. With a muzzle brake they are comfortable to shoot off the bench. Without it your range time will be limited due to pain and suffering. With any rifle practice is the big factor in how well you shoot it. I built a .338 Federal for a lady that was going Moose hunting in Alaska because she just wasn't comfortable shooting the .338WM. She loved the Federal, light gun, easy to handle and light recoil. She dropped a 62" bull at 185 yards with one shot. The bull went about 50 yards and died. If I remember right, the bullet was a 225 gr. A-frame at around 2400 or 2500 fps. For a light, short, easy handling gun the Federal is hard to beat inside of 300 yards. If you think that 500 yards is a must then I would go with the .338 WM. It must have 1-10 twist or tighter, many .338's are 1-12 and won't shoot the heavier bullets well. I went thru 12 trying to find one that would shoot 250 gr Barnes, Sako's, Rem's, Win's, Browning's and some I don't remember. I finely had to build one and it shot as I wanted, MOA. You need about 1000 ft/lbs. of energy to take most game animals, some say 1500 ft./lbs. I know from experience that it is less than that with a well placed shot. Don't worry too much about muzzle energy, worry more about terminal energy. The fast .338's loose velocity more rapidly(percentage wise) than the slower ones over distance. Look at the energy difference at 300 yards and decide if the expense and pain is worth it. I have become a fan of the .338 Fed. as a brush/forest hunting gun. It's not an Antelope rifle, unless you can get within 300 yards, every time. I am building one soon with a Laminate stock, 20" barrel 1-9 twist, FN action. Should be a tack driver, as well. Will let you know, in June..........Tom

quote:

I have been tossing around the idea of building a rifle with a 338 cartridge on a spare Mauser 98 action I came across.

What's the bolt face?

338-06 or 338 Win. Mag. w/185 TTSX

Unless someone has changed the bolt face, it's .473 or 30-06. The .338/06 is a great round between the .338 Fed and the .338 WM. It also works well with a short barrel.....Tom

I vote for the Win Mag if hunting is involved... it has the mildest recoil and the lowest cost... means you will shoot more IMO

I have a .338 Win and like it a lot. I've only killed two elk with it using 210s and they went down plenty fast, but not noticeable quicker than a 7 Mag with 175s.

I recently bought a Ruger 300 RCM in their compact M77 Hawkeye and I like the short barrel and 13" LOP (I like 13" pull over heavy clothing). However, Ruger also makes a .338 RCM based on the 375 Ruger case and that would be a neat round on the compact platform. This is an inexpensive factory rifle available in right and left hand so you could buy that and save your custom rifle money for game tags.

.338 WM without a doubt. I also like shooting my .325 WSM. Both are great all around calibers.

Unfortunately, recoil is not my friend, and the 338 WM is just too much recoil for me. But, the 338/06 floats my boat.