I have used the 338 on everything in Africa except Hippo, elephant, and some exotic plainsgame from up North of Kenya...It has always worked well for me..I have shot a few buffalo with it and 300 gr. Woodleigh solids and softs..I have shot most of the plainsgame with it..I love that caliber and with a solid I would not hesitate to hunt elephant if the need arose, as I know it will penetrate with the best of them.

I recall one nice bull that the Van Heerden boys told me to switch guns take the scoped .338 Win and shoot through a hole in the bush about 100 yards away as the bull was standing just right..I stuck a solid in his heart lung area and he took off with blood squirting out both sides like a water hose. I grabbed my iron sighted 404 and took off after Barry, the bull was standing and took off at about 100 yards giving me a fast running broadside shot and the 404 rolled him like a rabbit, head over heels, it was damn exciting, and AJ yelled "I got all that s---t on film, you can probably sell this film to Hollywood my man!"..Guess what:? nobody in Hollywood wanted, liberal bastards.

Must admit my favorite "practical" rifle is a pre-64 M70 redone with a Krieger bbl, NECG irons, a Zeiss Conquest, Gun Koted fitted into a McMIllan stock.

Off the airplane at Jackson Hole it did a 2" three shot 300 yard group.

I had to choose a rig with a few objectives.A take down rifle which could serve me against Elephants,and Buffalo,yet be able to take a second interchangeable Barrell with a .338 Cal adequate for plainsgame ,Impala ,Eland,"fackacheroo" etc.After a very rewarding back and forth debate with a most knowlegeable man, the Late Don Allen, founder of Dakota Arms,we both agreed that the .416 Rigby /.338 Lapua was the way to go.I am taking delivery of my 3rd combination custom rig as soon as Reimer Johanssen delivers.My other 2 have become my favourite travel hunting firearm and after numerous Safari's,I have yet to be dissapointed by the .338 Lapua as a hunting round for plains game.Take care of your Elephant or Buffalo, and switch your Barrell to the .338 Lapua, you wont find a better combination on this planet,and dont think of the .416 Rem/338 combination in 120 degree heat in Africa,because of pressure problems and less smooth feeding than the Rigby.Getting back to the .338 issue,I would for its dual ability on Plains game and "two footed snakes", take side with the .338 Lapua in 250 grain.Its ability on impala at 80 to 120 yards in phenomenal and out to 400 yds and more if you dont have a choice of getting closer like what happened to me 4 yrs ago with a killer 14ft problem crocodile on the Zambezi holed up on an island out of "killing range",404yds away....The .338 Lapua, with the appropriate bullet a 250 grain Woodleigh P-P put the first shot right into the brain at 404 yds.CASE CLOSED.With Nosler partitions, Impala etc at close range are no problem, however, I wouldnt use NP on Sable due to penetration problems if it hits a rib broadside with such fast velocity.Going through Airports and police check points with a takedown rig certainly saves you apart from an explanation or two,"a few bob" as the British would say from Police in West African countries at check point's (tollgate's) extracting a "dash" from gunbearing hunters.
At the shooting range , you will find it hard to beat the .338 Lapua for accuracy, except you want to get a 408 Chey-Tac...In the words of John Pondoro Taylor about the .416 Rigby.."you will find it hard to get a better gun for hunting dangerous African game",the same is becoming apparent about the .338 Lapua.You will find it hard to find a better .338 for larger plains game in Africa.Every PH I know who saw its ability was left in amazement.
Just my 2cents.

This heat business about Africa being hell on earth is bunk...I will say without hesitation that Texas, arizona, Nevada, are as hot or hotter than anything Africa has to offer..that is an old wives tale that has spread throughout the hunting world and its invalid, end of story.

On top of that I have purposely left loaded guns out on the bench in 120 degree heat on my old ranch near Presidio, Texas to cook, then fired them with many different calibers and powders and the problem, although, it does exist to a small degree, it is drastically over rated and mostly accepted by some because it was read in print.

The .338 Win., 416 Rem, which I have packed off to Africa many many time have never had any kind of a problem..The 458 is claimed to have problems with heat, but it is a compacted powder charge case with a plus 100% load density with most all loads, thus the problem, if at all, but I doubt the heat added much to the problem..The 458 can be loaded to overide any of these problems btw.

I have had such good luck with the .338 and 416 Rem that I see no need for additional recoil, or big heavy actions unless I wanted a 505 Gibbs, then the big actions shine. My favorite is the 404 Jeffery's, but that is mostly nostalgic.

Nah, just good taste.

8x68S......Like does it really matter as all of them are super-performers. 8mm's may be underappreciated on this side of the pond but any of 'em do some serious damage. I kind of like the .340 Weatherby. A real screamer!

quote:

This heat business about Africa being hell on earth is bunk...I will say without hesitation that Texas, arizona, Nevada, are as hot or hotter than anything Africa has to offer..that is an old wives tale that has spread throughout the hunting world and its invalid, end of story.

Full concurrence here Ray....where the heat issue becomes a factor is when the sun is allowed to beat upon the brass cartridges causing them to become extremely hot and then they might be fired in a hot chamber to boot!.....Prairie dogging is the best example I've ever run into....even at 106 degrees there was no problem with ammo as long as I kept it in a cooler and didn't need ice with it either.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Bore Fan:
8,5x63

I second that!

If you want to shoot long range, the .338 Edge or the .338 Lapua. They are almost the same and seem to shoot about the same. I have never built a .338 Lapua but I have built Three .338 Edge's. All would group between 2.5 and 3 inches @ a 700 yards. The load for either is 92 gr. of H1000 and 300 gr. Sierra match King. This would be a difficult gun to carry in the woods due to the 30" barrel. It has a little more energy @ 1000 yrds. than a .308 @ the muzzle.

I'm not advocating shooting game @ a 1000 yrds., but it can be done. One of the rifles I built took a 10 point buck @ 1300+ yrds. (He's a trained sniper) He said never again. It took 4+ hours to retrieve the buck, different mountain.

I ended up with the 338-378 Weatherby Accumark. Shooting 225grn Accubonds with 109grns H1000 at 3276 fps average for 5 shots. I think I'm gonna like this one!

quote:

Originally posted by Cary Howard:
I ended up with the 338-378 Weatherby Accumark. Shooting 225grn Accubonds with 109grns H1000 at 3276 fps average for 5 shots. I think I'm gonna like this one!

Cary
I don't know what the twist is in your Weatherby, but if it is 8 or 9 to 1 try the heavier bullets, like 300 gr SMK or Bergers. Yes, they start out slower but are more stable and carry their energy farther.......Tom

Define ultimate in this context.

Ultimate from a long range sniper's point of view is different comapred to a practical hunter.

The "ultimate" 338 for a hunter is without a doubt the 338 WM.

KB

quote:

Originally posted by Tapper2:

quote:

Originally posted by Cary Howard:
I ended up with the 338-378 Weatherby Accumark. Shooting 225grn Accubonds with 109grns H1000 at 3276 fps average for 5 shots. I think I'm gonna like this one!

Cary
I don't know what the twist is in your Weatherby, but if it is 8 or 9 to 1 try the heavier bullets, like 300 gr SMK or Bergers. Yes, they start out slower but are more stable and carry their energy farther.......Tom

Good point. The factory Accumarks are 1 in 10 twist and they will stabilize the 300 grain bullets.

Ken....

quote:

Originally posted by Cary Howard:
I ended up with the 338-378 Weatherby Accumark. Shooting 225grn Accubonds with 109grns H1000 at 3276 fps average for 5 shots. I think I'm gonna like this one!

Very "Adequate" cartridge.

Echols Legend .338 Win Mag but with a laminate stock....

.375 H & H would be my choice

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member