I am looking at gettig a 340 Weatherby, but the 338RUM and 338-378Wby seem pretty appealing from the trajectory side. Are they worth the extra powder and recoil?

Only if you can still hit where you're aiming, and at the extra distance those magnums afford you.

To me, it isn't worth it. YMMV.

-nosualc

A few inches less drop, mainly past 400 yards.

As the man says, how far do you shoot game at?

Personally, I could never figure out why anyone would want a .300 Eargensplittenloudenboomer.
I even have a bit of a problem with the WSM's and I have one in .270.
My main "go-to" rifles are my .270 Win. and .338 WM. They've done all I've ever asked of them up here.
Bear in Fairbanks

For what I do, here in Great Britain and what I want (an can afford to do!) in Europe I'd sooner have that ONE EXTRA ROUND CAPACITY IN THE MAGAZINE than 300fps more energy or 200fps more velocity.

After all I doubt it matters to the deer, or wild boar, how far "out the other side" the shoot through goes!

If you can't handle the recoil, let them in the dealer's showcase.

There are no flies on the 340 Wby, for sure. Great round.

I have the 340, the 30-378, and the 338-378 in the Weatherby Accumark. All have muzzle brakes. With the muzzel breaks they all shoot extremely well from the bench. I have hunted in Africa with the .340 on three trips. I have found that the .340 has met all my needs on large plains game.

If ballistic numbers are very important to you, they are worth it.

They don't buy you much in real hunting situations.

Some people are addicted to energy numbers, I'm not.

quote:

Are the Super Magnums Worth it?

Even such minuscule cartridges as the .30-06 and .280 Remington will handle shots to 500 yards.....assuming you know your stuff....

The "supermags" can extend that range.....but I'll take odds that far and away most of the owners of such guns can't stand up to the task.

I know I can't!!!!....

The answer to the question is...."YES" they are worth it.....but in reality to only a very few!

No

Not in my opinion. All that extra recoil for a couple inches at 500yds. This is straight from the Weatherby site.

Trajectory Comparison
.340 Wby.
Bullet B/C Path of Bullet
(Above or below line-of-sight of rifle scopes mounted 1.5" above bore)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 SP .361 3.30 4.00 0.00 -9.90 -27.00
210 Partition .400 3.20 3.90 0.00 -9.50 -25.70
225 SP .397 3.60 4.40 0.00 -10.70 -28.60
200 Accubond .414 3.07 3.83 0.00 -9.24 -24.89
225 Barnes TSX .386 4.00 4.80 0.00 -11.53 -31.22
250 SP .431 3.90 4.60 0.00 -11.10 -29.60
250 Partition .473 3.90 4.60 0.00 -10.90 -28.90
.338-378 Wby.
Bullet B/C Path of Bullet
(Above or below line-of-sight of rifle scopes mounted 1.5" above bore)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 Accubond .414 2.69 3.42 0.00 -8.31 -22.40
225 Barnes TSX .482 3.10 3.80 0.00 -8.90 -24.00
250 Partition .473 3.50 4.20 0.00 -9.80 -26.40

Energy Comparison
.340 Wby.
Bullet B/C Energy (Foot-Pounds)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type Muzzle 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 SP .361 4607 3854 3208 2652 2174 1767
210 Partition .400 4807 4093 3470 2927 2452 2040
225 SP .397 4696 3984 3364 2822 2352 1944
200 Accubond .414 4620 3955 3372 2862 2414 2023
225 Barnes TSX .386 4408 3714 3111 2588 2136 1749
250 SP .431 4873 4182 3572 3035 2563 2150
250 Partition .473 4801 4176 3618 3120 2678 2286
.338-378 Wby.
Bullet B/C Energy (Foot-Pounds)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type Muzzle 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 Accubond .414 5075 4351 3720 3166 2681 2256
225 Barnes TSX .482 5052 4420 3856 3353 2902 2501
250 Partition .473 5197 4528 3933 3401 2927 2507

Velocity Comparison
.340 Wby.
Bullet B/C Velocity (Feet per Second)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type Muzzle 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 SP .361 3221 2946 2688 2444 2213 1995
210 Partition .400 3211 2963 2728 2505 2293 2092
225 SP .397 3066 2824 2595 2377 2170 1973
200 Accubond .414 3225 2984 2755 2538 2331 2134
225 Barnes TSX .386 2970 2726 2495 2276 2267 1871
250 SP .431 2963 2745 2537 2338 2149 1968
250 Partition .473 2941 2743 2553 2371 2197 2029
.338-378 Wby.
Bullet B/C Velocity (Feet per Second)
Wt. Grains Bullet Type Muzzle 100 Yds 200 Yds 300 Yds 400 Yds 500 Yds
200 Accubond .414 3380 3130 2894 2670 2457 2254
225 Barnes TSX .482 3180 2974 2778 2591 2410 2238
250 Partition .473 3060 2856 2662 2475 2297 2125

I had a .300 RUM, key word is had. Very accurate and the ballistics are very appealing. The recoil not so much.

I'd rather shoot my .375 H&H than that .300 RUM.

No. I have owned several including a nice 340 Wby that I recently sold. My shots were always less than 200 yards, wtb most under 100. If my 270 Win, 375 H&H or 9.3x62 can't handle the job, I'll have to learn to get closer.

Merry Xmas

Lou

Unless you handload expect to pay around $100 bucks a box for the Roy cartridges you stated.

Worth it to me...no

They are worth it only in limited applications like Elk beyond 4-500 yards. FWIW I have a 300RUM for those applications. Had a muzzle brake on it but took it off after I shot it during a hunt without hearing protection. It hurt so danged much I seriously considered wading in to finish the elk with my hunting knife rather than shoot it again. The brake came off and I don't mind the recoil.

For 95%+ of shooters, in one word, NO.

TT

I like the high velocity Weatherby's and have shot a number of game in Africa and Alaska. Trajectory is ony slightly flatter but the impact of the higher velocity is impressive. Bullet placement is still the most important issue.

I have to agree with Ed Scarboro. I know bullets hit harder at higher velocities, just as I know bullets hit harder at closer ranges.

I probably should have noted, I do reload, and I have shot the 30 and 338 378s. That's what started me to wondering. Paper ballistics are one thing and on-game performance is another. I typically try not to shoot past 350yards, but am capable to 450 if I can get everything ranged accurately. The property I hunt is all scrub oak draws. I find deer and then find the closest high spot that affords a shooting lane without blowing my scent to the animals. I spend hours watching does waiting for the big bucks to show up and they typically are gone in minutes driving the next ready doe into cover. Shots are usually 200 to 400 yards. To try to move closer would be to get right in with them and if bumped they usually go to the next ranch (no permission). Breaks do not bother me (I wear muffs on my temples and pull em down too shoot.). I only carry a big boomer once I have located the deer I intend to watch. Currently I am using a 270Wby and until this year have always been very satisfied. This year I hit a very big 5x5 on the point of the shoulder at 325 yards with a 110 grain TTSX and had to track the brute for half a mile. I had hit the top of the femur (arm bone) and the bullet destroyed it with a grapefriut sized chunk of shoulder, tore up some lung, but didn't make the liver. Until this one I had never had one of these bullets stop in an animal and was shocked to see what had happened. I know I could go with a heavier 270 bullet, but thought maybe this was a good excuse for something 338. I have had many 300WBYs, but I would like to try owning a 338. I don't really have an interest in 338 win. Capable I'm sure, just too boring to me.

Well I wouldn't opt for the 110 ttsx as a deer bullet. I know many swear by them. So you want to use poor bullet performance with a high speed light bullet to justify a hyper velocity 338. Non of the 338 are needed for a deer out to your 450 yr comfort zone. I don't care to imagine what a 338-378 would do to a deer at close range. Assuming the body was heavy enough to expand the bullet.

If you want a 340 338-378 go for it. For what you are talking it sure isn't needed.

In the example you've written about: deer at < 400 yds, I'd consider a different (heavier) bullet with a different bullet placement before I went with super magnum.

Anything in the 6.5mm, .277, 7mm, .30 set of standard (non-magnum) cartridges with a good bullet and some skill/practice, is more than enough at those ranges on deer.

If you've your heart set on a bigger cartridge and the tolerance/skill to use it with the same level of effectiveness, knock yourself out. Sometimes it's just fun to do something different. You wouldn't be the first to do so. Nothing to lose except time and money. The journey is what's important.

-nosualc

If you yearn for one of the super mags and can shoot them well, then by all means go for it. But, like others have so duly noted, they are NOT needed for the hunting you describe.

I primarily hunt with single shots and low-pressure cartridges, yet no deer, hog or varmint inside of 300 yards is safe. Getting intimately familiar with the accuracy, bullet performance and trajectory of the gun-cartridge combo, understanding and accepting its limitations (and yours) and accurately ranging the yardage are key ingredients in a recipe which does not necessarily call for super whizz-bang ballistics.

But your situation involves very personal preferences and choices, and you'll have to make up your own mind as to what will best suit your own needs.

I agree with what nosualc said..

"The journey is what's important".

Certainly aren't needed for most hunting situations are are NOT for most shooters as the recoil is stout to say the least

95% of the time, when I have to reach for a hunting rifle I fight between a 30-06AI and a 308 (I have issues).

BUT for me anyway, here in the NorthEast I find myself shooting a lot and hunting a little. Just the way it is for me. But I do love loading and killing paper with different rifles and calibers. So I do own a 300RUM and a 338RUM. IMHO the recoil of full loads 200gr bullets in the 300RUM isnt that bad at all. The 338RUM with full loads will rock your world.


I have mine in McMillian A-3 Adjustable stocks with Decelerator recoil pads. ANd the 338 has 12oz sniper fill to help dampen recoil. No muzzlw brake for me. Don't like em!

For me, I let the availability of cheaper used RUMS (most will have less than 100 rounds through them) and cheaper brass (100 for $95) than Weatherby to guide my choice.

I would only consider a big boomer for long range hunting because the added power and punishment is certainly not needed for normal hunting ranges. Anyone using them for normal hunting ranges is clearly over compensating for a shortage somewhere else

If I was going to build a long range out pass 500 yards hunting gun yea I go with one of the super magnums, other then that no.

Quintus--The 338-378 Weatherby is a blast and would work for what you describe, a "little" overkill but would work. I am shooting 250gr Swift A-Frames in mine at 3150mv.

A few years ago, I went on a brown bear hunt in Alaska. I was planning to take my 416Rem mag but the guide asked that I bring something that could reach out 250yds if we needed to in the valley. I took my 338-378 with a 4X16 Burris scope still wondering about long range brown bear hunting. I shot my brown bear at 7yds in a cotton wood and alder thicket. The bear fell right in his tracks. He squared 9'2".

quote:

I primarily hunt with single shots and low-pressure cartridges, yet no deer, hog or varmint inside of 300 yards is safe. Getting intimately familiar with the accuracy, bullet performance and trajectory of the gun-cartridge combo, understanding and accepting its limitations (and yours) and accurately ranging the yardage are key ingredients in a recipe which does not necessarily call for super whizz-bang ballistics.

+10000

Generally speaking, you've got to get beyond 300 yards for a .30-06 or .375H&H not to be plenty. On the other hand, if you may be taking those longer shots, then it may be well worth it.

Also, if you need the extra velocity to expand the bullet at the longer ranges, then they may be a good choice. The monometal expanding bullets we have today do need more velocity than a traditional cup and core bullet to expand. I want at least 2200 fps at impact with the 168 TSX I load in my .30-06. So moving up to, say, a .300 Roy, gets a couple of hundred yards more bullet expansion velocity. Of course, the longest shot I've ever taken was 235 yards.......

LWD

I have been shooting moose most of my life with a .308 win. I bought a 300 RUM. 7 year's ago, and have shot 2 bull moose with it so far, beleive me , i would NOT go back to the .308 win. The 2 bull's were shot behind the shoulder in the boiler room, and both went straight down, got love that.

It certainly wouldn't be a close range gun, although as with the 300wby and hard bullets, they go in and out and the deer wonder what the noise was and then tip over. My walking rifles are 260s and 240s and 25'06 and wssm and I stick to those when I sit in a tree here at home too, but I have to play a little too. This certainly isn't a NEED from a killing power or penetration point of view. That shot this year with a 130 or 140 grain TSX would have probably exited that deers opposite ham. Hell, last year with the same bullet/load I killed a doe at a lasered 395 with almost the same shot angle and did get an exit, granted its a lighter animal with lighter bones, but penetration was in feet not inches. I do appreciate all the input, and the less costly brass and rifle in the RUM may have me leaning.

quote:

Originally posted by Quintus:
I am looking at gettig a 340 Weatherby, but the 338RUM and 338-378Wby seem pretty appealing from the trajectory side. Are they worth the extra powder and recoil?

Quintus,

In my years, I've tended to move away from buying rifles for the sake of new, improved, or great balistics! AND moved more toward IDing the problem and need - Then finding, building or customizing a rifle to solve the problem or fit the "need". I both hunt and shoot some rifle competitions, So I have some understanding of these different situations and have always enjoyed solving problem, designing and building things.

I've always wanted a large caliber long range rifle but to this day I have not put the effort into getting one. It just hasn't happen yet that I've needed a hunting or a target rifle for more than 500 yards.

Now having said all that - GO FOR IT!
And let us know how it works out for you.
I'd like to know - Still have that urge to try one myself.

quote:

Are they worth the extra powder and recoil?

Ballistically, no. Emotionally, yes. At least for those who think paper charts rule the world of hunting; I'm not one of 'em.

no

If you really want to reach out and touch a deer, try the 30-378 Weatherby. I shot a Gemsbuck at 350yds in Namibia a few years ago and it went down on the spot. I was shooting 180gr Swift A-Frames at 3450mv and zeroed 1" high at 200yds. It broke both shoulders on that Gemsbuck. I rolled a baboon in Zimbabwe at 440yds with it as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bear in Fairbanks:
Personally, I could never figure out why anyone would want a .300 Eargensplittenloudenboomer.
I even have a bit of a problem with the WSM's and I have one in .270.
My main "go-to" rifles are my .270 Win. and .338 WM. They've done all I've ever asked of them up here.
Bear in Fairbanks

That pretty much mirrors my experience when I lived in the far north on this side of the line. That's as good as it gets in my opinion.

That's the $64,000.00 question, isn't it.

Most of the actual and negative truths have been well covered. There are so many variables as to make the question untenable and unanswerable.

BUT...as usual it isn't really whether the Eargensplittenloudenboomer will kill, it is the question of COOLNESS and BRAGGING rights.

If I gotta Weatherby, I'm COOL, it you gotta mangy 30-06, you're monkey dirt...it doesn't have anything to do with which one is actually the better choice for a shooter for 90% of all shooting.

I don't know anyone who has been at this game for a long time that didn't or doesn't have some kind of "magnum" or hasn't done some rechambering to a larger case. We shoot them for a while and still use them for certain hunting situations, but for all around hunting we all have our favorites or use the "maggies" loaded down.

Many have gone upwards in bullet diameter over the years...I hunt mostly with .338-06 nowdays if I expect something out to about 300 yds and larger calibers, 375 and above mostly for closer in and I hardly ever take a shot past 200 yds anyway. The larger calibers just seem to kill quicker and I don't have to muck about chasing or digging a wounded animal out of the brush...

Besides...I'm just a wuss now...I HATE heavy recoil, my knees and back are so bad walking over uneven ground is NOT fun anymore. I eat painkillers like candy and spend more time on my ATV than anything else and I even download the biggies.

The main reason for going to a super magnum is to gain velocity and energy...but all that extra pizzazz don't mean squat if it is expended into the dirt or a tree a hundred yards past the animal you were shooting at. Maybe a plain jane 30-30 would have worked as well or better.

All that jazz sounds good on paper, sitting around the campfire or online, but is it really of any value in real life? From my experience...only once in a while, and there are way to many variables to deal with to get too worked up over that extra "theoretical" range.

I think the main negatives are the extra recoil and muzzle blast. I have a friend who has a 7mm mag and a 300 WM...he shoots his 243 fairly well but when it comes to the maggies he shuts his eyes, jerks the trigger and his whole upper body revolves and bends backward...he's lucky to hit the sky...but he LOVES his maggies...just ask him. I've been downloading both cartridges to about 7-08/308 levels to help him get over his brain phart and added a nice thick limbsavers plus some lead shot to help. You don't want to get to his point...sticking with a smaller case might well be the best thing to do...

YOU have to decide for yourself in any case.

Luck

I have a former neighbor like FOOBAR describes. He played free safety for Virginia Tech and has biceps the size of my thighs. He bought a 7mm Mag and a 300RUM for deer hunting and would bring them to me to zero every year. He could not sit behind them on the bench without flinching so bad that he would miss the target frame. I finally convinced him to go with a 30-06 with a limbsaver recoil pad. He can shoot that.

If you're not a good shot then yes.

For those that know how to shoot, no.

I just read a snippet on Science Daily about sinking wooden ships with cannon balls from a shore battery. Seems that the lower the velocity of the cannon balls the more damage was caused to the oak wood sides which caused more splintering and therefore more damage to the sailors and attendant destruction. The cannon fire also sank the ships...which goes without question.

Maybe we could take a lesson from this...maybe not.

Maybe that old man Keith had something real to say about his big bullets and lower velocity making things fall down quicker.

The argument as to which is better will continute no matter what without any definitive answer...unless you just miss.

I don't think it much matters which poison you pick as long as it puts meat on the table...we can argue all you want as long as you feed me a thick, juicy venison or elk steak and a good brand of whiskey afterwards while we palaver. I'll nod my head over almost anything as long as the bottle holds out...

I don't think size has much to do with recoil sensitivity...One of my shooting buddy's wife is about 90 lbs soaking wet and she will empty a magazine full of 458 Lott then go fix us a drink without batting an eye. It scares the hell out of me every time she does it to see that little body go through all that punishment. Each shot knocks her back about 3 steps and she can recover, rack a round and get of the next shot almost as fast as I can and keep the shots inside a fist at 50 yds...I won't say how big my group is. That's one little lady I stay on the good side of and she is a consummate Southern Lady, wouldn't say sh** if she had a mouthful and doesn't allow any of the usual todays foolishness in the house.

Luck