A neighbor of mine showed me his 338 Gibbs. I have a mauser build that I'm working on this year for an elk rifle. My plan is to build a 338-06 but I'm open to suggestions. From what I gather, the Gibbs is a 338-06 Imp with the shoulder moved up .100". Is there any advantage to the Gibbs over a 338-06 or 338-06 AI? I'm partial to the Imp but have read that there really isn't any significant difference between the -06 and -06 Imp. Just wondering how the Gibbs fits into this equation. Any thoughts?

-- ale

.............No first hand experience but I had a 30 Gibbs for a while and liked it , Had it been a 338 I might still have it ....And still be satisfied ...

I have a .338-06 (Savage 110 action with a 24" ER Shaw SS 2.5 contour barrel) and it's great. I've used it on deer but not on elk. Others on this forum have used it on elk and it works well.

I can't imagine a significant gain by going to an improved version (Gibbs or Ackley).

Well as to a 338 Gibbs, 338Hawk, 340Howell. They will all give you around a 10% capacity increase over the 338-06. That will give you around a 2-3% increase in velocity at the same pressures. So call it 60-80FPS. I shoot a 340PDK. Pressure testing with it I gained 1% velocity for 4% capacity at equal pressure. Easiest way would be simply go with the Hawk or Howell, brass and dies are available. You can check www.z-hat.com and www.hunting-rifles.com for some info on them. Below is Gibbs data. Please note the barrel lengths becasue the Gibbs data is a 26 and the hawk is normally over a 24.


Don't get me wrong I have more wildcats than factory. My go to elk rifle is my 340PDK. IN a 24" barrel and lighter bullets I can match my own reloads for a 22" 338Wmag. But heavier than a 225 the 338 wins. The 338Gibbs, 338Hawk, 340Howell and even my 340PDK will not do anything a 338Wmag could do easier. But they are different and fun and the recoil is just a touch less..

I went through the Gibbs craze many years ago, about in the late 50's...I even had a Gibbs Case forming die that you filled with oil and hit with a hammer and it squirted oil all over you and didn't do much to the case, what a croc that was...I loved the Gibbs calibers, had a 6.5, 30 and a 338 as I recall..Then Chronographs became available at an affordable price and I bought one...Bad day at the ranch..sold all my Gibbs rifles and went back to the 270 and std. 338-06...The Gibbs were loaded hoter n hell to get the almost claimed velocity, and when loaded properly you got maybe 75 FPS, maybe a 100.....It was a cartridge, hard to fireform, too short of neck, and mostly bang and flash IMO...

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The Gibbs were loaded hoter n hell to get the almost claimed velocity, and when loaded properly you got maybe 75 FPS, maybe a 100

While he claimed he didn't load them hot he did have an interesting way of measuring his barrel length. The info I have says he would measure barrel length from the front of the bullet so when he claimed a 26" it was more liek a 29.5" for the rest of us.

I agree the Hawk gibbs, Howell will not give you much more than 75 maybe 100FPS at equal pressure over a normal 338-06.

When one sees the small difference between the standard .338-06 and the much larger .338 Win Mag, he then can get a feel for the advantages of the Gibbs and AI versions of the .338-06.

While I'd far prefer the Gibbs round over the AI round, I'd not waste a dime on either of them. If you want more than the standard .338-06 then you need to move up to the .338 Win Mag.....and even then you won't get a heck of a lot more!

Oh, that .338 Gibbs! I thought you meant the .338 Xtreme Tactical which is a .338/.505 Gibbs which does an easy 3350 fps with a 266-grain .338 bullet ... never mind.

I should mention that my neighbor is also a benchrest shooter, which explains his love for wildcats. Personally, I don't really want to spend time forming cases just to satisfy a marginal increase in performance. I bet if you surveyed any elk killed with a 338-06 and a 338 Gibbs, they probably couldn't tell you the difference. Thanks for the information on the Gibbs.

-- ale

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I bet if you surveyed any elk killed with a 338-06 and a 338 Gibbs, they probably couldn't tell you the difference.

That is a fact.

Of course if one was to make a 9.3-338 Gibbs, I am sure that someone will claim that it solved world hunger!

Barstooler