toooooooo many people negate the 338-06 based on the terminal balistics compared to the 338 win mag. but to back up my argument for the 338-06 i will use the win mag. if i compare the 30-06 to the win mag all kinds of people would call me an idiot but if i compare the 338-06 to the 30-06 (the parent case and the best cart for the comparison) you would say WOW! thats awesome gotta have one. i know 90% of you here have the 338 win mag (so most here would not get one because of overlap)and there is not much wrong with it. but to brush it aside and not look at the great niche it has is your loss. the 30-06 is awesome and has been for a century, but if you want the bullet gains of the .338 cal (diameter s.d. and weight) and are not hunting over 300 yards (99% of real world applications) this is great. most handloaders pump up the 06 case to 65,000psi so to become close to the 338 win mag in the mid to lower weights is a compliment to the 338-06. so for the heavier bullet moderate velocity (250 gr @ 2600 fps) camp this is great. this and no belt, five down below, less recoil and if you only hunt deer to brown bears in america this is good stuff. if you bring up the africa travel losing ammo situation, how many of you here have had this happen to you. most of you handloaders bring your ammo with you so please spare me the obvious.

Well, then. I agree - no 338-06 bashing from here. You are hereby spared the obviuous.

-WSJ

I don't see it as 338-06 bashing, but simple economics. You can buy a factory 338 win mag for about 1/2 the cost of making a 338-06. The 338 win mag can be downloaded to do everything the 338-06 can do, and it can also be run full patch.

The 30-06 comparison doesn't wash, because the 30-06 is a factory offering.

the assumption is most here would handload and you can buy 338-06 ammo at a bunch of places conley precision being my favorite.

I have a .338-06 because I wanted one, that's the only reason. I almost never shoot factory ammo in anything so that is a mute point. Yes, one can buy a .338wm & download then we might as well sell all of our std. calibers & just download the mags? Then again you are back to hand loading to get the ammo you want, so that argument doesn't wash either. Paul has the only real answer, money, it's just cheaper to buy a factory .338wm. Now if Ruger or Remchester would make a lt.et./mtn. rifle, I would buy another one.

quote:

You can buy a factory 338 win mag for about 1/2 the cost of making a 338-06.

Or you can use the extra $ to clean up whatever you bought and scope it. Really a shame that somebody doesn't start chambering this. I would dig in my wallet for a wood stocked model 70 Winchester, even better yet one of the entry level super grades. Another would be CZ 550, don't think I would get too excited about a Remington 700 though.

quote:

Originally posted by schromf:

quote:

You can buy a factory 338 win mag for about 1/2 the cost of making a 338-06.

Or you can use the extra $ to clean up whatever you bought and scope it. Really a shame that somebody doesn't start chambering this. I would dig in my wallet for a wood stocked model 70 Winchester, even better yet one of the entry level super grades. Another would be CZ 550, don't think I would get too excited about a Remington 700 though.

Doesn't WBY sell a .338-06?

Terry

I recently looked into getting a 338-06, but couldn't find anyone making a factory rifle, plus not much ammo around either, should one need to buy some while stuck in the boonies. It is a shame though because there seems to be good reasons to have such a rifle (ie boar hogs, for me). The same goes for 35 whelen too.

I'd love to have a Win 70 featherweight in such a caliber (can you see me drooling?).

They did for a while, never seen one, and I am not sure whether it was the Vangard or the Mark V action.

Not a fan of Weatherby stocks in any shape or form so it still gets pricey changing that out.

Just poked around their website and I see ammo listed, and an article on the 338-06 in 2004, but I don't see anything being chamber currently. Not even through the custom shop.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:


toooooooo many people negate the 338-06 based on the terminal balistics compared to the 338 win mag. but to back up my argument for the 338-06 i will use the win mag. if i compare the 30-06 to the win mag all kinds of people would call me an idiot but if i compare the 338-06 to the 30-06 (the parent case and the best cart for the comparison) you would say WOW! thats awesome gotta have one. i know 90% of you here have the 338 win mag (so most here would not get one because of overlap)and there is not much wrong with it. but to brush it aside and not look at the great niche it has is your loss. the 30-06 is awesome and has been for a century, but if you want the bullet gains of the .338 cal (diameter s.d. and weight) and are not hunting over 300 yards (99% of real world applications) this is great. most handloaders pump up the 06 case to 65,000psi so to become close to the 338 win mag in the mid to lower weights is a compliment to the 338-06. so for the heavier bullet moderate velocity (250 gr @ 2600 fps) camp this is great. this and no belt, five down below, less recoil and if you only hunt deer to brown bears in america this is good stuff. if you bring up the africa travel losing ammo situation, how many of you here have had this happen to you. most of you handloaders bring your ammo with you so please spare me the obvious.

No question the 338-06 has some advantages over the 30-06 as you mention. I own both the 338-06 and the 338 WM, both have their place but if you think it's in the same class as the magnum, you are deluding yourself.

I don't see why Ruger especially won't chamber this cartridge. I keep hearing that they won't sell enough, then they come up with crap like the Scout rifle, which isn't a bad thing, except the extended eye relief scope will keep it from being popular. Then there's Remington with a revised .221 Fireball action. I'll bet those are a high volume rifle as well. I'd hate to think you couldn't sell more .338-06 and 9.3x62 rifles in the USA than these two abortions.

quote:

Originally posted by cobra:
I own both the 338-06 and the 338 WM, both have their place but if you think it's in the same class as the magnum, you are deluding yourself.

I think just about everyone building a .338-06 knows it is not a .338 WM. But it is close and that is enough for most people. If they really wanted a .338 Mag then they would have built one. Not everyone but most.

On the otherhand, if people really are expecting or trying to get .338 WM velocites, then they by all means should just get a Magnum, period.

I own a 338 RUM and I built a 338-06.

Of course I can always download the 338 RUM to 338 Win velocity if I want!!

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:
I don't see it as 338-06 bashing, but simple economics. You can buy a factory 338 win mag for about 1/2 the cost of making a 338-06. The 338 win mag can be downloaded to do everything the 338-06 can do, and it can also be run full patch.

The 30-06 comparison doesn't wash, because the 30-06 is a factory offering.

The .338/'06 is "a factory offering" too, if you consider Weatherby and A-Square to be part of the firearms industry. There is no valid reason why the rest of the industry does not chamber rifles for it and offer ammo, if they can legitimize the .35 Whelen. If the .338/'06 was available in Browning, Rem., Ruger, and Win. bolt, slide, and semi-auto action rifles, I'd be willing to wager that it would outsell the .35 Whelen!

I respect others rights to own one.......but two cartridges for me that just ooze boring are the .35 whelen and the .338/06. Can't figure why as I own a cz 550 9.3x62.

For me when I think .338 cal I think .338 RUM & Lapua and big scopes etc.

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:

Doesn't WBY sell a .338-06?

Terry

I believe Weatherby has dropped the chambering.

-Bob F.

pcp...

i like the 9.3x62 and 64 but the wider selection of the 338 bullets and the roughly equal domestic avaliability of loaded ammo the edge for me goes to the 338-06

yes weatherby has droped this chambering this combined with the awful accuracy of their offering in this otherwise great caliber has done a lot of harm especialy burning the people who shelled out good money and blamed it on the cartridge and not the manufacturer

So I guess we're left with asking HS to make us a custom rifle for $2K+, just so I can thump hogs? Man!

quote:

the awful accuracy of their offering in this otherwise great caliber has done a lot of harm especialy burning the people who shelled out good money and blamed it on the cartridge and not the manufacturer

Weatherby again.....

Let's not forget the 8mm/06.

Honestly, I cannot see any need for a cartridge betwen the 30-06 and the 9.3 x 62.

500grains,

I am not going to disagree with you about the 9.3x62 its a fine cartridge. One big advantage the 338-06 has is where I shop. One is Balck Sheep in CDA. Two complete isles of just bullets, One isle of powder, another whole isle of dies, very good selection of ammo. NO 9.3 anything, but tons of .338 stuff and they had about 15 boxes of 338-06 the last time I checked.

WHite Elephant in Spokane is the same no 9.3, good selection of .338.

I know you can mail orrder the 9.3 stuff, but its not commonly available, which hurts the cartridge. You need to mail order the rifle, the ammo, the brass and the bullets.

THats why I like the .338-06, good performance, and easy to find components, the 35 Whelen is in the same boat, but I like the 338-06 better. No its not a .338 mag but it doesn't need to be.

You know when your talking about not having a need for a caliber frankly I need a 30 mag and a 375 H&H, everything else in between isn't really necessary, add a light 6mm/25cal/6.5/7mm rifle to make three, throw in a 22 cal and I have a rifle I can use for every type of game I'll ever need one for. The guys that do every day bears and hunt buff probably want a least a real heavy, but for me the first four will hit all my caliber buttons.

quote:

Originally posted by schromf:

You know when your talking about not having a need for a caliber frankly I need a 30 mag and a 375 H&H, everything else in between isn't really necessary, add a light 6mm/25cal/6.5/7mm rifle to make three, throw in a 22 cal and I have a rifle I can use for every type of game I'll ever need one for. The guys that do every day bears and hunt buff probably want a least a real heavy, but for me the first four will hit all my caliber buttons.

schromf, I couldn't agree with you more on your battery of rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by schromf:

I know you can mail orrder the 9.3 stuff, but its not commonly available, which hurts the cartridge. You need to mail order the rifle, the ammo, the brass and the bullets.

I live outside of a well-stocked medium sized city and mail order almost everything anyway. It takes less time, I get what I want. Also, since I prefer true premium bullets (not Nosler) for a lot of things, those have to be mail ordered anyway. ANd the bullets that I shoot a lot are cheaper if mail ordered. So the need to mail order poses no difficulty for me.

However, I do recognize that a lot of guys want to be able to by their ammo at Wal Mart. That pretty much leaves out both the 9.3 and 338/06.

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:
I don't see it as 338-06 bashing, but simple economics. You can buy a factory 338 win mag for about 1/2 the cost of making a 338-06. The 338 win mag can be downloaded to do everything the 338-06 can do, and it can also be run full patch.

The 30-06 comparison doesn't wash, because the 30-06 is a factory offering.

The .338/'06 is "a factory offering" too, if you consider Weatherby and A-Square to be part of the firearms industry. There is no valid reason why the rest of the industry does not chamber rifles for it and offer ammo, if they can legitimize the .35 Whelen. If the .338/'06 was available in Browning, Rem., Ruger, and Win. bolt, slide, and semi-auto action rifles, I'd be willing to wager that it would outsell the .35 Whelen!

I believe Federal will be loading .338-06 and .35 Whelen ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by Teat Hound:
So I guess we're left with asking HS to make us a custom rifle for $2K+, just so I can thump hogs? Man!

Not really. All you have to do is to send a second hand .30-06 to Pac-Nor, E.R. Shaw, and a few others, and for under $300.00 they can install/fit, etc. one of their best barrels. All you need after that is a good stock, and a scope.

Quite honestly, I don't see any use for the .338-06. If I want to shoot 200 gr. bullets out of the '06 case, I can load .308/200 gr. Noslers, or better yet, stick with 180s and accomplish the same things.

If I want to shoot 225 gr. or 250 gr. bullets, I would rather have the 338 Win. Mag. case or bigger, because you need more powder capacity than the 30-06 case provides to achieve proper velocity with the heavier bullets that make the .338 bore do what it does best -- anchor big, heavy game animals.

Either way, the 338-06 is neither fish nor foul for my purposes, so from me at least the bashing (and the heat I'll take over it) will continue...........

AD

quote:

I live outside of a well-stocked medium sized city and mail order almost everything anyway

Well I don't think Coeur d Alene quite counts as that which is my closest city. But Blavk Sheep is a good sporting goods store.

I actually do both mail order and buy locally. Buying locally is cheaper than mail ordering, but bullet selection is pretty much Speer, Hornady, Nosler and Barnes. Powder is much cheaper than mail ordering, I guess they order one big order a year to get around the hazmat fees, and have it delivered by truck from the powder manufactuer.

My guess is I run around 50/50 on local purchases verse mail order.

Edit: I have never been n a Walmart, and so reason to start now.

You'll never cure those out in the wild, wild west of magnum-itis. It's just their nature, apparently. So bash away on the 338-06 to your heart's content. I don't pay any attention to their tunnel vision.

The 2 kudu, zebra, gemsbok, red hartebeest, and warthog that dropped in their tracks from the 225 Barnes X bullets didn't realize their expiration was from my non-magnum 338-06AI. It was made, as Ray suggested, from a donor Rem 700 BDL LA. Hart barrel, H-S Precision stock and all 'smithing came in under $800. True, I could have bought a new 338 mag for less greenbacks. But what would I have done with that old 26-06 Rem that couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from inside it? Use it to prop open the screen door?

Those in the antiques hobby\business call it 'provenance'...an objects history. That Rem 700 was my first new rifle, bought with money I saved while serving in VietNam. I used it for everything from groundhogs to whitetailed deer. Then it got stolen from my house while I was away getting an education on the G I bill. Twelve years later the police returned it to me in wretched condition. By that time, I had already replaced it with a Colt\Sauer 25-06. I had no need for two of the same caliber. So I decided to recycle it into something I DID have use for.

Handloading my own ammunition gives me endless satisfaction. Using that ammo to harvest plains game in Namibia was a tour de force. The ear-to-ear grin on my face from being able to use that particular weapon--PRICELESS.

You know, onefunzr2, I think you've got the right idea for me to follow. I've been looking for a NEW factory rifle out there in said caliber, but I think I'm going to find myself a nice used '06 and have the barrel replaced and then parkerize the whole darn thing for the snow. A nice stock won't hurt either.

Like I said earlier, I think it will be one hell of a hog-stomper.

I sometimes find it amusing how we argue over cartridges. It kind of reminds me of the Ford vs. Chevy truck debates.

There's nothing wrong with the .338-06. I view it as the modern .318 Westley Richards and there are certainly no flies on the .318's reputation. I owned a .338-06 and a .35 Whelen. I liked both cartridges though I never got a chance to hunt with either one. I decided I wanted a CZ in 9.3x62 so I sold the .338-06 and the .35 Whelen.

But, I'm also currently having a .338 Win Mag put together for me. The .338 WM is a fine cartridge. I had one years ago and decided I wanted another one. I also own a .340 Weatherby (in a Wby Accumark). However, I've found that I'm really not that partial to the .340 and I'll probably sell it. I also own two rifles in .30-06 and Ruger Magnums in .375 H&H and .416 Rigby. Nothing like a little variety.

So, my opinion and advice is, do what floats your boat and use the cartridges you like. Heck, I'm taking my 9.3x62 to South Africa this coming August (plains game hunt in the far north of Limpopo Province) but I'm also taking along my Rem Model 700 Classic in 8x57JS. (Please let's not start the Rem 700 bashing in this thread. I am aware of its pros and cons.) I'll be using 220 gr Woodleigh RN bullets at about 2350 fps in the 8x57. Why am I taking an 8x57? Just because I want to! And, it will certainly do the job on plains game.

-Bob F.

Several have talked about downloading the .338WM to .338-06 levels, but no one has mentioned the effect on accuracy. A lot of .338WM's perform best using near max or max loads, so what happens when you drop velocity a couple of hundred fps?

I've reduced the charge of IMR 4350 as a starter load to a velocity level of about 2550 fps. with 250 gr. Noslers in my 338 Win. Mag., and accuracy was still under an inch for five shots. The same rifle produces 2740 fps. as a top load with 250s, with groups as small as 1/2 MOA on occasion, or even less on very rare occasion. Over-all, I can count on 3/4" to 1" groups or thereabouts if I do my job satisfactorily. This may not be good enough for pocket gophers or the satistical muff hunt a lot of guys seem to be perpetually on, but it's good enough for any big game hunting. But I know, some guys own rifles that NEVER shoot groups any bigger than a half-inch, ever......!

I've found that the 338 Win. Mag., once you've found a powder/primer/bullet combo that it likes will shoot various powder charges well, regardless of whether or not it's a max load.

AD

bfaucett...thanks for bringing up the 318 wr...nobody badmouths that chambering, probably because it runs in the multiple thousands of dollars just to get one. everyone loved it. this is the poor mans 318 wr. what do all you cart snobs say to this? sure the average 338-06 won't be as nice as a wr custom rifle but the physics are the same.

can't we all just get along

I say that the 318 WR isn't as good a cartridge as the 338 Win. Mag., and as a clincher, 318 WR ammo is not exactly easy to come by, either. The 338 Win. Mag. has become a standard world cartridge, whereas the 318 WR has become pretty much obsolete.

I'm not exactly enamoured of British magazine rifles, and except for the 300 H&H, 375 H&H, and 416 Rigby, I'm not exactly enamoured with most British magazine rifle cartridges, either, especially when there are so many American chamerings that do the same jobs as well or better, and from a logistics standpoint are much more practical alternatives.

I fail to see the romance.........

AD

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
But I know, some guys own rifles that NEVER shoot groups any bigger than a half-inch, ever......!

AD

AD
ALL my guns shoot one hole one shot groups.

yes the 318 wr is pretty obsolete but the comment was regarding the good reputation (no bashing)

Winchester Custom Shop lists a 338-06 as one of their available calibers for those that want a factory gun.

For the cost of the WW Custom shop you can put together a pretty nice hunting rifle. Buy a decent .30-06 in the flavor rifle of your choice. Rebarrel w/ a PacNor & go hunt. I imagine you could put it all together for less than $800 less scope. Despite what the .33mag guys think, it is a fine cart. for anything in NA & can be built on a 7# rig w/o a retina detaching recoil.

pac-nor makes them for $280 chrom molly $310 stainless if you can do your own headspacing and have the right wrench