I am thinking about having a .270 win rebarreled to .338-06. Wanting to get some first hand accounts of this cartridges performance on elk in particular or other large game. Also any reloading problems that one has to watch out for.

Do a "search" for this caliber. There have a number of discussions of it, especially vis-a-vis the .35 Whelen. If you want some background on its ballistics, read Pondoro Taylor's comments on the .318 Westley Richards. The results on game will be identical, i.e. really awesome exit wounds and penetration clear through very large animals. All three in this family (.318 WR, .333 OKH, .338/06) will flatten the biggest elk that ever walked, including the extinct Irish model. Recoil isn't unpleasant, either.

I used one in standard an in improved versions for a number of years, then considering the 338-06 works off the same action as a 338 Win, I went to the 338 Win. and thats a move I have never regretted, recoil is the same regardless of what you may have been told, you can load a 338 Win down to a 338-06 but not visa versa, the 338 Win is not a wildcat and thats a big plus for the traveling hunter. My other choice was the grand 9.3x62...that was my reasoning and I'm glad I did it, most, not all will do the same sooner or later.

As OldSarge said, the .338-06 is a very nice cartridge. It's much like the .35 Whelen, except that the later uses a larger diameter bullet. The .338-06, even though it uses bullets of a smaller diameter, benefits from bullets that have greater sectional density. Both the .338-06 and the .35 Whelen have similar ballistics, and both use similar cases.

The .338-06, 9.3x62, .338 Sabi, and the .35 Whelen have ballistics that are close to each other, and their bullets, specially the heavier ones, are capable of deep penetration, perhaps because the "heavy ones" travel a little slower. The velocity reduction helps the bullet expand slower, thus allowing for more penetration.

Why screw around with something like the .338-06 Improved, anyway? Try finding ammo for somthing like that in RSA, or Stevensville, MT for that matter.........

Why not just go with the .338 Win. Mag. instead? You can come up with a better stock design that will eliminate the difference in recoil between the two cartridges a lot faster and easier than you can find .338-06 ammo.

P.O. Ackley was a great cartrige designer, but he was a theorist much more than he was an experienced and practical hunter.

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Allen,

I wonder how many Elk you find in RSA anyway? I think that since the original poster specified Elk we can rule out the desirability of factory ammo in this equation.

I agree that if you were looking for an international "traveling" rifle the .338 WM might be a better choice. I can tell you now that more than half the stores in my area don't carry .338 WM ammo either so there is not much advantage there.

Good point Mark D. on bbl. contours. Best to get specs from the bbl. manuf. before you order. Generally tohugh, contour #s are close & a #4 or something close will be heavier than realyy need on a .338-06 IMO.