I'm considering converting my 30-06 to a 338-06. does anybody have any thoughts about this.

They're both great rounds. I've been thinking about building a .338-06, too.

If your conversion rifle is your only 30-06, you should consider that the .338-06 will be harder to find commercial ammo for, but I imagine you'll reload anyway.

You'll need a new barrel, but you won't have to open the bolt face.

It's a neat round.

Steve

unless you're contemplting a steady diet of elk, moose or big bear hunting, the '06 with good 180's or 200's will do just as good as a .338-06 for the occasional big critter hunt.
the .338-06 is a great round, no doubt about it, but in my mind, wasted money to convert for deer hunting. plus, ammo will go from everywhere to almost nowhere, unles you want to reload. of course, you could always reload for the '06.

quote:

Originally posted by merlinron:
unless you're contemplting a steady diet of elk, moose or big bear hunting, the '06 with good 180's or 200's will do just as good as a .338-06 for the occasional big critter hunt.
the .338-06 is a great round, no doubt about it, but in my mind, wasted money to convert for deer hunting. plus, ammo will go from everywhere to almost nowhere, unles you want to reload. of course, you could always reload for the '06.

This is darn good logic and I agree wholeheartedly.

The .30-06 is still among the most powerful hunting rifles under the .375 H&H ne can get....and it's widely available and ammo is available anywhere on the planet.....it's really tough to beat the .30-06 as a big game rifle!

You might want to visit a recent thread on this forum entitled, "Reloading the .338-06 Ackley Improved. Turning that '06 action into a magnum." You'll enjoy the discussion. I brought it back to life in the "Reloading" section.

I've done it. Sent my Savage Model 110 .30-06 (minus the stock) to ER Shaw for a SS 24" .338 2.5 contour. I shoot 1" groups (sometimes less) at 100 yards with 225g NP with a muzzle velocity 2650fps (ammo from Quality Cartridge). I'm very happy with the barrel. Price was less than $300 about 3 years ago and the turn around time was about 16 weeks.

It's a fantastic round. I've used it only on white tails but I'm confident that I can take anything in NA with it including the big bears. My intention is to use it one day for an elk hunt. I have another .30-06 that I use for deer hunting.

If you have other rifles chambered in a .270, .280 or .30-06 go for the .338-06. You won't regret it. It's truly a great all around NA cartridge.

The 338-06 is a great round, but save the '06 barrel if you can. It is very simple to switch back to the '06 any time you may want to. I can usually change barrels on my 110 or my 116 in less than 5 minutes.

Search this site for "Savage switchbarrel" or go to the Savageshooters.com website for more on this.

I have mulitple 06s and ONE 338/06....

Its performance capabilities are much closer to the 338 WIN MAG than it is to the parent 30/06 cartridge....

as far as ammo availability... its beyond my comprehension why ANYONE on this site, would NOT be a handloader...

338/06 is a versatile and flexible round...

I'm biased and think you should do it. As long as you are a handloader. If not keep the 06.

I have owned multiple 338-06's. I currently have two. Just sent one out to get the Black-T finish.

It is much closer to a 338WM than the parent 06. You will lose approx 100-150fps from the WM. The heavier bullets show the biggest loss.

It is easy to reload for, and packs a good wallop. I like the 200-210gr bullets. I easily get 2750fps and have one load pushing 2835fps. If I ever go after big ugly stuff, I would load up some 250's and be done.

If I was hunting in the thick woods of Maine, it would be my go to rifle. I live in Black Hills of South Dakota and it is my choice for woods hunting and for anything bigger than deer, ie elk, black bear etc. If I hunt out on the prairie, I reach for one of my 270's.

That's my opinion, and it is extremely biased. It should be way more popular, but that's the way it is.

Basically just about all the debates on which caliber is better, etc. usually centers around the theory one prefers.

I find the Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor debate interesting. Larger bullets with higher weights vs. lighter and smaller bullets at high velocities. Each side of the argument has its
merits.

That's the question here isn't it? Heavier .338
vs. lighter, faster 30-06. To be honest, I don't get the idea of choosing the .338-06 and
then trying to make it a 30-06 by using ligher bullets to gain a slight velocity increase?
I'd use the heavier and slower bullets and rely on momentum to do its job?

I must also admit I don't get the debate about
which one is better, the .338-06 or the 35 Whelen? Neither do I understand why 7mm-08 lovers who prefer 120 grain bullets disdain the 260 Remington?

Who is right? Elmer or Jack?

Paul, what is the case capacity for your 380 PDK?

Don, IMO the bullet choice is greater at .338 than .350 - hence, more long range performance. Almost all of the '06 wildcats have enough close range killing energy (i.e., less than 200 yds.).


Regards, AIU

We Brits did similar with the 33 BSA. A 165 grain bullet at 3000fps. But by 100 yards it was dropping like a stone!

If you are going to do up in size from 30-06 would not a 35 Whelen be better?

I'd covert to a .30-06 AI first.

the '06 was said by P.O.Ackley to the one round that showed the least improvement in velocity of all the rounds he tried his "improvemnts" on. he also said that as the bore dia. goes up in relation to case volume the improvement in performance goes down. appearantly, .30 caliber must be right about at that threashold. ironicly, there are hoards of guys that state that the .338 moves into the "almost magnum" area when blown out. i suspect that the the combination of a slightly larger bore and a bit more of a faster powder in the same case happens to be just the right combination to such gains with the .338-06 improved, because as you move up another notch to .35 whelen improved the increases seem to fall aff again, following what Ackley says about bore dia. to case volume.
one might think that the claimed gains are so much "horse-poowey" from those who need to justify the cost of "improving" thier .338-06, but i have had quite a number of "improved" cartridges of different calibers and the .338-06 improved does seem to have no respect for Ackley's "rule".

Merlinron, I can testify that my .338-06 AI increases powder capacity by about 5 grs (~6-7%) using Normal brass and N204. The .338 Gibbs case capacity increase is even more. This is significant, resulting in a ~75 fps increase in performance with 225 grain bullets. This is not a huge increase, but does get performance next to that of factory loaded and manual recommended loads for the 338 WM.

quote:

Originally posted by greatstoneface:
I'm considering converting my 30-06 to a 338-06. does anybody have any thoughts about this.

I would do it. I would have the barrel rebored, rather than installing a different barrel..........

Rebarrel! Try I/T/&D. for the job. They can install a new Douglas barrel cheaper than a rebore too.

Besides, knowledgeable smiths recommend cutting
off the barrel by at least 1" due to the nature of the reboring process. I don't know why?

I might be crazy, but I rebarreled to a 8mm-06. I really enjoy the gun and reloading for it. Though nothing compares to the 30 cal bullet selection, I think the 8mm selection is good. I also got some headstamped brass from quality cartridge. They were expensive, but I only bought 100 and I think that will be a lifetime supply for me.

quote:

Originally posted by thirdbite:
Pardon my ignorance, but who is I/T/&D?

I,T & D

I have been reading posts about them so I gave them a call last week. By Friday of last week I shipped an action to them. It is going to cost me about $350 for them to:

XX Douglas 308 (1-10) #3, chamber in .308Norma Mag...154.00
Thread, chamber, crown, test fire 308 Norma...75
Sq action & lap lugs...35,
Hot salt blue and bead blast...85

You can check 24Hourcampfire, lot of post about rifles they have done.

quote:

Originally posted by merlinron:
unless you're contemplting a steady diet of elk, moose or big bear hunting, the '06 with good 180's or 200's will do just as good as a .338-06 for the occasional big critter hunt.
the .338-06 is a great round, no doubt about it, but in my mind, wasted money to convert for deer hunting. plus, ammo will go from everywhere to almost nowhere, unles you want to reload. of course, you could always reload for the '06.

I built my first .338/06 in the late 70's... But, i agree with the above poster...

Unless you have a need for .338 bullets weighing 250 grain or heavier, it just isn't needed...

I've had a LOT of bbls rebored, (over 15) and not one of them was ever cut off... P.O. Ackley did my first one, but Redman Reboreing did most of them. All of the work he has done for me has been first class!!

I've also done the new Douglas bbl. route too, and it worked out very well too...

Here's my .338-06 that i drug all over Alaska for many years, harvesting tons and tons of big game with it, including brown bears, moose, caribou and many other big game animals...




In all of the years i've been shooting .338-06's including IMP chambers, i've yet to "run one over a chronograph" that clocked within 100 to 150 fps of a .338 mag. with similar pressure loads...

I've found that to get the kind of penetration that i like, on the bigger animals i used my .338-06 for, i needed to use 250 grain or heavier bullets, and i settled on 250 NP's and 275 Speers... When it comes to lighter .338 bullets, the 30-06 with 200NP's will actually out penetrate them even when heavy bone is hit...

Anyway, that's been my experience with .338-06's when used on big game, like brown bear and moose...

DM

I couldn't wait to build my 338-06 some 13yrs ago, & would even build another (recently got a decent 1909 action cheap). Is it better than the 06, maybe a bit on bigger game like elk & larger African game. It can be loaded quite nicely w/ 185-210gr bullets for deer size game a bit further out. I love mine, the 210grNP @ 2750fps is nearly the perfect all round bullet choice for deer to elk & beyond. The 250gr penetrate better but run out of gas for good expansion much past 250yds. The 225gr may be the perfect bullet choice, but mine won't shoot them worth a crap, but loves the 20grNP & 250gr anything @ 2500fps.

Wanted a .338-06 for years and finally broke down - a high end Husqvarna action with 22" medium sporter Douglas barrel sitting in a Hogue overmold. Great rifle and fairly light. Kicks like no '06 I've ever shot. As far as an '06 being as effective as the .338-06 it just isn't true in 180's on up and not because of velocity. The .338-06 can push 200's faster than the '06 and 250's faster than the .35 Whelen. Tried out the 180 Accubond the other day and was surprised to clock them at 2925-2940 fps. one grain under book max. With 1 grain over Sierra book max we found the 215 Spitzer doing 2750-60. The advantage is frontal area in the .338-06 over the the '06 and for big stuff I'd way sooner have the heavier bigger bullet. The .338-06 must be pretty close to the optimal efficiency of the case design and capacity for the 30-06 case and yes, it's right on the heels of the .338 Win Mag in a lot of bullet weights, within 100-150 fps. Next up is the 210 TSX - looks like it might be safely pushed at close to 2850 and that, kiddies, is one hell of a killing thing. I was also told that the recoil was more of a "push" as opposed to being smacked by a belted mag, but mine seems to have all the robust back-snap of my light .300 Win Mag with 165's. Great caliber, and could possibly be the best all around medium bore for everything there is without kicking you into next week. Only gripe is that fired necks are at SAAMI max, .3705" OD, and my RCBs die squeezes them way down to .3605 which lengthens them 5-6 thou. Math tells me it's needed - at .338 bullet plus .024 neck wall thickness (both sides totalled) that = .3620" which gives 1.5 thou for neck grip which is pretty well minimum. Necked down .35 Whelen or .30-06 necked up makes little difference it appears. FWIW, I'll bet the .338-06 with a 180 or 200 grain standard hunting bullet will do a lot less meat damage than any higher speed smaller caliber, especially any 7mm or .30 magnu, on deer sized game. But then I'm from western Canada and our deer are as big as any 3 from Texas!

I built 338-06 Akley Improved on a Sako m75 Greywolf rifle that was a new 25-06. Got a new barrel- 24" #5, fluted along with some other custom work. Shoots 225gr Accubonds & TTSX's quite nicely so far with just fireforming Weatherby (Norma) 338-06 brass / barrel breakin.

MP, What kind of loads are you using and what velocities are you getting? Regards, AIU

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
MP, What kind of loads are you using and what velocities are you getting? Regards, AIU

AIU,

I have yet to develop loads with fireformed brass but initial shooting was using 58.5gr of H414 with 225gr Accubonds. Now just to find time to do load developement.

quote:

as far as ammo availability... its beyond my comprehension why ANYONE on this site, would NOT be a handloader...

seafire2, this is one of the best statements that I have read here on AR!

The 338-06 is the ballistic twin of the 318 Westley Richards which had a VERY good reputation in Africa. It was used for Elephant by quite a few hunters as well as an overall medium cartridge.

I know at least one PH that recommends it for anything short of dangerous game and Giraffe.

I have one and hope to take it to "The Dark Continent" at some point One of my favorite rounds.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by greatstoneface:
I'm considering converting my 30-06 to a 338-06. does anybody have any thoughts about this.[/QUOTE

Yes, build the.411 Hawk instead.
Bigger is Better