Does anyone here have any expereince with this caliber? Thinking of buying one, the ballistics look impressive! I have a 300 wby., & a 375 h&h just want something in between. Any comments would be appreciated.
Regards Mike

What would you use it for?

How do you find recoil from your current rifles?

There are a few other .338 and .358s that I would look at before the 338-378 Wby.

Also take a look at these for your purposes:
1. 338 RUM
2. 358 STA
3. 358 NORMA
4. 330 Dakota
5. 338 Win. Mag.

All of the above generally produce less recoil and get most jobs done equally well on just about any animal. Some are even cheaper to shoot and more available than the .338-378 Wby.

While ballistics may look impressive, you may not be able to hit what you're aiming at with that cartridge if you cannot handle its recoil-pperceived recoil will be more than your .375 H&H.

I have two weatherby 338-378s I love them.They are accurate ,powerful and flat shooting.I have shot groups as smallas .25"with Nosler Partitions at 3150fps.The brass is expensive but the strongest brass you will ever find.I have tried some of the serria 300gr boatails that are used for long range hunting but have not shot anything with it.I have only shot mine with the muzzle brakes on them.There is hardly any recoil with the brake but its loud enough to have to use at least ear plugs while hunting.I put a .6.5x20 power Nikon scope on one of them and a 5.5x15 on the other rifle.I have only shot game out to 425 yards but would shoot futher if its a good day with no wind.Its an awesome long range rifle thats not too heavy .Its as accurate as any custom rifle that you could build.The weatherby accumark is an awesome rifle and along with the Weatherby 338-378 makes it the best long range big game rifle you can buy.

I had one when they were a wildcat, not long before they became factroy round. I had a 416 Wby rebarreled.

Without a muzzle brake I can assure you that you will not regard the 338/378 as something between the 300 Wby and 375 H&H

I originally had mine done as bench style rifle with Hart Heavy Varmint contour and then later recontoured to fit the 416 Mark V stock.

If you are looking for sometrhing that is truly beween the 300 and 375 H&H then a 338 Win would be closer to the mark.

If you are considering a Wby Accumark remember that the barrel will be 28 inches with the brake on.

Without the brake the recoil is big, much more than a 375 H&H, but quite a bit less than the 378 without a brake.

It is faster than the 300 Wby with bullets of the same sectional density and it will drive bullets of the same weight faster than the 375.

I think it is is a top calibre but would regard it as more of a "shooters" rifle than a "hunters" rifle.

Mike

I have a 460 weatherby, a 458 lott & a 416 rem. that I shoot regularly, so recoil really is not a issue. Thinking it will make a excellant long range rifle. I have a 308 warbird that is nice for longrange, but would like to shoot a heavier bullet. Thanks for the replies.
Regards Mike

I purchased a 338-378 in a Weatherby Accurmark when they first came out. I shoot mine with the brake on...so recoil is not an issue but muzzle blast is...I use that rifle and a 30-378 Accumark as my long range hunting rifles they are both accurate rifles and work well for longer range applications. I set mine up with Sarovski's 4-16PH with the TDS reticule and calibrated with my handloads they work well out to 800 yds without "hold over".

I want a long range thumper as well and have been thinking about the sendenero .300 RUMs as well 3800 fps with a 150 gr NOS bt looks impressive !!

What can a .338/378 throw the 180gr and 200 gr nos bt's at ??

I don't know if that 3800fps with the 300RUM is perhaps a little "hot". The nosler site lists the fastest velocity with IMR4350 at 3505fps.

What speeds acn the .338/378 get with the 180 gr and 200 gr nosler Ballistic tips ??

PC:

Seems unlikely to me that you can get 3800fps with 150 grain bullet from a 300 RUM.

I do not "push to extreme" my loads, with my 30-378 I can achieve a nominal 3700fps with a 150 grain Barnes TSX and my favorite load (the one I use to hunt with) uses a 168grain Barnes TSX at a nominal 3500fps..I guess the 168 could be pushed to 3550-3600fps range but why...3500fps with the 168's works well and very accurate in my rifle.

The 338-378 I use 185 grain Barnes TSX at a nominal 3450fps about the same ranging ability as the 30-378 with the 168's...I use mine for long range Deer hunting no need for the heavier bullets...A word of caution ...I prefer the Barnes TSX because of the potential for lighly constructed bullets to "blow up" at such high velocity...BT may work for paper puching but use something else unless you are dusting varmints...and the TSX are very accurate in my two rifles...

A question and a word of caution about the 338/378. Do you have experience with heavy recoiling rifles? Yes, I know about the muzzle brake, are you really going to wear ear plugs while hunting? And do you reload?

I have a friend who bought a 338/378 a while back and just hates it. Why? Well, first he doesn't reload and the ammo is rather expencive. I've shot it and with the brake it's not all that bad, without it, well a 378 or 458 Lott is worse but not much else. He didn't like the idea of wearing plugs all the time and so removed the brake while hunting, ears were fine and he didn't notice that the recoil was that bad when an elk was standing in front of him. One time he forgot to remove the brake and forgot his ear plugs, yep, had a shot, took it and had sharp pain in his right ear for a while. After a bit he found it didn't do anything any better than his 300 Win. Mag. as far as deer, elk and black bear.

If you like big, powerful guns and like to shoot it might be fun for you. If you are looking for a powerful gun suitable for NA game at realistic long ranges a 338 Win. might be a better deal.

They sell all the ones that come into the gun shops in Southern Oregon.... to Californians!

Ammo is $4.00 every time you pull the trigger.... so the guy who sells ammo will be impressed with it....

As far as North American hunting goes.... If it isn't for big bears in Alaska, a lot of other cartridges will do the same jobs for a lot less...

To me the 300/378 and the 338/378 Weatherbys have alot in common with the Hummers..... A product for those that have to have something real big to impress someone, yet expense and practicality is not an obstacle......

But good luck with it, if you walk down that path....

Cheers
seafire

I shoot the 338 Rem Ultra Mag. With a 250 gr bullet going 3000 FPS I get 49.43 Ft Pounds of recoil witch isn't bad. I can handle that but on the bench sighting in I have a brake for it. I just picked the piece to protect the threads with the brake off today. I like my RUM.

I had one of these rifles that I built up. it was a full custom, heavy bull barreled 28" inch tube. It was a heavy rifle, with scope it was about 15 1/2 lbs.

I only shoot one bullet in this rifle, a 300 gr Sierra, BTHP. Never shoot any other bullet, the rifle was designed around this bullet.

This was one kick ass long distance shooter, I am not going to get into group sizes as it will just start stuff. I will note that the guy who talked me into selling it, saw it shoot, was knowledgable in canyon shooters, and bugged me to death to sell the rifle, he finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse, cause he was tired of me creaming his ass a 1000 yds, and I sold it.

A 338 Win mag is an also ran in this league, the 338-378 is about 2900 FPS, the 338 Win mag is around 2400 fps.

I would only be interested in this caliber if I was shooting long distance, and thats where it excells, for 400 yds or less I would rather have the 338 Win Mag.

For normal usage in a hunting rifle, it kicks too much, eats a lot of powder, and when I had mine built it was a wildcat. It is a specialised cartridge for special applications. There are some new super 338's available today, I would check into these and run ballistics programs if I was building another, just to see what the new stuff offers.

I liked that rifle a lot, probably shouldn't have sold it, it had a Hall action, and a Lilja barrel, with all the technical bells and whistles. If I did another I would go to a longer tube, when I built mine a 28" was as long as I could get, but a 30"-32" would be better.

Bottom line this rifle kicked ass and took names at long range.

Thanks for all the info! The guy has backed out on selling it. But from the info received here, I'm going to keep my eyes open for one. I need one like a hole in the head, but I just want one! I'm sure yall understand

Regards Mike

quote:

Do you have experience with heavy recoiling rifles

I will interject my rifle wasn't bad to shoot. But check the wieght of my rifle, it was heavy, and I would need to check some old records but it was around 1" at the muzzel. No it didn't have a brake, it was all barrel.

I got beat up worse by my 30 mags than this rifle. But I wouldn't want this in a light rifle it would be murder. And brass is expensive but I never bought a factory round so it wasn't that bad on the pocket book.

I don't think I would be interested in the stock Weatherby rifles in this cartridge, they just don't have the stuff to bring out the long range potential of this round, and I don't need it under 400 yds, I have a other cartridges that have that base covered with a lot less hassle, and I would prefer the 340 Weatherby in a hunting

I have been hunting with a 338/378 since the 1960's. Weatherby built 6 of them, but no proper powder was available. I have built many as wildcats, but like the new W'by with the removeable break as a hunting gun. The factory ballistics is well below what you can load up. I usually stick with a 250 Gr Nosler Partition at about 3150 FPS. It is comfortable to shoot all day with the break.

Do NOT use Hornadys. They become liquid plasma at high velocity.