Just put a 20" 375 ruger barrel on a Ruger M77 MkII action and absolutely love the balance. My question is has anyone shortened a 338 win mag to 20". If so how has ir worked out, were the animals shot able to tell the difference? Thanks, Lynn

I had a 20" .338 WM, IMO 20" is a bit short for a .338 WM. I was getting unburned powder out the snout. The .375H&H works just fine at 20 but the shortest I'd go on a .338WM again is about 22 or preferably 23".

I'm sure the mileage will vary but this was my personal experience with it.

Yes, it's called the .338 Ruger Compact Magnum and no, the animals can't tell the difference.

To avoid the unburned powder problem (which causes extra muzzle flash) simply use a faster powder. You won't get the max velocity, but you only lose about 20 to 30 fps per inch, so between 24 inc and 20 inch barrels the difference is around 80 to 120 fps. It won't make much difference unless you need to take something at over 300 yards. In reality if you have a short barrel, you are better off with a smaller cartridige, like the 338/06, but it will still work with the larger cartridge.

The 375, 416s can handle short barrels very well IMO..I like a heavy short barrel on the 375 and 416 or a std wt. barrel at 24 or 26 inches on them..Mostly I want a rifle thats a tad barrel heavy for off hand shooting and running shots as the settle faster for me.

The 338 Win and 300 magnums cannot IMO...The .338 Win doesn't have very impressive balistics when you think about it, however it is a very well balanced combination of bullet weight and velocity, nothing spectacular on paper, but it sure is an awesome killer of anything short of perhaps elephant, and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an elephant with one if it was legal as its penetration is legion...

A 20 inch barrel will of course kill game with proper shots, but trajectory will suffer, muzzle blast will increase.

I didn't like the one I had and sold it pretty quick..I prefer a 24 inch barrel on a 338 or a 300 magnum, and with the 300s I even like a 26 inch better.

The 338 Win is one of my all time favoerites.

I purchased a Dumolin 20in full stock 338 WM in 1964. I did shoot one caribou at 400yds but that was a bit of a stretch for it. The brown (3)and black (2)bears were shot much closer and all went one shot per each. Very handy carry length. I never bothered to chronograph it, but it didn't seem to matter.

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In reality if you have a short barrel, you are better off with a smaller cartridige, like the 338/06, but it will still work with the larger cartridge.

"better off with a smaller cartridge"? I'm not so sure of this. The extra 14 grain capacity of the 338 Win Mag over the 338/06 and 338RugCompMag will still provide a significant advantage with faster powders. Speed up the powder a notch, say a Varget, R15, Hodgdon Leverevolution, or 4064, in order to reduce muzzle flash a tad, and enjoy a great cartridge.

The 338 win Mag is one of my all time favorites too.

Why stop at twenty inches? Cut it on down to 18 or even 16, drill some holes for a muzzle brake, and it will kill everything in a radius of fifty feet of the muzzle with muzzle blast alone.

The 338 win is one of my favorite mediums, I've had 375h&h with 20", 458 win 20", 450 dakota 20"
and they all worked well getting very close to velocities of 24". Now have 375 ruger 20" and it also works, have even chopped 35whelen 20". So is 338 the stopping point with more velocity loss. I do have a rem 700 barrel in 338 maybe I will mount it up and try a chop to 20" Thanks, Lynn

I've owned a Savage M116FSAK in .338 WM for over 20 years. Hunted Kodiak Island, Brooks Range, SouthCentral and Interior Alaska with it, and it's 20" (effective length) barrel with adjustable brake made a fine hunting rifle. 210 Nosler Partitions at 2835 fps killed everything I pointed it at just fine thanks. No animal can tell the difference between a 20" barrel and a 24" one. Sierra data confirms that the velocity loss is not meaningful.

Now I load it with 200 grain Hornadys and BlueDot for ~2400 fps and great performance on small Texas deer and hogs...without all the noise and recoil.


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quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:

"better off with a smaller cartridge"? I'm not so sure of this. The extra 14 grain capacity of the 338 Win Mag over the 338/06 and 338RugCompMag will still provide a significant advantage with faster powders. Speed up the powder a notch, say a Varget, R15, Hodgdon Leverevolution, or 4064, in order to reduce muzzle flash a tad, and enjoy a great cartridge.

The 338 win Mag is one of my all time favorites too.

My favourite too, and maybe I should qualify "better off"

Using AR2208 instead of the normal AR2209, you can achieve 2650 fps, or close to it with 225gn bullets in the 338 Win Mag. In the 338/06 you can achieve 2550 or close to it. So there is a 100fps difference. So you are actually "better off" with the bigger round, but when you balance everything up, if you really want a 20" barrel, and you want to avoid the muzzle flash a slower powder will cause, then you are really only sacrificing 100fps with the smaller cartrige, but probably gaining 2 shots magazine capacity.
I wouldn't do that, I like 24 inches on my 338, it gets the most out of a great round. But a lighter handier rifle with a lot less recoil, a few extra rounds down, and only 100fps less will be a choice a lot of people make.

I haven't done it, but why a 338 Win magnum with such a short barrel. Wouldn't a Browning BLR in 358 Win be equivalent power, in a lighter handier package?