I've owned a bunch of Classics through the years, but never the .338WM. I've only had two magnums, a 300WM and a .375H&H. I didn't think the recoil was bad in either one.
I finally found a Classic in .338 ( layaway even!) so snagged it. Anyone ever used one and how was the accuracy & recoil? I remember back in 1983, sitting on an oil rig, looking at rifle Magazine at the new, Classic offering in .338WM. Always wanted one and passed on one back in 2003. Now I'm back in business! ha

Oops, I meant in early 1987, not '83. I was playing with the Classic .257 Roberts in '83 and was having a ball with it in the Ackley rechambering.

I have a Classic in 338 that I bought back in the 80's for an elk rifle. Accuracy is very good with mine shooting several different bullets / loads around 1". The recoil will get your attention especially with 250 gr. bullets. I have only elk hunted with a rifle two times the first about 30 years ago with no shot opportunity. My second hunt was 3 years ago and I did some more load work and settled on the 210 gr. Partition. I also changed the factory recoil pad for a softer one and that has made it a lot more shootable for me. We killed two elk with that rifle / load on the last hunt and it performed very well.

There is quite a difference in recoil between the 200-210 grain bullets and the 250 grain bullets. I don't think either is too bad, but some people don't like it.

I had a KS Mtn rifle I bought in 91 that I kept til a couple of yrs ago. I set setup a 210 and a 250gr load for it. With the 210's I was getting 2950 and the 250 was 2750. THe 210 did everything I needed it to, for me. When I originally got it I ran some 250gr Fed Premium partitions thru to sight it in, they clocked 2460, box said 2660. But, after 6 shots sighting in, it looked like it liked those, so I hunkered down and shot another 3, 5/8". When it came to recoil on that gun, it was a sweetie. Had a few people who owned 7mm and 300 varieties shot it with 250's, and they liked it better than theirs. Believe those were McMillan stocks back then.

Just got this baby home! Had it pillar bedded/floated, a Sims pad put on, a Trigger Tech trigger added too. I put a set of Leupold QD bases/Medium Rings on it ( they came off my old Whelen AI) I put a Bushnell 3200 3x9 on it. It has been on a few hard kickers before and it has the RainGuard lens coating. Hopefully I can get to the range on Monday.

The 338 win mag is my favorite all around big game caliber .I have used it 33 years and I hope to use it ten more !

I have had two .338 Win Mags: a 700 SS with plastic stock that I bedded myself; shot tons of stuff with that rifle including an African lion, two leopards, a ton of plains game, a brown bear, 8 bull elk, four moose, a few mule deer, and who knows what else. Used to shoot like a house afire, but I used to practice with it a lot and not sure if the barrel is starting to go. I don't find the recoil objectionable at all, even with 250 grain bullets.

My other .338 WM was a Ruger 77; accuracy was terrible but good enough to kill a grizzly at 50 yards. Kicked like a mule to boot.

I have only owned one classic, a 7RM. Loved that rifle. Currently the action is bedded in a McM stock and wears a Shilen barrel chambered in 300 RUM. When the .338 version came out I had to have one, but never did pull the trigger.

Great rifle, great cartridge.

Your experience sure surpasses mine with the caliber. I went to South Africa in '96, took my friend 2 rifles. He gave me the money to buy 2 Mod 70 SS in .300WM and .375 H&H. I also brought brass, components for both, but the Barnes 180xbt and 270 X. I took a Model 700 Classic 35 Whelen ( reamed out to the Ackley) and my ammo was using the 250X.

I went back in 1998 and took him one in .338WM. He wanted the 200x only. I used it on one Gemsbuck. It worked swell. I took a 340W with the 210xbt. The load was great; the rifle was much too light and the brake much too loud. I had to put it away and finish the hunt with a Mod 700 Classic 300WM/180xbt. It was a rifle I had used and gave to one of my proteges. Lucky for me!
When I returned home, I had that rifle rebarreled with a heavier one in .338 WM. I used the 185 XLC on a cow elk. That's it, just two animals, but I liked it. I've owned/shot a few other 338WMs, but hunted with that old Whelen AI ( 200x@2970) until a couple years ago.

The .338WM became my favorite from the moment I shot my first moose. Have two of them, both a Ruger M77 stainless, and the other an African version (sort of satin dark gray color), and no muzzle brake.

The stainless one has a Timney trigger, and a Hogue Rubber-Overmolded stock. The African has a Macmillan classic stock that was shortened plus a decelerator recoil pad added to fit my LOP. With this stock there is not much trouble with recoil.

I have shot moose from about 50 yards to 270, but one closer to 300. The bullets I have used (factory loads only): 250-grain A-Frame and Partition, the original 230-grain Lubalox-coated FS, 225-grain 3-shock, and the 225-grain TBBC (Federal HE ammo years ago). One of the 250-grain Nosler Partition was on the HE load from Federal.

If you have any trouble with recoil, I would have a gun smith buying a Macmillan stock fitted to your LOP taking into account that a decelerator (or similar) recoil pad is within the LOP.

I loaded up some rounds on Monday. The Barnes 160TTSX (Varget), the 200gr NBT (R15 & H4895)and the 250gr NAB over R26.I hope to get to the range next Monday anyhow. These three bullets all "touched the rifling" at an Overall length of 3.45" and I set them all at 3.40 inch.
For my use, I like the lighter bullets as a good combo load for both mule deer and cow elk. I also have some 180 NAB, some 200 NAB and some 185 TSX. This rifle is about as light as I want in 338, so I may never use the 250s, but hey, I want a load worked dup, you can never tell!

I actually envisioned using the 200gr NBT as an all around load. I am trying 65gr R15 and 60gr H4895. I should be around 2900 +-. I have gathered up several weights/styles. Adding tot he above I also have the 210PT, 250PT and the 225 TTSX. In time I will try them all, see which it shoots best. I have had/used rifles that only liked one bullet weight/style, but they were usually lightweight rifles. I like to experiment with different weights. Even though I have had rifles that shot a heavy bullet to same POI as my light bullet ( or viz a viz) I never hunted with them on the same hunt. I guess I could, just never had a need to.

I've had a 338 Win Mag in the stable for 40+ years and love the cartridge. I've used it on everything from coyotes to bears & moose but it really shines as an elk rifle IMHO.
I've has a couple Rugers that shot just okay and a couple Remingtons that shot much better. My current iteration is a custom Rem 700 with a knockout piece of English walnut on it.

I've shot more critters with the 210 Nosler Partition than anything else. Recently I've used the 225 Accubond and historically I used some 250 Partitions. Like Hagel said "210 is boringly reliable"

Recoil with the 200-210 bullets if actually quite pleasant for a "big" cartridge.

Can't really go wrong with your new rig if it shoots well.

Zeke

The .338WinMag is pretty hard to beat.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_TX:
The .338WinMag is pretty hard to beat.

Unless you 'upgrade,' by having the rifle re-barreled to 35 Whelen.

Then you'll actually have something useful in the field that's also interesting to show off to the 'bros' at the Gun Club.

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_TX:
The .338WinMag is pretty hard to beat.

Unless you 'upgrade,' by having the rifle re-barreled to 35 Whelen.

Then you'll actually have something useful in the field that's also interesting to show off to the 'bros' at the Gun Club.

I’ll bite.......so what do you tell the ‘bros’ about? Maybe that you can’t find any ammo at Academy?

After the re-barrel what do you do about the bolt face, feeding, etc?

I’m sure the .35 Whelen is a grand cartridge, but so is the 30-30. However, I don’t think I would put either in the same league as the .338WinMag.

When you guys use/used the 210PT, did you push it as fast as you could or keep it around 2850-2900? If fast, what was your load ( I promise not to blow my face off!)

PS I love the 35 Whelen Improved, used one over 20 yrs. I was looking for another Mod 700 Classic to have reamed out when I came upon this new 338WM. I was also looking when I found he classic before this one, it was in .270. so my "pair" of Classics are 270 & 338. I "might" talk myself into a Mod 7600 35 Whelen, but in no hurry. I would leave it a standard Whelen though.

Jim,
The powder I've used most is IMR 4831 but almost anything in the 4350-RL-22 range should work fine. (I've used lots of IMR 4350 too)

The lastest load in my current 338 is with the 210 bullet and RL-17. The case fill isn't the greatest but the accuracy sure is!
I'm trying to remember the velocity but I think I remember closer to 3000. I can look tonight but for now that's my guess.

Zeke

Yeah zeke, I'd love to know it. I have some R17 on hand, Scotty gives it a thumbs up, proven load. I've used H4350 with the lighter bullets in both the 338 (185xlc) and the 340W (210 xbt) I feel very confident in its cold weather reliability too.

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_TX:
The .338WinMag is pretty hard to beat.

Unless you 'upgrade,' by having the rifle re-barreled to 35 Whelen.

Then you'll actually have something useful in the field that's also interesting to show off to the 'bros' at the Gun Club.

How would that be an upgrade? These two cartridges are different from each other.

That aside, with the much greater number of .338-caliber bullets, the .338WM is more versatile. Also, if a rifle caliber would be an upgrade over another, then most of us would be "upgrading" to that specific caliber, but as far as I can tell the .338WM is a lot more popular than the .35 Whelen. That, however, is not putting down the latter since the .35 Whelen is another great cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray Alaska:

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_TX:
The .338WinMag is pretty hard to beat.

Unless you 'upgrade,' by having the rifle re-barreled to 35 Whelen.

Then you'll actually have something useful in the field that's also interesting to show off to the 'bros' at the Gun Club.

How would that be an upgrade? These two cartridges are different from each other.

That aside, with the much greater number of .338-caliber bullets, the .338WM is more versatile. Also, if a rifle caliber would be an upgrade over another, then most of us would be "upgrading" to that specific caliber, but as far as I can tell the .338WM is a lot more popular than the .35 Whelen. That, however, is not putting down the latter since the .35 Whelen is another great cartridge.

The .338 WM is superior to the .35 Whelen in just about every category I can think of except these:
- Recoil
- Bbl length (35 is prob less affected by a shorter barrel)
- Bullet frontal diameter
- Less cost to reload (a bit less powder)


By every other measure, the .338 WM is superior. The .35 Whelen might be a great cartridge, but it isn't the equal of the .338 WM IMO.

I settled on 75gr. Of RL22 with the 210 Partition in Federal brass with a CCI 250 primer. Clockes 2860 out of my classic. I pushed them a little faster but accuracy was better at 75 grains.
Good luck!

Thanks for replies all, all I need now is a bit of time to start wringing these options out.