There are numerous .338 Magnum rifles out there, so accuracy depends on what the rifle is designed for. For example, a .338 Lapua (Dakota Arms LongBow Tactical) is designed as a sniper rifle. It should be much more accurate than other .338's that are not designed as "sniper" rifles. A .330 Dakota, which is pretty much a expensive rifle, is accurate as a hunting rifle. Weatherby makes the .338WM, and I imagine it too is accurate for hunting.



Now, for my type of hunting (moose in bear country), a Ruger .338WM is accurate enough as long as those first three shots, from a cold and clean (or not clean) barrel, and without much effort, can place three bullet holes within 2" from each other at 100 yards. This same gun can be a .45-70, .300WM, .375 H&H, etc., designed as a big game hunting rifle.



If I was shooting prairie dogs at 400 yards, then I would want a rifle designed for that purpose. If I am hunting a large animal such as moose, bear, and other large game, then my 2" at 100 is sufficient for a 250-yard shot on bear, or a 400-yard shot on moose. That is, taking into account environmental conditions, the proper ammo for the task, and a solid rest for the longest shot I am capable of. BUT, the farthest shot I have ever taken on moose has been 325 yards. All the other moose shots have been near the center (or the edge) of a large open field I watch during moose season, from 100 yards to 225 yards.

The most accurate .338 is the Lapua magnum
I have had a Sako trg-42 and shot 12mm and 15mm groups at 200m with 275 grn swift A-Frames.

I have pictures if you want to see.

Cheers,

Andr�

Ditto on the TRG-42, but I wouldn't want to carry mine hunting.
Yankees, In another post you were asking about muzzle breaks, if you are concerned about recoil the Tikka is one of the lightest 338's available and would not be the best choice.
I've had 7 or 8 different 338 Win Mags and the most accurate one I've had has been my Sako M-75 Stainless. The Sako M-75 is about the right weight for a hunting 338 Win Mag, as is a Winchester M-70. If you can afford it I would go for the M-75 Sako, and if you'd rather spend less go with a Winchester Model 70.
Or like Savage99 said wait for a 325WSM Kimber.....DJ

Accuracy is more proportional to barrel quality and barrel/ action bedding.

338 Magnum choices are numerous.

338 Lapua - Extreme accuracy for extreme shooting. Namely popular as a military sniper cartridge (used by British sniper teams), typically housed in a 12-18 lbs rifle to tame recoil. Snipers routinely take targets at 1500 yards with this cartridge.

338-378 Wby - An extremely powerful cartridge, every bit the range of the 338 Lapua. In Mark V rifles, which typically weigh 8.5 lbs, the recoil is to great to expect any pure accuracy. The muzzle brake is a necessity and does make a difference.

338 RUM - Handloaded it is a close equal to the 338-378 Wby. Beltless design, huge cavernous hull. I would want a heavier rifle (9 lbs +), as recoil can be close to the 338-378 Wby.

340 Wby - As hard a hitter there is. Stout recoil, many choose a brake. Rivals the 375 H&H in power and runs a 250 grain bullet on about the same path as the 160 grain 7mm Rem Mag runs. Thats flat! I really like this cartridge.

330 Dakota - Excellent short mag, beltless with slightly more case capacity than the 338 Win. Ballistics do not surpass the 338 Win by much at all. So brass cost for the reloader and/or availability of ammo would favor the 338 Win owner IMHO.

338 Win - Lot a cartridge that's easy to handle. Fires 300 gr. Barnes at 2425 fps and 180 gr. Ballistic Tips at 3250. Will do everything asked in the hands of a consummate rifleman.

I do like the 338 Win for everyday hunting, it fits and shoots nicely in an 8 lbs gun. I have pursued the majority of my elk with the 338 Win. The rest have there nitch, but weight and recoil can rise rapidly. Use becomes more specialized. I have range freinds that tote some extreme hardware. One, a 29-inch (0.750" taper) Shilen barreled, 338-378 Wby. Original had the Kreiger w/brake. This rifle does not wear a brake and weighs just shy of 12 lbs w/optics. It gives quite a jolt from the bench position and you are totally fatigued after about 12 shots. The RUM can pretty much duplicate the same payout at both ends and the 340 Wby is not far behind. The 338 Lapua is a big cartridge, similar in stature to the 416 Rigby and certainly is right up at the top of the heap when it comes to power.

You must decide your needs in a 338 chamber. Toting 9-10-11-12...lbs rifles after elk in the Rockies at 10K feet will make for short days a foot. At least for me.

Rossi, a good rundown except for the fact that the 330 Dakota is a good 150 to 200 FPS faster than the 338 Win Mag. With 250 grain bullets the 338 Win is at about 2700 (2660 factory spec) The 330 Dakota runs 2850-2900, and The 338 Lapua runs about 3050 in a Long barreled TRG-42. For a carryable rifle without a muzzle break the 338 Win Mag and 330 Dakota are both good choices. The Dakota brass is expensive (last I bought was 1.42ea) but is of high quality and lasts forever......DJ

Here's what my Model 70 can do with Factory Remington Core-Lokts',



It will put 225 grain AccuBonds in small little cloverleafs, and 210 gr Noslers are almost as nice. Both of those are handloads.

This rifle has had nothing more done to it than a trigger job, and it's very accurate, caliber is 338 Winchester Magnum

You may be able to achieve that in your loadings, as I only load the 338 Win. Nosler's 5th Edition indicates the following:

330 Dakota peak loads 26 inch barrel:

180 gr., 81 gr. IMR 4350 yields 3,205 fps
200 gr., 84 gr. H4831sc yields 2,989 fps
225 gr., 82 gr. RL19 yields 2,894 fps
250 gr., 78 gr. H4831sc yields 2,736 fps

338 Win Mag peak loads 24 inch barrel

180 gr., 76 gr. H4350 yields 3,281 fps
200 gr., 76 gr. RL19 yields 3,020 fps
225 gr., 71.5 gr. IMR4350 yields 2,882 fps
250 gr., 71.5 gr. H4831 yields 2,780 fps

My Hawk 250 gr. bullets exhibit about the same performance as the Noslers. Given a 26 inch barrel on the 338 Win and equivilant loading pressures, I'm sure it could run with any 330 Dakota load from Dakota, Barnes, Hornady, Speer or Swift. I just do not see a spread of 150-200 fps anywhere. The 300 Win and 300 Dakota are also ballistic equivilants when looking at load data in the same manner.

Rossi, Sorry I was just speaking from actual experiance. I've handloaded for at least 7 different 338 Win Mags, 1 330 Dakota, 1 340 Weatherby Improved, and 2 338 Lapua's.
The 338 Win mag has a case capacity of 85grs of Water the 330 Dakota has a case capacity of 97grs. Loaded to the same pressures in the same length barrel the Dakota is always going to be faster due to it's substantially increased capacity.
You should actually try loading for a 330 Dakota and you'll see exactly what I mean, it's a great round...........DJ

Your target readily demonstrates how accurate the .338 Win. Mag. can be with a good rifle, good loads, and a good man behind said rifle. The .338 Win. Mag. can also be a fussy cartridge, but once you come up with the right gun and ammo, it can be startlingly accurate.

The most accurate factory .338 Win. Mag. I've ever owned was a Ruger 77. It didn't shoot worth a damn when I first took it out of the box, but after a bedding job and a trigger job, plus good handloads, it shot like a house o' fire, as in round, consistent 3/4" five-shot groups at 100 yds.

The real accuracy champ, though, of the .338 cartridges is supposed to be the .338 Lapua. Excellent brass is part of the reason why..........

AD

Good thread. Keep the information coming.
This past summer, I bought a Weatherby Mark V SS in .338 Win. Mag. I haven't shot it yet; why I don't know?
But this thread is certainly inspiring me to.
Again, Great Info.
J Scott

Brad, this cartridge has driven me crazy at times, but since it's such a good round, I've stuck with it. It seems like you either have to get lucky and latch onto a good rifle right off the bat, or else you have to recycle or rebarrel rifles for a while until you hit paydirt. Some rifles in .338 Win. Mag. are uncommonly slow, and some are horribly inaccurate. The worst ones are slow AND inaccurate!

If you end up with a .338 Win. Mag. that's a shooter, prize it an never sell it. If you find one that's highly-accurate plus FAST, guard it with your life and shoot it sparingly! I own one .338 Win. Mag. that's really fast and really accurate, and it's a prized rifle.........

AD

My experience with the .338 Win. started in January, 1968, age 21 and I have owned 12 rifles so chambered. I have shot quite a few others during this time.

I will flatly state that Allen Day's and Brad's opinions on this mirror my experience exactly. I have my Dakota which is, nowadays, an over-priced rifle. I keep mine because I love the way it handles and it shoots very well. I also have one P-64 "Alaskan" that is my all-time favourite material possesion and shoots well, I am careful to shoot these rifles only when I need to, to preserve them for serious use.

The .330 Dakota will give higher velocity than the Win. Mag. if loaded to equal pressures in bbls. of equal length as will the .340 Roy. This is my actual experience, but, I much prefer the Win. Mag. due to recoil, blast and so on. I cannot envision a hunting scenario where any .33 cal. round would be REALISTICLY superior to the mundane old Win. Mag. so, I stick with it. If, one prefers a Dak. or Roy, fine, but don't tell me that it is better, just because it is a bit faster.

I prefer to spend the additional funds required to shoot one of these on practice conponents for my .338s as I find it harder to shoot well as I get older and so require more practice. YMMV.

My first .338 was a Ruger that wouldn't shoot better than 2 inches on a good day. My second one is a Rem700 SS; it is extremely accurate.

For the most part, most rifle companies make rifles with respectable accuracy. I bought my father in law a 338 Ruger stainless laminate that is the most consistent rifle I have ever seen. Is it accurate? well to me it is. It has an uncanny way of shooting 1.1" groups. It's weird, we must have shot a couple of hundred rounds through it, my handloads and factory and although the POI varies a bit, the groups are ALWAYS 1.1".
Having said all that, I think you are approaching your purchase from the wrong angle, that is, while accuracy is obviously important, there are also other equally important qualities a rifle has to have in my view.

I personally do not like Remingtons or Brownings (the jap ones anyway)as in my opinion their systems, push feed, small extractors, glued on bolt handles, pot metal trigger guard/floorplate, etc., far outweigh their accuracy potential. So I recommend you look at the "whole rifle" concept, weigh all the attributes and detractors then make your choice. I think from an accuracy standpoint any Ruger, Remington, Winchester or Browning will make the grade. jorge

I can only speak about the one I own - a Tikka Whitetail Hunter, blue in synthetic stock. It regularly shoots 5/8 inch or under at 100 yards with 225 gr Hornady's or Barnes X-bullets. It likes either IMR-4350 or RL-22.

For what it is worth, I would take a close look at the Tikka T3 Syn in a 338. (my 22/250 in such a rifle shoots3 shots into the .2's to the .7's regularily without any tuning at all and that is a commen story with the t3's)

I helped a buddy get into one and it shoots very well with bullets ranging from 180-250.

It is as light of a factory 338 as you most likely find, I believe with scope and rings it is at 7 and 5 ounces or something like that. Being as light as it is it can be a might feisty with the 250's but it will shoot them quite well!

When it comes to talk about 338 dia. rounds I am all ears as I just love them and have been a full blown 340 nutcase for about 15 years.

Someone mentioned the Kimber rifle and while it is a very nice and sexy rifle we got a couple of them into the store in 300 WSM. Brad brought some dummy rounds down and we could not get either of the 2 to feed worth a darn! We just got another Kimber in 270 WSM in so will see how that one feeds. So, for what it is worth I'd be a bit leary of the Kimber unless you had run rounds thru the action to see how it fed b4 you layed down your hard earned money.

Rem's 338 Ultra fag is a excellent round and as has been a very good shooter for several friends that I am around. It's barrel is a bit light for my liking as I prefer a tube to be between .65 and .7 at the muzzle. I also notice that several of these fella's have a corn cob (mzl break) on the ends of their rifles. I kind of believe if the rifle had a bit more weight in the tube they would not be some likely to put on those things on their rifles. I'd personally not have anything to do with one, but that is just me.

I've worn out 3 340 tubes on my M700 and M70 and I just think the world of the round. All 3 of them have carried Schneider 4.5 weight tubes and all of them have shot incredibly well. I've found it to be one of the most accurate rounds out there if it is put together right (IMO without freebore) All of them have shot extremely well and at quite long range.

One last thing and I also believe that a lot of those rifles won't be much good away from a atv or a horse as I also believe a lot of those carrying won't be either. Not knocking the people just their conditioning. Not many fellas are gonna lug a rifle up and down the elk mountains on foot on a serious hunt. As I see it there is elk hunting on foot in the mountains and there is elk hunting that is done by way of horses/atv's/4 wds/ and at plush ranch hunts and make no mistake about it there is a ton load of difference between them.

A fella that I guided on a bruin hunt a couple of years ago gave me a 338/300 WSM. It has a 21"3 weight Schenider on it, it shoots like a house a fire but is still a bit heavy (8 pounds). I planto stock it just like Brad did his 06 and then I will be very close to my ultimate foot hunting elk rifle! (by the way you fellas should see what Brad did with his 06 it is a work of art even if it is an 06 grins)


"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz