I got a 2004 Remington book to check out their new guns and loads.I was very suprised to see the 338 win mag gone from the 700 listing.The 338 Remington Ultra mag will be the only .338 caliber rifles made besides the custon shop.I called Reminton to make sure they said its true.The 338 win mag has out sold the Remington ultra mag about 20 to 1.They have had bad sales for both the 338 ultra mag and the 375 ultra mag.Now they have to push their chambering and get rid of the competion in their own rifle.The 300 Weatherby was gone too from the list to push the 300 ultra mag.It is sad to see too many chambering causing some of the most popular ones to be pushed out.I like Ruger instead of the Remington in 338 win mag because the Remington barrels are way to thin.The taper on the 338 Ruger barrels helps with recoil and muzzle rise.I guess if you want a 338 Remington ever it will in a ultra mag uless it disapears quick which is what I think will happen.The market has been flooded by new calibers.I know the 338 win mag will survive its very popular more than it ever has been.Thats why I was so suprised when Remington stopped chambering it.

Winchester did a similar thing. From what I understand, they have replaced the 7mmRemMag with the 7mmWSM in most(if not all) of their rifles. I don't mind having new options on the market, but I agree with you that it is a bummer to see good cartridges pushed out just to generate better sales of the newbies. I'd take the 338WinMag over the Ultra any day. I think they will lose sales rather than improve them.

-Gib

If the Win Mag has been outselling the Ultra Mag 20:1, the market will soon give them their comeuppance. The sales will not switch to the Ultra. They will go to a competitor.

Remington still has the 300 Winchester listed. Their 375 Ultra is only in the Laminated Stainless and the 338 Ultra is missing from many rifles.

I am wondering if the 338 Winchester has been a real slow mover for Remington. If this site is any guide then 338 Winchester seems to be mainly Model 70 and Ruger rifles.

Also if this site is any guide there does seem to be quite few shooters with 300 Ultra and also 338 Ultras.

Mike

If you look at Winchester's '04 catalog the Sporter LT and the SuperGrade both dropped the .300 Winchester in favor of the WSM Only the stainless rifles are chambered in .300 Win.

I checked at my favorite guns stores in central VA, and the 338 RUM is selling as well or better than the 338 Win in NEW rifles. The 338 Win is of course very popular in used rifles compared to the RUM.

I think that what is really going on is related to profit. Rem has a lot of competition in the 338 Win, and there is caliber rather than brand loyalty driving the market. They just can't sell the 338 winnie an make a decent profit. However, they do not have competition in the 338 and 375 RUM to speak of yet, and can make a decent profit on those chamberings.

After all, they are not in the business of selling as many rifles as possible...they are in business to make profit. An extra $100 per rifle is HUDGE, and something that the average buyer will pay to go "ULTRA" when there is no competition.

The 338 win mag is chambered in alot of rifles now.I think only Remington chambers the 338 Ultra mag.They just had a rebate on the Ultra mags.I guess they had so much competion with the 338 win mag that they had to chamber only their 338 ultra mag before it disapeared.They also brought back the 221 fireball and the 222 remington and the 6.5 Rem mag.I think Ruger is the only one who chambers both Remington and Winchester short mags.The 338 win mag is very good overall big game cartridge for North America.The only thing the 338 ultra mag suffers from is lack of different companys chambering it and the high price of loaded ammo.The 375 Ultra mag is only chambered in one rifle it cant compete with the 375 H&H even though it is more powerful.I didnt notice but the Remington 7mm STW is also gone from the list.It was replaced by the 7mm Remington Ultra mag.Thats why I think alot of the new chamberings will disapear pretty quick like 5-8 years.The 375 H&H will be a 100 in about 8 years.It and the 338 win mag will be around for a long while.I bet the 338 win mag will be back in the Remington within a year or so.