I have a good friend that is getting married in August and after his one week honeymoon he comes back to work for two days and then leaves for a moose and caribou hunt in Alaska. I have congratulated him on breaking his new wife in the right way by leaving right away on an extended hunting trip and have had several discussions with him on which rifle to take. His choices are a Sendero in 300 Ultra Mag or a Sendero in 338 Ultra Mag. I tell him either will do the job nicely but he is still in limbo.
He will be hunting for three weeks in an area north of Fairbanks. Which rifle would you take?
This guy is a stud and can shoot with the best of them so packing a rifle like a Sendero is no problem. Just can't decide on caliber. Thanks

A friend of mine used to always preface his statements with "In my humble a worthless opinion."

So for what it's worth IMHWO.

I believe the 300RUM to be the superior of the two choices in long range capability. It has plenty of juice for Caribou and Moose.

Pegleg,

If recoil is not an issue the 338 Ultra is just more gun. Either will work fine but there is no substitute for a big bullet going fast. Personally I would not pick the Sendero but instead a lighter SS and synthetic version.

Mark

A friend of mine has a Sendero in 300wm, man, I wouldn't want to carry that thing on a hunt!

I personally hunt with the 300ultramag in a heavier than average rifle,and I really don't mind the extra weight for carrying.It sure makes the rifles a lot more pleasant to shoot as well.I will say that the recoil of the 338ultramag is substancially more than that of the 300ultramag.

As long as recoil is truly not an issue, shoot the bigger gun - no question. The 338 would also be better in hand if he runs into a bear.

Man if you can shoot a .300 ultra then you can shoot the .338 ultra as well. Without a doubt he should go to the .338 and dominate the moose.

Tell him to bring the .338RUM with ammo that hold bullets from 225-250 grains. If he reloads, he can stuff a few 275-grain A-Frame on those RUM cases. otherwise the 225 to 250-grain A-Frame should be excellent for any Alaska hunting.

Either cartritge will obviously kill anything on this continent but why choose to carry around a 10+ pound rifle in Alaska. Moose and caribou don't live in areas that are exactly easy to walk around in.

quote:

Man if you can shoot a .300 ultra then you can shoot the .338 ultra as well. Without a doubt he should go to the .338 and dominate the moose.

Everyone has their recoil tolerance limit,and the difference between the 300ultramag and 338ultramag is significant enough that it may exceed that limit for some people.
As for killing power,there isn't a moose alive that the 300ultramag won't easily kill using a bullet like the 180grtsx.