I have a .300 H&H and a .375 H&H. I like shooting the .375 and don't mind the kick.

However I just had a .338 made up on a Springfield '03A3 action. I haven't shot it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

I am a thru and thru 338 Win Mag fan.

Actually worn out two of them so far, and working on my third now.

For African Plains game, it is one great cartridge.

I've used most everything from 200 gr Hornady & Speer's to 250 gr TBBC, except Noslers. No real reason, just never got around to using them.

225 TBBC are absolutely GREAT. The new 225 gr Speer Grand Slam is a keeper too.

225 Swift A-Frames, are never recovered.

The 250 Speer Grand Slam in the Nitrex loading has taken Bear and Kudu with no problem.

The 230 Fail Safe has few peers on BIG Bear. Pure penetration, too much penetration for thin skinned game.

The 225 gr Hornady Heavy Magnum, "nums 'em" as previously posted.

For smaller game, the 200 gr Hornady and Speers really do a nice job, and shoot quite flat too.

Nebraska: THe practical round is the 338 Win Mag. The RUM like the 300 RUM is just another "Ultra nonsense" ploy from Remington. The 338 is plenty flat for ALL elk hunting. The only critter one should be shooting at 400 yards is a varmint. Besides the 340 Weatherby does everything the RUM claims and it is an established cartridge. jorge

You mention RECOIL more than once in your original post. If recoil is a concern, your barking up the wrong tree with ALL three of your choices.

Do you REALLY need the ability to reach out 400 yds??

Sometimes less is more...... take a look at a .338-06. I've thumped elk several times with my .375 and 300 gr slugs. Kills them very well.
I've also shot several heads of game here in MT and over in RSA with a M70 in .338-06. That killed everything I have ever shot at with ONE round. One of the elk was at 300+ yds and he went all of 20 yds. And its a lot more pleasant to shoot than ANY .338 mag, just the laws of physics.

Bullets are so good right now that one could truly get by with a soft shooting .30-06 and do pretty well.

FN in MT

Nebraska, I have hunted with the 338 for several years now and have taken Moose,Bear(both Black & Griz)Boar,Elk,and a Monster Buffalo in Argentina. I have used the 230 gr. FS bullet almost exclusively and have had fantastic results. My rifle is a light short m70 classic and I had a David Gentry Quiet Muzzle Break installed because of the recoil. The noise level is not any higher than normal and it's recoil is about like my 270 Win. I would not hesitate to shoot a Cape Buff with it if it were legal. I have shot the 338 Ultra Mag and the diffrence in recoil is somewhat greater and the muzzle blast is significant. I would suggest a 338 Win Mag until you decide on going to Africa and then 375 cal is minimum on most Dangerous game. I don't think you could go terribly wrong on either gun.

I've used the .375 RUM on three head of game in NA (Bison, Elk and Gemsbok), the results are truly devastating.

After reading the posts here I'm quite comfortable with my recent purchase for a moose rifle. I bought a Ruger 77MKII in .338 Win. Mag., and I have no buyer's remorse whatsoever.

I just ordered some 225gn Barnes X, 210gn Nosler partitions, and some 200gn. Ballistic tips (for fun). I'm hoping the Barnes shoot well, as this is my preference for bullet choice.

I'll let you know in coming months how load development progresses.

cheers!

mike

Ovis
If your Ruger has one of those canoe paddle synthetic stocks, then that could be your recoil problem.

I couldn't believe the difference in recoil when I changed stocks...

I shot the 338 Ultra Mag for two seasons, and only got rid of it because I wasn't getting the velocity I wanted with the 210 XLC's, and instead, I opted for the .308 Warbird. I shot two deer and one elk with the Ultra. First deer, Big Mule deer, at about 75-100yds, with a 210gr Partition w/ MV of 32-3300fps. Hit him in the spine and completely severed it by a section of about 2 or 3 vertabrae..absolutely devastating, the bullet(rear core) then continued under the ribs and out the other side. The sheer impact turned the lungs into a dark red clump of jelly. Second deer (this season's) fell to the 210gr Partition at about 275yds..hit him far back ON the shoulder and dropped him where he stood, no way he was able to get up. The damage was impressive to say the least. Complete pass through. The Elk, a 4x5 raghorn was shot at about 40-50yds, with a 250gr Factory Swift A Frame...33" dia. going in, 1" dia. going out...hit nothing but ribs and lungs. Wish I would've had a Partition for that shot. I think the partition would've caused a little more damage (because of the lesser integrity of the front core) and it would've made a more dramatic wound channel, and a little more trauma. He might not have run as far. He ran for about 15yds uphill, and toppled over (not far, but still...). I'm convinced of the fast .33's, and wouldn't mind owning another one, but I just got a .375 that I'm rechambering to .375 Wby, so I've got that area covered.

I have a 338/416 Rigby at 13.5# that would rock your world at a lighter weight. I'm not quite sold on these overbore 338's myself and would be quite content to hunt anything you've mentioned with my 308 Norma as I already have it.

Now given your considerations and a professed use of smaller than 30 caliber rifle for deer I would tend to agree with the 338 Win folks. If you end up keeping a 30 caliber rifle of some sort that is sufficient to the task, I'd then consider the 375 H&H and maybe even get one that's improved such that factory still works but you can then handload and get a bit more out of it.

The main reason I wanted to reply was in regard to Premiere Reticles. I purchased a scope from them and in my opinion they performed some subsequent warranty work to the best of any reasonable expectations. I haven't reviewed their warranty of late but they seem to work rather well with Leupold so I wouldn't have any qualms about them should you be interested.

Good luck.

Reed

Thanks for the replies so far!

Here's where I'm at right now:

I just committed to a SS Classic Win 70 in 300 Win Mag a few minutes ago on GA. I've never owned a Winchester Model 70 or a 300 WM but am taking the plunge due to recommendations from guys like Allen Day. I was looking for a SS Win Clasic in 338 Win Mag and found the 300 Win Mag for $450+ actual shipping. I've never owned a 300 WM either so I'll throw that into the mix now also. If I like the 300 WM and the SS Classic Win Model 70, I'll add a 375 H&H down the road(if it looks like BIG bears or Africa would ever be in the cards). If I like the Win 70 but not the 300 WM, I'll probably rebarrel it to a 338 WM and be done. If I don't care for the way the Win Model 70 feels/handles/shoots, I'll go to Plan B.

Plan B -

I also have a Rem 700 LSS 338 RUM on it's way here too. If I don't like the SS Classic Win Mod 70, I'll be sticking with Remington. If I go with Remington, I'm going to shoot a friend's 338 RUM before I shoot mine. If the recoil's too much, I'll sell my 338 RUM while it's still NIB and get a SS Rem 700 in 338 Win Mag. Guess you could call that Plan C....or maybe Plan W(whimpy)!!!!

Looks like my 2 gun combo for big game is up to about 9 guns now!!! When it's all said and done, I'm going to sell of the one's I don't need and put the money towards something more useful(haven't come up with what would be more useful though ).

Just an aside....I shot a friend's 375 H&H last week at the range. His 375 H&H is an Interarms Mark X(I believe) with a custom wood stock of some sort. I definitely wouldn't want to carry that gun very far. I'm not sure what the barrel contour was or how heavy the gun is but I suspect it's pretty heavy because recoil was minimal. We were shooting 270 grain factory ammo and it was a hoot!!!.

I've been going to GU for ~19 years now. They're getting better on customer service but still have a loooong way to go. I check the local shops and Omaha World Herald all the time but rarely find guns to my liking. So, in addition to supporting local shops, I've turned to the internet. It's the quickest and easiest way of finding exactly what I like (especially since GU won't open for me at 2am). I also have a friend with an FFL which makes internet shopping very easy. Sure it's economical but the best thing about the internet for me is the selection!!!

As far as shooting goes, I have a membership to the Eastern Nebraska Gun Club in Louisville. It's a super range and I'd love to hook up with ya there for some range time this Spring. They have a 100 & 600 yard rifle range(both with covered benches), a pistol range(with covered shooting area), and a trap range. Send me your contact info and I'll give ya a call.

I have shot two animals with my browning .338winmag. I killed an almost 500# black bear at 40 yards, and a porcupine at twenty feet. both animals died where they stood. the load is 72g IMR4350 with a 225g hornady spire point. good for .75" groups, and almost 4000ft/pds.