Suppose we have a 21" barreled 8mm-06 and a 24" barreled 338-06.

8mm-06: 200 gr Partitions at 2620 fps

338-06: 210 gr Partitions at 2700 fps

At 300 yds they are within about 100 ft/lbs of each other. Am I ever going to notice the difference on game up to averaged-size elk at less than 300 yds?

I ask because I have both of these rifles, and am think of keeping the lighter, shorter one (the 8mm) and selling the other. Thoughts?

Im thinkin the biggest difference between these two rounds is not in the rounds, but in the bullets available.

You asked for thoughts...here's mine,

Keep both. You can never have enough guns.

The jump in diameter from 8mm(.323) to .338 is slightly less than that between the .358 and .375 bores. All things considered they're very close and game would not likely notice. In NA anyone wanting more than a .30 caliber will just jump to a .338 leaving the 8mm to be popular in Europe.

9.3, you basically have same, same. Being a .338-06 fan I would sell the 8mm & shorten the .338-06 if you want a shorter bbl. Just too any good .338 bullets out there to hunt w/ an 8mm. I also think you can easily get 2800fps from the 24" .338-06. I get 2700fps easily form my 22 1/2"bbl.

Hi fred:

I figured you'd be in on this before too long.

The gap between a .308 and a .323 is exactly the same as .323 to 338. So why does the 8mm seem to be compared to .30 cals more readily than a 338? Because the bullet selection is more similar to the .308s.

That really doesn't bother me much - there are enough good 8mm bullets to choose from. Besides, I doubt I'd ever use anything larger than a 225 in a 338-06 anyway - if I want to use a heavy bullet I'll grab one of my 9.3s. Just my preference...

Or, you could sell them both and get a 30-06 because I'd be willing to bet you'd never see a nickel's worth of difference between any of them in the field!

OK, I know that wasn't fair nor was it the question...

Me, I'd keep the 338-06 and cut the tube to 21"... 8mm's are for European's