Hi, I'll possibly buy the rifle for a good price; it's a 1980 vintage, chambered in 300WM, but, since I already have my beloved Tikka M695 in the same caliber, I'll certainly have it rebarreled in 338WM; since I have 2 other rifles, chambered in 270WSM and 25-06, the caliber must be somewhat bigger than .30. How many of you use/have used the 338WM for hunting? It's very likely a somewhat excessive cartridge in Europe...

The .338 WM is probably too much gun for Europe. I had one sitting in my safe, had thought for whichever reason that I needed that thing until I discovered the benefits of downloading with powders like Vihna N110.

Now I use it a lot with 200 grain bullets loaded to ~720 m/s and it just perfect, the energy corresponds to the old 8x57 IR (not the IRS), it kills well from roe deer to boar destroying very little meat.

DUK, Vihtavuori N110?!? Are you sure?

Yes, absolutely. It is by no means a low pressure load, rather medium velocity. I tried other powders of the same range like SR4759 and Blue Dot. Bullets of the 180 and 200 grain range shoot well, I am still using up the 200 grain Ballistic Tips I loaded with 36 grain Blue Dot.

N110 is in fact a little slower and allows slightly higher loads, even though that's not really necessary.

Like I wrote, these loads kill very well, have a very low recoil and, I think due to their low velocity, do not produce the typical hematoms common to faster bullets.

I still have two boxes of full-power loads with 215 grain Nosler Partitions in my safe, waiting for that invitation to hunt one day my first Kudu, moose or Wapiti...

In Central Europe, I would dare to shoot anything with these loads. As mentioned, they are comparable to the old 8x57 mm IR used in many classic drillings and Bockbuechsflinten.

Hit them in the right spot and the caliber does not really matter that much.

I have during the last 20 years used the 338 Winmag mostly on red and roe, but also on moose in bear country and PG in South Africa.

It´s perhaps on the heavy side calibrewise for Europe, but as an all round big game rifle in my neck of the woods it is very flexible and simply WORKS!

After a period with light and fast bullets I came the circle back and ended up with 250 gr RN Woodleigh loaded with MRP to approxamently 800 mps.

Works on everything with gusto without any exessive meat damage.

If (heavens forbid) I was restricted to only one rifle, a 338 Winmag it would be.
But again, that´s me and my way of hunting.

DUK, do you use some sort of filler? According to Quickload, a reasonable load of N110 should fill only about 65% of the case.

No, I never did, it seems that it is just not necessary, usually these loads shoot fine and are not position-sensitive. The ppwders I tried were Blue Dot, SR4759 and N110, the latter more easily available and just as good as the former.

N110 is recommended by Lapua for that purpose, you find loads with that powder in their data. Also Speer publishes quite a lot of reduced loads with mostly SR4759 in their manual. H&N who manufacture lead bullets also for rifles publish quite a lot of loads mostly for N110 in their manual and, the last time I looked, also on their website.

You might have found out already looking at Quuckload data that they are not at all low-pressure loads, the pressure spike is just shorter and less "sustainable".

Since the load density especially with N110 is quite low, I always check twice each and every cartridge it the powder level is OK. Double loads are definitely a risk. You do that with target loads for handguns, too, where powder levels or load densities can be even lower.

Thanks for your feedback

A pleasure. Keep us informed out on the progress of your project.

Unfortunately the project is over; the rifle belonged to an aquaintance who died 2 weeks ago. I contacted the widow last week and she was well disposed to sell it to me, but yesterday I've known that some relatives are eager to get possession of all the defunct's 7-8 guns and they depicted me like a vulture. In order to avoid any involvement in a family quarrel, I've decided to give up. Anyway, my next rifle will likely be a 338 WM

P.S: on 31st december the widow let me know that the quarrel is over and she would sell me the rifle....I'll think it over.