338 Winchester in Europe

30 May 2003, 18:23

I live in Germany and my 338 is my primary hunting rifle.
The caliber is pretty rare over here, but it does exist. For some reason people keep telling me that the round is inaccurate, has heavy recoil and damages a lot of meat. I never found that to be true.

31 May 2003, 02:14

Orion 1

quote:
Originally posted by JV:
I live in Germany and my 338 is my primary hunting rifle.
The caliber is pretty rare over here, but it does exist. For some reason people keep telling me that the round is inaccurate, has heavy recoil and damages a lot of meat. I never found that to be true.

American experience with the 338 Winchester would agree with yours and would tend to discredit those Europeans who dismiss it.

Probably the best bear and elk killer out there.

31 May 2003, 02:44

carcano91

quote:
Originally posted by JV:
I live in Germany and my 338 is my primary hunting rifle.
The caliber is pretty rare over here, but it does exist. For some reason people keep telling me that the round is inaccurate, has heavy recoil and damages a lot of meat.

I have never heard such silly opinions, but I may know another type of German hunters than you do [Big Grin]

.

Seriously, the .338 Win's indeed existing lack of popularity here may be due to the fact that Werner Reb has managed to establish his own 8,5 x 63 quite well as a serious and renowned "homebred" competitor cartridge.

Weidmannsheil,
Carcano

31 May 2003, 03:11

mho

Plus,,, there really are not *that* many (if any) game species in Europe that the .338 Win Mag could be described as "needed" or even "ideal" for... I'm sure we can have an interesting discussion about that subject [Wink]

Even our largest red stags are smaller than elk, and not many wild boars get big enough to really *need* the attention of a .338. Leaves moose hunting or bears in a few Eastern European countries, maybe?? The 8x68S is probably more popular over here - although more akin to the 8mm Rem Mag, it approaches the .338 class. Below that level, the 9.3mm calibers (in particular the 9.3x62) seem to cover most big bore needs - at a somewhat less intensive recoil level. That does not mean there are not a bunch of hunters who like the .338 for what it can do - it is fairly popular amongst travelling hunters...
- mike

31 May 2003, 05:49

Orion 1

quote:
Originally posted by mho:
Plus,,, there really are not *that* many (if any) game species in Europe that the .338 Win Mag could be described as "needed" or even "ideal" for... I'm sure we can have an interesting discussion about that subject Even our largest red stags are smaller than elk, and not many wild boars get big enough to really *need* the attention of a .338. Leaves moose hunting or bears in a few Eastern European countries, maybe?? The 8x68S is probably more popular over here - although more akin to the 8mm Rem Mag, it approaches the .338 class. Below that level, the 9.3mm calibers (in particular the 9.3x62) seem to cover most big bore needs - at a somewhat less intensive recoil level. That does not mean there are not a bunch of hunters who like the .338 for what it can do - it is fairly popular amongst travelling hunters...
- mike

Your explanation makes sense.

31 May 2003, 06:00

<JOHAN>

Mike

338 win has been very popular among moose and bear hunters in Sweden for quite some time. For a couple of years it had a slight downturn, but is back again because of the growing boar population.

I have owned numerous rifles in the caliber and likes it. The most popular medium bore rounds in Sweden is 9,3X62, 9,3X74R, 338 win and 358 norma mag, 375 H&H because of growing boars and bears [Big Grin]

Norma will soon launch a oryx bullets in 338, 375 and 35 [Big Grin]

/ JOHAN

15 June 2003, 04:10

Arild Iversen

I second what Johan said, the 338 Whinnie is wery popular among moosehunters in Norway as well.
Iï¿½m one of the happy users and eighter accuracy, recoil or meat damage ara a problem in my rifle. [Smile]

16 June 2003, 18:59

<martin f>

Middle European big game will not be as heavy as e.g. Alaskan or African big game. Also long shots on big game will rather be the exception. So I agree, there is no real "need" for a fast 8.5 mm or .338 cal. in Europe. For everyday use it is simply more bang than needed. I guess that most German hunters who own a .338 Win. Mag. also think about using it somewhere else - big red deer in Hungary, moose in Scandinavia or Alaska, or going to Africa.... But then many Germans will rather choose a 9.3 mm cartridge.
Germans traditionally had 7 mm, 8 mm, 9 mm and 9.3 mm cartridges. The 9 mm calibers lost out against 9.3 mm long time ago.
Werner Reb reasoned about the "big gap" between the German 8 mm and 9.3 mm cartridges when creating his 8.5x63 (which is basically an improved .338-06). But in fact I think this gap is not really significant, especially for rimless cartridges. The 8x68S (actually 8.2 mm, or .323) can do the same as the .338 Win. Mag.
There is a point for a rimmed cartridge in .338 cal., but then I'd rather choose one of the good, and unfortunately obsolete cartridges like 8x60RS or 8x65RS.

Martin

17 June 2003, 07:45

carcano91

quote:
Originally posted by martin f:
Germans traditionally had 7 mm, 8 mm, 9 mm and 9.3 mm cartridges. The 9 mm calibers lost out against 9.3 mm long time ago.

*Sniffle*

quote:
Werner Reb reasoned about the "big gap" between the German 8 mm and 9.3 mm cartridges when creating his 8.5x63 (which is basically an improved .338-06).

Well, just reviving the 8 x 65 R (or the 8 x 60 RS Magnum Bombe of yore) would have been as good. Lutz Lorberg did it - I handled his new gun in 8 x 65 R. A very fine piece. Very accurate too, according to him.

Carcano