Hello: I am getting very near to building my son an elk rifle. The ballistics I find are great on this load.(338-06AI) In fact, they are slightly or nearly exactly even with the 338 Win. Mag.. Can anyone verify this from experience? I realize that I can walk into a store and buy an equally potent rifle. I'm just one of the different sort that likes things a bit different. If there are any others like me who like to be a "bit" different I would appreciate your response. Thank You, Jim L. I don't want the Weatherby!!!

Jim,
Yes you can reload the 338-06 to equate to the 338 win mag factory ammo. I would look to the 180,200 and 210 Noslers. I've had great luck. I've used the 180 & 200 on Elk in my 338-7Gibbs and the results were excellent. While bullet performance might not have been a good as the 210 Part it was equal to or greater than any non premium I've used. When you get to the 225 and 250 you will start losing ground to the 338 due to lost case capacity. But, there isn't anything on NA that the 210 wouldn't handle. I have a 338 win mag sitting in the rack next to my wildcat and pick up the wildcat every time. To me the recoil is substantially less.

True, you can probably load the .338-06 or same in Improved to equal most FACTORY .338 Winchester loads, but this is not to say that the cartridge is equal to the .338 Winchester. With equivilent pressures and barrels, the Winchester will give you about 200 fps over the standard .338-06 or a hundred to hundred-fifty over the improved version.

This is not to advise against building the rifle you're thinking of. In a given action, the '06-cased cartridge will give you one additional round in the magazine, and brass will always be cheaper. Also, recoil will be a bit less with the '06-cased round in a given weight of rifle, even with equivilent velocities, since the mass of the total ejecta (powder and bullet) is less.

If you want real .338 power in something different, try the Howell .338. It's based on a lengthened '06 case, has about the same case capacity as the .338 winchester, and still gives you an extra shell in the magazine. Brass, however, will necessarily be expensive.

Dear Jim, I built a 338-06 for a customer a few years ago. He harvested several elk etc with it and then got the urge for the "improved" version. We set the barrel back, rechambered etc and the best velocity gain was only 47fps. He did lose a little flexibility of loading too. Now he is contemplating going back to the original 338-06 std. Oh Well? Aloha , Mark[in ore]

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Jim;
I built a .338 wildcat on a Sako action with a 24" stainless octagon barrel and fiberglass stock. The caliber is the .338-270 HGT. This is like a super 338-06AI or a 340 Gibbs. I use Winchester 270 cases and dies from Redding, and a gunsmith friend had the reamers. I have not chronographed any loads but in an article on this wildcat in "Wildcat Cartridges, Vol II", the author claims over 2900 fps/200gr. bullet and 2650 fps/250gr. bullet, consistently, and with 24" barrel and safe pressures. I killed a bull moose this fall with this cartridge shooting a 210 Nosler Partition.

Vasa

I have been hunting w/ a std. .338-06 for soem years now. I get an hinest 2750fps W/ the 210gr NP from the 22 1/2" bbl. Recoil is about like the .30-06 w/ 180gr bullet. It kills large game like elk & kudu very well & smaller deer size game like a hammer to the head. You'll love yours whichever you decide on.
The down side to the improved is the extra cost in dies. Good luck!

I'm with Mark, improved cartridges, with very few exceptions aren't worth the trouble or expense involved. However, it is your money and if you want it get it.

Jim, I don't have the .338/06 Ack. Imp., but I do have a .35 Whelen Ack. Imp. This rifle was my first foray into the medium bore realm. I just wanted a full magazine of rounds, and not the reduced capacity of the magnums, like the .338 Win. Mag. Just a theory, of course, but in the field, I figured anything I ran into that really required a "medium bore" just might be more advantageously attacked with a 5 rd. mag. than a 3 rd. mag. Silly? Maybe. I've done worse, though.

The .338/06 Ack. Imp. was the other round that I considered. I wanted, basically, the trajectory of a standard .30-06, but with a bigger diameter and heavier bullet. I chose the .35 cal. because it gives the powder gasses a bigger area to push on, and because it still offered a trajectory essentially like the '06, which I've shot enough of to find it a convenience in the field to have some related experience at long range with it. I still think the .35 has a slight edge, but nobody in their right mind would classify that "edge" as anything but minimal, of course.

I did as much research and consideration as I could, and finally went with the .35 because it is fairly regularly compared with the .375 H&H's effect on game in the woods. That's an awfully good and heartwarming comparison, so that's what I went with. I've seen no such comparisons with the .33 round, but then, it came into the "discussion" of such matters from a much different direction than the Whelen did. After all, the Whelen was originally called "The poor man's .375" back in "the good ol' days."

FWIW, I'd go with the Ackley version. I lost one rd. of mag. capacity because I haven't modified my magazine yet, but it feeds well just as is. Maybe I'll get my "round tuit" and get the mag. fixed one day. Until then, I'm satisfied with my own Ackleyized version.
While many claim the Ackley versions will only yield @ 50 fps. advantage, I'd observe the simple fact that the near parallel sides of the Imp. cases allow loading to somewhat higher pressures because of reduced boltface thrust. That alone ought to get you a fairly easy 100 fps. advantage over the std. version, and when you're going from the larger bored .35's 2550 fps to 2650, you get right back to where I wanted to be to start with - right back to a trajectory like the '06. While the great majority of game is killed within 200 yd. or so, I wanted to reach out to at least 300, and according to the ballistic tables, a 250 gr. Nosler Pt. @ 2650 will still be going fast enough at 400 to expand decently on an elk. That's one thing I really like about the Partitions - the front is easy to expand while the back half will always give penetration.

These are just my thoughts on the Ackley versions. Hope it helps. There really isn't any wrong answer here. My Whelen AI is my favorite rifle, and the 225 Ballistic Tips sure do fine work on whitetails, too! Good luck with the rifle.