I am planning an Alaska hunt in the future. I currently have a 300WM and a BLR in 358Win. I'm not sure that either of these would be adequate bear medicine if confronted. My intent at this point would be to hunt Moose more than bear but know my chances of a bear encounter are increased. So with that in mind I ask is the 338WM enough gun or do I need more?

Bear encounters of the bad kind are extremely rare, and almost always related to stupidity in bear country.

A 300 win mag or 358 win will assuredly kill the biggest of bears with a properly placed shot.

If you're suffering from bearanoia, then by all means get a real big bear gun, they start at 40 caliber and go up from there. A 300 win mag is one of the most versatile rounds for Alaskan hunting. Certainly not my choice for big bears, but a fine choice for everything else, including black bears and interior grizzly. The 358 win with a 225 gr X bullet @ 2500 fps is no slouch either, and I wouldn't feel undergunned in the least packing one.

Pack a gun you can shoot accurately and are familiar with, and load it with good bullets.

Your chances of an "interesting" bear encounter are far less than your chances of an "interesting" encounter with another driver on your way to the store. Hunt with the rifle that you are most familiar with. Likely enough, your chances of losing a wounded moose from using an unfamiliar rifle are far, far greater than the odds of your meeting a bear that wants to do you dirty.

.338 w.m. is enough for anything in ak. load, 250 gr. n.p..

federal factory h.e. ammo is great.

i like the .340 wthby mag, a little extra smack....

That's true, but don't forget the Federal HE ammo for the .338WM. The last two moose I have killed with the 250-grain HE have dropped like hit by lighting. I killed one last week, and even a little over 300 yards the NOS-HE dropped it pretty fast. It did lots of internal damage, and some of the shoulder meat was lost to shock.

Ditto to all of the above. By the way, the 358 win is an interesting round. Have you gotten to use it much ?

Brad,



I loaded up some of the 210 grain Nosler Partitions. I used Federal cases, CCI 250 primers, 70.5 grains of IMR 4350 with an COL of 3.31". Average velocity was 2914 out of my 26" barrel for 5 shots. The first 2 shots were almost touching, they were to high though, and I'm using this load to hunt with this year so I dropped my scope down. I was really tempted to try for a 5 shot group, but only loaded 5 rounds.



Next time I guess. I would use this load on Interior Grizzlies, or the Tundra Grizzlies, but for Brown Bear, I'd want a heavier bullet. Might have to go chase those Grizzlies around next year...

I suspect the load you're running is pretty light. My 210 load uses H4350 and more powder than your load (still a book load)... I'd suspect you could easily break 3,ooo fps with your barrel though it's certainly not needed!

Good Hunting!

BA

I'm sure I could too, but your right, what's the point. I don't like to push them, just to see how fast they'll go. This is an accurate load, and I was using Federal cases. They are heavier than my other cases, so I'm assuming they have less case capacity.

I don't think any game animal will tell me the difference between 2900 and 3000 fps

Well maybe it is just me but the two rifles I shot were the same. Both were Rem 700 bdl's one in a 375 H&H and one in a 338 win. Both weighed around 9lbs scoped both had 24 inch barrels. To me the 338 had a sharper kick with the 250's then the 375 with 270's. Both were hand loads loaded to max. As for flatter shooting I think you might want to take a look at that. If you take a 375 H&H shooting a Barnes 270gr at 2750 FPS and a 338 shooting a 250gr Barnes at 2650 FPS and sight them both in at 250 yards at 400 yards the 375 H&H will be 17.7 inches low. The 338 at 400 yards will be 19 inches low. Not a big difference but it is still flatter shooting. Dont get me wrong I dont think there is anything wrong with a 338 and the nice thing is you can use lighter bullets with it all the way down to a 160gr. But the guy that asked the question of what to getand he already has a 300 win so he really doesnt need a big boomer to down load. If it was me I would get the 375 if I was hunting Moose and Brown Bears but that is just me. I will be up there next fall hunting Moose and Brown Bears and that is what I will be packing a 375 H&H. Now if I was going after Goats or sheep I would use my 7mm STW or 300 win mag.

On another thread, I commented that my son confiscated all of my 210gr NP 338 for a moose hunt, and left me with a handful of 275 gr Speer roundnose that I normally used for bear protection. I shot one moose with the 275gr and he went down without even a quiver. Jees, was it ever deadly!! Speer stopped manufacture, so am moving to the 275 gr A-frame. Hopefully ............

I have taken Moose and a very big Grizzly in Alaska with the 338. I wouldn't go there without it. This calibre has also taken two Elk and in Africa its accounted for Eland, Zebra, Wildebeast, Kudu all with one shot. Its a very versatil round.

I guess I'll throw in my two bits worth on this subject as I've probably seen as many big game animals killed in Alaska with a .338 as anyone.
The beauty of the .338 is it can be had with a huge variety of bullet weights. The 30 calibers are great in that respect also. The 180 gr Barnes X holds togeather super, shoots flat enough for virtually anyone and if you need a real up close thumper you can still shoot 300 grain bullets that have more SD than nearly any other caliber. Solids are also avaliable if you wish.
I see most hunter up here using 210 Noslers with excellent results. My daughter's .338 shoots littly-bitty groups with 230 Fail Safes at 2600fps She uses either them or 250 Noslers when she hunts and either some original factory WW 300 gr. bullets or 275 gr Kodiaks for big bears. It's true that the .375 should be hitting harder than the .338 but using 300 grain bullets in both calibers (at nearly identical velocity) you will be hard pressed to tell much difference.
In my experience I have nothing but the highest praise for TB bullets in any caliber.

You just made Ray's day!

He's going to print this off, and frame it!! (I might too)

Thanks, your opinions come from experience, not many folks that can say they have been there for 100 Brown Bears.

I sure can't think of a more versatile caliber than the 338 Win Mag.

My first hunt in Alaska, the guy that went up there with me used a Weatherby synthetic in 375 H&H. It sure pole-axed the Moose he shot. But most of the guys that I know that hunt up there use either a 300 or a 338. I only know one guy who lives there, who uses a 375.



Their hunting Grizzlies though, not Brown Bear. I'm sure it's a different story down south where the Big Bears live.

How about one of those new Remington mountain rifles in 350 rem mag ???

I was.! going to post somthing but after reading what Paul
said.. there's no need .
I carried a sawed off 10 Ga and it worked fine.

But your hunting for them unlike i was.
What paul say's is right on the money

The .300WM, the .338WM, and the .30-06, are the most popular cartridges in Alaska. These three are used to hunt bears and all Alaska game by most hunters up here.



My favorite of the three is the .338, simply because I prefer heavier bullets than those of .30-caliber. However, a .300WM with bullets from 190-220 grains should do very well when used for hunting any Alaska game. The three cartridges above are most popular as "all around" hunting, including bears, not necessarily "stoppers." However, with the right bullet, any of these three can be used for hunting the biggest bears, specially those hunters who are not Alaska residents. All you have to do is to ask a guide on your choice of gun, and more than likely he wants you to use any of the three above, but the one you are most familiar with, coupled to the heaviest and tougher bullets for it. Your .300 is a fine choice for Alaska hunting.



Now, for those who would tell you about interior grizzly, I will mention that someone I know (from Anchorage), killed a 9' 4" bear a few years back. He was looking for a larger one he had seen, but killed this one instead during a charge. I have seen huge interior grizzlies not too far from Fairbanks. In fact, I was trying to look at one through my riflescope last week. This bear was as big as I care to deal with, at a distance of 175 yards, and moving too fast through the trees for a shot. My .338 was loaded with Federal 250-grain HE, a day after I had killed a moose with one of the same rounds. The moose stopped in the clear, 325 measured yards, and it dropped before I had reloaded the chamber for a followup shot.