338 WinMag vs 30-06....?

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I'd agree with this - if you're going to shoot a relatively slow load like the 250gr out of a .338WM, the Sierra GK is a respectable bullet. I've seen FAR more failures from ABLRs than from GKs.

What kind of failures have you been seeing with the Accubond LR? My daughter just loaded up a bunch for her 6.5 CM and is deer hunting with it next month.
 
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What kind if failures have you been seeing with the Accubond LR? My daughter just loaded up a bunch for her 6.5 CM and is deer hunting with it next month.

Me, too. The .338 LR is a really good looking bullet. I've used a number of regular Accubonds and thought I might give the LR a shot for the extra weight. Might save me a bunch of load development. Thanks for your input.
Regards,
hps
 
I dropped a large Alaskan bull moose with a 30-06 with one shot. I do think a 338 loaded heavy would be a better choice on that size animal but not by a big margin. Elk and down I don't know that there's much advantage to a 338. By contrast something like a 300 or 7mm magnum would offer a little bit flatter shooting which could be an advantage depending on where you hunt. I don't have a ballistics chart in front of my but I assume a 338 doesn't shoot as flat as the 300/7mm mags because of the heavier bullet weights. Maybe the 338 is a bit of a 'tweener for you but that doesn't mean you can't find a spot for it - it's still a great rifle and cartridge.

If we're being practical here, a 30-06 is good for anything in North America. But what fun is being practical?
What does practical mean?
If we were that, we would only have 22lr, 223 and 30-06 for North America.
That's boring.
 
What kind of failures have you been seeing with the Accubond LR? My daughter just loaded up a bunch for her 6.5 CM and is deer hunting with it next month.

We've been seeing a lot of them for the last few elk seasons. They seem to be very soft compared to the Accubond. At close range, especially at magnum velocities, they expand all the way to the base and turn into a weird piece of shrapnel. They tend to shed a lot of weight in the process and no longer track straight/at all. There have been reports of them blowing up on hide or ribs going in, but I have not personally seen that but credit it somewhat.

In the 6.5, you'll probably do at least decent since initial velocity is low.
 
We've been seeing a lot of them for the last few elk seasons. They seem to be very soft compared to the Accubond. At close range, especially at magnum velocities, they expand all the way to the base and turn into a weird piece of shrapnel. They tend to shed a lot of weight in the process and no longer track straight/at all. There have been reports of them blowing up on hide or ribs going in, but I have not personally seen that but credit it somewhat.

In the 6.5, you'll probably do at least decent since initial velocity is low.

Thanks for the field report.
 
Really the downsides to A-Frames are drag (for the larger bores mostly) and that they increase pressure vs. some other designs.

In terms of terminal performance, they are the bees knees.
 
I’ve had excellent results with 250 gr Accubonds on both deer and elk with my 338 win mag. I haven’t recovered a bullet yet and the wounding has been remarkably lethal. All shot in the chest and none going further than 25 yards at ranges between 300 yards (deer) and 20 (elk). They may represent a suitable compromise between the A Frames and Accubond LR’s. That being said, I plan on hunting elk with 250 grain Speer GS this December just to prove I’m a fool for not staying with what I know works.
 
The regular Accubond works well. I would agree it's between the ABLR and A-Frame. It should retain > 70% weight for most applications, and the 250gr starts plenty heavy.
 
The next time you are charged by a lion and you're sanding there with a .30/06 you will damnsure wish it was a .338WM loaded with 250 gr bullets. (Been there, done that, - with.338)

Ok, Great White Hunter. Thanks for sharing.

The next time we have an infestation of lions in North America, I'll think long and hard about your advice. In the mean time, however, mine remains valid.
 
I’ve had excellent results with 250 gr Accubonds
Me, too; no elk but nilgai are about same "big". The regular AB's perform just about as well as the partitions on the stuff I hunt and are quite a bit more accurate in my rifle.

The regular Accubond works well. I would agree it's between the ABLR and A-Frame. It should retain > 70% weight for most applications, and the 250gr starts plenty heavy.
Yes, I was basing the choice of the ABLR on regular AB performance but guess I'll stick with what I know works and load up some A Frames for eland.

Regards,
hps
 
In my experience the AB has done quite well with eland and other large tough game. I have also used the Partition, TSX, and TTSX bullets to good effect, but I believe the AB is my current favorite.

I am certainly not downplaying the effectiveness of a heavy bullet fired from the great 30-06, but sometimes bigger is better. There will always be room for both a 30-06 and a 338 WM, and a time and place where each is the superior cartridge.
 
They were used in a 338 WM as well as a 375 H&H for the heavier plains game (eland, etc.). Gemsbok and Kudu are a fair bit smaller and I have taken them cleanly with the same bullets using these cartridges as well as with a 280 or a 30-06.

I personally draw the line below cape buffalo for use of the AB. Such stubborn critters are better addressed with an A Frame or TSX fired by a 375 or larger.
 
They were used in a 338 WM as well as a 375 H&H for the heavier plains game (eland, etc.). Gemsbok and Kudu are a fair bit smaller and I have taken them cleanly with the same bullets using these cartridges as well as with a 280 or a 30-06.

I personally draw the line below cape buffalo for use of the AB. Such stubborn critters are better addressed with an A Frame or TSX fired by a 375 or larger.

They were used in a 338 WM as well as a 375 H&H for the heavier plains game (eland, etc.). Gemsbok and Kudu are a fair bit smaller and I have taken them cleanly with the same bullets using these cartridges as well as with a 280 or a 30-06.

I personally draw the line below cape buffalo for use of the AB. Such stubborn critters are better addressed with an A Frame or TSX fired by a 375 or larger.

Yes, I've used the 338 AB on Gemsbok but for the eland I used the A Frame in 375. I just unsure of the AB in 338 on an eland.
Thanks,
hps
 
Ok, Great White Hunter. Thanks for sharing.

The next time we have an infestation of lions in North America, I'll think long and hard about your advice. In the mean time, however, mine remains valid.

Elephants roam all the hill sides and meadows in Alabama, except on game day. Then they go to the stadium or watch TV. The state used to shut down during the Iron Bowl.

Elephants, lions, are likely going the same route as rhino's. Rhino horn is so valuable that thieves have broken into Natural History Museums and sawed off the horns of the stuffed rhino's. As much as travel shows like to show Africa as free and wild, it is not. The only areas were animals can roam are the National Parks, the rest is barb wired like our West. Those famed Cattle Drives ended in the 1880's, not enough free range left! Lions are bred for trophy hunting and medical parts (for Chinese buyers!). The bred animal is let loose on the day the customer arrives with his guide, the customer kills the lion, gets his trophy picture, pays his fee, and goes home.

American's are more likely to be killed by gang bangers than lions on the North American continent. Avoid driving in Mexico, as the Mormon slaughter last week demonstrates.
 
Well I shot my 338 this morning. 185gr GMX Superformance. Recoil is lighter than my 30-06 with 180’s. First shot was with ear plugs. No problem. So I thought I’d try it once without just to see how loud it really is with the brake.....OUCH. Won’t be doing that again.
 
When I was stationed in Montana while in the Air Force I had a Master Sergeant friend who had a Win. 338 and he hand loaded for it. He told me that he could load down for Muleys and Antelope and load up for Elk. He said it was very accurate and he was very happy with it.
 
Well I shot my 338 this morning. 185gr GMX Superformance. Recoil is lighter than my 30-06 with 180’s. First shot was with ear plugs. No problem. So I thought I’d try it once without just to see how loud it really is with the brake.....OUCH. Won’t be doing that again.
:rofl: Gotta love those muzzle brakes....the one on my 16" 308 Win. Savage Scout survived two trips to the range (until I forgot to pull down my ear muffs before the fateful shot!). It now wears a thread protector.

Felt recoil has a lot to do with rifle weight and fit. I've noticed that my 375 h&h has less "felt" recoil than my .338 WM. The 375 is more of a push, the 338 a sharper (quicker) recoil (338 & 300 WMs are both a sharper recoil, it seems, but there may be more at play than bore dia.??

I'd guess your 185 gr 338 will be a very flat shooting round; a lot flatter than the 180 in the '06 and the '06 is near the top of bullet weight where the 338 is just beginning. :D

Regards,
hps
 
Elephants roam all the hill sides and meadows in Alabama, except on game day. Then they go to the stadium or watch TV. The state used to shut down during the Iron Bowl.

Elephants, lions, are likely going the same route as rhino's. Rhino horn is so valuable that thieves have broken into Natural History Museums and sawed off the horns of the stuffed rhino's. As much as travel shows like to show Africa as free and wild, it is not. The only areas were animals can roam are the National Parks, the rest is barb wired like our West. Those famed Cattle Drives ended in the 1880's, not enough free range left! Lions are bred for trophy hunting and medical parts (for Chinese buyers!). The bred animal is let loose on the day the customer arrives with his guide, the customer kills the lion, gets his trophy picture, pays his fee, and goes home.

American's are more likely to be killed by gang bangers than lions on the North American continent. Avoid driving in Mexico, as the Mormon slaughter last week demonstrates.

Slamfire,

That is absolutely false. The conditions you are referring to occur in the country of South Africa and in isolated pockets of Botswana. Namibia also has a game ranching industry. But in the good game countries in Southern Africa (not to be confused with the country of South Africa) there are millions upon millions of acres that remain free roaming and wild. Namibia and South Africa both offer very good free range hunting as well.

Elephant and rhino are not even in the same stratosphere as far as healthy populations. In Fact in every single country that allows regulated conservation based sport hunting. Elephants are not only on the rise they are even massively overpopulated in many areas.

The only thing that will keep those vast tracts of land wild is regulated sport hunting and the dollars it brings in. Your comments above seem to be a common yet entirely incorrect assumption among Americans for some reason.

Here is the breakdown in African hunting. In countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, and parts of West Africa there are vast blocks of government owned lands available to be leased out in areas called concessions. Hunting operators lease these concessions, build camps and sell hunts on them. They are free roaming, unfenced, patrolled by lease operator funded anti poaching units and strictly managed by biologist set quotas for each and every species. These areas are 100% funded by hunters dollars. All the animals are natural born, free and 100% wild.

In some countries they also have “ranch” hunts. A ranch hunt refers to a place that is privately owned and either high fenced or like in America a low fenced place that is owned and managed by an individual or a corporation and managed for sport hunting or possibly a combination of sport hunting and domestic critter ranching. Just exactly like on the American continent.

In a nut shell a concession is the equivalent of hunting a wilderness area in America. A ranch hunt is the equivalent of hunting on a private ranch in America. The quality of a ranch hunt can be anywhere from wild and spectacular to cheesy put and take and horrible. You’ve got to do your research before booking a hunt or making a public comment about it.
 
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