338 win mag vs.338-06

There's no reason the .338-06 would not do the job.

I have been using the 338-06 for 20 years. A handful of elk, a black bear and a grizzly, among other lesser critters, have all been taken quite readily. The longest shot was on the bull below at just shy of 300 yards using the Barnes 185 gr TSX. The bull simply dropped at the shot.



The rifle is a handy one.

H&Hhunter said:

If recoil is not an issue why not just go with a .338 WM? It does everything a .338-06 does better and it will do it with heavier bullets FAR better.

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+1

Only other issue I can think of is, you really should have at least a 24" bbl. with the magnum, I've always kept the bbl. length a bit shorter on my .338-06's.

DM

49 Willis;

A good friend of mine has a .338-06 and I use the .338 Winchester magnum. There's nothing wrong at all with the ought-6 based cartridge, as long as you keep it within it's capability range. I bought the magnum because I felt I wanted an elk, moose, and bear gun that could handle anything on this continent. I live in Montana, and have hunted all three. Haven't hunted Alaskan bears, but don't think I'd need more gun to do so. I have no desire to go to Africa BTW.

I handload also, and my load pushes a 225 grain bullet out the muzzle at 2875 fps. That's about all the recoil I need, and so far nothing's shown me I need more oomph out of the gun either.

900F

(here goes my standard reply)

Which are you more likely to find on the shelf of a small retailer in the middle of nowhere when you get to your dream hunt and find you forgot to pack your ammunition?

Around here 338 WM is on the shelves of the gun shops. 338-06 is a hand load only option.

In all the years I've been hunting (all of my life) I've NEVER had to go to a store to buy ammo just before any hunt.

IF I have a rifle, I have ammo on hand for it! I've NEVER drove/flown or traveled on any hunt, then not have the ammo for it! SO, I've never worried whether a store had ammo for my rifle or not.

DM

Depends on exactly you are going to use them on, but the 210NP's are a very good bullet for everything up to big bears...

DM

49Willis;

A great deal of the correct answer to your bullet weight question depends on what the gun you get wants to shoot. That being said, I'd certainly try the Sierra 215 grain, and the Speer 200 grain bullets as well. Between the various powders, seating depths, and three bullets to try, something ought to shoot pretty darn good.

900F

DM said:

In all the years I've been hunting (all of my life) I've NEVER had to go to a store to buy ammo just before any hunt.

IF I have a rifle, I have ammo on hand for it! I've NEVER drove/flown or traveled on any hunt, then not have the ammo for it! SO, I've never worried whether a store had ammo for my rifle or not.

DM

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Unfortunately, not all of us are perfect.
Unexpected things happen.


One example, A TSA agent told me my ammo had to be in the original factory or it could not be checked in. I know he was wrong but is was one of those no win situations. The ammo in the MTM storage box was handed to the person who brought me to the airport. The rifle less ammo was then approved for check in.

If you must have a factory looking box to make TSA happy just buy a box for 338 A-SQUARE, which is the legit factory ammo name for 338-06. Just save the box (s) and put your handloads in there for travel.

For that matter you could use a 30-06 box with your handloads. A TSA gumb-ba would not know the difference between a 338-06 and a chevy truck.

Has anyone mentioned the increases magazine capacity of the 338-06 ( 338 A-Sqaure) over the 338 win mag??

Most of my critters have fallen to the 210 Partition. The 225 gr AB was used on the bears. The 210's run 2800 fps, the 225's go 2650 fps. If a critter can tell the difference between 150 or so fps, well, they can't.

I asked myself the same question about 14yrs ago. I built a .338/06.
Mine is based on the MkX Mauser action. It will allow the bolt to be slid over 5rds in the magazine and an additional round in the chamber for 6rds vs the 4rds for a "magnum"

In my chronographing, I've found a 90-140fps difference between equal length barrels. A 26" .338mag will give 125-170fps advantage over a 24" '06.

Not enough difference to be an advantage for the magnum for me.
I've gone even "lower" on the totem-pole for my .338" rifles. I have two Marlin .338ME's. One a "MX" w/22"bbl and walnut stocks. The other, a 24"bbl "MXLR" stainless w/laminated stocks.

With the .338/06; I get 2,550fps with a 250gr bullet (Nosler Partition or Hornady Interlok) 2,650fps w/225gr (IMR4350 and RL17); and 2,800 with 210gr Nosler Partition (H414). Normally 2,800 with 200gr (RL15) and 3,000-3,100 with the discontinued 180gr Nosler Ballistic Tips (BLC2).

The biggest advantage of the .338/06 is .300winmag energy with .30/06 powder charges and .338" bullets and their greater weight. Unfortunately, the rifle weighs as much as the "magnum" it is challenged by which takes away some of it's advantage. But, not having to grope in your pockets for the extra cartridges if needed is the biggest advantage of the "lesser" .338's... If not a weight advantage.

Now, if Swift would make a 225gr A-frame with a flat nose for the .338ME's and .338Fed's like the one's they make for the .348win.

Makes no difference whatever. An elk will neither know nor care what cartridge kills it. There's nothing in North America that requires a magnum of any kind to kill either.

Once fired '06 cases only need to be run through the .338" size die. Voila, they come out a .338/06.
I originally only had .30cal case trimming spindle so I trimmed the OFB cases before I ran them through the sizer die. I dedicated 100 Winchester cases and am still using them and 50 nickle plated cases for the .338. I did loose a few of the Nickle cases to neck splits, after 4-5 loadings.

The Nosler/Winchester 200gr Ballistic SilverTips in the nickle plated cases make a beautiful load.

Warning, the 210gr Nosler partitions are very, very destructive on light big game. The worst I ever shot up a deer with ANYTHING, was with the 210gr Partition over 60.0gr of H414 for 2,800fps. I essentially blew the middle out of a ~130lb doe with a spine hit in the shoulder as it was quartering towards me at ~40yds. (I'd gotten "bored" deer hunting and decided to try calling a coyote with a fawn-distress call and managed to call up the "mad doe" as I named her).

My favorite "shooter" load is the 200gr Speer Hot-cor over 54.0gr of RL15 for ~2,750fps. It's quite accurate and does excellent on deer to elk and is least expensive bullet for the .338/06. If carrying a .338/06 in brown/grizzly habitat, I'd opt for the 250gr Nosler Partiton over 58.0gr of IMR4350. Definitely "enough" gun.

However, I would prefer my .375Ruger with a 300gr Partiton at same velocity. Probably won't need more than 4 of those...

I used to own a 338-06. I sold mine after concluding it offered no advantage over 30-06 except to give 300 WM recoil. Load some 200-210 gr Nosler Accubonds in a 30-06 and it is within 350 ft lbs of the best 338-06/225 gr loads at the muzzle. Both have more than enough power at the muzzle, but within 150 yards the more aerodynamic 30-06 loads will pass the 338-06 and at 400 yards will have a 300-400 ft lb advantage with about 6" less drop. And with less recoil.

I concluded that if I were getting 300 magnum recoil anyway, I'd just as soon shoot 300 magnum. The same 200-210 gr bullets fired at 300 mag speeds generate the same recoil as 200-225 gr 338-06 loads, beat 338-06 by 100-150 ft lbs at the muzzle, by 600-700 ftlbs at 400 yards and with a foot less drop.

The only advantage the 338-06 really has is 1 or 2 more rounds in the magazine. And possibly a coolness factor of having something out of the mainstream.

Neither would any longer be my 1st choice. Both will certainly work, and if you don't need the added power of the 338 magnum there would be a temptation to go with a 338-06. But I'd just go ahead and get the magnum between the two. Since you handload you can always load it to any level you want.

There is nothing in North America that you can't kill with a plain old .30-06.

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That is true.
Here in Alaska, the closer to a big city you move, the larger the cartridges become.


I used to work in various villages up here and noted that the largest cartridge used by all the old village guys was a 30-06. Folks in the villages are often of a smaller stature and 30-06 is about top end in recoil and affordability. Of course the folks in the villages tend to shoot from boats and think of most fish and game laws as vague suggestions.

A chitpile of over-analyzing here....