Well, not really a new rifle. Getting one of my rifles re-barreled to a new caliber, so even though it will just have a new barrel it will be like a new rifle for me.
I'm getting my back-up Ruger M77 (in .30-06) rebarreled to .338-06. It always goes along on my elk hunting trips as a backup and foul weather rifle. The last couple of years I've carried it on more hunting days due to snow and rain than my Win M70 .30-06. It's the stainless model with a Boyd's laminate stock so it's already mostly weatherproof.
Even though I've not had any problems with .30-06 performance on elk, I've had the itch to get either a .338-06 or .35 Whelen for a while now. Decided to go with the .338-06 due to the better selection of bullets (and sectional densities of the those bullets) over the .35 caliber.
So now I'm waiting for the gunsmith to get it re-barreled, and starting to peruse catalogs and websites for bullets, dies and such. If anybody uses a .338-06 I'd like to hear about your experiences. Anything to build up expectations and excitement till elk season gets here.
JohnDog (is it October yet?)
I'm getting my back-up Ruger M77 (in .30-06) rebarreled to .338-06. It always goes along on my elk hunting trips as a backup and foul weather rifle. The last couple of years I've carried it on more hunting days due to snow and rain than my Win M70 .30-06. It's the stainless model with a Boyd's laminate stock so it's already mostly weatherproof.
Even though I've not had any problems with .30-06 performance on elk, I've had the itch to get either a .338-06 or .35 Whelen for a while now. Decided to go with the .338-06 due to the better selection of bullets (and sectional densities of the those bullets) over the .35 caliber.
So now I'm waiting for the gunsmith to get it re-barreled, and starting to peruse catalogs and websites for bullets, dies and such. If anybody uses a .338-06 I'd like to hear about your experiences. Anything to build up expectations and excitement till elk season gets here.
JohnDog (is it October yet?)
