Opinions on .338 Win Mag

[haiku_rodney]

It will come in handy when you go on your grizzly hunt!

 

[Bambistew]

It will come in handy when you go on your grizzly hunt!

This quote or variation there of always gives me a chuckle. 99.99% of the people that own a "bear" rifle will never hunt one, but they will be prepared in the off chance that a pile of money falls from the sky and they get to go on a hunt. I've bee prepared to hunt elephants twice. Can't wait for the opportunity to come alone. haha

A bigger caliber doesn't make anything more or less dead. If you like it hunt with it. People get way to wrapped around the axle over ballistic gack.

 

[mtmuley]

Yep that's another reason I'm having a tough time not running a mashburn reamer into my 7 and playing with another mashburn

You're missing out on .30's these days. mtmuley

 

[Cerebral Stalker]

I am the other side of it.....if you are unsure you will use it but could trade for something you know you will I think it is a no-brainer unless you just like collecting. Personally, unless you are hunting Brown/Griz I just don't see the allure of anything bigger than a 300. Here are some felt recoil averages : 30-06 (180gr)-20.3 lbs 300 WM (180gr)-25.9 and then with the 338 WM- (200gr-250gr) 32.8-35.2 lbs. At up to 75% more recoil than an '06 I just don't get it. Granted I have a questionable shoulder thanks to Uncle Sugar, but even without that I would just not be interested in that much recoil. JMO.

^^^^^^^^^^My thoughts exactly.

 

[LRx]

I had a Ruger M77 in .338 and loved it so much I sold it to fund a custom built .338 on a ‘09 Argentine action. Love the cartridge; simply a fantastic elk round. However, I’ve killed elk with .270’s, .300 H&H’s, .338 WM, and a 35 Whelen; truth be told, I don’t think I could tell a nickel’s bit of difference in the “deadness” of the elk from one cartridge to the next. But that’s not a knock against the .338 WM.

“Other cartridges can kill an elk, but the .338 numbs ‘em!” Jack Atcheson Sr.