.338 Winchester Magnum or .338-06 Improved.

TX Fiddler · Sunday at 4:04 PM

BALLISTICJESUS said:
If you already had everything you needed rifle wise to cover your hunting needs from whitetail to Elephant and you had a choice between two .338 Cartridges just for the heck of it.

The .338 Winchester Magnum and the .338-06 Improved. Which would you go with and a quick reasoning why.

I would go with a 338-06.
My Dad hunting with a 338-06 and a 338-06 AI and I was heavily involved with load development and testing for both. There's not a nickels worth of difference in the two ballistically. In the field, the AI might have a few yards advantage over the standard.
I know, the 338 Win Mag is more powerful than the 338-06, but then the 338 Lapus is more powerful than the 338 Win Mag, and the 340 Weatherby is more powerful than the 338 Lapua, and on and on....

BALLISTICJESUS said:
The 35 Whelen SUCKS!

I have pretty much all the big .30's covered.

In your experience, what makes the 35 Whelen suck? I'm just curious because I've killed three bull elk with one and was present for the killing of two others. I'm always willing to learn though!

BALLISTICJESUS · Sunday at 4:37 PM

TX Fiddler said:
I would go with a 338-06.
My Dad hunting with a 338-06 and a 338-06 AI and I was heavily involved with load development and testing for both. There's not a nickels worth of difference in the two ballistically. In the field, the AI might have a few yards advantage over the standard.
I know, the 338 Win Mag is more powerful than the 338-06, but then the 338 Lapus is more powerful than the 338 Win Mag, and the 340 Weatherby is more powerful than the 338 Lapua, and on and on....

In your experience, what makes the 35 Whelen suck? I'm just curious because I've killed three bull elk with one and was present for the killing of two others. I'm always willing to learn though!

Fact of the matter is. I like everything that goes

BOOM

. My persenal preference is a 9.3 over a .35.

TX Fiddler · Sunday at 5:03 PM

BALLISTICJESUS said:
Fact of the matter is. I like everything that goes BOOM. My persenal preference is a 9.3 over a .35.

My father had a 9.3x62 built on a CZ550-

I helped him with load development for it too (I have a range at my house). It's an interesting cartridge and certainly the larger diameter bullet would be more effective than a .33 or .35 bullet, but I personally think that it's a passes a tipping point and it's a wee bit too much bullet for the '06 case. With 250 gr. bullet in the Whelen and the 9.3 we were never able to get quite as much velocity from the 9.3 as the Whelen. But they were certainly close.

BALLISTICJESUS · Sunday at 5:24 PM

TX Fiddler said:
My father had a 9.3x62 built on a CZ550-

I helped him with load development for it too (I have a range at my house). It's an interesting cartridge and certainly the larger diameter bullet would be more effective than a .33 or .35 bullet, but I personally think that it's a passes a tipping point and it's a wee bit too much bullet for the '06 case. With 250 gr. bullet in the Whelen and the 9.3 we were never able to get quite as much velocity from the 9.3 as the Whelen. But they were certainly close.

crazymonkey · Sunday at 7:03 PM

338 wm why because I already have one . My dad got it from my grandparents neighbors. Story goes he got the gun for a moose hunt and used it once then it sat un touched.
Ruger tang safety in great shape has a break and I definitely need to get it out more .

Greatgrandad · Sunday at 7:15 PM

BALLISTICJESUS said:
If you already had everything you needed rifle wise to cover your hunting needs from whitetail to Elephant and you had a choice between two .338 Cartridges just for the heck of it.

The .338 Winchester Magnum and the .338-06 Improved. Which would you go with and a quick reasoning why.

Well, I am one of those who has everything from mouse to elephant and then some covered, and I also have the 338WM covered. However while the standard 338-06 was one of my deceased brother's favorite cartridges, I do not have a 338-06AI in my inventory - Nor do I plan to.

Whatever the 338-06AI can do, my 338WM already has and then some. It just works, and in an unplanned ammo event, 338WM factory ammo is most everywhere but the AI ammo is not.

Airedale56 · Sunday at 9:21 PM

akmtnhnt said:
IMO 338-06 ai makes no sense when 338 rpm exists.

I agree, except one will likely always (?) be able to scrounge 30-06 brass to neck up to .338.
Try finding Weatherby .338-06 A-Square brass today. Or .338 RPM in 10 years.
Just being real.

akmtnhnt · Sunday at 9:58 PM

Airedale56 said:
I agree, except one will likely always (?) be able to scrounge 30-06 brass to neck up to .338.
Try finding Weatherby .338-06 A-Square brass today. Or .338 RPM in 10 years.
Just being real.

You can buy 338-06 right now from weatherby. Its in stock.

You can also get 338rpm brass from them or peterson. If you buy a barrels worth of brass like you should with any new chambering, it doesn't really matter whats available in 10 years. If its not you will be chosing something else.

Airedale56 · Sunday at 10:02 PM

Now.
Yes.

.338-06 A-Square head-stamped brass in seemingly unobtanium now, 26 years or so , after it was introduced. (Edit, I'll check for .338-06 A-Square brass in stock at Weatherby. Thanks for that. Edit: RPM is available, A-Square isn't found.
Edit again: It may have been in stock when you checked a few days ago but folks have since snatched it up.)

The RPM will likely be the same , but I won't be around to see its demise.

akmtnhnt · Sunday at 10:46 PM

Airedale56 said:
Now.
Yes.

.338-06 A-Square head-stamped brass in seemingly unobtanium now, 26 years or so , after it was introduced. (Edit, I'll check for .338-06 A-Square brass in stock at Weatherby. Thanks for that. Edit: RPM is available, A-Square isn't found)

The RPM will likely be the same , but I won't be around to see its demise.

I swore it was in stock the other day when I checked because of this thread.

Rodbolt · Monday at 12:46 AM

Now that Peterson makes the 338 WinMag Long I see no reason not to go with it unless the 338 Federal will do the job. Surprised at how close the Fed gets to the 338-06 with light-med bullets. Not to mention the Sig Fury brass necked up increase.

MagnumManiac · Monday at 1:11 AM

I have a 338-06, my favourite stalking cartridge and rifle.
I have 338WM (2), 340Bee and 338-416 Rigby Improved (2) one is a 9" twist 40° shoulder, the other is a 8" twist 45° shoulder.
The 338-06 and 338WM see the most use, however, for the 100fps difference between the 340Bee and 338WM, I don't see a big performance difference using 225g bullets.

Cheers.

jason367 · Monday at 5:24 AM

amu_shooter said:
338 Win Mag and 230 Fail Safes, kills everything DRT.

Those are nasty bullets. Will punch a 1" steel plate. Thought I was missing the gong. lol.

jason367 · Monday at 5:26 AM

338 win mag is my go to. Black bears flop.

.338 Winchester Magnum or .338-06 Improved.

Which .338 cartridge would you build?

.338 Winchester Magnum

.338-06 Improved

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