30-338 winchester magnum

[CHARLIEDUECE65]

I WAS WONDERING WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THIS ROUND. I RECENTLY BOUGHT A REM 700 MAGNUM ACTION AND HAVE A HEAVY 28.5" KRIEGER 30 CAL BARREL 1 IN 11 TWIST. IM THINKING OF GOING WITH THIS ROUND AND WILL SHOOT 175-190 GRAIN BULLETS. I DONT REALLY NEED ANYTHING BIGGER AS I HAVE A 338 EDGE. THANKS FOR ANY INFO OR OPINIONS.gun)

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I have shot one and worked up loads for it. It got popular 20-25 years back when some guys won a few 1000 yard matches with it. It went away about as fast as it arrived on the scene. It was known for accuracy with velocities about that of a 300 wsm. The 300 wsm is a better cartridge. The 30-338 win mag is basically a 308 Norma magnum. I think they are virtually the same thing.

 

[CHARLIEDUECE65]

THANKS FOR THE INFO. I AM LEANING NOW TOWARDS THE 308 NORMA MAGNUM AFTER READING MORE ABOUT IT. AFTER ALL THEY ARE BASICALLY THE SAME ROUND AND I CAN USE 7MM REM MAG AND 338 WIN MAG BRASS OR THE NORMA BRASS. DO YOU KNOW OF A 30 CAL. BELTLESS ROUND THAT WOULD BE A BETTER OPTION IN THE MAGNUM LONG ACTION. I REALLY DONT WANT TO GO ANY BIGGER THAN THIS ROUND. THANKS. gun)

 

[J E Custom]

I WAS WONDERING WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THIS ROUND. I RECENTLY BOUGHT A REM 700 MAGNUM ACTION AND HAVE A HEAVY 28.5" KRIEGER 30 CAL BARREL 1 IN 11 TWIST. IM THINKING OF GOING WITH THIS ROUND AND WILL SHOOT 175-190 GRAIN BULLETS. I DONT REALLY NEED ANYTHING BIGGER AS I HAVE A 338 EDGE. THANKS FOR ANY INFO OR OPINIONS.gun)

I have owned, shot matches and hunted with one and it is a very good round.

The 30/338 was one of the best 1,000 yard rifles and set many records.

My pet load for 1000 yard matches was 190gr MKs at 3091 ft/sec in a 27" hart
1 in 10 twist. My hunting load was a 200gr Nosler Partition @ 3018 ft/sec.

The 308 Norma is ballistically the same but brass is slightly different and one should not be
fired in the other.

Ether one will shoot very good and IMO will out perform the 300 WSM with the heavy bullets
because of case capacity, and the new powders should boost the velocity even higher with standard chamber pressures 55,000 instead of 65,000 like the new short mags.

The next step up in a none belted case would be the 300 RUM but you said you didn't
want anything that large.

J E CUSTOM

 

[CliffM]

charlieduece65
I shot one for a number of years and loved it. I'd rather shoot it than the 300WBY I now have. Uses inexpensive , easy to find brass and is easy on powder. A favorite load of 65gr imr 4350 would push a 180 smk. 3040. in a 26" barrel. I never shot it past 750 yds. but at that distance a gallon milk jug was a easy shot. I don't think today that I would go out of my way to have one built unless I had an action that was already made for that size case. Mine was built on a P17 Enfield and it had the magazine length to seat the bullet out as far as ought to be.
Cliff

 

[CHARLIEDUECE65]

Thanks for the info and past experiences/info on this round.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

JEcustom, With the new powders available today the 30-338 winny and the 308 norma may get more velocity with the heavier bullets. I was comparing what me and others are getting out of the 300 wsm now with what I was able to do with the same 26" barrel length in the 308 norma and 30-338 win mag 20-25 years ago. About the same velocities with bullets up to 200 grains in a more compact case that is just as accurate as the 30-338. With longer barrel lengths that would allow more burn out of a bigger dose of slow burning powder I can see where the 30-338 and 308 norma could get an advantage with the heavier bullets, particularly with some of the newer slow burn rates out there. I haven't tried a 300wsm, 308 norma or 30-338 with a barrel longer than 26" so I would not know.

Some guys are getting right at 300 win mag velocities out of the 300 wsm which is a bigger case than the 308 norma or 30-338 win mag. With a 25" barrel in 300 wsm I am getting well over 3400 fps with the 150 grain, over 3100 fps with the 180 and over 2900 fps with the 200. I would never have believed that just looking at the little short mag case but after shooting the daylights out of a couple of them I am a believer now in the short mag. They allow you to use a faster powder which gets top velocity in the shorter, lighter barrels.

I appreciate your opinions on here and enjoy reading your replies. Let me know if you still shoot the 30-338 and what you can do with it with some of the new powders. It has always been an extremely accurate chambering and it would be interesting to know what it would do. Also the 308 norma since they are ballistic twins with slightly different cases. It would be fun to bring back some of the older rounds that people don't shoot a lot anymore and see what they do with the newer powders. If the new design cartridges are better or the powders we use now are the difference makers.

 

[J E Custom]

JEcustom, With the new powders available today the 30-338 winny and the 308 norma may get more velocity with the heavier bullets. I was comparing what me and others are getting out of the 300 wsm now with what I was able to do with the same 26" barrel length in the 308 norma and 30-338 win mag 20-25 years ago. About the same velocities with bullets up to 200 grains in a more compact case that is just as accurate as the 30-338. With longer barrel lengths that would allow more burn out of a bigger dose of slow burning powder I can see where the 30-338 and 308 norma could get an advantage with the heavier bullets, particularly with some of the newer slow burn rates out there. I haven't tried a 300wsm, 308 norma or 30-338 with a barrel longer than 26" so I would not know.

Some guys are getting right at 300 win mag velocities out of the 300 wsm which is a bigger case than the 308 norma or 30-338 win mag. With a 25" barrel in 300 wsm I am getting well over 3400 fps with the 150 grain, over 3100 fps with the 180 and over 2900 fps with the 200. I would never have believed that just looking at the little short mag case but after shooting the daylights out of a couple of them I am a believer now in the short mag. They allow you to use a faster powder which gets top velocity in the shorter, lighter barrels.

I appreciate your opinions on here and enjoy reading your replies. Let me know if you still shoot the 30-338 and what you can do with it with some of the new powders. It has always been an extremely accurate chambering and it would be interesting to know what it would do. Also the 308 norma since they are ballistic twins with slightly different cases. It would be fun to bring back some of the older rounds that people don't shoot a lot anymore and see what they do with the newer powders. If the new design cartridges are better or the powders we use now are the difference makers.

Thanks I enjoy your post and have learned a lot from them. Just like the difference between the
300 win mag and the 338 win mag. (I always thought that the 338 was a necked up version
of the 300win mag).

I don't have a 30/338 any more I re chambered it to 30/378 .but like you I think that with the new
powders and 6 to 8 grains more the 30 /338 could be boosted higher with bigger bullets.

My old load of h4831 (The old military stuff that Hodgdon got by pulling surplus 20mm rounds apart) could push a 200 grain a just over 3,000 ft/sec Because it was a little slower than the
newly manufactured 4831 and thus the basis for my speculation on the round with newer
powder

J E CUSTOM

 

[Kevin Thomas]

The 30-338 was a great cartridge for 1,000 yard competition in its day, and the 101st MTU had a rack full of them when I shot with the division team. Not as potent as the 300 Win Mag, but for target shooting, bigger definately isn't always better. The 30-338 had a nice balance of velocity, excellent accuracy (which generally degrades as the powder capacity increases; sorry guys, but that's the truth), and tolerable recoil that made it an outstanding choice for competition. It, along with every other 30 caliber cartridge, has pretty much vanished form the competitive scene today. They've been replaced by smaller cartridges firing smaller diameter, higher BC bullets for exactly the same reasons I already cited; less recoil, better accuracy, etc..

And for what it's worth if your going to be doing any case forming here, despite the moniker, it's easier to use 7mm Rem Mag cases and neck them up to 30 cal, than it is to neck 338 Win Mag cases down.

Good cartridge, though!

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

JEcustom, I looked up some of my old data. I built a 30-338 for a guy in Norwood Colorado about the same time 7828 powder became available so we tested it with that one which was about the first of the newer type slow burners to replace 4831 and 4350. We tested primarily the speer and Sierra 200 grain bullets in it. My data shows we got better velocity with 7828 than the then standby 4831 and 4350 loads. Had a good load with H-570 before they discontinued that one. From that I bet some of the newer powders would do very well in it.

Kevin, No need to be sorry, you are right on. When I had my 1000 yard range beside the shop the best 1000 yard rifle I had was a 243 AI. I am confident I could hit an elk in the head with it at 1000 yards if I had a spot shot. I shot an antelope with it at that range and put the bullet well within an elks head diameter of where I was aiming. But for big elk at long range we got to figure ways to get the big 338's extremely accurate burning a lot of powder. With big 338 bullets getting better all the time and top gunsmiths working out accuracy issues with them we are getting closer to that day.

 

[TOM H]

I own a pretty nice custom 300WSM with a 24" long Broungton 5c 1/12 twist barrel have another in the works but will use a Kreiger 5r 1/11.25 twist barrel both rifles are for hunting only (deer/elk). Acouple of my other deer/elk rifles 30-338mag 1/12 twist barrel next 30-338mag has a 1/10 twist barrel just got a new 30-338mag used a 1/11 twist Lilja barrel be using that rifle on bull elk hunt this year. I also own a 300Wby and 300RUM.

I started hunting with the 30-338 mag about 25yrs ago good caliber and there pretty easy to keep tuned for what I do. I also shot the 308 Norma Mag another good caliber brass is alittle pricey.

I was at Huntington last summer and they still have the rifle Fred chambered for the 1st 30-338mag alot of history there.

I just got some Berger 185gr VLD hunting bullets going to try in the new 30-338mag be interesting to see how they do. My problem I like alot of calibers.

 

[CHARLIEDUECE65]

Let us know the results. Sounds like more people are using the 30-338 win mag vs. The 308 norma mag.

 

[TOM H]

The 30-338 was a great cartridge for 1,000 yard competition in its day, and the 101st MTU had a rack full of them when I shot with the division team. Not as potent as the 300 Win Mag, but for target shooting, bigger definately isn't always better. The 30-338 had a nice balance of velocity, excellent accuracy (which generally degrades as the powder capacity increases; sorry guys, but that's the truth), and tolerable recoil that made it an outstanding choice for competition. It, along with every other 30 caliber cartridge, has pretty much vanished form the competitive scene today. They've been replaced by smaller cartridges firing smaller diameter, higher BC bullets for exactly the same reasons I already cited; less recoil, better accuracy, etc..

And for what it's worth if your going to be doing any case forming here, despite the moniker, it's easier to use 7mm Rem Mag cases and neck them up to 30 cal, than it is to neck 338 Win Mag cases down.

Good cartridge, though!

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA

I don't mean to say anything but if your working for Laupa haven't you seen some of the records set by 30cal rifles (heavy div)1000yd matches here a clip from 6Br
1000 Yard AccurateShooter.com Bulletin
I do agree the smaller case have the light div tied up

 

[cross]

Won't a good 30-06 AI come pretty close to what a 30-338 Win will do? I've been of the impression for a while that if you put a 26" pipe on a 30-06 AI you'll scare hell out of 3000 fps with 180s. Most folks only have 22" or 24" pipes on their -06es so their not of the opinion that they'll perform anywhere near the magnums but I tend to believe that by putting 26" pipes on their -06s they're a lot closer than conventional wisdom would have you believe.

cross