338 or 375 or 416?

[del2les]

Maybe I'm a little biased, old fashioned or whatever, but I still like my trusty 338WM. Possibly because, I am very familiar with the rifle, scope, range etc, and if needed, I can still snap shoot it fairly accurately. It's like an old pair of boots that I am comfortable with.

However, all your choices of cartridges and calibers will serve, the rest is about the rifle/scope/conditions/you etc. Good hunting!

 

[anwahs]

I'll share this: H1000 powder, 215m primer, Norma brass, and loaded to COAL 3.992". She's hot, but very accurate. I'm way over 93grs of powder and won't give the exact number for legal reasons. I'm certain N570, retumbo, and RL26 can give me some more speed.

Wow, you must have a long throat. With my Edge chamber, cut by Defensive Edge, I'm into the lands a couple thousandths at 3.9 COAL.

I was hoping to get 3000 fps with H1000 in Bertram brass but couldn't even get close. Got up to 2950 with Retumbo and that was a little warm. RL26 or N570 would probably do it but would prefer to stay away from the double based powders.

The Norma brass and a longer throat could make quite a difference. I also was impressed with the accuracy. Thanks for the info.

 

[22250imp]

Hi all,
If I were planning another bear hunt on Kodiak bears, which of the following would you recommend?
A 338WM with 250gr Partition @ 2770fps, a 338EDGE with 285gr ABLR @ 3150fps..
A 375 Bee with 300gr Woodleigh Weldcore @ 2830fps. A 375 Bee with a 260gr Accubond @ 2980fps.
A 416 Rigby with a 410gr Woodleigh Weldcore @ 2530fps.
I ask this question cause I think I know the consensus, but would like to hear everyone's point of view.

Cheers.

I am really starting to like the 330 Dakota cartridge. Might give it a look.

 

[400grains]

Joe Want used to guide southwest Kodiak Island for a lot of years. He used a .458 Win Mag for awhile. He also had a double rifle in .500 Nitro ( I believe ). He traded his double in and walked out with cash and a Ruger .416 Rigby. He was a Marine grunt and could walk forever. He worked for P&T starting out down there

 

[Calvin45]

No kodiak ezperience of any kind, full disclaimer. That being said, while all will probably work indistinguishably from each other my vote very easily goes to the .375 with the 300 weldcore. Weldcore's are awesome! .375 is an awesome caliber for most everything, the perfect compromise/blend of projectile mass and high-ish velocity. People argue about small bullets moving fast and big bullets moving slow but the .375s are jack-of-all-trades big-ish bullets moving at fast-ish velocity; hard to find fault with.