.338 win mag or 300 win mag

[jd300rum]

I have a Ruger Guide Gun in the .375 Ruger. I bought it for a trip to hunt Sitka Blacktail deer on Kodiak Island (I heard there's some bears up there). It is a GREAT gun! Very handy, reliable and tough as hell. I love the gun. I shot a couple Blacktails with it. One at 310 yards, and the other was a 75 yard off hand shot (pictured below).

You already have two .30 calibers rifles. I suggest you consider the .375 Ruger. If not, then I would definitely recommend the .338 Winnie . You can't go wrong with either.

Make sure you wear hearing protection though. It's "painfully" loud!

 

[jvspopeye]

As an older hunter whose used the 338 mag to take a fair amount of elk when I was younger I am going to go against what many have stated here. Over the years I have used many different cals for elk. With the premium bullets available today I see no need for the big boomers. I personally don't care for the heavy recoil. It can cause arithmetic problems in your shooting shoulder as you age. I can absolutely attest to this. I see no reason why anything larger than a 7mm is needed. A 7mm with with one of the 140 to 150 copper mono's will virtually completely penetrate elk every time. If two elk are standing side by side you will kill both. Personally I use a 6.5 with the copper mono's & always get complete penetration. Never lost an elk with one. Have observed many other hunters, friends & out of state hunters use 6.5's, 270's & the various 7mm with the mono bullets. They penetrate thru heavy muscle & dense bone easily with complete penetration. I would at least recommend going to a 30 cal instead of the 338. A hunting friend of mine uses a 308 with the Barnes 150gr TSX mono. Takes his elk every year & has yet to recover a bullet. Info I have given is based on years of in the field experience with my own hunts & game taken by other hunters.

As an older hunter whose used the 338 mag to take a fair amount of elk when I was younger I am going to go against what many have stated here. Over the years I have used many different cals for elk. With the premium bullets available today I see no need for the big boomers. I personally don't care for the heavy recoil. It can cause arithmetic problems in your shooting shoulder as you age. I can absolutely attest to this. I see no reason why anything larger than a 7mm is needed. A 7mm with with one of the 140 to 150 copper mono's will virtually completely penetrate elk every time. If two elk are standing side by side you will kill both. Personally I use a 6.5 with the copper mono's & always get complete penetration. Never lost an elk with one. Have observed many other hunters, friends & out of state hunters use 6.5's, 270's & the various 7mm with the mono bullets. They penetrate thru heavy muscle & dense bone easily with complete penetration. I would at least recommend going to a 30 cal instead of the 338. A hunting friend of mine uses a 308 with the Barnes 150gr TSX mono. Takes his elk every year & has yet to recover a bullet. Info I have given is based on years of in the field experience with my own hunts & game taken by other hunters.

Well I do not disagree with you since I too have **** many moose with my 300wsm, my 30-06 and even took a small 3 year old bull with a .243. However I am looking to hed north in the near future and grizzly will be in the area and will feel better with a bigger gun. Having already a 300wsm it makes sense to go to .338 and besides I like my toys. Always wanted a Ruger Guide gun.

 

[davewilson]

i like the 225 Accubond in my 338wm, it just kills everything in it's path, big or small. if recoil is an issue, a brake really helps with that. it's true, the smaller calibers do kill big game, but when shooting farther out, a marginal hit goes in favor to the larger calibers.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Great looking gun, buck and thanks for the tip! What ammo and brand are you using in that gun?

Popeye,

I was using "Horn-Daddys" Dangerous Game Series 375 Ruger 270 gr SP-RP Superformance. It performed well on the deer I took.

Since the cartridge was designed in conjunction between Ruger and Hornady I don't think there's a lot of over the counter options for it.

Actually one of my hunting buddies on our Alaskan trip bought the exact same gun, left handed, and used the same ammo. He is equally impressed with the gun.

Again, good luck with your new Ruger Guide Gun.

 

[whirlwindjml]

Personally I use a 6.5 with the copper mono's & always get complete penetration.

I switch as well to 6.5 and havnt had any issues either. I stll have my big ones and there is a time and place for them (alaska ect)... But im no longer convinced how necessary they are. If i hunt griz areas ill dig out the artillery.

 

[del2les]

Well I do not disagree with you since I too have ---- many moose with my 300wsm, my 30-06 and even took a small 3 year old bull with a .243. However I am looking to hed north in the near future and grizzly will be in the area and will feel better with a bigger gun. Having already a 300wsm it makes sense to go to .338 and besides I like my toys. Always wanted a Ruger Guide gun.

Yea, tearing through the brush or rounding a river bend to come face-to-face with a large griz is no time to be armed with a 6.5CM. Heck, even the 338WM felt a little small.

 

[ruby76]

Thank you all for the excellent advice. I am happy to say I ordered today the Ruger Guide Gun in a .338 win mag . My gun supplier is trying to get one for me and hope to get it soon.
If anyone has this gun, can you please let me know what bullets work best in the gun for my moose needs for shots normally within 150 yards and to a max of 400 yards? Thanking you in advance, what a great website. Thank you

I'm a moose hunter and have always had great results with Barnes. 140/145 in my 280AI, and now with my 338 Sherman short I have some 225 ttsx to try out

 

[jjmp]

Congrats on your New 338 w/magnum ,a couple of sleeper bullets noslers 210Partition ,any Barnes tsx or ttsx 225 will penetrate great ,also don't forgets Sierras 250 boatail bullet . Cheers lv my 338 w/mag !!!

 

[jvspopeye]

Well I finally got the call that my Ruger Guide gun had arrived. I decided to go with the .338 Win Mag.
Now I am looking for a scope to put on. I was discouraged a bit when I was looking for scopes and some vendors were telling me that with a 20' barrel I wont be shooting more than a 200 to maybe 300 yds with accuracy. I bought the gun to be an all round rifle for the game I shoot from deer up (Moose Elk and Black Bear). I know its a big heavy for whitetail deer but covers anything else around here heavier...My question is this:
1. How far do you think I can shoot game accurately with this gun?
2. What scope do you recommend? (shots anywhere from 50 - 400 yds max)
3. Can anyone tell me what ammo this gun likes for accuracy? (I know most of my Brownings like Winchester, so curious about this gun).
4. Has anyone shot Whitetail with this gun? I heard Barnes 168 gr TSX or LRX are good rounds with minimal damage...??
I cant wait to get a scope on it and try it out! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[whirlwindjml]

Well I finally got the call that my Ruger Guide gun had arrived. I decided to go with the .338 Win Mag.
Now I am looking for a scope to put on. I was discouraged a bit when I was looking for scopes and some vendors were telling me that with a 20' barrel I wont be shooting more than a 200 to maybe 300 yds with accuracy. I bought the gun to be an all round rifle for the game I shoot from deer up (Moose Elk and Black Bear). I know its a big heavy for whitetail deer but covers anything else around here heavier...My question is this:
1. How far do you think I can shoot game accurately with this gun?
2. What scope do you recommend? (shots anywhere from 50 - 400 yds max)
3. Can anyone tell me what ammo this gun likes for accuracy? (I know most of my Brownings like Winchester, so curious about this gun).
4. Has anyone shot Whitetail with this gun? I heard Barnes 168 gr TSX or LRX are good rounds with minimal damage...??
I cant wait to get a scope on it and try it out! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

If it shoots good at 100 it will shoot good at 400. It just wont be as fast.

Its going to like whatever ammo it likes. You'll just have to test your favorite loads. Id try the new 230eldx hunter loads if i was starting from scratch and bore sighting ect. Might get lucky and find a winner right of the bat.
I used to only use 338wm and shot a lot of deer with a 250 partition. It mushrooms but dont explode. Yes its big but the extra energy goes out the othes side. The barnes would probably work great at the ranges you mentioned.

Scope. Cant beat SFWA 6x for 0-400 in my opinion. I have to many guns to put a nightforce on everthing. I resurrected my winmag this year with anew stock and tested 100 rounds through vortex 3-9 diamond back tactical and it not only survived but I was accurately lobbing accubonds to 900 yard with it.$179

Use plenty of blue locktite! 2 cents worth.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

My 338wm Ruger M77 is not picky about bullet selection. But I haven't used it past 100 yards. I think 225 nosler accubonds is a real good idea.
for a scope.? 2x7 or 3x9 with decent eye relief will serve you well. Brand? I don't have a educated opinion on scope brand. Sounds like you need a rugged one. An old Leupold comes to mind.
as an aside, there are such improvements in bullets and powder that you can make a 30.06 send a 180 bullet pretty fast if your rifle is built well.
So, you have so many .308 caliber rifles, the .338 makes total sense.
That picture is a 225 grain Berger, .338.

 

[Rilow]

My favourite all around .338 loads are usually the 210 gr. in Nosler Partitions and Barnes TSX although I have been messing around lately with the Hornady 200 gr. bonded bullets. They have the same weight and BC as the Hornady SST's so it's easy to use the cheaper bullets to work up a load and then switch for serious hunting. The only thing I use heavier bullets for is grizzly's.

I'm gettin ready to work up load with 210 partitions in 338 win mag. What powder you using n what kind of velocity you getting?

 

[memtb]

As others have said, you will not lose accuracy with a shorter barrel.....your scope vender in "full of beans"! If that were the case, Contender handguns with 10" to 16" barrels would be useless. In fact, often shorter barrels exhibit an improved accuracy, perhaps due to increased barrel "stiffness". Velocity loss, and this is just a guess....30 to 35 FPS/inch barrel removed! I don't think it will be an issue with the ranges of intended use! Good Luck.....you should have a great rifle for it's intended application!

You asked about bullets, we use Barnes 225 TTSX's in the wife's rifle....for everything from antelope/deer to moose. One bullet, one load, one zero.....it simply works! memtb

 

[sodakota]

I have had four 338's.
First the length of the barrel will have little affect on accuracy. Theoretically though a short barrel should have less vibrations (more stiff) and might be more accurate. Accuracy is not that affected by barrel length. I'd stop asking the guy who told you that any questions.
My favorite load for my early 700, my push feed 70 and my 70 Classic was with 250 grain Nosler Partitions. My later model 700 with detachable magazine liked lighter bullets: including 210 grain Partitions and several Mono bullets. But it liked factory Federal Premium Bear Claw loads also.
I sold all my 338's after the last trip for Moose hunting in Canada. My traveling long distances for big game has possibly come to an end. I have components, dies, and such that I'd let go at a good price.