Tell me again why my .338 win mag isn't enough?

[EXPRESS]

I don't want to to turn this into a pot stirr, because the question is basically rhetorical.

At the moment I'm shooting a .338 win mag using 225gn CEB LZR bullets with a BC of .630 at 2880fps out of a 26" barrel.

That gives me 1100 yards before I drop below the 1000ft-lbs and another 100 yards before it gets below 1400fps. for the sake of simplicity, let's just accecpt those numbers as guidelines for maximum range/minimum requirements for hunting.

So far Ive shot elk sized game with it out to 780 yards and, while it works, I do have some reservations on the performance of this particular bullet at those speeds.
To be honest, 1000-1100 is as far as I would shoot at my current ability level. Shots on rocks at 1.1K are normally within 10" of POI, in challenging confitions.

But I'm looking into getting a .338 Norma mag barrel, because the extra horsepower is appealing. However on paper, it doesnt really look to be a huge step up.

Especially if I consider a 24" barrel, (which I was, because I recall an article written about such a barrel performing very well) then I stand to loose nearly 100fps over a 28" barrel which I have decided might be the way to go.

So While I'm getting exited at the idea of a new barrel in this awesome caliber, I'm having a hard time justifying it and above all, expense aside, for the time needed to become familiar with the round and find my sweet spot.

Am I overthinking it?

 

[royinidaho]

Over thinking, I'd say?

Your shooting enough of a bullet to harvest any animal in your neck of the woods. My neck of the woods also.

It's not unheard of , in Idaho , to hear it said by serious elk hunters that the 338 Win is the minimum cartridge to use. Any thing me yonder it is gravey.

Having said that, I rebarreled a great shooting 338 Win to 338 RUM and was very happy that I did.

 

[EXPRESS]

...yeah I know.

I'm slowly letting the idea go forward, asking for a few quotes around the place.

The .338 Norma mag has a reputation for good inherent accuracy. Though there are not too many sources of info on it.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

The day when the .338 wm is not enough is the day you need to walk just a little further !!! What the heck is it coming too.... A chest hit anything ain't lasting long but a poor hit results in the same chase/trail job !!! Hit where your supposed to and the lowly .338 can git' er' dun !!

 

[MudRunner2005]

I had a .338 Win for a while...Not a fan of the caliber. Too finicky to get shooting with a sporter weight barrel. I rebarreled to a 7mm RemMag and enjoyed the rifle much better in that configuration. Then after taking a few deer with it that season I pulled the rifle apart and used the different parts and pieces to build several other rifles.

If your going .338 RUM, might as well go .338 Edge (.338-300 RUM).

 

[revturbo9967]

i have 338 win factory Winchester. its an inaccurate hammer in my case. best grouping ive gotten is about 2 moa. ive left it in the back of the safe for some time now. no doubt it would take an elk, but i dont trust its accuracy. in my case i think its more the rifle, then the cartridge.

 

[MudRunner2005]

i have 338 win factory Winchester. its an inaccurate hammer in my case. best grouping ive gotten is about 2 moa. ive left it in the back of the safe for some time now. no doubt it would take an elk, but i dont trust its accuracy. in my case i think its more the rifle, then the cartridge.

Mine was an old Rem 700 stainless in .338WM. It was a 2-3" gun at 100, as well. Highly unimpressed to say the least. I am not a .338 fan, but was willing to give it a try, since I got the rifle so cheap...Unfortunately, it patterned like buckshot at 100 yards. That was the main reason for the rebarrel...2nd reason was because a .338 anything is overkill for any game animal in Alabama. The 3rd strike against it was because I prefer the 7mm calibers...Always have, always will.

 

[revturbo9967]

Mine was an old Rem 700 stainless in .338WM. It was a 2-3" gun at 100, as well. Highly unimpressed to say the least. I am not a .338 fan, but was willing to give it a try, since I got the rifle so cheap...Unfortunately, it patterned like buckshot at 100 yards. That was the main reason for the rebarrel...2nd reason was because a .338 anything is overkill for any game animal in Alabama. 3rd strike, was because I prefer the 7mm calibers...Always have, always will.

if im close enough, my go to cartridge for anything east of the Mississippi would be 44 mag.

 

[MudRunner2005]

For the record, I did buy my .338WM rifle used, and have no idea the round-count that was on it when I got it. But when I had the smith rebarrel it to 7mmRM, he borescoped the old .338 barrel and said it looked to have been shot very little, and was in good shape. So, maybe it just wasn't meant to be a .338. Once the action was blueprinted and rebarreled to 7mmRM, It shot great (5/8-3/4 MOA @ 100), but it shoots even better when I rebarreled it with a 26" sendero barrel chambered in .300 Ackley.

 

[Deleted member 46119]

I did not keep my 338WM chambered that way for very long but enough to have first hand data about what you speak.

So

If it is shooting sub 1 MOA for you them there is no reason to change.

So, I can't tell you your 338WM is not enough.

 

[tbrice23]

For the record, I did buy my .338WM rifle used, and have no idea the round-count that was on it when I got it. But when I had the smith rebarrel it to 7mmRM, he borescoped the old .338 barrel and said it looked to have been shot very little, and was in good shape. So, maybe it just wasn't meant to be a .338. Once the action was blueprinted and rebarreled to 7mmRM, It shot great (5/8-3/4 MOA @ 100), but it shoots even better when I rebarreled it with a 26" sendero barrel chambered in .300 Ackley.

I bought a new 700 xtr 2 in 338wm. It weighed about 7.5 lb. I was loading 225 to 250 gr pills at upwards of 2980 with rl19. It rattled my skull every **** shot.
Only harvested one small doe with it because it just did shoot consistent enough. Oddly the doe was shot with 225gr Interbond at 150 yards in the boiler room and ran 170 yards without any organs in her upper cavity!!
It would shoot .75 moa 5 shot rarely but mostly right over 1 moa. Of course that's not good enough for me So I finally shot it out (thats a lot of self abuse! ) 338wm has a long barrel life!!

Rebarreled to CBI 7mag with HS precision stock. Now life is good. Wished that I would've rebarreled about $1000 sooner.

 

[martyj]

I have 2 old ruger 77 in 338 wm and they both shoot well under 1moa.
They shoot well enough the guys I went elk hunting with wanted to know what kind of rifle it was after we got done sighting in.
Think it kind of surprised them when they found out it was a production rifle.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I have 2 old ruger 77 in 338 wm and they both shoot well under 1moa.
They shoot well enough the guys I went elk hunting with wanted to know what kind of rifle it was after we got done sighting in.
Think it kind of surprised them when they found out it was a production rifle.

I have 2 old M77 MKII rifles (7mm-08 & 7mmRM) that are stored in the safe and don't get used much these days (sentimental & intrinsic value), and factory M77's either shoot or don't right out of the box. But when they shoot, they really shoot.

 

[jrsolocam]

Not that you are over thinking it. But EVERY other (338 Lapua, RUM, EDGE, Norma, 340 Wby, 330 Dakota, 338-378 Wby) out performs it....