Have an itch for another semi-wildcat

Also entertaining the thought of an AI version.

Would just be a general purpose heavy hitter for shots under 400 yds.

Curious if anyone has experience with the round.

Might be overthinking it since I can get a 150 grainer going 3000 fps nowadays. (In a regular 30-06)

What say ye?

Had a .338-06 AI built back in the early ‘90s to scratch my itch for a .318 Westley Richards.

I’ve been a big fan ever since. Big bullet at moderate velocity does the job just like it always has. Elk, deer and hogs have never complained.

If I had to do it over again, I’d go with the “vanilla” version and save myself the additional case-forming headaches!

Mark

Look at the .338 Sherman

You shoulda bought my Whelen when you had the chance. Too late now!

Yes Sir. 210-225g cup and core over Varget. It has the most impressive energy transfers I’ve ever seen in a .473 bolt face.

Getting serious elk and bear medicine with the 210 partition.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1025228479?pid=360995

Edit: anything over 225g is a loss in standard form. Maybe if you go AI the bigger bullets might play.

Edit : by the way those partitions are on sale half price. I can’t think of a better reason to build one.

338 WBY RPM

I had one built on a VZ-24 with turned-down bolt, three-position safety, Pac-Nor barrel in a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock. I thought it was about the perfect balance of easy-shooting power for anything in North America and most of what roams in Africa, but sold it before I ever hunted with it. I'd love to have it back, but just don't need one. Frankly, the plain-vanilla 8X57 Mauser pushing a Barnes 180-grain TSX at 2,700 is not far behind.

If you were a student of Elmer Keith you have to love the 338-06. Like the 35 Whelen, it does everything big game well. Nowadays the consumer has endless choices but the 338-06 will always do well for the bigger stuff. I never had one but that never let the itch go away.

Thought about a 300 wsm necked to 338 cal before.

That's pretty close to a .325 WSM anyway. Good caliber. It whacks game with authority.

I never get tired of bashing Remington for their inability to successfully market and support a perfectly good round.

Just now, the .350 Rem Mag comes to mind. It may not have hung on as well as some other rounds, but its demise was accelerated IMO.

Yup, have one in the safe, don't shoot it much anymore but it really thumps hogs, deer and elk very well. 225gr Partition started at 2700fps will do some damage. For a mess load up some 357mag bullets in it and run at about 3000fps. Another that I liked was the 180gr Nosler 357mag partition at about 2900fps that Nosler discontinued years ago the few I have left are for the Marlin 1894 357. The 350 still gets an ammo run on occasion but its little brother fell out of Remingtons graces years ago.

I've done several 338-06 load work ups. It's a really good round. A 225 grain going 2700-2800 fps. What's not to like? It's easy making it from 30-06 brass with a simple neck up. And it uses your common 308 powders. Lots of benefits of a 338-06. A lot of these "older" calibers are still some of the best rounds out there.



I have done 2 of the 338 WSM (325 WSM necked up to 338), both shooting 250 grain. The 325 WSM is the "best" round for pushing the biggest bullet the fastest with the least amount of gun powder. In other words, it gets really good gas mileage! So necking it up to 338 provides you with really good speeds with heavy weight bullets. You just have to work out your magazine requirements to make sure the bullet fits and feeds in a short action WSM. It's a really good option also.

Wanted to rebarel my 300 wby to a 338/300 wsm. Might some day if I have the time to play with it.

https://weatherby.com/338-rpm/

short barrel numbers are impressive

I picked up a. .338-06 ai about 20 yrs.ago and love it. Built on an old Sako action and Hart barrel. Shoots under MOA with 3 or 4 different bullets. Took a Mule deer some years back about about 340 yds.

338-06 is a great, a very efficient medium bore thumper. I have a 9.3x62 which is another gem.

my 338 06 is in the truck now going for the last hunt tomorrow light recoil very accurate ,there just something about bigger bullett , bigger bullet bigger hole more blood ,they just go down .but that being said I gotta agree with bobo 338 rpm 18 inch bbl supressor still out runs a 338 06 if I was starting over thats what I would do