Are the .338s becoming pointless?

[Paladin300]

When I hunted in New Zealand last summer, I was bummed to learn I could not hunt there with handguns. So I decided to use my guides rifle. i do own rifles, but didn't want to go through the hassle. 338 Lapua, at over 600 yards. It worked fine. Yes, I have killed stuff with a rifle!

That is an awesome stag! Nice!

 

[LRNut]

I tend to hunt elk in heavy timber, max range is 300 yds in the sub-alpine parks, most shots are taken within 50 to 75 yds. A 338 Win is fine.

All 9 of my bulls were taken with a 338 WM - worked great!

 

[Ernie]

That is an awesome stag! Nice!

Thanks! I just got my Tahr and Stag shoulder mounts in last week, and they look great!

 

[Ol' Red]

I have not read all posts yet, but are you talking hunting on Kodiak Island or the Alaska Peninsula or shooting at steel plates?

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

I do have a pic with the RIFLE, if you want to see it

Heck no. Rather see your XPs. Laying on top of critters that is.

 

[Paper boy]

Not looking to offend or claim they're not effective, BUT...it used to be that the .338 lapua was regarded as in a league apart compared to .300 and 7mms because of the bcs on the 338 bullets. Now this is definitely a thing of the past, with high .7 and even .8 range g1 bc 7mm and .308" bullets that can be driven faster all things equal For true extreme range the big .375s are dominant. For tactical purposes all of the above are way more than adequate antipersonell rounds, body armour or not. None of the above are truly suitable anti material caliber. The way it seems now is that the .33s don't have an advantage over the 7 and 30 trajectory wise and can't match the 375s out of similar size rifles. Nothing wrong with .338 cartridges but not a whole lot I see that would make me choose one with things as they are now. Show me if I'm wrong!

The 338 Lapua actually started life as a long range military sniper round adopted by several Nato countries. Of course not as powerful as the 50 bmg but not an "Anti Material Round" as the 50 was designed to be but more an "Anti Personell Round" which is does ellegantly.

The 50 is used as a personel round but mostly where they are under hard cover. For what ever reason (quality of manufacture) the Lapua 338 brass is almost $3.00 per round. In volume it's out of the reach of many the typical shooter. Some will argue this but the 338 Lapua HAS proven itself to out preform the other 338 offerings, sorry guys. You can trust this, the 338 Lapua is very much alive and well.
There's one in my safe!

 

[Far North Hunter]

I have shot the 338 Win since the '70s. It's been a great long range elk caliber. I've more recently moose hunted with the 338 RUM, factory 700 action with a breaked Lilja Bbl. Both chamberings were easy to tune and i have great trust in there ability to make a tough quartering shot. I'll always have two in the vault forever. I'd also add I was able to work up loads for a couple friends old Ruger bolt rifles, back when Ruger was having some Bbl issues, that would shoot sub MOA. The same vintage Ruger 7mm's could never get near the same results.
pls note, Ruger has long since discontinued that bbl source.
A great part of your hunting pleasure and success is having a firearm you have complete trust in its ability.

 

[Upsidedownjack]

A hunter who has never shot anything larger than .270 or not in many years, is more of a liability than he is well-equipped with a .338 shoved in his hands. However, a great friend of mine who was also a rifle maker and elk guide from New Mexico to Alaska for some 35 years and had taken more than 100 elk himself over a lifetime with 5 times that taken by his guided clients INSISTED that one must use a .338 at MINIMUM (and he preferred .358s) to put an elk down quickly every time. Could it be the old American wapiti is a little tougher than similar animals around the world??

I don't know. Having shot two, maybe three +/- Elk over the years. And all of them have gone down within +/- 15' with One shot. 300 WM. 180 Gr PT. Nothing special just shot placement! Jack O'Connor shot about everything in the world with a 270 Win. Game I never thought about going after. But the most Dangerous game has fallen to the 300. The 338, 416 Chevy tac the 50 BMG all have there place. As does the lowly 22 short. You hunt? Shoot what needs to be shot with the "best" cal for the kill! One shot, one kill!

 

[ATH]

My 243AI and 300WM have almost identical ballistics to 1000 yards. But they are very, very different in their capabilities at anything but punching paper. Ballistics are only one part of the equation.

338s simply hit harder than the others. I've been in the pits for a competition that went from 1000 to 2000 yards and you could tell whether the incoming rounds were from 7mm, 30, or 338 and the difference only got bigger as the range extended.

I've seen all three calibers on elk and used the bigger two. They will all kill but bigger is better and in nasty country it can really make a difference. My last elk was about 150 yards from a high ridge peak and if he'd made it over recovery would have become exponentially harder. I was really happy I'd taken my 338 Edge over my 300WM for the 730yd shot.

 

[Paper boy]

Any 338 will take the largest and mot dangerous North American game cleanly, and thensome!

 

[greenejc]

I personally am a huge 338 guy.. i believe they are without a question the perfect combination for powder used/performance gained out of all of them..

easy bore to tune ,, big mass , big frontal area, high bc etc.

granted alot of folks just cant shoot em and are soft shouldered .... the trend is smaller and smaller and smaller.

Ill take a 338 any day of the week and twice on sunday over them all!!

yes, sir. I shoot a .35 Whelen and its a stone killer at 600 and 700 yards. The cross section of the.338 bullet, combined with its weight gives tremendous wounding and energy transfer. There's even some evidence that the military is testing and may adopt a medium MG in 338 Norma. The actual testing of the .338 cal and above on live, hunted animals shows that the larger calibers are just more effective both close in and at distance. Check out Terminal Ballistics Research, at www.ballisticstudies.com for studies on buffalo, hogs, red deer and numerous other game animals.

 

[greenejc]

The 338 Lapua actually started life as a long range military sniper round adopted by several Nato countries. Of course not as powerful as the 50 bmg but not an "Anti Material Round" as the 50 was designed to be but more an "Anti Personell Round" which is does ellegantly.

The 50 is used as a personel round but mostly where they are under hard cover. For what ever reason (quality of manufacture) the Lapua 338 brass is almost $3.00 per round. In volume it's out of the reach of many the typical shooter. Some will argue this but the 338 Lapua HAS proven itself to out preform the other 338 offerings, sorry guys. You can trust this, the 338 Lapua is very much alive and well.
There's one in my safe!

Yes it is, and the only .338s in its class are the .338 RUM, the 338 Norma, and the 378-338 Weatherby. The .50BMG gets used for shots past about 1800 meters, but is used for closer in when needed. It is considered an anti-material round, but rifles and rucks and load bearing equipment are all material. We never shot the big 50 at people. We always shot at their equipment. Clothes, magazines, mortars, helmets, vests, etc. I was usually behind a Ma Deuce. Max effective was supposed to be 1720 yards, but it'll do a lot better if you have a good spotter.

 

[300fortheWIN]

Yes it is, and the only .338s in its class are the .338 RUM and the 378-338 Weatherby. The .50BMG gets used for shots past about 1800 meters, but is used for closer in when needed. It is considered an anti-material round, but rifles and rucks and load bearing equipment are all material. We never shot the big 50 at people. We always shot at their equipment. Clothes, magazines, mortars, helmets, vests, etc. I was usually behind a Ma Deuce. Max effective was supposed to be 1720 yards, but it'll do a lot better if you have a good spotter.

I'm sure you mean the 338-378.

 

[Mram10us]

My 338 edges have been extremely accurate and never leave game wounded. Definitely my favorite caliber, though 30-28nosler and 28 nosler are close 2nd and 3rd
Simple energy comparison at 1000yds: my 28 nosler with 195s has 1800ftlbs. My edge with 285s hits with 2800+ftlbs.