# .338 win mag?



## decoydog (May 12, 2009)

Ok who shoots a 338 win mag that can tell me about them. I found one for sale from a guy at work. Its a 700 action that has been worked, with a 26 Douglas barrel, has had a trigger job and a custom laminated stock. I really dont have a reason to buy this gun except, well maybe Ill have a excuse to hunt dangerous game. LOL Ive never even hunted out west. 

Hes asking $750.00 which is to me a bit high for a gun with no scope. But is this what they call a guide gun, and correct me if Im wrong, is mostly carried and shot with open sights.
Thanks for the input


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## superposed20ga (Dec 14, 2005)

Some guides use a .338 in Alaska and Canada, but more prefer something like a .375 as a backup gun to their client. The .338 WIN is ideal for bigger game like moose, elk and brown bear. $750 is not a bad price, especially if it is semi-custom. My Dad took his to Africa twice and was the go to gun for the heavier plains game. They're usually very accurate, but rarely used with open sights anymore especially if you are doing the hunting and not the guiding. If there is a chance you might hunt moose or elk someday you might want to pick it up. Recoils more than a .30-06 but not terrible. A .30-06 also works on those heavy critters, but the .338 does have noticeably more knockdown power.


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## KLR (Sep 2, 2006)

Guide gun wouldn't have a 26" tube. Good round, I'd make sure you shoot it first- even if it means mounting your own scope.


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## wartfroggy (Jan 25, 2007)

I have a .338 Win Mag Ruger M77, stainless, pretty laminated stock, love it. I pull it out for deer season once in a while just because I love the gun. But WAY overkill. Don't need to track them much, they usually go about 2 feet straight down. Wrecks a bit of meat too if you hit a shoulder. Yeah, they kick a bit, but you would expect that. Picked mine up with a Nikon Monarch scope, he had only shot 1 box of rounds through it over a year sighting in and 1 trip out west. Picked it up for $700. So I would say $750 for a Rem 700 w/o a scope may be a little high. I don't use it much, but love the gun, and hope to get it out west sometime so I can put her to the test.


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## decoydog (May 12, 2009)

I shoot a 300 WSM now and was also wondering how much of a step up the 338 would be. I know a guy can't have to many rifles but***how do the ballistics compair.


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## jmoser (Sep 11, 2002)

The heavier .338 bullets have excellent performance at long range but it is a punishing caliber to shoot.

With a 26" bbl its not something you want to carry in the dense woods - what profile taper is the bbl? Sporter / varmint / bull etc?

If you want something fun to shoot at the bench over long ranges than it sounds like a nice gun, not sure if it is going to fit the bill for general purpose hunting though. Nice for long shots on large elk with a bipod, etc.

I would really like a .338 RUM for long long range shooting, kinda like a poor man's .50 BMG!

PS I think you may be thinking of an open sighted Express Rifle - not a guide gun.


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## wadevb1 (Mar 25, 2008)

The 338 Winchester is a beast. This rifle sounds like a perfect long range bomber to me and depending what level of work was done on this rifle the price sounds good to me. This chambering has been known for it's inherent accuracy.


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## decoydog (May 12, 2009)

Express rifle, Guide gun what is the difference? He did say it had a hooded front sight. What is the express rifle used for besides just being a style of rifle. The folks here on this site are a great help
Thanks in advance


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## jb (Sep 20, 2000)

I have a 338 also, bought it for elk out west but never got a chance to pull the trigger on one. I have taken some mule deer with it and it works fine.
I down load my rounds and use 200gr. bullets for shooting it around here.
Not much difference than a 300win mag with these loads, could even go a little lower if needed.
It's nice to have a caliber that you can load for difference critters.
Not sure on the price, but if you don't have one you need one.


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## superposed20ga (Dec 14, 2005)

decoydog said:


> I shoot a 300 WSM now and was also wondering how much of a step up the 338 would be. I know a guy can't have to many rifles but***how do the ballistics compair.


 
The .338 is superior balastically unless you were intent on very long range shooting where there might be a slight advantage to the lighter sleeker .30 caliber bullets. But the .338 is still better IMO to the .300 WSM and .300 WIN as far as putting down larger heavier boned game. The .300 WSM is more comparable to the .300 WIN and you're certainly not undergunned with it. If you didn't really need the .338 save some money and use the .300 WSM if you ever get a chance to hunt bigger game, just use the premium controlled expansion bullets. Expensive yes but cheaper than buying a new gun and scope. As always bullet placement is the key. If you shoot you're .300 well you're fine, but I always encourage people to buy new guns too!


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## jayzbird (May 19, 2005)

jmoser said:


> The heavier .338 bullets have excellent performance at long range but it is a punishing caliber to shoot.


Yes it is!! Some say a little more than a .30-06. Not on my shoulder it isn't! If you look up foot pounds of recoil between the ought six and the 338 you'll see that it's nearly double of the .30-06. I've got a Browning A bolt in .338 that is brutal on my shoulder with 250 grain ammo. Definitely not a gun you want to shoot on the bench alot. Yes, it is accurate and yes it does serve a purpose with larger big game. Question is...Are you ever going to go hunt the large game in far off places? I bought my .338 when I was all hyped up around 10 years ago with the huge "Magnum" craze the gun magazines had going. To be honest I didn't really need the gun and it was a poor decision. I have shot a few whitetails with it and it is way overkill for deer size game. If it were me, I would save your 750 bucks and buy something more suitable for hunting round these parts, like guys have already said. I've had just about every Magnum round out there and you know what I hunt with most now? A wimpy Ruger model 77 in 7x57 Mauser. Far from a magnum round, but kills whitetails stone dead.


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## wartfroggy (Jan 25, 2007)

.....on top of the initial price of the gun and scope, remember that ammo prices on that gun are up around $60 a box. That ends up being $3 every shot, but as was stated, your shoulder won't like putting too many rounds through at one time anyways. There are some cheaper loads available, remington core-lokt is down to about $45-50/box, but still much higher priced than the more common 30-06, 270, 300 mag, ect. Also tough to find ammo at times. I had to order a box for this season to get down to 200 grain.


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## deepbluesniper (Mar 6, 2008)

I took a savage 110 in 7 mm mag, and rebarreled with a 338 win mag I bought used online (same bolt face size, headspace ,etc.) $300 rifle, $75 barrel, $50 for barrel wrench and headspace guage at brownells= an amazingly accurate rifle (250 gr corelocks, 1.25" groups at 100 yards) with no questions asked knockdown for biggest whitetail or black bear. I don't feel any difference between my 300 win mag and this, but improved ballistics do not lie!!!


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