.338 WinMag
Pardon me while I ramble. This happens to me sometimes:
I've shot one animal. A 2 year-old black bear. I don't think he weighed 100 pounds. The straps were the best flesh I've ever eaten. It would almost be worth it to shoot another, just for the straps. But I rugged this one out, too. Three reasons. I shot 800 rounds through my new .338 WinMag in preparation for the hunt. It was my first "big game", and the hunt was in Canada. So I rugged it.
But I just read on another thread (now locked) on what round to use for Brown Bear. The big Whetherbys were mentioned, as well as other 300 mags, and the .338 WinMag.
My small black bear was all the game we saw in 3 days, so I shot it. I rested the gun across the hood of my guide's truck and squeezed. I ended up shooting it again, because for both shots, I shot the damn bear right in the middle. No regard for vital organs or a head-shot. I shot the damn thing dead square in the middle. (Told you it was my first real hunt.)
The first shot froze the young bear as he grazed in deep grass in the early morning just after a good rain. He shook and shevered like he was having convulsions. Hell, he was. He was most likely dead at that moment, but since he was still standing, and the hunt was expensive, I was going to take another shot.
I walked around the front of the truck, held the gun off-hand with the shoulder strap keeping it tight around my elbow, military style, and shot again. Right in the middle. He dropped. I was high for two days. I told the story adnausium to who ever would not run away.
Anyway, there was no damage to the guts or organs. While skinning it, the guide recovered one of the bullets lodged in the tailbone area. The bullet was basically stuck in the tail.
The .338 WinMag is an awesome round. I hand loaded these with 250 grain barnes-X's, by the way. That beautiful chunk of pure copper was traveling at about 2,600 fps, as I recall the data.
What a sweet bullet. Shot it out of my brand new Browning Medallion.
As I say, the young bear was dead where he stood from the shear shock of the firt round. Check me into the nut-house, but I was god, for several days thereafter. I was a man in my forties who had drank his way through his 30's, and finally sobbered up for fun stuff like this. What a high. I've been drunk on the best scotch whiskey in the world, 10,000 times, but I was never as high as I was when I was the great white hunter in Canada that day.
(I highly recommend giving up drinking for hunting.)
By the way. I am convinced that the best one-round hunting round is the .338 WinMag (obviously). Barnes makes those .338 X-bullets in 175 grain, too, for dear and what-not.
Friend of mine living in Alaska took a 10-square Brownie with his .338 WinMag. One shot.
No need for a Weatherby in North America. I retire from a very stressful job next year and I'm off after Elk (if I draw). Break out the Browning.
I love other guns. I'm particularly fond of the .308. And I want an '06 some day. The AR's in .223 and the Russian round are a lot of fun, and the AR is just plain bitchin'. I would like a rifle in .243, too.
Cheers,
greg
be ready
I've shot one animal. A 2 year-old black bear. I don't think he weighed 100 pounds. The straps were the best flesh I've ever eaten. It would almost be worth it to shoot another, just for the straps. But I rugged this one out, too. Three reasons. I shot 800 rounds through my new .338 WinMag in preparation for the hunt. It was my first "big game", and the hunt was in Canada. So I rugged it.
But I just read on another thread (now locked) on what round to use for Brown Bear. The big Whetherbys were mentioned, as well as other 300 mags, and the .338 WinMag.
My small black bear was all the game we saw in 3 days, so I shot it. I rested the gun across the hood of my guide's truck and squeezed. I ended up shooting it again, because for both shots, I shot the damn bear right in the middle. No regard for vital organs or a head-shot. I shot the damn thing dead square in the middle. (Told you it was my first real hunt.)
The first shot froze the young bear as he grazed in deep grass in the early morning just after a good rain. He shook and shevered like he was having convulsions. Hell, he was. He was most likely dead at that moment, but since he was still standing, and the hunt was expensive, I was going to take another shot.
I walked around the front of the truck, held the gun off-hand with the shoulder strap keeping it tight around my elbow, military style, and shot again. Right in the middle. He dropped. I was high for two days. I told the story adnausium to who ever would not run away.
Anyway, there was no damage to the guts or organs. While skinning it, the guide recovered one of the bullets lodged in the tailbone area. The bullet was basically stuck in the tail.
The .338 WinMag is an awesome round. I hand loaded these with 250 grain barnes-X's, by the way. That beautiful chunk of pure copper was traveling at about 2,600 fps, as I recall the data.
What a sweet bullet. Shot it out of my brand new Browning Medallion.
As I say, the young bear was dead where he stood from the shear shock of the firt round. Check me into the nut-house, but I was god, for several days thereafter. I was a man in my forties who had drank his way through his 30's, and finally sobbered up for fun stuff like this. What a high. I've been drunk on the best scotch whiskey in the world, 10,000 times, but I was never as high as I was when I was the great white hunter in Canada that day.
(I highly recommend giving up drinking for hunting.)
By the way. I am convinced that the best one-round hunting round is the .338 WinMag (obviously). Barnes makes those .338 X-bullets in 175 grain, too, for dear and what-not.
Friend of mine living in Alaska took a 10-square Brownie with his .338 WinMag. One shot.
No need for a Weatherby in North America. I retire from a very stressful job next year and I'm off after Elk (if I draw). Break out the Browning.
I love other guns. I'm particularly fond of the .308. And I want an '06 some day. The AR's in .223 and the Russian round are a lot of fun, and the AR is just plain bitchin'. I would like a rifle in .243, too.
Cheers,
greg
be ready
0
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I've owned 5 different firearms in 338 Caliber. 3-338 Win Mag, 1-340 WBY and a 338/378 WBY. Have used Nosler Partitions and Barnes X bullets in this caliber. I have shot 5 moose with the 338 Win Mag and have recovered only 2 bullets from those 5 moose. Both of those bullets were the 225 Barnes X bullet. I have never ever recovered a Nosler Partition from the 338 caliber.
AlleninAlaska
He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
-- Thomas Paine0 -
I must agree the 338 is a great North American game cartridge. Good luck in the future with it & hopefully your next shot will be a heart shot to kill the animal instantly. With a 338 you shouldn't need more than one shot. rg 0 -
I am a 338 nut also I shoot a Browning BAR in 338 Mag, and I also have a 338 Win Mag in a model 70 Winchester (pre 64) that I don't shoot because of the collectors value. Sounds like you like the 338 as much as I do. I have carried my 11 pound BAR up and down the Rocky Mountains in Colorado chasing after elk for many seasons. I have taken elk and mule deer with my BAR and never recovered a bullet. My first elk was taken with a Speer 225gr bullet and it went compleatly through from the chest to the hind quater at 175 yards. The mule deer I have shot with this rifle never flenched. One mulie shot that sticks in my mind about 5 years ago. I was walking back to camp and I had a doe tag to fill and this real nice mulie doe walked out in front of me right at 100 yards. I normaly hunt mule deer with my 7 mag but I had my trusty 338 BAR. When I shot the mulie doe the bullet nocked the deer backwards about 15 feet. The force of the bullet impack picked the deer up off it's 4 feet. I have never seen anything like that before. The 338 is a great round.
If you want a 30.06 and like the 338 cal look into a 338.06. This is what I hunt white tail deer with now. It is very accurait and it is a pleasure to shoot. This way you can have the best of both worlds. Before some of you who read this cry over kill, witch it relay is, I can shoot this rifle stright and it feels perfict in my arms. That goes a long way in shooting a rifle accuritly.0
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