If you were thinking of buying a rifle that shoots .338 bullets, which cartridge would you go with? My choices are the venerable .338 Win Mag, the .338 Remington Ultra Magnum, the Lapua Magnum, and the 33 Nosler.

The Nosler and RUM are the fastest-shooting of the bunch, but is it overkill? On the other hand, the Win. Mag. has taken thousands of big and dangerous game animals in Alaska and elsewhere.

I reload, so availability of ammo is not a concern. Recoil is not a big concern, as I am not sensitive to it. And I hate muzzle brakes. Shoot an unbraked .416 Rem. Mag. for a while, and everything down the food chain is no longer a problem.

Jim

Lapua hands down. Inherently the most accurate out of that lot and the longest case life.

James, all this talk about long range shooting stuff lately, you ain't thinking of pulling off a Lee Harvey Oswald are ya?

I know what you mean about recoil!

I have a Ruger Alaskan In 416 Ruger.

Personally I don't think the recoil is that bad. Standing up and pulling the trigger is Ok. Off the bench,well, it'll show who's a man and who isn't.

I also have a Remington 338 Ultra Mag. Took it on a bear hunt once but never pulled the trigger.

You say the Ultra Mag is overkill? I'm guessing that you want this rifle for heavy animals. Big bears, moose,etc.

When it comes to big bears is there such a thing as overkill?

Have you shopped around for the rifles? The 338 Win would probably be the easiest to find.

The 338 Ultra isn't made anymore I think. The Lapua and the Nosler might be even harder to find.

But living in Alaska these heavy hitters might be easy to find. More demand then here in Iowa.

Since I have one already I'd have to pick the Ultra Mag. But any of them will work

I'd just go with the .338 Winchester mag chances are your not going to be shooting hundreds of rounds a day or week through it and ammo is readily available anywhere for it that you may travel.
I really enjoy shooting mine and I hope to collect a black bear and a elk and a buffalo using it this season.

I vote fro the Win too. It's common. You sound like a good shot from your other posts so I'm sure what yo hit isn't going to know the difference.

I have a Win .338 but would like to have a 333-06 AI. just for the fun of it.

338 wby

If the airlines lose your ammo, you can usually find .338 Winchester Magnum wherever you go.

I love my .338 Win Mag. I reload, but it’s true you can buy factory ammo nearly anywhere in big game country.

However the 330 Dakota has superior ballistics. Brass and dies are expensive.

I actually have an M.O.A. Maximum handgun chambered in 330 Dakota. No muzzle break. Shilen bull barrel cut to 15 inches. Single shot, lever action falling block.

Off the bench with I have shot a sub 4 inch group.

I would consider the Win .338 due to availability of ammo vs the rest.
If you don't want as much recoil how about a .35 Whelen. Ammo is available in 200 and 250gr bullet loads. If you load your own 225 gr Nosler Partions are an option along with others. This would be a decent catridge out to about 200yds.

338 win mag

I have a 338 W-Mag in Browning A-Bolt, took my moose here with it a few years ago and bean poled it. Doubt I need anything different for Brownies if I ever got to go !

Why not one of the more exotic, harder-hitting cartridges, since I reload?

It's not as if I'd be hunting with this someplace where they had a store selling factory ammo.

Jim

this

Ugh. That is one ugly rifle.

Jim

338 Win mag is a hunting round. The standard the others come from. It has a wood stock, excellent resale value. Appropriate velocity, dies and components and loaded ammo readily available. It’s not a fad, it’s a hunter’s rifle anybody can appreciate. Those offshoots scream synthetic stock, no iron sights and brand new hunting boots.

Cheesy looking