Thread: Who has a 338 Win Mag?

Who out there has and uses a 338 Win Mag. This caliber is one of my favorites and has been since I had a bit to do with an Aussie mates Ruger M77 MK II on a hunt for Fallow deer in 1999. I shot a nice Buck with his rifle and was quite impressed with the caliber even if it was a tad big for Fallow.
I decided to hunt Alaska for moose in 2002 so I tried to get a factory 338 but none were available a the time so a local gunsmith agreed to make one for me.
It consisted of a 1909 Argentino 98 mauser action suitable for using a scope sight, a stainless MAB barrel at 24 inches was added. The stock is a Butler creek and it has a timminy trigger adjusted to 3 pound. I had Burris bases and rings fitted then mounted my oldest scope I have a VXII 2x7x 32 Leupold I bought in Aussie in 1981 ( still going strong)
This rifle was built to take to Alaska but even after sending in the paper work early it was declined by US ATF officers. I ended up borrowing a Ruger M77 338 of one of the guides and shot my moose with that and 230gr Winchester Fail safe bullets.
I have shot a few reds back here in NZ and needless to say it is very efficient but probably more than is needed but it still a great caliber especially for the big nasties around the world. An interesting quote in A Squares book "Any shot you want" it says that the 250 grain 338 bullet has a sectional density through the roof at .313 and given bullets of similar construction will out penetrate almost anything including any 375 bullet.
Unfortunately law prohibits its use on dangerous game in most African states were as the 375 is legal.


The picture of the loaded round is a 230 gr Fail Safe the same as I used on my moose in Alaska, the mushroomed Fail Safe bullets were recovered from Pine stumps when testing them.