300 Win Mag vs. 338 Win Mag

[The Moose Whisperer]

For an Alberta mountain elk rifle, which caliber do you prefer/recommend? I am trying to round out my small rifle battery, I currently have:

- 243 Win for yotes/antelope/deer on the prairie;
- 303 Brit for deer/elk in the mountains or on the prairie; and
- 45-70 Gov't for deer/moose in the bush.

I like the old 303 Brit as it was my first rifle (handed down to me) and I plan on keeping it around for a deer gun, but I would like to add a gun with a little more oomph for a dedicated elk rifle. So, I am debating between the above two calibers for this purpose. I like the idea of the larger bullets in the medium bore 338 (especially since where I generally go elk hunting there are also grizz around) but must admit I am a little leary of the jump in recoil.

Thoughts/Recommendations?

[CaberTosser]

Leery of jump in recoil, but want the extra "oomph" for emergency situations with Grizz? Then do what I did: Ruger M77 Mark II .338 Win Mag and have a good 'smith add a muzzle brake. Mine's now lower recoiling than my .308 or .30-06's. The only tradeoff is some additional noise discomfort for those adjacent to you.

The only tradeoff is some additional noise discomfort for those adjacent to you.

Actually even a single shot with a braked rifle, without hearing protection,can cause permanent hearing damage for the shooter.

[Dick284]

Ok this is gonna mess with your mind.
Griz where you hunt hmm, whens the last time you had any sort of encounter with a griz, let alone even saw one?
Contrary to what is written about in the giun rags(Sorry TJ and Rich) but you sometimes gotta seperate the BS from the cold hard facts.
30'06's and 270's account for a pile of elk every season, they too have killed a pile of griz.
I'll give you an analogy to illustrate my point. Way back when I started in this tossed up world of huntiong and guns there was this friend of a friend who was about my age, and his Dad and Uncle and he all shot identical 270Wins, with identical reloads which consisted of H4831 and Fed 215's and 130gr. Nosler Partition's.
Between the 3 of them over the years the game tally went something like this:
6 Grizzly bear.
dozens of bull elk
dozens of bull moose
10's of dozens of deer
a smattering of sheep
a few goats
and a dozen or 2 of antelope.
Now if push came to shove I'd be inclined to have a wee bit more jam than a 130 in a 270Win, but it sure beats having only a camera in that sort of situation.
I'd be inclined to recommend that you purchase a 30'06 and look at ammunition with a weight of no less than 165grain, and bullets of a controlled expansion design.
some factory loadings that fit this catigory are:
180gr Nosler Partition's
180 gr, Trophy Bonded Bear Claws
168gr. TSX
165gr. TBBC

Seek the loading that shoots best in the rifle you buy, and stick with the stuff that gives you top accuracy.

My 2 bits anyways.

[Donny Bear]

I like my 300s nothing will change that so I would say go with the 300 wm or wsm because they will be here for the long haul. At the same time can't dispute Dicks wisdom Right bullet right placement 270s and 06s stack'em up

As for the muzzel brake I would agree with SJ but couldn't hear a word he said

[harv3589]

30-06 would round out your battery quite well...I agree with what Dick has to say as well.

If you don't like recoil,the 7mmremmag would be a great choice.

[Dick284]

You could also get yourself a 280 Remington too.

[Buckhead]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Ok this is gonna mess with your mind.
Griz where you hunt hmm, whens the last time you had any sort of encounter with a griz, let alone even saw one?
Contrary to what is written about in the giun rags(Sorry TJ and Rich) but you sometimes gotta seperate the BS from the cold hard facts.
30'06's and 270's account for a pile of elk every season, they too have killed a pile of griz.
I'll give you an analogy to illustrate my point. Way back when I started in this tossed up world of huntiong and guns there was this friend of a friend who was about my age, and his Dad and Uncle and he all shot identical 270Wins, with identical reloads which consisted of H4831 and Fed 215's and 130gr. Nosler Partition's.
Between the 3 of them over the years the game tally went something like this:
6 Grizzly bear.
dozens of bull elk
dozens of bull moose
10's of dozens of deer
a smattering of sheep
a few goats
and a dozen or 2 of antelope.
Now if push came to shove I'd be inclined to have a wee bit more jam than a 130 in a 270Win, but it sure beats having only a camera in that sort of situation.
I'd be inclined to recommend that you purchase a 30'06 and look at ammunition with a weight of no less than 165grain, and bullets of a controlled expansion design.
some factory loadings that fit this catigory are:
180gr Nosler Partition's
180 gr, Trophy Bonded Bear Claws
168gr. TSX
165gr. TBBC

Seek the loading that shoots best in the rifle you buy, and stick with the stuff that gives you top accuracy.

My 2 bits anyways.

Ditto on the .270

Although, 6 years ago I was just about laughed out of hunting camp in Northern BC when I pulled out my .270 featherweight.

My partners were armed with a .300 WM. .300 Weatherby and a .338 WM.

No one was laughing the next afternoon when I dropped a bull moose in its tracks with a 140 grain failsafe.

For anyone starting out I always recommend the 30-06. You just can't go wrong.

Although, I have in my gunsafe a 30-06, .300 WSM, .300 WM and a .338 WM I rarely use anything but the 06 and the .270. And when the shot just has to be made I pull out my old .270 every time. I've been using it so long it just points itself. Right now I favor the 140 Accubonds.

[VerySavage]

I have sold several rifles in the last two years since I am sick & do not appear to be winning my battle with cancer.
One that I sold was my beloved Ruger #1s .338 Win Mag, I bought that rifle many years ago when guiding, the Americans seemed to like to see that I was backing them up with my .338, but to tell you the truth I have harvested Moose, Elk & Deer with my little .260 Rem caliber with next to nothing for recoil, so anyway when I was thinning out my Gun Safe I kept saying to myself, just how many wepons do I need that are capable of killing anything in Alberta... I wish I had the money to afford to keep all my toys, but I still have two that can get the job done & meat in the freezer.
So at this point my only centerfire rifle calibers are .444 Marlin & .260 Remington.
You certainly cannot go wrong with either caliber you listed in your original post, I loved the smackdown power of my .338 WinMag. If money were not an issue for me I would have another Ruger #1 singleshot in a flash, probably in .338 WinMag again.
--Ken

[7 REM MAG]

after goin to africa and hunting with someone shooting a braked 375 H&H i will never again hunt with someone shooting a braked rifle as i got blasted upwards of 5 times and it was incredibally painful

[wildcat]

I have a chance to buy a Remington 700 bdl in a 7-300 caliber the guy told me it is a 300 weatherby necked down to a 7mm so it would have the 300 case with the 7mm bullet the gun is in great shape has a Sightron SII 4.5-14x42mm scope he is trying to sell me it for $500.00 would this be a good buy or not any info will help

Well i have bought this gun and man does i kick but it reaches out the 600-700 yards no problem

[Tundra Monkey]

PM me his info and see if it's available in 5 minutes

tm

Your qestion >>>>>> 300 Win Mag vs. 338 Win Mag

I've been using the .338 for years, and find it impressive both as a good long range and hard and heavy hitting caliber. No experience with the .300 WM myself but I do know some fellow hunters that are equally as impressed with their .300 as I am with my .338. Not much to go on is it?

[sidetrack]

The Big Question here is, which one will kill it deader? A dead animal is good! A deader animal is even gooder!!
The only way to make it even deader, is to cook it well-done. Then you're sure it's about as deadest as it will get. Might as well eat an old shoe.

[The Moose Whisperer]

I was surprised to see this thread resurected as it was started well over a year ago. In any event, for those interested I ended up getting a 300WSM and have been very happy with that choice.

[elkfriend]

Ok, here is the thing:

I am toying with the idea of getting a Tikka T3 lite synthetic as a Mountain, Moose & Bear rifle.

The calibers I am looking at are 300WM and 338WM.
Since the Tikka is pretty light, I am wondering if a 338WM in such a light gun would be overkill, with a recoil thats not fun to shoot anymore (I dont have a recoil issue, but it should not kick like a mule to the point where its annoying).

Any experiences or insights ???

From the thread, it looks like the numbers of supporters for 300 WM vs 338WM is pretty evenly split, but if you throw a lighter gun into the mix...??