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.30-06 vs. .338 win mag vs. 300 win mag

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.30-06 vs. .338 win mag vs. 300 win mag

Old 10-16-2009, 11:48 AM
  #61  
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300 win mag can do it all
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Old 10-21-2009, 07:49 PM
  #62  
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I prefer the .300 Win Mag
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Old 10-29-2009, 02:33 AM
  #63  
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Whats the deal with people thinking you're "overgunned"? I've shot or seen shot "big" game from 90# whitetail does to 38" antlered moose (certainly not huge, just the biggest animal i've been involved in cleaning/butchering personally) that were maybe 700#. With weapons that ranged from bow/arrow to 300 win mag to 338 win mag to 50 bmg to 12 ga slug. If the same spot is hit, virtually the exact same amount of meat is "wasted" if the weapon is the same. It seems that people just have less problem ruining 15 lbs of meat from a larger animal than a smaller one. PS, IMO the 12 ga. slug is the most devastating to the meat if the shot isn't exactly through the boiler room, but for some reason that is never a complaint of those who shoot them either by requirement or choice -the complaint is always the range.

+1 300 win mag.
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Old 10-29-2009, 10:32 AM
  #64  
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THERE hain't no such thing as "TOO DEAD"... dead is dead ... however there's alot of game running around out there every season that aren't dead enough !!! As far as meat damage, hain't none of us going to starve or overeat with any more or less damaged meat caused by high velocity bullets, no one without a doubt will loose any sleep over "TOO DEAD", I've never heard a person in 40+ years of hunting say they hit the animal too hard... but I know a few guys who tossed and turned a bit over not dead or hit hard enough... better too much than to little any day of the week.. a .338 with a heavily constructed bullet for the most part will not even mushroom and will pass through like a steel jacket on deer sized game.. I shot a whitetail a few years back with a 200 grain X-bullet that was DANZAC coated.. it went right through both shoulder blades and hardly mushroomed on a little 125 lb whitetail.. WHATEVERE your comfortable with, use it.. an accurate shot placed by to much gun will be ok. an inaccurate one will cause grief for both parties...
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Old 11-04-2009, 03:38 PM
  #65  
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i'm not familiar with the .338, But the 30'06 has treated me right and does not have very much recoil..(with adrenaline of course) It is accurate and fast as hell and will kill a Bison. The .300 mag is powerful itself and will knock down an elephant. But you do get the recoil, and it sure kicks ahell of a lot harder than my 30-06.
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Old 11-05-2009, 04:08 PM
  #66  
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The 300wm nor the 338wm aren't elephant guns. The 3006 isn't the right tool for (free range) bison either. They give a min. of .375 for a reason because the animals are big and dangerous. Perfect shots can't be counted on when getting bull rushed!!
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Old 11-05-2009, 07:28 PM
  #67  
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All three are excellent rounds. The 338 is porbably better for larger animals.

Guys get wrapped up around the velocity thing a bit too much in determining effective range. A 30-06 is easily capable of making cleans kills at 600-800+ yds. However, few shooters can do that, and most of us shouldn't try until we get the specialized equipment and develop the skills.

The range potential of the round is made by determining the minimum velocity required for the bullet to properly penetrate and--if needed--expand. The bigger the bullet, the less it needs to expand.

Energy is not a good indicator of killing power, because energy doesn't take bullet expansion, bullet integrity, or bullet penetration into consideration. Yes, we can run calculations all day to try and quantify this and get somewhat close, but we don't need to that. We have been shooting smokeless powder rifles for over a 100 years and there is lots of actual field experience that lets us know what works, and what works well. IE, assuming proper bullets, correct shot placement, and avoiding the extremes:

Deer: a 223 will kill a deer, a 243 kills a little more reliably, and 27 to 30 cals work VERY well

Elk: a 243 will kill an elk, a .270 kills a little more reliably, and the 30-338 bores work VERY well

Big Bears: A 7mm-08 will kill one, a 30 cal kills a little more reliably, a 338 cal is more relible yet, and 375s to 458s work VERY well

Cape Buffalo: a 338 will kill one, 9.3s and 375s are more reliable, and 416s to 470s work VERY well

Elephant (with apologies Mr. Bell): a 375 will kill one, 416s to 458s are more relible, and 470s and up work well.

Last edited by afp; 11-05-2009 at 10:27 PM.
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Old 11-05-2009, 08:04 PM
  #68  
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afp,

Nice work !

+1
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Old 01-14-2012, 09:18 AM
  #69  
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This is an old thread, but it just so happens I am looking at a .338 Win Mag at the moment and would like to share this piece by Jack Steele that I found entertaining and thought provoking. It just so happens that I have a couple of rifles in 30-06 and 300 Win Mag, but do not yet own a 338.

The .300 Winchester
by Jack Steele
SAY YOU WANTED to hunt with just one big-game rifle. Have it become an extension of your own body. Know it like the smell of your Dad's wool coat. Say you wanted it in a caliber flat enough to poke coyotes at long distance but powerful enough to make a bull elk take notice at the far end of a cross-canyon shot. Say you wanted it all in one package so you could always count on that one rifle to get the job done. Sound like a pipe dream?

The do-it-all rifle is not a myth, as many a seasoned rifleman knows. In fact, while the gunrags do a healthy business recommending good calibers for this, and best bullet for that, it's a fact that when flying lead doesn't have the intended results, it's the man behind the rifle that's almost certainly to blame. Show me a man who blames a miss on his rifle, and I'll show you a rifleman in need of polish, which leads to the primary reason behind choosing one good rifle -- polished skills.

Of course, the best way to polish skills is by shooting your chosen Betsy often and from real-life shooting positions. A rifle that feels right and doesn't kick like a mule goes a long way toward promoting regular practice. So does reloading for it, which will promote accuracy and increased familiarity.

It goes without saying that a one-rifle battery should be as accurate as possible. In practical terms, however, a 2-MOA rifle is plenty good enough for most big-game hunting. Latch onto a rifle that consistently shoots 1 MOA, and you'll regret the day you part with it. Any big-game rifle more precise than that should be considered an heirloom.

What really gets interesting, however, is deciding on a caliber. Ask five seasoned riflemen for their top choice, and you can expect five different opinions, all vehement, all well reasoned.

The .30-06 is the perennial all-mention, and rightly so; there's no rust on the classic. The .270 Winchester, aside from being a hell of a caliber, was Jack O'Connor's darling (though he admitted the ought-six probably was better) and therefore commands a prodigious following. The .338 Winchester Magnum was a favorite of Elmer Keith and is a superb choice for the steel-shouldered. The 7mm Remington Magnum does a whole lot with class.

Lots of others, most notably the .308 Winchester and the .280 Remington as well as various Weatherby Magnums and a slew of wildcats, can and do fit the bill. But the .300 Winchester Magnum -- the .300 Win. Mag. just might be the best of all! Except for the big brownies, which rate their own .375 H&H Magnum to many minds, the North-American hunter with a good .300 Winny has all the rifle he will ever need. And then some.

So, why not the .30-06? Why not, indeed. The good ol' ought-six is still a top choice. From 'chucks to elk, it is a serious caliber for the serious hunter, no question about it.

There is one area, however, where the ought-six gives up some ground, and that's when it comes to pushing heavy bullets -- the kind you want when big, tough critters like elk and moose are on the program. Yes, the classic .30-06 load pushing a 180-grain pill at 2700-2800 ft/sec will do almost anything you need, but throw in a big bull elk across a wide canyon at dusk, and the Winny gets the nod. Consider that at 400 yards, the Winny's 3100 ft/sec with the same 180-grainer gets you 450 ft/lbs more terminal energy and five inches less drop.

If that weren't telling enough, jump up to the 200-grain rock ,and by today's mega-magnum standards the 2550 ft/sec generated by a .30-06 case can be considered positively lethargic, although for close work in heavy timber, the combination is hard to beat.

By contrast, the Winny pushes the 200-grainer to a speedy 2950 ft/sec with careful reloads. At 400 yards, this translates into almost 700 ft/lbs more terminal energy and a trajectory flattened by 7 inches. That is the kind of difference that makes a difference on tough game.

Bottom line: While the .30-06 still may be the finest all-around caliber, it says here that if elk are in your plans (and elk are increasingly in everyone's plans) the .300 Winchester might be a better choice.

The same analysis applies to the .270 Winchester. By all accounts a hell of a sheep and deer caliber, throw elk into the equation and the .270 becomes marginal. Sure, there are elk hunters who shoot their bull with a .270 every year, but they are the exception. Most of the savvy elk crowd considers the .270 either too small or the absolute bare minimum for wapiti.

Suffice it to say that, at 400 yards, the .270 shooting 130 spitzers and the .300 Win. Mag. shooting 200-grain spitzers have virtually identical trajectories. The difference is that the .270 arrives carrying roughly 1300 ft/lbs of energy (below the 1500 ft/lbs often cited as a minimum for elk) while the Winny will deliver over a ton of energy, almost 2300 ft/lbs What the great .270 is to deer and sheep, the .300 Winny is to elk. Bad medicine.

As to the 7mm Remington Magnum, this fine caliber is often considered to be the ought-six's ballistic clone. The 7-Rem's small advantages in sectional density are offset by the .30-06's increased frontal area. The ought-six has an advantage in that more and heavier bullets are readily available, especially for the handloader, but basically, in the field you could choose one or the other and never notice the difference. So as versatile, accurate, and popular as this .284 is, the .30-06 retains an edge, and the .300 WinMag outclasses them both.

The .338 Winchester Magnum is another thing altogether. By all accounts a large caliber by North-American standards, it has been said that true recoil starts at the .338. A seasoned rifleman who practices regularly certainly should have no trouble handling the .338, but for many casual shooters, the .338 is simply too much rifle to shoot regularly or accurately.

It is noteworthy, however, that in terms of the wide spectrum of game animals available in North America, the .338 is probably the most well centered. A fair choice for the big brown bears (though a .375 H&H is superior for this work by an order of magnitude), the .338 is rightly considered by many as the preeminent elk caliber, while still being plenty flat enough for whitetails, antelope, and even coyotes. Take the big bears out of the equation, however, which they are for the vast majority of hunters, and the .338 becomes a too large shoulder pounder for most weekend warriors, though still optimal for dedicated wapiti chasers. Let face it. You don't need a .338 for any whitetail walking the earth.

By contrast, the beauty of the .300 WinMag is that it is so well suited to the typical range of hunting experiences to be had in North America.

After plains game? 180-grain Ballistic Tips at 3100 ft/sec equal bad mule-deer medicine and devastating performance on pronghorns. The same load is a ringer in "beanfield" situations. Elk and moose in your plans? Load 200-grain Partitions or A-Frames at 2900 ft/sec, and be assured that you have the right gun! Feel like practicing on coyotes or chucks? Scream some 165-grain boattails at 3250 ft/sec, and worry about your end of the rifle.

Like with all calibers, there are situations where a different caliber would be ideal, but for all-around versatility, flat trajectory, and high energy, the .300 Winchester Magnum shines, maybe like no other.

In the end, the choice of an all-around rifle depends on many factors. If you like a gun, you are much more likely to shoot it and shoot it well, so choose a rifle you like. Also, any experienced rifleman knows that where you hit 'em is much more important than what you hit 'em with, so place your emphasis on skills rather than on the size of the rock. But when all that is said and done, take a good hard look at the .300 Winchester.

You may not look any further.
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Old 01-15-2012, 07:09 AM
  #70  
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Most people who will be affected by recoil won't shoot well. I say 30.06. It's recoil is manageable but at the upper limits for bench practice. Practice is something that is just as important as the caliber. I would also say 308, as its very close to the 30.06 but has less recoil. However, you can shoot 130's to 220's gr bullets in the 06 making it more versatile. I am done shooting anything over 20lbs of recoil because I tend not to practice enough with it.
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