I own or have owned one or more .338-06, .338-06 imp, 350 Rem. mag. (same V as the Whelen) , 9.3x74R, 9.3x74R imp...
I hunted and killed big game with most of them too, but to me the REAL difference between them is the bullets!!!
I settled on the .338-06 imp. for my (at that time) one gun for life and took 13 big game animials with it the first 3 years after it was finished. Includeing, brown bear, moose, caribou, deer ect....
For me i like the .338 cal. better than the 35 cal. but that's on "bigger" game not deer! All of them are WAAAAAAAY over kill for deer, elk sized game.
I see guys posting big velocities out of there .338-06's and i was never able to get them with the 3 i've owned to date!! I chronograph my loads, no guessing here so maybe that's the difference?????
Another thing, all of mine performed better with 250 grain and heavier bullets!! I don't mean accuracy wise, i'm talking efficiency here! For the powder burned the heavier bullets went almost as fast as the 200/210's at what appeared the same pressures!! Also, the heavier bullets give a lot better penetration!!
One experiment i tried was to load 33 Winchester bullets in my .338-06 at max V, and i shot about 10 sitka blk. tailed deer with them!! WOW what bombs!! I head shot a few, and rib shot the rest!!! MAN, those things blow, and did a LOT of damage!!! They work like a "super powered" 270 Win. with 130's!!!
DO NOT use those bullets on big game at more than 33 Win. V's, you just don't get good enough penetration!!! I'm talking bigger than deer and only then on deer with a rib shot!!!
Anyway, i've shot thousands of .338-06 rounds, i like the package i just don't need that kind of power for my hunting these days... I wouldn't build an imp., i'd go with a std. .338-06.
I noticed the other day i still have a new Douglas premium bbl. chambered for .338-06 imp., and fit for a 700 Rem. action. It's full diameter ready to be countoured.. I guess it's something i never got around to!!!
Anyway, here's a moose i took with my .338-06 imp..
Drilling Man
