338 WIN for antelope?
 

I have been sighting in my 243 win for the last couple of weekends and I got it just shooting right and then I started shooting all over the target. I noticed that the barrel on my NEF ultra has play in the barrel to receiver (brake action)when it seats causing inacuracy. To make it worse I am going on an antelopehunt to Wyoming Oct. 5My biggest issue is the only other rifle I have is myRuger 77 338 Wintopped with a Leupold VX2.It is setup to shoot out to 300 yrds and does it well. I have shot 125-150 lbsdeer with it and dropped them in there tracks with shoulder shots. Iwas using 180gr accubonds and handloaded Combined Tech ballistic tips and never had a bullet destroy the meat hide or make a mess ofa deer. So canI take the rifle and not look like a fool?I also called all the local gun smiths and no one can guarentee it back to me by the weekend before I leave.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

one thing about it is: dead is dead, no matter how you arrive there. is this an antelope only hunt or do you have a shot at other game? either way i would take and use what i had and felt comfortable with.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

[&:] I guess if there's no choice or nobody to borrow from...go ahead

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Onone antelope hunt I used my 338WinMag in place of my 270, I let my counterpart have two whacks ata fair buck at about 300 yardswithhis 264WinMag and then I just levelled the buck withmy 338. You could clearly hear the sound of the impact at that distance. The results were devastating.Mr. 264 didn't have much more to say about my "too large" rifle after that though he was full of commentary earlier.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Lopes are the only thing I am going for while I'm there. Looks like the 338 it is. I can't wait to see the look on the guides face when I uncase it! Maybe it won't be such a big deal to him with me being an Eastener and all. I think I am testing the waters with the "never over gunned" saying

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I think you will be fine ,but I would try to make a lung shot.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Well, you sure won't be going undergunned!!!:D I wouldn't be embarassed though, its what you got available so why not.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

First, DO NOT SHOOT243 ANY MORE, you are playing with an explosion. Send to factory or throw it away, a gunsmith will probably not want to fool with it, and if he does it will cost more than the gun is worth.

I see no problem with the 338 if you feel comfortable at 300 yrds. So he will be a little extra dead, meat loss is not that big of a deal if you have ever tasted antelope.;)

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Your .338 will probably do less tissue damage to an antelope than a .270 or 25-06. Bullets for the .338 are fairly tough and will generally pass through a lightly constructed goat without opening up much. Only issue here is trajectory and possibly recoil, IMO.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I forsee a dead antelope in your future - any other questions?;);) I wouldnt worry about it...we killed goat with everything from the 30-06 to the 30-378 Weatherby, to the 35 Whelan and some more fitting calibers inbetween....

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Should work fine. After all if a 264 Win Mag won't do it, better move up to more power. Thats the answer these days.:D.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Power was not/is notreally the issue, just a fun sideline toan instace where, yes a 338WinMag (though nota archtypical goat gun)worked fine for antelope, besting the laser-wand-264, andlacking nothing includingdecent trajectory.

In this case,the 338WinMagprovidesthe only other rifle already available to the author....tuned, sighted, and familiar to boot. The author appearsnot to be a recoil pantywaste (not that a 338WinMag is that much of a kicker) so for him it is a win-win-win.

The author asks:

Answer (IMO): Yes you can take it and it is likely that someonewho tries to "make you a fool" over it may find the tables reversedcome hunting day.

NJheadhunter71, I'd recommend a 200 yard sight in.
Sorry to hear about your NEF, may well bea blessing in disguise.
Just for fun, listen for the bullet impact.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

You are much better armed for any big game animal with the 338 than with the 243 IMO. I can't feel much difference in recoil between the 338 and the 300 Win Mag. Nor much difference in terminal performance.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I have killed pronghorn with a Weatherby Mark V .340 Wby. Mag., and will use it again with no hesitation. Good luck.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

The 340 kind of weeds out the under powered rifles like the 338 Win. sort of leaves them in the dust.;)

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Nothing wrong with the 338-win mag. You are lucky you have a back-up rifleto fall back on.

Good luck hunting,

WK

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I'd use a .50 cal Barret on Pronghorn if I had nothing else.

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I got back from my goat hunt last week and the 338win worked perfectly.My guide and myself glassed him from about 600yrds away and thought he ran off the ranch but upon further inspection the goat he saw runoff the property with some does wasn't theone Isaw with the wide spead. Once we realized this we were on thestalk. One thing I learned about hunting the wide open of NE Wy. is just cause it looks flat from a mile away doesn'talways mean it is. So we used this to our advantage and madeour 400yrd crouching desent into the dips of the ranch. I already had the shorterlegs on my bipod extended. With me directlybehindmy guideand with him holding the decoy in front we started to crest a small hill where we saw him some 300 yrds behing it. As we neared the top we both simotaniusly dropped at the sight ofblack tips poking above the sage and stubble wheatjust 80yrds from us (so much for practicing at 300yrds) He didn't have to say a word andI was already in a layingshooting positionto the right of the decoy. The goatcought a glipse of the decoy as we hid behind it.At this point there were a few thingsI wasworried about.1. Was this the goat? 2. Was the guides hearing still going to work after I touched the shot offof my 338win equippedwith a muzzle brake ? 3. Was this damn thing going tomove forward and give me more than a neck shot? At first the guide said :ok shoot"but I declided spitting outsomething about me being the taxidermist and thinking 338 + 210 partition + about 3 feet of sewing threadon a big oldexit hole.Well, since it was ruttingtime the goat acted real aggressive towards the decoy and was snorting and then pumped up his chest with hisfront legs positioned close together and did a 10 foot charge. All in one fluidmotion I looked at my guide (with fingers in ears) flipped the safty off,put the cross hairs on the front blade and waited for the goodold "take em" response from my guide. In what seemed like 2 minutes was all ofabout 10 seconds.My rifle barked and I saw the goat buckle and drop beyondthe hill. As we high fived andwalked to the spot were he was last standing I silently said to myself (now what the heckam I going to do for another 2 days and 15 hours?)I also thought, wasI picky enough? Should I have shopped more? All these questions dissapeared as I walked up on my loper. There was a quarter sized hole behind the last rib on the opposite side and not alot of meat damage.Boyis he a dandy? He was 14" on the left and 13 7/8 on the right with some good palmation and a nice spread. I also did some varmint hunting therest of my stay and still didn't see a goat as nice, or at leastI convinced myselfinto believing this. LOL Thanks to all that posted!Sorry for the long story. Here is a pic

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Thats a goat to be proud of! Good job!

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

I just took one with my 30-06 using 165 interbonds. A bit much for antlope if you want to talk about adequecy, but the antelope is now in my freezer and there was never a second shot needed. Use the 338 and feel good about it. EJ

RE: 338 WIN for antelope?
 

Congrats on a great goat!!!