338 win mag
 

I really want a 338 win mag but am worried if its too much recoil. Ive never shot one and I'm wondering what it feels like.? I am an experienced shooter but have never shot a 338 caliber. Would adding a muzzle brake be a good idea?

Any replys would be great. Thanks

How is a muzzle brake when you have ear muffs on?

i have a 338 win mag mossberg 4x4 without a muzzle brake its not to bad. less recoil than a 300 win mag. its more of a heavy push

Depends on the rifle. I had a Browning safari that was plain nasty, I would sooner shoot my 375 H&H than that thing. I could put 100 downrange with the 300 or 375, but was ready to quit after about 15 or 20 with the 338.The muzzle break will help, but wear ear protection if you have one installed.

How's a .338 compare to a magnum sabot slug, or a heavy turkey load, or magnum buckshot? Things I really don't enjoy shooting, but can deal with, lol.

Proud owner of a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker in .338 WM


Don't mind the recoil.................


It's just plain fun to me !


I'd like to shoot the heaviest suff they let me shoot.

Sounds like from Sheridan that its not too bad. I just dont want it to be shoulder braking painful.

I think it comes down to what model of gun and which manufacture it comes from. I can shoot my Ruger No 1 375 H&H off a bench 20-30 times before I start to feel like it's having an effect on my shoulder. I had a Remington 700 custom 375 H&H and it took a few shots before I didn't want nothing to do with it no more. So I think it's in the gun and how it fits you.

Try shooting someone else's .338 first if you think it may be more than you want. If you are afraid of your rifle to the point that you need a brake - maybe it is too much rifle. Everyone has their own limit for how well they shoot heavy recoiling rifles.

I have a Remington 700 BDL 338 mag without a brake, recoil isnt as bad as people make it out to be. Just wear some good ear plugs, the muzzle blast will cause you to develop a flinch more than the recoil will. JMO.

What do you have experience shooting, cartridge wise? If you can shoot a light weight 30-06 good and you use hearing protection you will not have any problem shooting a 338. I think the biggest factor with the 338 is the muzzle blast.

+1 on this savvy advice.

Not sure what you have shot before as far as center fire, but if you have shot a typical 30.06 Spr. rifle and say a typical factory load using a 180 gr. bullet, you will experience about 1.5X - 2X the recoil with a typical 338 Win. Mag. factory load that incorporates a 225 gr. bullet. My opinion is that if you can handle a 12 ga. , 2 3/4" heavy load, you are plenty good to go. There are recoil charts out there that can give you a rough idea of comparisons.

I have a 338 Win. Mag. I do not really enjoy round after round after round shooting such as a session at the range practicing using it or fine tuning a hand load. After about 50 rounds or so, I have to work on not flinching. But as far as shooting at game? Frankly I have never even noticed the recoil. Probably an adrenalin thing .... and maybe because of usually more padding from heavier, cold weather clothes.

I do not recopmmend a muzzle brake. Done right, the brake will indeed mitigate recoil a great deal .... but the muzzle blast is going to be terrific. And don't know about you, but I do not wear hearing protection while hunting, except when wing shooting. I need my hearing to help me detect game movement or other activity such as grunting.

I have 2 BARs in 338WM (one with the BOSS system) and have shot/hunted with both. The rifle with the BOSS system is longer but has a little less recoil. The older BAR without a BOSS system is just the right length, shoots extremely well and kicks (at least to me) a little less than 12 gauge slugs. The BOSS rifle is definitely louder for both you as a shooter and any buddies hunting with you. My buddies don't like it. If I had to have just one fo the rifles, it would be the non-BOSS rifle.

Somebody suggested you shoot a few rounds through a buddy's 338 to see if you handle the recoil or not. I'd 2nd that suggestion. If you do decide to get a 338 and still want to cut down on recoil, I recommend trying a recoil reducing pad. You cut down on recoil without increasing noise/muzzle blast, etc. Hope this helps.

thanks for the advice. i tried a 338 tonight and it wasnt as bad i thought. it was a browning a bolt with a limbsaver. 225gr hornady

get a .340wby

You can get 160 grain Barnes tipped tsx ammo also. Think Double tap still makes it.

Have a ruger m77 with Hogue stock and full bed block. With my handloads it's probably putting out around 20# recoil. Shooting Hornady Superperformance 185 GMX's recoils still not bad.

I have had .338s for forever.
My Current .338 is a 340 wby. Great round and this is my 5th rifle in this cartridge.
I think I got it right this time. I handload for load quality and cost savings.
The 338 is at it's best with 225 and 250 gr bullets. I have killed a couple of spike bulls with 210 Nosler Partitions and it worked fine. But I think the 225 is a better choice for bigger critters. 250 gr for things that might bite back I would shoot 185 for Deer but I would step up for larger animals.
My Hunting partner shoots a 338 win mag and he loves it as well.
The recoil to me is decidedly heavy but different that an hyperactive .300 win mag load.
If you do buy one shoot it often and you will be fine. That is expensive but worth it.

Lot's of good words in these responses.

I too wanted a .338 for a while and decided the .340Wby was the way to go. Great ballistics and great energy to as far as I'm capable of shooting and beyond. However, after having taken many different big game animals in the Rockies over the past several decades, I've found the KISS principle to apply to this issue as well. 30 caliber cartridges can, will and do take everything on the North American Continent. Many people believe the Bigger or Scarrier the animal the bigger your bullet must be. I tried the 200+ grain bullets for the 30's and used the 175gr for the .284's (7mm). I've now settled on the 150gr in my .300 Wby and have several friends who have done the same. My reason is, it works best out of my Rifle and the animals are just as dead. Never saw an Elk walk very far without lungs.

That being said, I still want a .340 Wby and will likely buy one. I like rifles that let you know they're there.

The difference between a 338 Win mag and the 340 Wby isnt enough to amount to anything, the difference in ammo price and availabilty is. Like you said, dead is dead, a elk, moose, or bear will never know the difference between the two but your wallet will. I have had both in the past, got rid of the 340, still have my 338. Trust me, when you touch of a 338 Win mag you will know its there!

Why do people say this? :confused0024:

How many millions of AR-15/M-16 type rifles have come from the factories with a "flash suppressor" attached to their muzzles? The .223/5.56x45mm cartridge can hardly be considered a heavy recoiling cartridge.

All a flash suppressor or muzzle brake is, is a tube with holes in it's sides that is attached to the muzzle of a firearm. The shape, size, and number of holes varies, but they both do the same thing: they allow some of the expanding gasses to exit to the side of the muzzle a few milliseconds before all of the remaining gasses exit the muzzle.

It's hard to define what a "magnum" cartridge is, but basically it has more capacity than a "standard" case so it can burn more powder. Burning more powder increases velocity, noise, and recoil.

When I shoot .357 mag cartridges in my .357 mag pistols, they are way louder and have more recoil than when I shoot .38 spl cartridges in those same pistols.

OK, enough of my rant on muzzle brakes, and back to the OP's original question.

Like Big Uncle also posted, "Try shooting someone else's .338 first..." We are all built differently, we each absorb recoil differently, and each rifle will recoil differently depending on tis fit, weight, and shape. Five people can shoot the same rifle, and you can get five different opinions of how hard the recoil was.

I like to shoot, and I shoot a lot. When I was competing in registered Trap, I was shooting 10,000 12 ga shells per year. When I was competing in registered Skeet I was also shooting 10,000 shells per year, but they were not all 12 ga. I also don't like heavy recoil.

To reduce the recoil in my shotguns, I made several modifications to them. These modifications would also apply to reducing felt recoil in rifles.

First, the gun should properly fit the shooter. Length of pull and shape and drop of the comb of the stock are not too difficult to modify.

Many after market recoil pads like Limbsaver, Decelerator, and Kick Eez will "absorb" more recoil than many factory pads.

A heavier gun will kick less than a lighter gun, all else being equal. Weight can be added to a gun with lead or by installing an in-stock mercury or mechanical recoil reducer.

And finally, the barrel can be ported or a muzzle brake added.

I have done a combination or all of these things to several of my shotguns, and to my .375 RUM and .300 Wby rifles.

Out of the box, my .375 RUM kicked harder than any gun that I had ever shot. After the modifications, it's kick does not feel much more than my basically factory 7mm Rem mag.

And with the modifications, my .300 Wby does not feel like it kicks as hard as my factory .270 Win. Last year in South Africa I let my PH shoot my .300 Wby off the bench, and he said that it did not kick as hard as his 7x57. I will often take my .300 Wby to the range and shoot 20 or more shells through it then go over the the Skeet range, shoot 100 or more 12 ga shells, and have no soreness at all from recoil.

The flash suppressor on a AR is nothing like a muzzle brake on a hunting rifle. They are two very different things. A flash hider is meant to conceal the "flash" of gasses exploding from the barrel as the rifle is fired. It is mainly used on military rifles. A muzzle brake, on the other hand, is designed to reduce recoil. The ports, or holes in a muzzle brake direct the quickly expanding gasses away from the muzzle, thereby reducing the energy that is transferred straight back into the shooter. Rifles equipped with a muzzle brake essentially transfer some of the recoil outward from the muzzle, instead of rearward and into your shoulder. They do a good job of reducing recoil, but there is of course a cost. Rifles equipped with a muzzle brake are much louder than those without, to the point that many people will not use them. They are especially loud to those standing next to the shooter, and for that reason will not make you very many friends at the range. A good way to tell the difference is the flash suppressor is open on the end and a brake is solid except for a hole for the bullet to come out.

Not exactly.

Like I posted earlier, both flash suppressors and muzzle brakes are an extension on the muzzle. They both have holes or ports in their sides. Some are made with circular holes, some are made with slots. They both allow some of the expanding gasses to escape through the holes to the side of the barrel. As both flash suppressors and muzzle brakes divert some of the hot, expanding gasses (smokeless powder doesn't explode) to the side of the barrel, it also changes the direction of the report, or noise.

How loud the report is would depend on the quantity and burning rate of the powder, the pressure of the expanding gasses inside the barrel, the area of the holes of the suppressor or brake, and the angle of the sides of the ports. Sound waves travel in an arc away from the source. From a tight muzzle, the source of the sound is the end of the barrel, and the sound arc travels away from the muzzle and the shooter. From a ported muzzle, the source of some sound is the ports on the side of the barrel, and these sound arcs travel from the side of the barrel. The shooter is then on the side of the arc and receives more of the sound.

On military type weapons they are called "flash suppressors" as they do re-shape and reduce the size of the muzzle flash, they also reduce recoil. On hunting rifles they are called "muzzle brakes" as they reduce some of the recoil, they also re-shape and reduce the size of the muzzle flash.

The escaping gas doesn't care what shape the holes are, it just wants to get out of the barrel as soon as it can, and when it goes out holes in the side of the muzzle it reduces the recoil and it re-shapes and reduces the size of the muzzle flash.

Today flash suppressors and muzzle brakes come in a large assortment of the size, shape, and location of the holes. Some suppressors are open at the end, some are closed with a solid ring. Each manufacturer makes the holes a little different and claims his product is the best.

When I went into the Army in 1968, we trained with the M-14. Every M-14 that I can ever remember seeing had a 2" or so flash suppressor that had long slots around it and had a solid ring around the muzzle end.

The first M-16s that were used in Vietnam did not have the solid ring on the end. They were open. The guys that carried them in the thick jungles quickly found that the open end caught in the vegetation. The military then re-designed the flash suppressors to have the solid ring on the end. The M-16 that I carried for a year over there had the solid ring.

Here's a few the of flash suppressors and muzzle brakes that are available on rifles today.

as said by a few ,try one first ,i do not like any kind of break nor magnaport , period! ,if u dont like someone ask them to go shooting with u ,u will soon have no freinds , let alone they will be deaf, as far as the 338 goes , go for it great cal