I guess I can. I just don't see a need for me to have a .338 anything.


I killed almost three dozen elk and a couple of moose with smaller cartridges before I got what I consider my ultimate elk rifle, my .300 Weatherby.


I built a .375 RUM that I took on two African hunts where I shot a variety of critters from 20-30 pound Steenboks to 1500+ pound buffalo and eland. If I ever hunt coastal brown bears that will be my rifle of choice, and unless the USF&WS removes the ban on African lions and elephants, that rifle will remain one of my safe queens.


For any other North American hunt that I may ever do, my .300 Weatherby or one of my smaller rifles will do just fine.


But that's just my personal opinion.

You may need the ultimate-ER elk cartridge, the 340 wby. lol,

Of course I didn't mean you NEED one, but any excuse for another rifle right...?
Life is short, buy another rifle.

While we are pretty close on the ultimate elk rifle... the 300/340 wby...

I think in the future I may be using something a bit lighter/smaller in the field.

I do need a .375 H&H for the bigger stuff down the road however.

Just buy the 375 H&H. You can handload it to do anything the 340 Wby can do and it can do it at a lot lower pressure. 375 H&H has always been one of the world's greatest cartridges.

Yes the 375 H&H is one of the world's classic cartridges, but when I had one it just wasn't exactly what I wanted, so I traded it for a Rem 541-T .22 LR.


Then when I needed a .375 for a Zimbabwe buffalo hunt, I built my .375 RUM. It has the trajectory of a .30-06 and the energy of a .416.

Y'all are gonna put a hurting on my back account with all these suggestions lol
-JaKe

Nothing like "life vest at the shooting range" cartridges to make a man's mind dream big dream.

I'm going to save your bank account. Get a 375 H&H and sell all the rest. You can literally use the 375 for everything. Load it with a solid and you can take rabbits and squirrels. All you will have is a nice round 37 caliber hole. I've done this and there is less meat damage with the 375 than those fast 22 bullets cause. Load a soft point and you're good for 99% of the rest of the game on earth. For the really big nasty stuff in Africa go back to the solids.

My 375 shoot both solids and softs (handloads) to the same point of impact. If I could only have one rifle for all my hunting it would be a 375. My second choice would be my 9.3x62 for the exact same reasons. Add a 12 gauge to the mix and that one rifle and shotgun combo will allow you to hunt anywhere in the world.

Life's too short to only have 1 rifle!!!

Well I know a couple of PHs in Africa that would disagree with you and they take more game in a single year than you and I will in our combined lifetimes. There is an old saying: Beware the man with only one gun because he probably knows how to use it.

Very wise advice about the 375 H&H, especially for Africa. Going back to the OP's original post, have you decided to get a 338 yet?