Were talking about a very specialized type of hunting. The SD of that .308 bullet at .331 is not far behind the 300-grain .338 at SD .375. (L-R) .22 Long Rifle, .30-06 case, .338 RUM. Is the .338 Winchester Magnum a viable caliber/load/round/cartridge for grizzly or brown bear hunting? In the question of Is the .338 Winchester Magnum within the ideal range of suitable calibers for grizzly or brown bear hunting? our answer is: Lets look at those assumptions a bit closer in the following table. Reload. Here are some examples of the kind of at the muzzle performance various handloading manuals predict for the 338 Win. I am currently getting ready for a 2007 spring brown bear hunt in the bristol bay area of alaska. It is best used at 200-400 yards, and has the stopping power of a much . The Winchester's Model 70 and the Remington Model 700 you referred to, among others, are just long enough to accommodate cartridges in the .375 H&H Magnum class (3.6 inches overall length) such as the Remington Ultra Magnums. For handloaders, the 300-grain Swift A-Frame is the way to go. Its also been incredibly popular among Alaskan hunters and guides, especially in lever-actions like Marlins 1895 Guide Gun, which is compact, fairly lightweight and highly maneuverable in close quarters. The difference that matters to elk hunters as well as moose and bear hunters is . Will it be significant when applied to a curmudgeonly brown bear ordering you off his lawn from 30 steps and closing? In English, that means that heavy .338 Win. It comes close to .338 RUM performance but fits into standard (.30-06) length rifle actions. Published Oct 14, 2019 7:00 PM EDT. Heres how to avoid the poseurs and choose the right one. With the barnes, it seems that velocity may be more important than bullet weight. The .338 Winchester Magnum (top) compared to the .375 H&H (bottom). Nelson continues to teach a bear defense course in Alaska, instructing geologists and representatives from other government agencies how to operate a wide variety of firearms platforms in a bear defense situation. bullets will penetrate like the proverbial runaway freight train. If you want factory ammo, try the Federal loaded with 300-grain Trophy Bonded bullets. My personal choice? Sbt Sierra Game King 20-pack. Just $1 per month , Rounds you can trust when hunting North Americas largest predators, By overflow: hidden; } In the meantime, if you really want to slow down an overly excited 1,000-pound bear, you might prefer that 300-grain 338 load. Ive killed a couple of bears with the .375 H&H and Id certainly put it at the top of my list, though for reasons as much sentimental as practical. Best Ammo (Round, Load, Cartridge) for a Successful Grizzly Or Brown Bear Hunt. All of which you hit dead on. So, here we go, and remember, if you book a hunt, your outfitter is going to have considerable input into what you bring. The 338 Winchester Magnum's overall length is 3.340", same as the 30-06, 270 Win, etc., so its cases hold about 12 percent less powder than the Weatherby's. That amounts to about 50 to 100 fps less muzzle velocity with a 250-grain bullet. Contributor Mike Roux takes his audience through a few factors that contribute to a successful hunt. These rounds do have one mission they are ideal for, though: Alaskan brown bears. maximum average breech pressure is 64,000 psi. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. They are all good, if you can tolerate the recoil. Over the decades, several cartridges have proved themselves as worthy against the nastiest bears North America has to offer. As the bear charge drill in his course demonstrates, the average bear attack will happen at 50 yards or less with an 800-pound animal moving at 30 mph. Our first client we had was shooting a 338 win mag and I thought nothing of it. Similarly, make sure your floorplate doesnt pop open, since heavy recoil causes bolt-actions to flex through the action. For most hunters, the upper limit of recoil is the .30-06 or 7mm Remington Magnum. was inspired by big-bore aficionados such as Elmer Keith. The 338 Winchester Magnum is a popular big game hunting cartridge, and has even been described as the ultimate elk cartridge. It is recommended that you use a bonded bullet without a thin jacket. At the minimum, tape your floorplate shut, or have a gunsmith pin it shut. The author analyzed six .338 caliber magnum cartridges (.338 Winchester Magnum, .340 Weatherby, .338-378 Weatherby, .338 Remington Ultra Mag., 33 Nosler, and .338 Lapua) for trajectory, effective range, and recoil with modern ballistic software available free online from shooterscalculator.com. There are seasons for both black and brown/grizzly bears in the springthough the black bear is much more popular and affordableand depending on the terrain and type of hunting you intend to do, your choice of rifle, cartridge and bullet may change. is what usually comes to mind. This is for grizzlies, not brown bears. Combine this pressure with the 70- to 76-grains of powder generally stuffed into 338 Win. and 2700 fps, thus delivering massive energy on target. Find a full line of 338 Winchester Magnum ammo from all major brands at the best prices. 1 or Browning BAR, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the good old .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester or .280 Remington. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo. AccuBond at 2941 fps. (L-R) .308 Win., .340 Weatherby, 9x19mm Luger. Question: Do you think a Remington 700 is expensive? load will recoil with about 30.2 foot-pounds of free recoil energy at a velocity of 14.7 fps. First, the average bullet weight is encapsulated in the average muzzle energy for the .338 Winchester Magnum. From what Ive seen, there are more Alaska bear guides carrying .375s than anything else. Warren Page did more bear hunting than anyone I know, and had a dedicated bear rifle. 338 Winchester Magnum Ammo for sale online or in-store at Sportsman's Warehouse. A hunter must really want to shoot an elk at 800 yards to consider anything above the .338 Win. padding: 10px 5px; but our BEAR HAMMER ammunition will get the most out of your .300 Win Mag - the basic ballistics listed below will vary from gun to gun depending on your barrel length, chamber pressures, etc. over a 300 Win. Besides, bullet B.C.s change with velocity. Never, ever, shoot a large-caliber bear just once. Based on ballistic testing and field use, Nelson recommends Brennekes Black Magic Magnum or DDupleks Monolit 32 solid steel slug. While a well-placed shot from a 10mm can no doubt do the trick, the .357 Mag. While there are many correct answers to the question, Id like to share some of my favorite setups for different bear hunting scenarios. The .338 Win. Mag. Ruger chambers the .454 Casull in both the Super Redhawk with a 4-inch barrel and the Alaskan in a 3-inch variant, both of which are compact and easy to draw when things get up close and personal. Can Coolers | An Official Journal Of The NRA, Find More Great NRA Publications Perfect For Every Interest, Discover Everything That The NRA Has To Offer. When I hunted caribou in grizzly country, Id use 210-grain bullets for ungulates, and always have a couple of 250-grain Swift A-Frames at the bottom of the magazine in case a bear showed up to claim the caribou. AccuBond at 3060 fps. Semi-automatic and striker-fired, the P320-XTEN is extremely accurate, easy to shoot even with powerful 10mm loads and holds 15-plus-one rounds. Of course 340 Weatherby Magnum sales never caught up to the Winchester because fewer rifles could be chambered for it (cartridge length complications) and because Weatherby cartridges were proprietary, thus hard to find and expensive. Mag. If a person cannot tolerate a particular cartridges un-braked recoil, they need a different cartridge which they can manage without subterfuge. . A strong 400-grain bullet at 2,400 fps is highly persuasive. Weatherby has developed several rounds by necking down their awe-inspiring .378; the .300-378 and .338-378. Introduced in 1958, the .338 Win. Heres how each cartridge ranked. AccuBond (.575 BC/.313 SD) at 2850 fps. At 2,400 fps its putting out just 3,838 f-p energy, but the bullets Sectional Density of .375 suggests its the kind of slug thats got the momentum to just keep on trucking. It comes close to .338 RUM performance but fits into standard (.30-06) length rifle actions. Nosler and Swift load the cartridge with Partitions and A-Frames, respectively, and Federal with Trophy Bonded slugs. Talk about stopping power. So, which one comes out on top in a head-to-head matchup? Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Federal 338 Win Mag 225 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw Vital-Shok 20/Box $94.99 ($4.75 / round) . It dominates a vast territory between the much-loved .30 calibers and the .375 H&H so popular among those who pursue dangerous game. It scored just behind the .340 Weatherby and has the least recoil among the cartridges tested. Answer: Yes, if your loads used the same bullets at the same velocity as those in the article. Snow. Keith wanted something which would hammer through a quartering-away elk (his favorite game) out to 300 or 400 yards and realized a .338 caliber bullet driven fast enough would get the job done. That should be good enough for everything. John B. Approach it from an angle where it cant see you. Federal loads its 06 ammo with 200-grain Trophy Bonded bullets, which is what you want if you dont handload. Straight down. But the 33-caliber 338 Winchester Magnum seems to thumb its nose at popularity surveys, probably because it fills the gap between that frightening kick of dangerous game cartridges and the tolerable recoil of the magnum 30s. text-align: center Therefore, a cartridge with less recoil than another, but with similar terminal performance, is better for the simple fact a missed shot, no matter how powerful, is useless. Here is some common Brown Bear advice you did not ask for. Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. 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What about the other assumptions? (L-R) Nosler Partition, Nosler AccuBond, Sierra Game King. The second newest cartridge in this test, the .338 RUM has been around since 2002. His outfitting crew has scored a 100 percent success rate on brown bears for rifle hunters for years. Brown bears and grizzlies, although closely related, are distinctly different animals. No, the .308 Winchester is UNDERKILL for grizzly or brown bear hunting, under average conditions, from a mid-range distance, with a medium grain expanding bullet, and with correct shot placement. Mags 210-grain load. Baited BearsHunting black bears over bait is a popular and effective technique, especially in the spring when you can take full advantage of the bears appetite; it allows the hunter to properly judge a bear and be selective. Is it fun to shoot? Be ready. The weather is usually mild, and it always feels great to grab a favorite rifle after the long winter. Snow One point for every 25 yards beyond 200 yards for minimum expansion velocity range, one point deducted for every 25 yards less. Here we have leaned conservative by taking the average weight of a male individual of the species, since females generally weigh less and require less stopping power. Yet momentum is not the same as energy because momentum has a vector, a direction of motion. The newest .338 magnum, the 33 Nosler arrived on the market in 2016. In this case, the average weight of an adult male grizzly or brown bear is approximately 595 lbs. and large game (1500 ft-lbs), and the minimum velocity most hunting bullets require for reliable expansion (1800 fps). What is the average muzzle energy for a .338 Winchester Magnum? }. 78.79 $. However, as with all hunting, the best rifle is the rifle you shoot confidently. The doctor may not be able to patch the holes in you if he gets up and decides to get even. A well-fed grizzly boar will scale around 600 pounds, with the really. While it is extremely effective, the main reason its been so widely-used is because shotguns like the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 are a fraction of the price of bolt-guns and, in turn, thats what the government has provided to its employees. of energy. Great article. Also, everyone should know that the above velocities collected from various handloading manuals are not guaranteed. This content is accurate and true to the best of the authors knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional. I certainly wouldnt expect it in factory loads. Mag. This can be of considerable importance. Boattail bullets and screaming velocities are not necessary for these situations, though a premium bullet might not be a bad idea, due to the high impact velocities. 300 gr. Trajectory in this test is defined as Maximum Point Blank Range (MPBR): the distance over which a bullet rises three inches above sight line and then drops three inches below to hit within a six-inch kill box. Both bears are highly territorial, peaceable enough if unprovoked, but quick to take offense at all manner of things. .44 Remington MagnumConsidered by many to be the minimum for big bear defense rounds, the .44 Remington Magnum was first introduced in 1955 for revolvers and gained widespread popularity in the 1970s thanks to Dirty Harry. border-collapse: collapse; The Creedmoor is the hottest cartridge on the planet. Hsm Ammunition Hsm Ammo .338 Win Mag 215gr. This includes gear reviews, features on technical innovations, stories on shooting techniques and general hunting coverage with the occasional fishing story thrown into the mix. Please email us if you have questions about any of our product listings. 250 gr. Based on ballistic charts, I don't see a great increase in energy with the 250 grain bullet and its trajectory is not as flat as the 225 grain bullet. This article does not serve as the final say, but simply as a starting point for beginner hunters, as well as a venue for further discussion. Question: I'm curious why you chose to use different weight bullets for each cartridge? Question: Would you say the results of the best .338 magnums of your tests/comparison would be the same if reloads were considered? shooting different bullets (MPBR calculated using high B.C. Ultimately, its his ass on the line, not yours. It hits the shooter the least, has proven itself in both Alaska and Africa for decades, and ammunition is available most places. Mag. Mag. He remembered thinking, Emma [his wife] is going to miss me. But the bear died before things got any worse. . The 338 win mag ammo is the first choice among . 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