To get the cons out of the way, a box of these rounds is pretty expensive, but you get what you pay for in performance. For hunting anything on the North American continent they’re both sufficient. Though we didn’t include velocity, the slighter higher velocities of the .338 LM rounds are also going to further distance themselves penetration wise, from the .308 Win rounds. Mary’s .300 Win. Calculations were corrected to standard temperature (59F/15C) and … Mag. Now that we know how these bullets behave in flight let’s take a look at if they have the force behind them to be useful. My 338 is accurate , very accurate. So it’s not even close in the price category. Even though the .338 cartridges have some incredible BCs (0.789 and 0.72), you can see that it does have some rounds that closer resembles the BCs of the .308 Win cartridges and even less than a few of them (0.431 < 0.45, 0.462). Winchester Guns 535704236 XPR Hunter Bolt 338 Win Mag 26" 3+1 Synthetic Mossy Oak Break-Up Country Stock Black Out of stock View Details » View Details » Out of stock are great chamberings for a hunting rifle. Since its introduction, the .338LM has become popular in shooting circles, especially in long-range shooting. In the table below is a comparison between the .338 Federal and the older .358 Winchester, another cartridge based on the .308 Winchester. The .338 LM is a larger caliber than the .308, and regarding cartridge dimensions, the differences in cartridge specs are significant. The .338 Lm is a perfectly fine elk cartridge especially for shots at 400+ yards but even then and definitely at shorter distances, it’s probably overkill, and the weight of the rifle is going to be an issue for most people and most hunting situations that require a lot of hiking. As you can imagine, this is a hard hitting cartridge with its .338 cal bullet. The 338 is sharper recoil, the 325 is like a 3006 with 200+ grainers for recoil. Knowing how it behaves and its limitations lets you take full advantage of the different situations you will be presented with. While the .338 LM and even the .308 Win are known long range rounds, they are both also used in hunting situations where shots within 300 yards are often encountered. We shot and compared three popular options to help you decide on the best elk cartridge for your style of hunting. As far as ballistics go, you’re looking at a ballistic coefficient of 0.789 with only a little over 100 inches of bullet drop at 700 yards. Just because one cartridge might have the numbers that suggest higher levels of penetration doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be the right round for you. Assuming both bullets have the same design and velocities, Bullet B should provide deeper penetration because there is more weight and force being localized to the same area as Bullet A. We plan on using this one for stopping cars after shtf. As the bullet moves downrange, it is carrying kinetic energy that is generated from the mass of the bullet as well as its velocity. Call me a wimp, but the 338 win mag with 250 grain bullets generates about 40 ft lbs of recoil, no thanks! To deal with recoil such as this, you should be looking to get some ballistic or stopping power advantage out of the deal, and we will see if this cartridge provides it. This most likely would occur after firing many shots where you begin to get fatigued. The 338 Winchester Magnum is arguably the best. First, there is no single type of data that we can compare between two cartridges that give us a definitive answer for the differences in stopping power. We hope you get the chance to experiment with both of these cartridges and all the different ammunition options that are out there. Huston is a hunting enthusiast who believes your success in the field is directly correlated to the amount of preparation at home. Mag., making for a highly useful cartridge. The 308 Win. The fundamental specifications and dimensions of the.308 case remain the same, meaning the.338 Federal brass can easily be formed from.308 Winchester brass. The .308 Winchester was introduced in 1952 and soon after the casing was modified and adopted as the 7.62x51mm NATO round that saw action in Vietnam. .308 Winchester Overview. So, when looking at these numbers, keep in mind what applications you have in mind. She can drive tacks with her purple gun at 100 yards. The .338 Lapua Magnum (LM) was introduced to the market in the late 1980’s and was designed for a specific purpose; to provide snipers with a cartridge that could punch through barriers and body armor from an incredible distance. The Contestants. Besides combat and other tactical situations, the performance of the .308 Win was quickly recognized and utilized by civilian shooters; especially by those in the hunting community. And as far as stopping power, these rounds are heavy enough and have the controlled expansion to penetrate, and they carry a great deal of energy out to 400 yards, more than enough for medium size game. We will first look at the short range trajectories of the ten selected rounds. If I needed more punch than that I'd skip right over everything else and go straight to a 375 mag. the .338 Federal fitsin short-action rifles. Why? The 338 was designed to duplicate the old 333 OKH wildcat developed by Elmer Keith a popular gun writer of that time. With more powder capacity because of a larger diameter and longer casing, as well, the .338 takes a larger diameter bullet, the .338 is capable of delivering a much heavier bullet with more energy at the target. Since neither of us plan on hunting for Grizzly anytime in the future, we have decided to pass on buying a .338 Win Mag. 243 Win 10” 260 Rem 8” 7mm-08 Rem 9,5” 308 Win 11" 270 WSM 10” T3 300 WSM 11” 25-06 Rem 10” 6.5 x 55 SE 8” 270 Win 10” 30-06 Sprg 11" 9.3x62 14" 7 mm Rem Mag 9.5" 300 Win Mag 11" 338 Win Mag … Like the velocity, the ballistic coefficient also influences many other categories. The .308 is a fairly popular medium to large size game in North America and has been so for decades. I seldom shoot the big guns anymore with the .308 or 30/06 being all I need(and more) for deer. To be honest, there are going to be very few times where you sit and wonder should you go with a .338 or .308 chambered rifle, at least in the hunting world. The .338 Winchester Magnum was designed in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms Company. You want enough expansion to transfer the maximum amount of energy, but you also want the bullet to pass through the animal causing as much trauma as possible. 308 vs 300 Win Mag How Many Clays Will They Shoot Through? Too many times we see arguments for stopping power, but no one ever mentions that you can have the analytics down, but if you can’t put the round in the bread basket, those numbers don’t mean a whole lot. BONUS OFFER: Get your 500 Page Ammo Comparison Handbook (worth $43) for FREE right into your inbox. When it comes to availability, there is also going to be a noticeable difference between these two cartridges. vs. 338. Its range and power have also made it popular for big and dangerous game. Please note, the following information reflects the estimated average ballistics for each caliber and does not pertain to a particular manufacturer, bullet weight, or jacketing type. The importance of looking at recoil often deals with the potential for throwing off a shot. If you do not have the proper rifle twist, you can have the hottest load in the world and be wildly off target. This same idea goes for terminal ballistics as well. 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. With the longevity of the cartridge’s popularity, though it might not be as prevalent as it once was, there is still plenty of options for ammunition with several nearly always available at a retail store that carries ammo. At this point we see several .308 Win rounds showing more than 50” of bullet drop although the two lightest weight bullets show 45 and 46” of bullet drop. in terms of recoil, rifle weight, muzzle blast, and muzzle energy. The .308 Norma Mag. The .308 has been utilized by military and police forces since its introduction though not as heavily in modern times. Overall, when looking strictly from an angle of the .300 Win Mag vs .338 Lapua Magnum, there is not a huge difference in the long range trajectory of these factory loads. The .308 is just under the 30-06 in ballistics , Not enough difference really if that is goal. We understand that a lot of competition shooters most likely are, but for those looking to break into the long range shooting game, this factory load is a great place to start. This cartridge is much younger when compared to the other cartridge we will look at, but it is interesting because it is sometimes seen as a replacement for the .308 Win in specific shooting applications. Let’s first talk long range precision shooting. As you increase to elk size game, you generally want around 1,500ft.lb. 9MM.223 / 5.56 45 ACP.22 Long Rifle.22 Win Mag 12 Gauge.308 Winchester 40 S&W.38 Special View All Calibers Ammo By Manufacturer Qualified Professional Ammo Recently Added Ammo is a customized Ruger M77 Mk II with a purple-thumbhole stock and muzzle brake. The .338 Winchester Magnum is a .338 in (8.6 mm) caliber, belted, rimless, bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms.It is based on the blown-out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .308 Win has been and still is one of the most effective short action cartridges for medium to larger game in North America. Half of a Gun, and a Life Lesson, On Christmas Morning, Worth the Wait: It Took 10 Years, but a Mother-Daughter Team Finally Killed Two Massive Colorado Mule Deer, 10 Early Ice Fishing Walleye Tactics That Will Put You on the Bite, The Ultimate Guide to Tanning Wild Game Pelts and Hides, Tomahawks Are Back: These American Relics Have Seen a Resurgence in Military and Survival Situations, Drilling for Oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Two Perspectives from Alaskan Outdoorsmen, How to Wax-Pluck a Wild Goose for Christmas Dinner, Hunting Giant Alaska Black Bears with Old-School Recurve Bows and Sidelocks, A Deadly Virus Is Spreading Among Wild Rabbits and Hares. We will look at the bullet drop of all ten rounds out to 300 yards with the firearm zeroed in at 100 yards (Graph 5). Sectional density does give us a number for the potential penetration with a higher sectional density meaning more penetration. For whitetail, you don’t need the penetration that is going to be needed for a bull moose. The reason it is so important is that it has a lot of influence on just about every other performance category. Winchester took their .458 Winchester Magnum case—itself a shortened and blown out .375 H&H case—and necked it to hold the .338″ diameter bullets the company used for its rimmed .33 Winchester. We have compiled the SDs of the ten rounds we have been using for comparison. The .308 rounds are much more tightly clustered with a range between 1,023 and 1,346ft.lb. Though we are not looking at wind drift in this article, we are going to take a look at the short and long range trajectories next. Battle of the Black Bear Cartridges: .308 Win. The .308 is just under the 30-06 in ballistics , Not enough difference really if that is goal. With accuracy, though the.338 Lapua Magnum vs.338 Winchester Magnum was designed by ammunition! 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