What to do with 338-06 ?

[charles1990]

Traded into a Marlin rebarreled to 338-06 with dies and new A-Square cases.

For cast boolits would prefer a 35 Whelen.

Should I bother trying to shoot cast in it ? Sell the bbl (also fits Savage) and rebbl. ? Just send it down the road ?

Really have no use for a cannon like this shooting jacketed (I don't like recoil)

What are my best options ?

[Hickory]

A new gun is like dating a new woman. (Experience from my youth)
If after a while it is not something you feel is right for you, let it go down road.

[MT Gianni]

How deep in Elk country are you?

[Randy Bohannon]

I love my 338-06 AI consistently one of my most accurate smokeless rifles.I've killed Antelope out to 524 yards. with it.I find the recoil is less than a 30-06 on a sporter weight rife and easy to load for.

[vzerone]

Well charles your post is a little confusing to me. You said you don't have a use for a cannon like that and you don't like recoil, but yet you say you would prefer the 35 Whelen. Not much difference between them in being "cannons and recoil". Heck shoot it see what you think. If you're a hunter then recoil is mute as you're not sitting at the bench shooting many rounds for target scoring. I've never really noticed recoil when shooting at a game animal.

[Char-Gar]

The 338/06 is one of the finest middle bore wildcat cartridges around. Jacketed or cast it will do anything the 35 Whelen will do plus a little more. All things being equal 338 and 35 bullets of the same weight, the 338 will fly a smidgen flatter due to great SD.

[Texas by God]

You mean BC don't you CharGar?

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[Duckiller]

Given the same weight boolit ,both the Sectional density and the ballistic coefficient are greater in a 0.338 boolit vs a 0.357 boolit.

[richhodg66]

I'd sure invest in a set of dies and either a mold or trade for some .338 cast bullets on here and give it a whirl. I think Lee makes a good middle weight .338 mold.

[Texas by God]

But sectional density doesn't flatten trajectory was my point. Heck yes I'd get a mold and shoot that rifle with low recoil casboolits if I was in the op's shoes.

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[oldblinddog]

You want this bullet
205866 http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=34-247L-D.png or the original Lyman/Ideal 33889.
Start with 17.0 grs of Unique and work up.
205867
I started at 15.0 but that is too low. I'm up to 20.0 grains with excellent accuracy. That first group was with staight Hardball that was water dropped but later groups were with 93/3.5/3.5 air cooled, lubed with Carnauba Red and sized 0.339" with Hornady checks.

[Kosh75287]

Shoot the thing, and see what you've got! You have the dies, and data for cast projectiles isn't difficult to find. Find some lighter .338" jacketed projectiles and test-drive it.

[jonp]

All the performance in the world won't help much if you don't really want the gun or cartridge and you sound pretty iffy on the whole thing. I'd try shooting a few rounds through it then make a decision. Kinda sounds to me like your ready to send it down the road. Instead of a rebarrel I'd sell the gun outright unless you got a really screaming deal on it.

[Hardcast416taylor]

You`re referring to one of my favorite cartridges here. If you are asking about a good jacketed bullet for game under the size of elk try a 200 gr. offering from about any maker. I have several molds of different weights plus a dedicated paper patch mold that I use. At this time my favorite is a 230 gr semi pointed boolet mould that I got from Bruce at BRP before he closed the doors. You can make your own cases by simply running an `06 case up into a .338-06 de-capping die. I lube the inside case mouth with some graphite to ensure a smooth size process. This round is versitle that can be loaded up to a 300 gr. slug or down to under 200 gr. I would guess the recoil out of my favorite P-17 Enfield using a 210 gr. jacketed Nosler bullet is either at or less than an .30-06 with a 180 gr. `J` load. As the phrase goes `Try it you just might like it`.Robert

[charles1990]

Thanks for your advice. I already have a selection of 35 cal molds for the Whelen and enough big game rifles to last a lifetime. It's a nice rifle, I'll probably send it to auction. If anyone is interested, PM me an email and I'll send pics and info.

[cainttype]

I’m also a big fan of the 338-‘06.
Having rifles in both 338-‘06 and 35 Whelen I can honestly say that I’m glad I don’t have to choose, but can see benefits from both, each one being a fine choice.
I would be curious to the twist-rate of the 338-‘06 that you have because they are not too common.

One thing the .338 caliber has all over the .358 is in jacketed bullet options running from very light to very heavy, and construction from light jackets to thick, for deep penetration. That benefit comes from having old standbys like the 338 Winchester Mag around for so long, then the introduction of things from the 338 Federal to the 338 Lapua Mag.
There is a HUGE selection of .338” bullets to cover every conceivable purpose, including match bullets. The .358” diameter available selection is limited by comparison.

[oldblinddog]

Some folks think there is no selection of cast bullets for the .338, but that is not true. There are bullets from 180 grains to well over 300 grains in the .338. Mouse fart to Elephant!

[charles1990]

Going to GunBroker, a bargain at $550.