I love my 338-06

[elmerkeithclone]

A while back a gentleman on this forum (OldRgr) contacted me knowing that I was on a quest to get a 338-06.

He just so happened to have a dandy, done up right 98 mauser in that very flavor! He allowed me to make it mine.

Had I built a 338-06 on a mauser action to my tastes it would have been exactly as this one is set up. The beautiful, hand checkered English walnut stock is very sleek without a hint of bulk. It is one of those rifles that when shouldered feels perfect. It wears a Weaver K2.5 scope held in place by Talley hardware.

This gun gets to go to Oklahoma in 5 weeks to kill a pig or two. In preparation I loaded up some Hornady 200 grain Interbonds on top of a healthy dose of Varget powder. At the range this combination proved to be a winner grouping at just over an inch at 100 yards. A 2.5 power scope isn't very user friendly for wringing out the best the gun has to offer in accuracy.

This morning just for the heck of it I pulled the k2.5 off and installed a new Redfield 3x9 and went to the range. Once at the range I bore sighted it the old fashion way. I removed the bolt and with aid of sandbags I got the gun situationed so that when looking down the bore as if it were a peep sight the white target at 100 yards was smack dab in the middle of the bore. I then adjusted the cross hairs on the scope to the middle of that white sheet of paper. The first three rounds fired all landed 3 inches high and 4 inches right and they could be covered with a quarter. A little more tweaking and I was right where I wanted to be at 2 inches high at 100 yards.

The higher magnification of the Redfield scope coupled with a perfect day weather wise allowed me to see the true potential of my new favorite middle bore. The last group I fired on the day was a good one to quit on. I put 5 rounds into 5/8ths of an inch.

When I got home I put the K2.5 back on it knowing the 1/2 inch it gives up in accuracy due to less magnification will mean nothing to those pigs...beside it looks like it belongs on this rifle.

There have been a whole lot of guns come and go at my house over the years and only a small percentage will end up being part of my estate one day......this 338-06 is one of them!

 

[Smokey]

Well done EKC! Its always nice to have everything go right and feel right.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Very cool EKC! ya know.... if ya shoot that thing out to 200 yds, you might get better than 1 MOA

 

[Smitty of the North]

A wonderful opportunity

A wonderful opportunity

Well EKC:

What'chew got there, is a "Custom Rifle", that suits you well.

Don't, never SELL it.

Keep it for shootin holes in things, and in the family.

This will be a good and historic thing, of great importance.

There is no doubt in my mind, that this "Rifle" could be responsible for boosting the drab "Flatlander Lifestyle" for many generations to come.

I'm sure of it.

Smitty of the North

 

[evandailey]

Keep it for shootin holes in things, and in the family.

This will be a good and historic thing, of great importance.

I expect shooting holes in the family would be a historic thing, but not a good thing. Haha. I couldn't resist the joke there Smitty.

 

[Smokey]

I expect shooting holes in the family would be a historic thing, but not a good thing. Haha. I couldn't resist the joke there Smitty.

I bet nobody grabs a turkey leg at Smitty's house at Thanksgiving before he gets one or else -whamo! It would cut down on the number of gifts ya had to buy though if one thinned out some of the shifty relatives...

 

[elmerkeithclone]

I bet nobody grabs a turkey leg at Smitty's house at Thanksgiving before he gets one or else -whamo! It would cut down on the number of gifts ya had to buy though if one thinned out some of the shifty relatives...

Yeah, the wifes Uncle Harold farted at the table last Thanksgiving(a bad one) so there is some merit to what Smitty says! I think I'll take the 338-06 to the table with me next turkey day Just kidding, Harold is farting in the nursing home now and ain't likely to get out afore Thanksgiving....unless it's in a box! Think what ya like...if Harold makes it a couple more years he's apt to vote for BO again...... I ain't donating him any organs!

 

[pinehavensredrocket]

an interesting caliber...........and with all the .33 cal bullets available now, perfect for any kind of shooting a guy might want to do. post some pictures of that new firearm!

 

[BrownBear]

This gun gets to go to Oklahoma in 5 weeks to kill a pig or two. In preparation I loaded up some Hornady 200 grain Interbonds on top of a healthy dose of Varget powder.

Be prepared to love those Interbonds on game. The velocities of your new love are just about perfect for them. I used to load them down to 2550 for a friend's 338 Winnie because he was kinda recoil shy. Performance (both his and the bullets) was so good I ended up loading them for several other folks.

 

[Smitty of the North]

Some people are just plumb illiteratic, EKC.

I never suggested you shoot up your no-count relatives.

Smitty of the North

 

[boliep]

Some people are just plumb illiteratic, EKC.

I never suggested you shoot up your no-count relatives.

Smitty of the North

I have a few he can practice on.

 

[elmerkeithclone]

Some people are just plumb illiteratic, EKC.

I never suggested you shoot up your no-count relatives.

Smitty of the North

Yeah, I know Smitty but who ever thunked it up must know em. Most of them coulda played a role on the Andy Griffith show. Driscol Darling coulda found a match for Charlene and Ernest T Bass coulda upped the IQ of Uncle Harold's grand kids!

They all get drunk when the Cardinals win and refuse to go to church when they loose! When they do go to church they either go drunk or get drunk after they get there. It wouldn't surprise me none iffen they played with biting snakes while the organist played.

And they are all staunch Democrats!

I took no offense to the shootin momma's shirt tail kin folk comments.

Heck-a fire some of them's last names is McCoy...direct descendants!

We don't swap Christmas cards!

 

[back country]

I "need" another rifle like I need another wife .... BUT thoughts of a 338/06 (or maybe a 338 Federal) wake me in the wee hours (no kiddin') I wonder if one of those "cheap" New Haven model 70 '06's on Gunbroker would make a good re-bore candidate ?? I would hate to think of doing that to my Montana 308 (but I'm tempted)

 

[elmerkeithclone]

I "need" another rifle like I need another wife .... BUT thoughts of a 338/06 (or maybe a 338 Federal) wake me in the wee hours (no kiddin') I wonder if one of those "cheap" New Haven model 70 '06's on Gunbroker would make a good re-bore candidate ?? I would hate to think of doing that to my Montana 308 (but I'm tempted)

Know what back country! I had that very problem in regards to the 338-06. I sent a clean as a pin Ruger 77 tang safety 30-06 off to JES rifle reboring to become a 338-06 and he did an outstanding job. In the short while that he had my rifle OldRgr sent some pictures my way of this 98 mauser. It was my dream gun but the timing was all wrong. I had just forked over a bunch of money to send my grand daugther to China on a missions trip and money wise it was not the logical thing to do. BUT, I did it any way and I have had the gun out of the cabinet more since I got it than all the rest combined.

A true woodsman from the north woods of Minnesota now has the 77 that JES rebored and loves it!

The 338 Federal is a dandy little round too and I doubt that the critters would know it from a 338-06!

For what its worth, I would trust JES with a rebore even on a Kimber! He's that good! In fact I got something else in mind for him but that needs a thread of it's own.

 

[elmerkeithclone]

Here she is.

 

[elmerkeithclone]

Two more...

 

[swapdonkey]

I just bought a 338-06 this winter. It is a copper excaliber and I went to 210 grain barnes TTSX. I have not had a chance to chrno it yet, but with 53.5 grains of reloader 15 it is shooting right about a half inch and some times smaller if I do my part. I really enjoy shooting it, there is noticably less recoil them my 338WM and is just a hair under it in FPS.

 

[alaska bush man]

AK Guns and Ammo has my old Rem 700 in 338-06 for sale.........I had a Mcgowen Barrel put on it. Sure was a sweet rifle, I bought it in 1992 and sold it 1998 or 1999. Someone put a set of sights on it. I used 210 Noslers Part and IMR 4320 in it sure shot sweet.

 

[mogas]

I am shooting 338-O6 imp. and 8mm-06 imp and find both rifle to be extemely accurate! As soon as I can figure out how to post a few pics from my computer files, I will post some targets and load data

 

[.338 mag.]

I bought a .338-06 from a guy a long time ago. It was on a commercial Mauser action, 22" Douglas Barrel, good iron sights and a nice McMillan stock. It had a parkarized finish. I shot 210 grain Nosler Partitions and 225 grain Barnes X out of it. It held five in the magazine and shot very well. If I remember the 225's clocked at a little over 2,600 fps mv and the 210's were around 2,700 fps mv. My daughter blew a pass through hole in a small bull moose's lungs with it at about 250 yards and it ran about 40 yards and piled up. Some time later I sold it to a guy at work because the girls always used a 30-06 and I used a .338 Win. Mag. I am trying to think of a shot I have taken with either a 30-06 or .338 mag. that I could not have done with the .338-06, can't think of one. Wish I would have kept it, another of my dumb decisions!