.338 Ruger; is it the real deal?

[posadjan]

I've been using a Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem mag for elk hunting and I'm a big believer in the cartidge and the rifle. However,one thing that bugs me with the M77 is the 24" barrel...it's kind of long and gets hung up in the brush. I was looking at the new Ruger Hawkeye (20" barrel) chambered in the .338 Ruger. Does anyone out there have any experience with this combo?
Thanks!
PBO

[Bushman]

Not to dissuade you from buying a new rifle if that is what you want, but have you thought about reworking your old one? I shoot a 7mm RM myself and don't mind the 24" barrel, but then my close in deer rifle wears a 20". You could cut and re-crown the 7mm RM barrel as an option, but I don't think that I would take it all the way down to 20". Or you could just get a .338 WM barrel fitted up as the two cartridge heads are the same size. I'm sure that the new .338 Ruger is a fine cartridge, but the way people are not spending money these days makes me think that keeping with one of the old standards might be a prudent path. Oh, and welcome to the forums.

[posadjan]

Will shortening the barrel adversely change the ballistics?? I can drill sub MOA groups at 300 yd with this rifle and I'd cry if I ruined it just to shave a couple inches off the barrel.
PBO

[DancesWithKnives]

Shortening the barrel may decrease velocity slightly and, therefore, have an effect on ballistics. However, if it is done properly, a four-inch shortening should not appreciably decrease accuracy. I'd talk to a good gunsmith about the question. [Of course, like you, I'm always reluctant to change something that is working well....]

DWK

[rimrock]

ID second the suggestion to just re- barrel the 7mm mag to 338 win mag, a 338 win mag is an excellent ELK caliber if used with the correct ammo
now IM certain there are other great loads but a hornaday 250 grain spire point , with a 215 federal primer and 63 grains of ww760 certainly kills ELK rather well , used in my friends rifle, for many years
and it certainly seems to hit hard.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_11_46/ai_65574867/

http://www.handloads.org/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=338%20Winchester%20Magnum&Weight=All&type=Rifle&Order=Powder&Source=

http://www.chuckhawks.com/338WinMag.htm

[dave-t.]

I wouldn't touch any rifle that is keeping sub-moa out to 300yds. Not on a bet.


Get the different rifle. Try it, and see if it is a shooter, or if it does something more than your 7 does on elk. If you only want one rifle, then you can decide which one is the keeper.

And, if you end up getting rid of the 7mm, be sure to bring a couple targets with groups shot on them as a barginning chip.;)

I have a Ruger 300wm 24" barrel that at 100yds with 180grn hornady's honestly does 7/8-1&1/4" always, and I won't sell it on principal.

[Bushman]

I agree with that Dave. After I'd shot a couple of elk with 160 grain Partitions from a 7mm RM I was ready to make mine into a .338 WM too. My buddy with the .338 WM shoots 210 grain Nosler Partitions and he says that it really slaps an elk. I switched to 175 grain TBBC bullets and saw a much more satisfying result on my next bull. It is still a 7mm RM and my elk were just as dead as my buddy's back on the meat pole. Posadjan is more concerned with the barrel length than the cartridge I think. A magnum gets pretty loud when you put a shorter barrel on them.

Brown Precision wanted to cut my barrel back to 22" when I had them rework the rifle with a Kevlar stock, but I'm glad that I kept it at the original 24" length now.

My buddy with the ,338 WM traded his rifle off to get a .338 Ultra Magnum and wants his old rifle back again.

[REM]

You call yourself a hunter! and you worry about 4 inches of barrel length, come on! 2 inch 4 inch bush barrel movement, you better be looking at more than that!

and if we have to tell you all about that you better just stay at home cuz you might just hurt yourself.

[Smokey]

I have been fortunate to shoot several elk with different calibers and have seen many others shot as I guided friends. I haven't seen any caliber drop an elk as consistently as the 338 WM. Most, not all fell in their tracks. Although I still have two 338 WM, I use a 30-06 most of the time [its a lot lighter to carry all day].

All of the calibers discussed will readily kill elk with proper shot placement.

[Chuck S]

http://www.gunhuntermag.com/Articles/tabid/113/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/191/The-3006-Becomes-a-Magnum.aspx

Very interesting article and it mirrors what many of us have discovered over the past few years. The old 06 still stands it's grounds against the older Mags and especially many of the newer one. Besides due to a slimmer bullet per given weight when compared to a .338, it penetrates better and carrys it's momentum further.

[Hi Ball]

STOP THE MUSIC PLEASE!!!:rolleyes:

Now lets be practical shall we, you don't hack off 4 inches of a rifle barrel that shoots sub-MOA at 300 yards......not unless your a total idiot.:rolleyes:

Now I second the idea of you purchasing a .338 Win mag, I have at least 3 of those .338 calibers rifles scattered around my domain. It is a top shelf elk hunting tool and when using a premium bullet, hits bull elk like the hammer of THOR plan and simple.

My favorite bullet weight is the 225 grain in a TBBC, Nosler Partition Gold or the Swift A Frames. However, I been experimenting with the Nosler Accubond for shooting passed 400 yards and it has shown me a thing or two with great accuracy down range.

[Chuck S]

Those 338 Win Mags are big Elk medicine but then you need big medicine to treat your bruised and mangled shoulder!!!!!!:eek::eek: After years of shooting the 300 mags with heavy bullets and the 338, I now opt for doing more with less and the 06 that recently joined our family is the upper limit on damaging the old shoulder.:cool:

[Bushman]

Chuck, I think more than a few of us can tell that same story. Back in my youth, my dad's buddy who owned the deer camp was a gun guy and let me borrow his Pre-64 .300 WM. I probably shot down half a dozen deer with that rifle and finally said to myself what are you doing? The concussion would make the snow fall out of the trees and I was blowing large divots out the woods behind the deer, but the deer were not falling down any faster, or even as fast for that matter as they did when I'd shot them with a .30-30. I help a lot of guys sight in at our local rifle range and a .30-06, while still no cream puff in the recoil department, is just about the upper limit of what most guys can shoot well out there. It is an exercise in diplomacy to suggest that maybe their scope is loose when their magnum is all over the target when both of us know the real reason.

[Chuck S]

I've got an 06 in a short Mannlicher light weight that agrees with that no cream puff comment. I get around it by reduced loads in the 125-130 gn department till actually hunting. I understand the facination with heavy hitters but also know that with age comes wisdom!:D For sure, were I inclined to go after big bears or other dangerous game then give me a big and heavy hitting rifle for sure.:cool:

[Hi Ball]

Chuck S, ............Now there are plenty of ways to keep a .300 Win mag from turning your lilly white skin to shades of purple! PAST RECOIL PAD is just one I have used in the past and lets not forget those blasted muzzle brakes that many seem to live by nowdays when picking up their favorite shoulder cannon from the local gunstore. Not to mention all the various "recoil pads" that can be put on the end of the stock!;) :)

Now my favorite hunting rifle for elk is a little model 70 Winchester 30-06 turned into a .338/06 caliber. It is light to carry and will do anything it's big brother (.338 Win mag ) can do out to 250 yards plus with a 210 grain Nosler Partition bullet. :D :cool:

[Hi Ball]

Chuck S., Whoooooa Hoss! Now how many times do plan on shooting at that elk in the wilderness before it gives up the ghost may I ask???:rolleyes:

I average about 5 shots in a week when hunting elk out WEST! Now that sure is not going to bruise me up and color me purple. This includes checking my rifle's zero twice during that week.;)

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

I'd like to actually answer the original question; something that has somehow been lost in this thread... other than a few useful comments which specifically addressed the original query.

Now first, leave your 7-Mag alone. It is a fine shooting weapon and is extremely useful for 95% of ALL hunting that you'll ever encounter. The 7mm Remington Magnum and 7mm Weatherby Magnum are perhaps the perfect all-around hunting weapons for the North American outdoorsman (the 30-06 could be equally argued for this post). This, because most shooters can handle the recoil and most game will quickly crumble to its punch (proper bullets/game). I favor the 175 Nosler Partition, but the 160/165s are great all-rounders.

Secondly, the .338 RCM is indeed a fine cartridge. Being a guy who once fell deeply in love with the .350 Remington Magunum for its 'smack-down' abilities from a very short tube/handy package/ability to actually climb mountains and fight through tangle brush ALL day without completely killing one's self, etc... I see the same from the .338 RUM, but with better SD numbers. As an aside, I've used the .375 Ruger with 20" tube on numerous 'biters' and 'gutters' and truly love the shorter more compact package. I do believe that I may soon sell off my 9.3 and .338 Win Mag (gasp!).

As to the comment about the 30-06 on cape buffalo... hell, that is nothing new, Hemingway did it, as did countless others. I've never killed anything that large with the '06, although it is one of my favorite cartridges. I have killed Asiatic Buffalo with a weapon as light as the .300 Weatherby with a combo of bullets.... the lightest being the 200 grain Nosler Partition and best suited being the 240 grain Woodleigh. That said, the .338 did a much better job and the same can be said for the 9.3/.375... once you jump up to one of the 40s or 458s, well that is just a whole different world of specialist arms and they surely do put the hurt on all that come before them!

[Chuck S]

Hi Ball,
I've heard a lot of good things about that 338/06. A lot of ooomph but not quite so much coming back at ya when compared to the 338 Win or even the 35 Whelen or Wailen as my neighbor calls it. :) I was leaning stiffly towards one in the 338/06 in a left hand conversion with custom barrel etc when the Steyr came along. Since by going up to a 220 Nosler or even a 240 gn Woodleigh, I can approximate the striking power of the 338/06 or the 35 Whelen, I went with Mannlicher. Besides have had a life long love affair with those full stocked beauties. Where are you chasing elk this season? Saw a couple nice ones over on the sotheast side of the Snowies this earlier this fall. As for me, hunting right out of McFadden, north of Laramie and hunting antelope starting tomorrow with the bow in my backyard. For deer, it'll probably be Mulies somewhere up in the Med Bow Forest.
Good Hunting
Chuck S

[Hi Ball]

Chuck S, I used to hunt outside of Larime for years up in that Snowy Range area. I know Sugar Loaf Mountain like the back of my hand, all the way over (40 miles mind you) to Sarratoga and the Wolf Hotel. The best damn steak house in the USA bare none.;) :D :D

Now lets not forget the trout in the Rob Roy or the big lake outside Sarratoga, mighty fine for big browns you betcha. Then there is plenty of speed goats just before you come to Cenntenial before the big climb up the mountain.