The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Savage 116 in .338 Win Mag

bclark1 · July 17, 2006, 01:55 PM

i had the same thoughts about a .338 win mag, as a longer-shooting, heavy-hitting round. then i did some homework. up to about 180gr bullets, a 30-06 is going to be flatter shooting and faster downrange than the .338. if you want to shoot long to good effect, you need it to start fast and stay fast. it starts fast with the muzzle velocity, and stays fast by minimizing drag. without getting technical, smaller cross sections are going to cut down on drag. if you purely want to shoot long, i'd get something considerably smaller that won't beat you up as much. the .338 lapua is cool, but as you mentioned, expensive. if you want to go cheap, the .300 win mag is probably a smarter bet, and still has enough weight to knock the tar out of anything you'd probably ever shoot it at. it's also the latest round for our military's snipers. if you have some extra money to spend, though, but not lapua change, i would look into the .300 weatherby mag. it's replaced the .338 on my wish list. bullet's aren't quite as big, and they're on the pricey side compared to non-proprietary calibers, but the platform to shoot them can be had relatively cheap and the velocity's got at least a couple hundred FPS at the muzzle on pretty much anything 30-cal or bigger that i've seen. i haven't shot it, and i'm no expert, but on my reading i think that's the one i'm going to jump for when i get the chance - i think it's 3rd or 4th in line on the wish list at this point.

July 17, 2006, 01:55 PM	#8
bclark1 Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,531	i had the same thoughts about a .338 win mag, as a longer-shooting, heavy-hitting round. then i did some homework. up to about 180gr bullets, a 30-06 is going to be flatter shooting and faster downrange than the .338. if you want to shoot long to good effect, you need it to start fast and stay fast. it starts fast with the muzzle velocity, and stays fast by minimizing drag. without getting technical, smaller cross sections are going to cut down on drag. if you purely want to shoot long, i'd get something considerably smaller that won't beat you up as much. the .338 lapua is cool, but as you mentioned, expensive. if you want to go cheap, the .300 win mag is probably a smarter bet, and still has enough weight to knock the tar out of anything you'd probably ever shoot it at. it's also the latest round for our military's snipers. if you have some extra money to spend, though, but not lapua change, i would look into the .300 weatherby mag. it's replaced the .338 on my wish list. bullet's aren't quite as big, and they're on the pricey side compared to non-proprietary calibers, but the platform to shoot them can be had relatively cheap and the velocity's got at least a couple hundred FPS at the muzzle on pretty much anything 30-cal or bigger that i've seen. i haven't shot it, and i'm no expert, but on my reading i think that's the one i'm going to jump for when i get the chance - i think it's 3rd or 4th in line on the wish list at this point.