[CourtJester]

I saw a Mossberg 338 at the store today for $380. Stainless steal, bolt action, synthetic stock, could be wrong but I was thinking it had a 21 or 22" barrel. Anyone have one or shot one? and what's the affective distance and accuracy out of the box???
I've always loved my 22's to fiddle with to 50 and 100 yards and a lot of trap shooting but over the past year I've been really having a freaken ball pushing the 223 and the 308 out to a few hundred yards and been doing well but I don't no $hit about the 338 Winchester Mag. Just curious as to whether or not I would be happy if Santa snagged that for me this year.

Thanks in advance for the input all.

[BlueTurf]

That sounds like a great deal but if you are going to spend the money you need to get what would make you happy. Do you hunt large game like elk? The .338 is a big favorite for elk. If you want a rifle for mostly target shooting I wouldn't recommend the .338. If you are not used to a big cartridge like this it is going to kick like a mule. It is going to be a lot more expensive to shoot than a .223 or .308. I passed on some great deals on a few big bore rifles because I knew they wouldn't be that much fun for target shooting. I still might get a .300 Win mag.

[NativH]

Nice cartridge for bear, elk, big stuff like that. Could shoot a whitetail with it but way over kill, way, way, way............... That a 4000+ ftlb energy cartridge and get ready for $40-$60 boxes of ammo. But you sure will impress your friends at the range.

[Sniper03]

Court,

The Mossberg rifles are good weapons. A lot of people do not know that they have been making barrels for several other companies for years! But the rifle you are mentioning is a hunting rifle and not necessarily a target type weapon. I would stick with the 300 Win Mag on the top end and even look at the 7mm Rem Mag and others for some long range shooting. However you can't beat the price of the Mossberg! But a good long range target rifle is going to run somewhere in $2000 - $3000 area.

03

[Muliemaster]

Originally Posted by NativH

Nice cartridge for bear, elk, big stuff like that. Could shoot a whitetail with it but way over kill, way, way, way............... That a 4000+ ftlb energy cartridge and get ready for $40-$60 boxes of ammo. But you sure will impress your friends at the range.

4000 fpe from a 300???? 40/60$ a box not true either, u could spend that but hell hornaday sst for a 300 are 28.99 per box. I dont think u really know about a 300 with claims like that.

[Muliemaster]

Originally Posted by NativH

Nice cartridge for bear, elk, big stuff like that. Could shoot a whitetail with it but way over kill, way, way, way............... That a 4000+ ftlb energy cartridge and get ready for $40-$60 boxes of ammo. But you sure will impress your friends at the range.

Damn my bad I thought u were talkin about a 300 sorry pard my bad. Yes a 338 is not cheap to shoot but behind the shoulder on a whitetail heck not over kill by any means just a good slam to the critter an a short blood trail

[NativH]

Originally Posted by Muliemaster

Damn my bad I thought u were talkin about a 300 sorry pard my bad. Yes a 338 is not cheap to shoot but behind the shoulder on a whitetail heck not over kill by any means just a good slam to the critter an a short blood trail

I guess I could use my 416 Rem Mag also but, why? My 30-06 is way over kill for a Texas whitetail so my 300, 338 and 416 stay at home waiting for the bigger game. And you want to see expensive ammo, try on 416 for grins.

[Muliemaster]

Originally Posted by NativH

I guess I could use my 416 Rem Mag also but, why? My 30-06 is way over kill for a Texas whitetail so my 300, 338 and 416 stay at home waiting for the bigger game. And you want to see expensive ammo, try on 416 for grins.

Yea I know what high dollar ammo is I have a double in .500 NE that was my grandpas, I have a ruger number 1 in 458 win so yea I know

[natman]

As usual, it depends on what you plan on doing with it. A 338 is a specialized tool. If you plan on doing a lot of elk or moose hunting, especially where an encounter with a grizzly is possible, it would be an excellent choice. If you want to shoot deer, pigs and/or antelope a 338 won't offer much advantage over a 30-06 except that it kicks considerably harder and the ammo is much more expensive.

[CourtJester]

I'm not sure what I would use it for. I have 20+ guns now and I really only shoot a few of them and the bulk of that is done at the range. I'm just ready for something with a little more of a jolt that will hold a solid pattern and start stepping my shots out to 500+ yards. Maybe a bit beyond that.