Big Bullets for Big Animals?

[RevJim]

338 win mag with 225 ttsx is my go to for bear, moose and elk. Shot 6 elk and five moose with that gun and not even sure how many bears. Hunt with it more then any other rifle

You just gotta love a 338 Win Mag! Its like a 30-06 of Medium Bores...everything "compares to it". With light Monos it can keep up with the Win Mags for flat/powerful and the 375 H&H with the 225-250 Powerhouses!

 

[RevJim]

Me too.
Those 12ga slugs flat tip em over !

12ga, .73 caliber , 830gr Dixie Terminator slugs are still the boss in the puckerbrush!!

 

[RevJim]

That 35 Whelan I had with the 250X and 200X was just a cutter, would chop a big hole all the way through, two big holes. But Life is too short, been there, done that, no more 35s for me, but they will always be in my Rifleman's heart!

 

[hank4elk]

The duece. Twin 50's for dangerous game...

Since then a 30-30 and the 700 30-06 have done well for me in 50 years

 

[Rie Bread]

Always had a hard on for those big heavies.

Sheesh I need to get my wife to dress in spandex and shoot big bore rifles….

 

[mdhunter61]

I used a Ruger Model 77 in .338 WinMag for Alaska moose and caribou hunting for many years. Did my last remote Alaska hunt in Fall of 2023, so I will probably sell my .338 soon. I love that rifle more than any other I ever owned, and it seemed to fit me like a glove. My only regret is not hunting grizzly or brown bear with it.

 

[tkhuntsman]

I shot my first batch of "Big Animals" in 1996. I shot a handful of deer sized, but shot 1 or each: Kudu, Red Hartebeast, South African Oryxz ( not super big) Blue Wildebeast and a big Zebra stallion. Used a 35 Whelen Ackley Improved/250X going 2600fps. It was like a hot knife in butter! Only caught 2 bullets, lengthwise shots in Kudu and Zebra. It "ruined me"! ha I have since then took same animals, on two other hunts, plus 5 cow elk plus one huge Muley with a 45 Colt Carbine. I've shot 4 of the big Spike elk size Gemsbuck of Namibia. Biggest on many big hogs is 30.06/200 NPT and 44 Mag Carbine. Used 300WM/180 XBT, 340Wby/210XBT and 375 H&H/270 Failsafe. Any angle, didn't matter! I "love" a 338 anything on elk, what about you? If you like it, what do you "love" as a "heavy hitter"? (I consider a 300WM/180 a heavy hitter!)

I like big guns 200 Grn 300 wm, 225 grn 338, 285 Grn 338 Lapua. 300 grn 45-70, all good hunting rounds for me. I like small and medium calibers also. Pretty much just love guns but I do enjoy hunting with the heavy hitters.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

I used a Ruger Model 77 in .338 WinMag for Alaska moose and caribou hunting for many years. Did my last remote Alaska hunt in Fall of 2023, so I will probably sell my .338 soon. I love that rifle more than any other I ever owned, and it seemed to fit me like a glove. My only regret is not hunting grizzly or brown bear with it.

View attachment 363149

Some of us would appreciate if you posted that .338 in classifieds here.

 

[GHOXP]

.30-30s have been known to take down grizzly bears with one shot.

 

[Steiny77]

I love that rifle more than any other I ever owned, and it seemed to fit me like a glove. My only regret is not hunting grizzly or brown bear with it.

Sounds like it's time to book a hunt.

 

[RevJim]

At the time, that 30-30 was seen as a "Gee Wiz" killer! I grew up n Tx with a 30-30, my Father called it "The Big Gun". I had better shoot those deer/hogs with some sort of "meat saving" shot too! He was a WW2 Vet, fought in MacArthur's bunch. He didn't even consider a 30-06 for Hunting. Said they "are for killing Japs and ruin too da---d much meat"! ha Everyone in our 30-30 family used 150gr, felt the 170 didn't open up fast enough.

 

[Bambistew]

I'm on my second 375H&H and love everything about that rifle. The barrel is chopped at 20", has a Brown Precision stock, scoped and loaded its about 8lbs total. The M70 I had was 10.5.

I've kille around a dozen animals with my 375s. Ranges from 20 to nearly 400 yards, animals ranged from duiker to moose/eland. I'm not sure there is any magic cartrige as I've killed all sorts of animals with many different calibers. IMO it really comes down to how confidant you are in shooting the rifle you have in your hand and shot placement.

 

[RevJim]

I like the 375 H&H and "my favorite", the 375 Weatherby Mag! I have owned (one at a time of course) six , mostly Mod 700 BDL SS but two Whitworth Express 375s (had one Mod 700 reamed out to the Wby.) Those rifles were used by me and two friends on cow elk , a Warthog through the hips while running, killed him on the spot! Zebra, Waterbuck, Black Wildebeast, Red Hartebeast, numerous smaller antelope, all with the 270 Fail Safe. I had loaded the 375 Wby with the 270 TSX and traded it to an Outfitter friend in Texas for an Aoudad Hunt. ( I used the 338 RUM for him!) He used that Wby with my ammo to loan to his clients in very thick East Texas Youpon Thickets for Cape Eland (Exotics hunts) I agree with JOC, "Every Rifleman should own a 375 at least once in his Lifetime"!

 

[BrentD]

Sheesh I need to get my wife to dress in spandex and shoot big bore rifles….

450 bushmaster is NOT big bore. That's ridiculous.

535 grs for this worked well.

 

[MS 9x56]

I like any and all 35 calibers 350 legend and 35 Remington for deer. 358 winchester 9x56 MS for hogs and black bears. 35 Whelen and 9.3x62 for brown and Kodiak bears and Moose. A 35 for all sizes of big game.

 

[belshawelk]

30 Nosler with 200Gr Barns LRX

 

[RevJim]

450 bushmaster is NOT big bore. That's ridiculous.

535 grs for this worked well.

View attachment 363193

Sweet! A great Target for a Great Rifle!

 

[RevJim]

In late '90s I had my Smith put a Lothar Walther barrel chambered for the 9.3x62 on a Winchester Classic PF. Made a great hunting rifle. I carried it on a couple of unsuccessful elk hunts then gave it to my Youth Minister. He shot a Spike elk with my handloaded 286 NPT like a Big Hammer! ha In 2004 I gave my German Descended Son in Law a CC550 FS in 9.3x62 when he came home from the Sandbox. I put an older Burris 1x4 on it with a German #4 Plex. I was with him when he floored a 300+ hog with it using Vortex 300 TSX. Wicked!