This ain't my first rodeo. Besides the enhanced sound, its also the hot gasses I, and everybody next to the shooter, get from the guy with the brake. Do you sit at the range and blow hot gasses on other shooters next to ya? Just asking.
Should I buy a .338?
- Thread starter MTLabrador
- Start date
rjthehunter
Well-known member
I shoot on my own land so I don't have to deal with crab asses like you at the range. Back in college when I'd go to the range, there was spots for you to shoot if you had a brake. I think you should find a different hobby or go sit somewhere else if you don't like it.
One of the worst kicking 338WMs I ever worked with was an early '80s Mod 70. It was on sale at Carter's Country, in Houston. I told a friend about it, he bought it, wanted me to load for it. I had only worked with the 7mm Rem mag, all the rest were 30-06 and smaller. He bought the dies. etc and I set him up with two loads. The Sierra 250 BT and the Speer 200 HC. They were both book max, but I can't remember what powder I used, probably IMR 4350. Anyhow, it beat the dog snot out of me! He killed a Texas whitetail with the 200HC, said it took a big chunk out of the offside, but he didn't care. He was a little skinny kid, I am much bigger, ha. My FIL had a 70's make of a Mod 70 Clone made for Sears, the "Ted Williams" 30-06 that was also a pile driver, ouch! Bad stock design for my body shape, ha. In early 90's I bought a Winchester 70 Safari Express in 375 and it too was just a nice push! Heavy as a truck axle for Utah's elk mountains, wow!
P.S. My first 338WM was a couple years earlier than the Win 70 375, it was a MarkII and had a pretty stiff trigger. It shot the then available Remington Factory load that that the 250 GS bullet into dime sized, 3 shot groups! It kicked the Burris 3x9's reticle out my first range session. They replaced it with a factory repaired Leupold 2.5x8 , one of my favorites. I made one unfruitful week long elk hunt with it and it was a joy to carry in the field (for a 40yrs old!) The following year right before elk season, I took it to an inhouse gunsmith at a local sports store. I wanted him to smooth up the trigger. He did smooth the trigger a tiny bit but I assumed he would have used a little strength to tighten action screws, but ( shame on me) I didn't check for myself if the receiver screws were tight. I tried to blame my long work days, but no excuse. ha It broke its bedding and I had to settle for a club like Choate synthetic, made my rifle close to 10#. Yeah the added weight made the recoil better (though it wasn't bad with that Ruger style stock.) I traded that rifle in on my first Mod 700 Mountain Rifle in .280 ( which I had Ackleyed by a different gunsmith.) I have since had an older Mod 77 "Tanger" that did not shoot for beans, but that Mark II was nice! If I was just a Road Hunter or hunted hayfields, sure, a heavy 338WM is awesome to have, settles right down in the High Prairie winds. But for hunting the rain soaked knife ridges, up above Schofield Reservoir, no, they are heart attacks just waiting to happen, ha
Last edited:
MTLabrador
Well-known member
On two consecutive days I had the two biggest bull elk I have ever had a chance at in my scope with no shot. The second one was a great 7x7 in thick timber with too much brush covering his body. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about that .338 and Buzz’s 250 gr partition zipping through a lodgepole….
I still wouldn’t have tried it, but watching him run off hurt.
I still wouldn’t have tried it, but watching him run off hurt.
I gave a young family man in church my first 9.3x62 with my handloaded 286gr Partitions. He later shot through some screening buckbrush to kill a nice sized raghorn bull was peeking behind close to 60yds away. It went right where he guesstimated the shoulder was. I may not have tried the shot, but he was young and excited! ha
You just described the 35 Whelen
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I’ve always been interested in the .35 Whelen as well.You just described the 35 Whelen
I decided to keep the brake on my Wby Mark V 338/06 Uncle Brad. I have nothing but love/respect for you sir, but its 6.75# of Pure Joy is just more fun to shoot with it on, ha. I always try to get down on the end of the range, I have my Peltor Electronic Muffs on. So far...no one has given me the Stink Eye!
Brakes don't put out hot gasses another shooter can feel at the range. I don't like brakes. But that just doesn't happen. mtmuley
Oh you know I'm just being a bit contrarian.I decided to keep the brake on my Wby Mark V 338/06 Uncle Brad. I have nothing but love/respect for you sir, but its 6.75# of Pure Joy is just more fun to shoot with it on, ha. I always try to get down on the end of the range, I have my Peltor Electronic Muffs on. So far...no one has given me the Stink Eye!
But still - I still truly dislike brakes and I'm shocked a man of the cloth would flirt with the devil's handiwork. 
Yes they work in one way, but fail in several others, noise being the primary. But then I don't carry hearing protection in the field! Course I type this sitting here with tinnitus chirping at me!My 338-06 was on the heavy side, so never found it hard to handle at the bench. But that's why I mostly hunt with a little 308 Kimber MT - light to pack while still manageable at the bench without a brake. But good stock design really plays a roll.
buffybr
Well-known member
My Dad didn't hunt, but he did give me my first .22 rifle when I was about 10-12, and a BB gun before that, so I did learn to shoot and liked it. I didn't hunt until I was in college. I shot my first elk with a borrowed 30-40 Krag, and my first centerfire rifle was a .30-06, which I later had it re-chambered to .30 Gibbs. For over 30 years that .30-06/.30 Gibbs kept my freezers full of elk and other wild meat including 2 Shiras moose bulls.
Beginning sometime in the mid '70s I thought that I should get a 7 mm Rem mag rifle, but it's ballistics were not that much different from my .30-06/.30 Gibbs that I couldn't justify buying a 7 mag. It wasn't until the early 2000s that I finally bought my first 7 mag.
Then in 2005 I booked an African cape buffalo hunt and I needed a bigger bore rifle for that, so I bought a .375 Rem Ultra Mag. Along the way, I bought a .22-250, a couple of .223's and .308 Wins, a .257 Ackley, won a .270 at a shoot at our range, and bought a .300 Weatherby.
So, long story short, I think that I have a pretty even battery of rifle calibers from .22 to .375, and I don't see any reason to have a .338 anything. So to the OP's question 6 pages ago, it's your $$, your rifle, and your choice. Buy what you want.
Beginning sometime in the mid '70s I thought that I should get a 7 mm Rem mag rifle, but it's ballistics were not that much different from my .30-06/.30 Gibbs that I couldn't justify buying a 7 mag. It wasn't until the early 2000s that I finally bought my first 7 mag.
Then in 2005 I booked an African cape buffalo hunt and I needed a bigger bore rifle for that, so I bought a .375 Rem Ultra Mag. Along the way, I bought a .22-250, a couple of .223's and .308 Wins, a .257 Ackley, won a .270 at a shoot at our range, and bought a .300 Weatherby.
So, long story short, I think that I have a pretty even battery of rifle calibers from .22 to .375, and I don't see any reason to have a .338 anything. So to the OP's question 6 pages ago, it's your $$, your rifle, and your choice. Buy what you want.
buffybr
Well-known member
Like so many of these threads, the discussion turns to muzzle brakes, and the BS of personal hate for them by some abounds:
"If you need a brake, you should shoot a smaller cartridge."
"Why would anyone put a brake on a .22 caliber rifle?"
"The blast from a brake blows everything off the benches on either side of the rifle with a brake."
"With the increased noise from a brake you have to wear both ear plugs and ear muffs."
And the list continues...
When I joined the US Army in 1968 we were trained with the M-14 7.62 (or .308 Win) rifles.
By the time I went through OCS later that year we were trained with M-16 5.56 (or .223) rifles.
And most of our military in Vietnam used the M-16 rifles. As a Signal corps officer I was only issued a 1911 .45 acp pistol, but I quickly obtained and carried a M-16. Our civilian A-15 rifles are exactly the same rifle WITHOUT the full auto selector lever.
All of those M-14 and M-16 rifles had "flash suppressors" on their muzzles. A flash suppressor is just an extension of the barrel with slots in it's sides to re-direct some of he hot gasses to the sides. Exactly the same thing as our modern muzzle brakes which are an extension of the barrel with holes in it's sides to re-direct some of the hot gasss to the sides.
I go out to our range almost every week through out the year, and have done that since about 1980. On each trip I shoot 3 or 4 pistols, 2 or 3 rifles, then 2 to 4 lines of Skeet or Trap. I see and participate in a lot of shooting. I wear ear muffs on the rifle and pistol side and foam or moulded ear plugs on the shotgun side. I have never had anything "blown off" of my bench from the muzzle blast from someone shooting a braked rifle on either side of me.
For about 20 years I seriously competed in registered Trap and Skeet shoots. Most of the serious competitors (myself included) shoot ported shotguns, which are nothing more than holes or ports cut near the muzzle of the barrels to re-direct some of the hot gasses, mainly to reduce muzzle jump. At the shotgun ranges at our club, and especially right before fall bird seasons open, many shotgun hunters come out and shoot a few lines of trap or skeet. Often, these shooters will shoot their field load shells. IMO, 12 ga field loads shot in a non-ported shotgun are louder than 12 ga target loads shot in ported guns. More velocity is gained by more powder which results in a louder report.
I have muzzle brakes on 2 of my rifles. The first time shot my .375 RUM I could barely shoot enough shells to zero the scope. I had never shot anything with that much recoil. So I had a KDF muzzle brake put on it and have taken it on 2 African hunts and on an Alaskan Brown bear hunt. That brake reduced the felt recoil enough that I have developed sub moa loads with 4 different bullets for that rifle, and I am completely comfortable shooting it from any position, including prone.
Because of the recoil reduction success that the KDF brake did on my .375 RUM, when I bought my .300 Weatherby, before I shot my first bullet through it, I had a KDF brake installed on it. With it's brake, it doesn't kick any harder than my .308 Win (in the same model and weight rifle). This quickly became my favorite rifle and I have taken it on 6 international hunts on top of my elk and some other hunts here at home.
I always take foam earplugs with me when I'm hunting -- with any rifle, and on the guided hunts where I've used one of my braked rifles, I have extra foam earplugs that I offer to my guide.
"If you need a brake, you should shoot a smaller cartridge."
"Why would anyone put a brake on a .22 caliber rifle?"
"The blast from a brake blows everything off the benches on either side of the rifle with a brake."
"With the increased noise from a brake you have to wear both ear plugs and ear muffs."
And the list continues...
When I joined the US Army in 1968 we were trained with the M-14 7.62 (or .308 Win) rifles.
By the time I went through OCS later that year we were trained with M-16 5.56 (or .223) rifles.
And most of our military in Vietnam used the M-16 rifles. As a Signal corps officer I was only issued a 1911 .45 acp pistol, but I quickly obtained and carried a M-16. Our civilian A-15 rifles are exactly the same rifle WITHOUT the full auto selector lever.
All of those M-14 and M-16 rifles had "flash suppressors" on their muzzles. A flash suppressor is just an extension of the barrel with slots in it's sides to re-direct some of he hot gasses to the sides. Exactly the same thing as our modern muzzle brakes which are an extension of the barrel with holes in it's sides to re-direct some of the hot gasss to the sides.
I go out to our range almost every week through out the year, and have done that since about 1980. On each trip I shoot 3 or 4 pistols, 2 or 3 rifles, then 2 to 4 lines of Skeet or Trap. I see and participate in a lot of shooting. I wear ear muffs on the rifle and pistol side and foam or moulded ear plugs on the shotgun side. I have never had anything "blown off" of my bench from the muzzle blast from someone shooting a braked rifle on either side of me.
For about 20 years I seriously competed in registered Trap and Skeet shoots. Most of the serious competitors (myself included) shoot ported shotguns, which are nothing more than holes or ports cut near the muzzle of the barrels to re-direct some of the hot gasses, mainly to reduce muzzle jump. At the shotgun ranges at our club, and especially right before fall bird seasons open, many shotgun hunters come out and shoot a few lines of trap or skeet. Often, these shooters will shoot their field load shells. IMO, 12 ga field loads shot in a non-ported shotgun are louder than 12 ga target loads shot in ported guns. More velocity is gained by more powder which results in a louder report.
I have muzzle brakes on 2 of my rifles. The first time shot my .375 RUM I could barely shoot enough shells to zero the scope. I had never shot anything with that much recoil. So I had a KDF muzzle brake put on it and have taken it on 2 African hunts and on an Alaskan Brown bear hunt. That brake reduced the felt recoil enough that I have developed sub moa loads with 4 different bullets for that rifle, and I am completely comfortable shooting it from any position, including prone.
Because of the recoil reduction success that the KDF brake did on my .375 RUM, when I bought my .300 Weatherby, before I shot my first bullet through it, I had a KDF brake installed on it. With it's brake, it doesn't kick any harder than my .308 Win (in the same model and weight rifle). This quickly became my favorite rifle and I have taken it on 6 international hunts on top of my elk and some other hunts here at home.
I always take foam earplugs with me when I'm hunting -- with any rifle, and on the guided hunts where I've used one of my braked rifles, I have extra foam earplugs that I offer to my guide.
Depends on how the brake is made, right! Some throw the gasses forward, and some blow the sideways and some to the back. Correct me if I'm wrong.
It's all about you, I know. Good for you.
Insane? Really? Better go tell everyone who shoots PRS that they’re pussies. Lots of braked 6MMs on the line. Very inconsiderate to the other people there…and for absolutely no reason! I know because the captain (THE CAPTAIN!) of some college’s rifle team told me. There can be no higher authority.
Also, I do hunt for with ear protection and won’t fire my rifle before I put it in. Lots of people do it. I already have tinnitus in my left ear and don’t care to make it worse.
Carry on corndog. mtmuley
Benfromalbuquerque
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2020
- Messages
- 1,621
I too enjoy a .270 for big game hunting and it’s one a those that’s just right for me. The flat fast shooting, sufficient energy and gentle recoil are probably what you too enjoy in the .270. I think if you’re going to go big, even so big as to warrant a brake, go bigger. That pretty M77 ought not be ruined with a thing hanging off the muzzle. Let it go to someone who wants to be smacked around and scope bite. No, you need to go all Simple Jack here and start looking at .338 Lapua minimum. .458 Win or Lott, .50 BMG. Because we know what we already have is adequate and to go bigger is just for fckssake so go all the way.
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,643
Some folks mistake the effects of recoil after beef and bean burritos on the way to the range for hot gasses from a rifle muzzle.
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,643
One hundred twenty posts in and no pics of the newly acquired.338 Win Mag. Lame.
Looks like you can lead a horse to water…
Looks like you can lead a horse to water…
