Experience with a .30-338?

[coogs]

Any one out there have any experience with the .30-338? Traded for a rifle, 1903 custom, full bull barrel, 20x big tube Unertl on it. Rifle won the 1000 yard @ Wimbleton 3 years in the 70's as what I am told by the owners brothers. The owner has passed, aquired it from his widow. He was also a pistol shooter on the Navy team, as well as the rifle. Hope to just try the long range stuff, don't want to compete, just looking for some insight into this cartridge. Found a letter with the ammo that has some other names on it as to possible prior ownership(?) and info regarding long range loads, barrel twists, powder, etc. Appreciate the input, Thanks, Coogs.

[bigbrowndog]

You can use 308 Norma mag load data for it, as they are essentially the same round.  I used to own a 308 Norma and it is a fine long range round, It gives up very little to nothing to the 300 win mag or any of the other standard length or new short mags.
good luck with it.

Trapr

[2sheriffs]

I have a 30-338 built on a rechambered 1917 Winchester Enfield. You can either neck up 7mm Rem. Magnum or neck down 338 Win. Mag. It was built just before Winchester came out with the 300 Winchester Mag. when everybody thought they would use the 338 necked down. Some also called it the 30 Belted Newton. I loaded 180 grain Spear with 69 Grains of IMR 4350 after we used up all of the old surplus H4831 that Dad used to get that came in paper bags. Reduce load 10% and work up for your gun as freebore varied and also case volume depending on what case was used. Sierra showed loads in the older manuals, I don't
know if the new ones still have it. Last time I called the Sierra 800 numbeer they told me that they have not updated the data. You can also use 308 Norma Mag. data, being sure to reduce it and work up as the case volume is just a little bit more in the norma mag. and many of the factory rifle had more freebore. They were popular for 1000 yard shooting even after they came out with the 300 Win. Mag. because they have a longer neck.
Ron

[crash87]

I "had" one once, I had a Winchester M-70 7mm Rem mag, rebored to a .30 Cal and neck reamed, a very fine cartridge. I wanted something special to take on a trip I made to Africa and talked myself out of the 300 Win.mag simply because of all the negative press the 300 Win Mag got all those years ago. LOL! The things a guy will do, just to try something different. This was in 1999 when South Africa was a year or so away from their gun grabbing control. I necked up 7MM brass, 180 gr hornady SP, dont remember the powder however. Easily achieved 3100 fps with the 70's 26" barrel.
That gun proved to be a real favorite, it is now with a local Firearms Safety instructor with a lesson learned, by me, and a lesson he teaches, to his students, on the importance of having only "1" powder on the bench, the proper one at that, when handloading.
I now have a M-70 supergrade Gen-3, bought a few years before the shutdown, in 300 Win.mag. and of course it is the ballistic duplicate of the 30-338, And yes, 308 Norma mag is the duplicate for the 30-338 as far as data goes.
crash87

[tartrek]

Although I've never fired one, the 30-338 is a good long range round, one advantage it has over the 300 win mag is it has a longer neck, which some shooters preferred. When I was on shooting on the All Army rifle team we used the 300 win mag, I think because it had just a little more case capacity and we were using 240 gr matchkings, both calibers are great for 1000 yd shooting.

[doninnh]

Maybe late but here goes .If you look in the references of the Enfield 1917 on Wickipidia there is an article by Dick Culver about 14 pages long
I clicked on its link there today and it was still up. My 30 338 was a Winchester 1917 converted by a smith named Gary Hinson out Hasty Colorado
(He may be located in northern FL now). At that time I was stationed at a Radar Bomb Scoring site in La Junta CO. In 1963 I paid $35.00 for a 1917 Winchester to have a 300 Win made in Hasty. I still have it, altho at 85 think its had 6 or 8 rounds out of it this year. In 1963 I did a 3 month tour at Black Hills Depot in SD ,While walking down the length of our train I picked a roll of 1917 followers still in cosmoline and oil paper. The Depot was in the process of closing, I inquired of some of people we had gotten to know as to what and was told , Oh that's where we burned the Enfields 5 or 6 condola cars of them. I checked on an GB auction early this year of 1917 Win maybe made the same day as mine it went for about $1400. We got our 4831 from damaged 20mm rounds and bullets from 06 match ammo. I went to 4350 for the 300 Win but looking through old stuff I find a 1 lb can of 4831 labeled This is world war11 surplus power. the price was $1.70 Hodgdon had data on the 30-338 in the early 60s.
DON K





storage life is not guaranteed

[cmh]

I have a pattern 1914 and pattern 1917 receivers one of each setting in the safe 😆

[2sheriffs]

30-338 is a good and accurate cartridge. Cases are easily made by necking down 338 Mag cases, or necking up 7mm remington cases.I prefer the 7mm case as they are easier to get, and the neck does not thicken. Sierra used to list loads that won 1000 yard matches. It was a slightly reduced load of 4350-66 Gr. of 4350 with a 190 grain Sierra Matchking. They listed 66.7 Grains as max in the gun they shot-necked down WW cases with a 28.5 barrel-3000 fps. They show 69.3 grains as Max with their 180 Gr. bullet-3100 fps. The most accurate load in my 30-338 was 75 Grains of H 4831 that came in paper bags with a 180 Gr. Speer bullet. The surplus powder might have been a little slower burning than than what they sell now. As Always, start about 10% under and work up while paying close attention to signs of pressure. Case capacity will vary depending on what case you reform and different brands of cases.
Ron