Fell Into My Lap - Mauser in 338-06

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doc540

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Local ad popped up, price seemed way low to me, so I snagged it.

1940-1941 Mauser in 338-06.

My gunsmith remembered working on it 20 years ago and gave it a thumb's up.

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Fancy rifle tex!

Not too familiar to .338-06.. how does it compare to the .35 whelen?
 
I had a 338-06 for a while. Like you I ran across a good deal on a used custom rifle. I wanted the Zeiss scope on it. I planned to take the scope off and sell the rifle, but it came with a box of handloads that I shot up. Ended up buying dies and used it for 4-5 years before going with my original plan.

338-06 is an interesting round. With bullets 200 gr or less it comes fairly close to 338 WM with the same weight bullets, less than 100 fps. It won't come close once you get over 200 gr though. Brass is easily made from 30-06 brass.

It only beats 200 gr 30-06 by about 50-75 fps at the muzzle. But the much better BC's of 30 caliber bullets mean better performance past 200 yards with less recoil from a 30-06 loaded heavy.
 
I left you a response in this thread but looked up the cartridge in Cartridges of the World and here is what they have to say about it, as I mentioned in the other thread my experience was a single rifle about 25 years ago.

338-06 A-Square / 338-06

Historical Notes:
During 1945 to 1946, Charles O'Neil, Elmer Keith, and Don Hopkins developed a cartridge they named the .333 OKH, which was based on the .30-06 case necked up to .333-caliber. It was a very good big-game cartridge, but today it suffers from the lack of good, readily available .333-inch diameter bullets. When the .338 Winchester Magnum was introduced, in 1958, it was followed immediately by a variety of commercial .338-inch diameter bullets. Shortly thereafter, several individuals at different places conceived the idea of either altering the .333 OKH or necking up the.30-06 to accept .338-inch diameter bullets. Any difference in performance between the .333 OKH and the .338-06 is purely academic and almost invisible. The latter uses a commercial bullet of standard diameter, which has the advantage of being readily available through handloading supply dealers. The two cartridges are so nearly alike that one can use loading data from the .333 OKH in the .338-06 with virtually the same results. A-Square standardized the .338-06 as a factory round, in 1998, and, about 2001, Weatherby began chambering rifles in .338-06. With typical Weatherby honesty, their catalogs list the cartridge as the .338-06 A-Square.
General Comments:
The .30-06 case is necked up to accept .338-diameter bullets, and retains the original 17.5-degree shoulder. The .338-06 delivers about 85 percent of the performance of the .338-caliber magnum cartridges, but without the recoil, cigar-sized cases, or magnum-length actions. Most .30-06 bolt-action rifles can be rebarreled to the .338-06, and the wide range of available bullets makes the .338-06 a flexible hunting alternative to its ballistic near-twin, the .35 Whelen. Weatherby uses Norma brass and powders, matching them with bullets well suited for the intended purpose. The Weatherby catalog lists just one bullet for the .338-06, the Nosler Partition. Weatherby offers Mark V Super Big Game Master and Ultra Lightweight rifles in .338-06 A-Square, both well suited for North American game.
Click to expand...

The above quoted from Cartridges of the World by: Frank C. Barnes.

Barny, note the reference to the 35 Whelan in the above. :)

Ron
 
If it says .338 you can't go wrong. Forget the
ballistics tables. The medium bore guns have
a lot of killing power.

Zeke
 
Is the barrel long or does it just appear so? It looks a little funny with the large scope and the long barrel. I was interested in the .338/06 and .35 Whelen until I put two and two together. I realized there was nothing that these two would do that I could not do with a .30-06 or 8mm.
 
Beautiful rifle and for sure a keeper! My dad had a three built; two in 338-06 and one in 338-06 AI.

Ignore those who sit at a keyboard proclaiming it's only better than this cartridge, out to that range, with a certain bullet, qouting BC's, etc. All things equal, a larger diameter bullet kills bether than a smallet one. If this weren't true, the 338 WM wouldnt be necessary as everyone could just use a 300 WM.

It's no stretch to achieve 2700 fps with a 225 gr. Hornady ( that's roughly what the 30-06 will do with a 180 gr bullet) and close to 2600 fps with a 250 gr. bullet. Dad finally settled on a load running a 210 gr X bullet somewhere near 2800 for elk hunting.

Most of the load development and chronographing for Dad's 338's was done on my range and I did quite a bit of the shooting myself. It's an easy cartridge to load for and is so close in ballistics to the 338 WM, for my purposes it negates the magnum.

35W
 
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Well, that was fun.

Loaded some 200gr Hornady's over a middle-of-the road pour of H4895, 50-54grains.

Got it on the paper at 25, made two adjustments at 100, and #3 was right on the money.

It's got a pretty good kick, but nothing unbearable.

Thanks for the info.

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A friend was thinking of a 338'06 don't know if he followed thru but I did suggest if he couldn't find A Square factory ammo he should make brass from 35 Whelen that way the ammo wouldn't be chambered in a 30'06 by accident.
 
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