Sure jbdre there are those of us that can make use of the extended range of the magnums especially in the mountains, open plains, or bean fields of some areas of the country. I’m not knocking magnums as a cartridge as they have their place. To me it is just plain wasteful though too watch so many of these modern super high velocity cartridges coming out that you and I both know that will not survive. It’s just more about marketing than about ballistics or hunting. I’m a fan of the .338-06 and feel for it will do in skilled hands most everything the .338 Winchester Magnum will with less recoil making it easier to master for the majority of the general hunting public that may take years to go through a box of shells. There are times like for grizzly or costal brown bears a .338 Mag would be better than a .338-06 but for my taste at those times I would rather go up in caliber to say .375. I was really hoping the .375 Steyr would catch on more. I loved my .375 H&H and for guides it sure packs a wallop but again for an average hunter at the distances you want to be shooting at bear it is easier for someone that simply does not handle such a heavy caliber a lot a better chance of placing that all important first shot where it should go with a .375 caliber bullet’s authority. When I practiced even with my .375 H&H I fired from 20 to 60 rounds but most people I know take their rifle to the range before season and fire it just to see if it is still holding zero and that is it. I have used the 7MM Mag, .300 Win. Mag. and they are both great but I see guys with them hunting heavy cover areas with scopes you can watch the space station with and I just shake my head. Have you seen the guys gut shoot a muley buck with a .30-06 he can’t shoot accurately only to show up next year with a .300 Winchester Magnum? I just think too many men get into the macho thing of bigger is better rather than learning to be deadly accurate with lesser cartridges than the latest greatest super magnum which does not help them shoot better or farther because they just plain can’t shoot accurately. My comments are directed not at the skilled marksman but at the run of the mill average everyday hunter who is supposed to be the market for these firearms.
Black bear hunting is a growing area of interest here in the USA. I am hoping that rather than more magnums the gun and cartridge makers will have a moment of sanity and that the introduction of the .338 Federal is a trend and not a fluke. There is a need for medium bore timber rifles for bear and this time I hope they coordinate with the gun writers to promote how munch better off the average hunter would be with such a combination than the latest super magnum for his purposes. Then maybe more rifle makers will make more rifles for the cartridge and it will catch on. We have seen such great cartridges as the .358 Winchester, and the .35 Whelen languish partly I feel due to a lack of rifles designed to handle their recoil. Light rifles are nice to carry but let’s face it we carry rifles to shoot and if they get the reputation of hurting the shooter then people stop buying them except for us hard core types. We’ve all seen the big men cry at shooting a .30-06 and 90 pound women that can shoot a .458 Winchester Magnum accurately but they are the exceptions. I like the concept of the new .338 Federal especially for a black bear timber rifle that you can shorten the barrel to 20” for fast handling and still pack an awesome amount of power in. Now we need more makes of rifles. Even the .350 Remington Marnum is back but it is hampered by this same lack of rifle make choices. Talk about your ultimate black bear rifle especially if Nosler would come out with a .275 grain Partition for it you could even make a grizzly take notice with that type penetration.
Black bear hunting is a growing area of interest here in the USA. I am hoping that rather than more magnums the gun and cartridge makers will have a moment of sanity and that the introduction of the .338 Federal is a trend and not a fluke. There is a need for medium bore timber rifles for bear and this time I hope they coordinate with the gun writers to promote how munch better off the average hunter would be with such a combination than the latest super magnum for his purposes. Then maybe more rifle makers will make more rifles for the cartridge and it will catch on. We have seen such great cartridges as the .358 Winchester, and the .35 Whelen languish partly I feel due to a lack of rifles designed to handle their recoil. Light rifles are nice to carry but let’s face it we carry rifles to shoot and if they get the reputation of hurting the shooter then people stop buying them except for us hard core types. We’ve all seen the big men cry at shooting a .30-06 and 90 pound women that can shoot a .458 Winchester Magnum accurately but they are the exceptions. I like the concept of the new .338 Federal especially for a black bear timber rifle that you can shorten the barrel to 20” for fast handling and still pack an awesome amount of power in. Now we need more makes of rifles. Even the .350 Remington Marnum is back but it is hampered by this same lack of rifle make choices. Talk about your ultimate black bear rifle especially if Nosler would come out with a .275 grain Partition for it you could even make a grizzly take notice with that type penetration.
