Weatherby ultra lightweight 338/06

I picked up a weatherby ultra lightweight 338/06 today in a trade. First impressions are pretty good, it’s light, quick bolt throw, and has a surprisingly good trigger.

I have a set of Talley lightweight rings/mounts on the way. I need to pick up decent price of glass for it.

I had planned on getting a SWFA SS 2.5-10 UL but some other options I have considered are 2.5-8x36 leupold, 3-9x40 trijicon accupoint, 3-9x36 swaro z3. I’m also open to any other sub 13 oz scopes. Any other options I’m missing.




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A Nightforce NX8.


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I have the 2.5-8x36 VX-III on my M70 featherweight and like it a lot but sometimes I wonder if I should have gotten the 3.5-10x40 VX-III. Although I’ve never had an issue, the 40mm obj would allow for a little more light transmission and the 10x would be a little nicer for longer shots but I don’t think either would be improved enough to justify buying it now that I already have the 2.5-8... I’m probably overthinking it. It is 12.5oz which if I remember correctly is about 1 oz heavier then the 2.5-8.

Matt


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I haven't checked eye relief figures, but does the SWFA 2.5-10 have enough eye relief for a light rifle shooting 338-06 hunting loads?

BTW, very cool rifle.

One of the first rifles I tried to find before I built my 35 Whelen AI.
There was a lot of problems with factory ammo for them since the specs were all over the place and some would chamber and others wouldn't which killed sales for it and Weatherby dropped the caliber.
I put this on top of my 338 Win Mag and love it.
Picked it up and Natchez on sale.
Great low light scope and you can pick out the dot quick when it's on or off.

I made up a couple dummy cartridges with 200 SST AND 225 Partition. Fed like butter and no issues with extraction or chambering. So hopefully no issues with the chamber.

The SWFA does have a pretty short eye relief. I’m not sure that would be a problem or not. I do really like it’s other specs and the BDC reticle matches up to the 338/06 well.

I have a Nikon monark 3-9x40 BDC on a 30/06 encore barrel I haven’t touched in a few years. I think I’ll swap that over to 338/06 and see what kind of potential it has before dropping any high dollar optics on it.


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For the price and clarity i really like the swaro, they are clearer edge to edge over the vx3i haven't done a side by side with any of the higher Leopolds

Also cant wait to hear what you think of that rifle, i saw one too that peeked my interest but wondered if it was too light.

The swaro is definitely on the short list. I was kind of leaning towards the trijicon accupoint 3-9x40 with duplex dot reticle


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Nice find. Baby brother to the 35 Whelen with 10x better bullet selection. Great caliber for Moose or Elk, and though I know your a Magnum guy, There is not a Grizzly
Up there, that can stand being hit with that 225gr Partition
If you put it where it counts! Congrats on your new rifle.
The new Gen II Athlon scopes are optically amazing for their price range, most of the models have side focus and
NO ONE has better CS than they do. Might be worth a peak, and won't break the bank.
Good Luck with it
E

Nice find!
Like my 338-06.
Initially had and used the Leupold VX-2.5-8 on it, but eventually changed to the VX-3 3.5-10x40 B&C as the cartridge will perform to range that this scope serves better than the 2.5-8 for me. And only 3 oz more, so not enough difference for me to worry about the weight increase on a heavier rifle than yours.
Hope you enjoy your new rifle!

Got the talleys today and mounted the Nikon monarch 3-9x40. I should be able to get a feel for what’s it’s capable with this scope before I decide on what glass to get for it.

It’s a nice trim little package. Weighs right at 6 pounds 10oz so when topped with lighter scope should easily be under 6.5 pounds.

I’m going to load up some test ammo and hopefully get out to give her a trial run tomorrow.

With all this corvid-19 craziness I’ve been running around the clock, worked over 100 hours this week running groceries north out of anchorage. I just hope things settle back down soon.




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Blkram":3g8cu5pt said:

Nice find!
Like my 338-06.
Initially had and used the Leupold VX-2.5-8 on it, but eventually changed to the VX-3 3.5-10x40 B&C as the cartridge will perform to range that this scope serves better than the 2.5-8 for me. And only 3 oz more, so not enough difference for me to worry about the weight increase on a heavier rifle than yours.
Hope you enjoy your new rifle!

Click to expand...

I like your thinking and agree. The VX3 4.5-14x40mm with the B&C reticle would be another one to consider. Size and weight are just about identical to the 3.5-10. The rifle you have sure looks like it's going to be a sweetheart. I can't wait to see what kind of results you have with it. The 338-06 is a round that sure looks like it's got a lot of potential.

I had pretty much stuck to the Federal Premium 210gr Partition load in my 338 Win Mag as it was accurate and worked very well on moose, elk, bison and grizzly bear over several hunting seasons.
The 338 Win Mag, you find the 210gr Partition starts out at 2830 fps and at 300 yards still has 2545 ft-lbs of energy at 2260 fps and is down 7.7" with a 200 yard zero.

When I started experiencing shoulder issues,I found the recoil with the the old, hard original recoil pad on my Rem 700 LH BDL was making its use not very enjoyable- 20 rounds off the bench and I was very sore and bruised - so I sold the rifle.

I had a 338-06 built on a Rem 700 LH action. The Weatherby 210gr Partition ammunition provided 1/2" groups at 2750 fps. I developed a great load (62.0gr of H414 with WLR primer in Wby brass) with the Sierra 215gr SGK at 2751 fps producing 1/2" groups. This load is still providing the following at 300 yards; 2218 fps and 2348 ft-lbs of energy with 8" of drop with a 200 yard zero.
That is 42 fps less and 197 ft-lbs less energy and only 0.3" more drop. No elk, moose, grizzly or bison is going to know the difference!
At 400 yards, the advantage goes to the 33806 215gr SGK load!

I loaded up a test batch of 200gr SST with 54.0gr of IMR4895 in Winchester brass. Hoping to get a chance to run a few thru it later today


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RL17 and the 225gr go together very well. Anywhere from 57-63gr and you'll love what you see. If you step down to 200gr class, look into H380, I've gotten my top speeds from those two powders.

Thanks for the heads uo


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My 338-06 Likes 60 gr. 4451 with 225 partitions or sierras. These have the same poi so I practice with the sierra bullets. About 2650 fps.

Picked up the swarovski v3 3-10 BRH. It should prove a good optic for this rifle. The BRH reticle matches our pretty well with the 338/06 cartridge too.




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Well, there ya go. Should be excellent glass.

Looking forward to the range report!

Guy

Sadly the range is closed due to covid-19. I’ll have to sneak out tomorrow and find somewhere to shoot.

With the added need for goods and relaxed federal regulations I’ve been working 100+ hour weeks. Driving groceries to Fairbanks. It could be worse, at least I’m still making money, I know a lot of people really suffering right now.


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