Poor me. I have only two rifles (not counting the four .22 rifles) for hunting.

Winchester Mod 94 .30 WCF (Ol' Jackhandle) for short ranges, medium game and down.
Browning A-bolt .30-06 for longer ranges, large game and down.

This is all I have figured I'd ever need.

After reading all the opinions and posts I still tend to feel that the .338 is too much rifle for deer of any kind. I tend to agree with MacD.

But to each his own.

Well thats why I'm working on a load eq to 30-06 or lower. Last thing I would want to do is kick myself if and when a nice buck wanders by. This rifle does double duty, deer here and bigger out west. I have a Winchester 94 in 30-30. Cut down a 4'' mesquite tree for a campfire while dialing in the scope. Just never developed any desire to use it for hunting so in 17 years, it's only had 4 rounds put through it. Guess I'm a bolt guy. Been programming myself to wittle the collection down again like Bushmaster says. Two rifles or one that would go up and down far enough. That might be the 6.5x55 and 7x57, both modern homemade mausers on 98 receivers. I believe that 7x57 could retire the 338 someday. I watched Chuck Oconners get by with one daily

Oh...You definately need to hunt with that .30-30. I've had mine sense I was 18 (I'm 70). It has harvested more deer and Elk (only one) then the .30-06. It's fun to shoot and a GREAT hunting tool.

Loads for the .30 WCF is 170 grain Speer FN Hot-core over 32 grains of W-748. My Jackhandle will put 3 rounds within a 1 7/8" group at 100 yards. Velocity at 8 feet is 2050 fps +/- 50 fps.

Tlo7mm-back on the 338;i bought one and loaded for it for alaska brown bear-needless to say it was a heavy load!I believe it was speer 275 gr hot core bullets back then-I see they don't even make them anymore.Two years after that I was hunting near hepner oregon on some large desert mulies and shot a 3pt buck at about 200yds-(talk about overkill)the bullet went completely thru and thru,the buck disapeered from line of sight ,the bullet went another 200+ yds beyond the deer -making me think that I shot over it,and disloged a rock about 2 ft in diameter from the side of the hill we were both on.The deer got up-a little groggy and ran down hill another 100 or so yards and crumpled.Upon examination-the bullet went in at 338cal and the exit wound was about 50 caliber,after breaking a rib going in and passing thru both lungs and breaking a rib while exiting.Moral to all of this is to find the correct bullet construction for what you are hunting,and the caliber that you are hunting with!I used to hunt with a 7 mag or 30-06 after that incident,and learned that all of that horsepower was about useless if I was shooting"armor piercing bullets"!I learned to buy bullets for specific game uses.

That could be the main reason for the path I took. You've been rolling your own for 30 years now. During that time, I just grabbed whats on the shelf with only basic concern for animal size & distance. I understand better now through research that the 94's popularity wasn't just marketing hype or John Wayne wanna be's. That's one rifle etched in stone for all it has harvested. When I hunted in Maryland, it seemed "everyone" had 2 rifles and if they only had 1, it was a 30 - if 2, it was the 30 and a 06. No one I knew was loading though so I never gave it any thought, hence not realizing the science behind ballistics. A Physicist friend showed me a chart about bullet drop/distance/powder charge etc on a blackboard in his basement once. He passed soon after and I guess I never heard enough to get interested. I appreciate the load data you mentioned and will make a note in case. Ya never know ! I am soon to be 63...things are gonna have to speed up to get to all I want to accomplish.
Thanks Bushmaster, always a pleasure,
John

TRBLSHTR, Thanks for you experiences / wisdom. The 338 tuned down has a wide window of advantages for game. One of the many possibilities I am working on at the moment. It is a bore that is almost a do-all for hunting. I am working to have more info for you shortly.
Thank you,
John

BushM - Do you have or would you be interested in Hornadys 9th edition of data regarding the 3030 in 170 gr? Yes sir...you got me to thinking but I'm not ready to lay down the bolts just yet.............

To be continued,
John

Though I do use Hornady XTP's in my handguns I do not have a manual.

I do have The Sierra, Lyman 48th and several other manuals.

Why? Hornady have something I don't know or have for my Jack Handle?

Better shot versus bigger gun, slow and heavy versus light but fast., single shot versus double digit magazines, the discussion goes on with pros and cons to each position. In my simple mind the rifleman's shooting skills combined with good ammo and an accurate rifle of resonable calliber for the game hunted are the winning ticket. So what about the one rifle hunter who wants to hunt everthing from antelopes to big bears? Get a 30-06., pick a quality HUNTING bullet of appropriate weight and then load to your rifle's sweet spot. Most importantly, practise shooting at various ranges at targets that approximate the kill zones of the intended game. Rifles are not proximity weapons.

To the original poster, IMHO based upon my own experience with deer, that rifle is overkill for whitetails unless you load it down.

Possibly. How old are your editions? This is the 2nd printing fresh off the press and they make mention of 170gr for the 30....Interested? AND I'd like to ask a few ? about your reloading habits/skills so I can follow a master ( well, sounds good you gotta admit ) but after 30 years, theres a lot one can learn from someone like you...deal?
John

MacD - That's exactly where I am trying to get. The 338 as I knew it was only available in 225 and 250. That was some 18 years ago and for someone who didn't reload. This 338 will be de-tuned for game and me ( recoil ) as I am just starting to collect the equipment to roll my own including re-stocking the rifle to make the felt recoil lessen. Life as I knew it doesn't exist anymore regarding everything hunting-wise.

John

BushM - Do you have Microsoft Word on your puter? If not, maybe I can send data over as a JPG (picture).
john

I pack a 7mm rem mag which fits into that niche of a one rifle for all game. Some feel it is a bit much for deer but I use it all the time and it works well and some say they wouldn't put it up against a big bear or moose but I wouldn't think twice about it. I know what my gun can do. So I would have to agree with your assessment of the 06 but I would poison the poor guys mind with thoughts of the big seven every chance I got hahahaha. What can I say, I love my big 7.

I have Microsoft word and.........

Okay! I'll scan the 30 section, save it as a word doc. Any other caliber you might be interested in? I think I can attach it here or e-mail it.