Both are also able to withstand large amounts of pressure when the powder is ignited, which is needed to push the heavier bullets down range with the proper terminal performances. 300 Win Mag vs 338 Lapua vs 338 Win Mag: Picking The Right Heavy Hitter. Not surprisingly, though there is a little bit of overlap in their best uses, the .300 Win Mag, .338 Win Mag, and .338 Lapua are all best suited for distinct tasks. Our reasoning for this was to provide you with more information and it also let’s us double check the results we see with the smaller sample size and that the results reflect the cartridges actual performance. Again, depending on the exact load in question, the .338 Win Mag either has the most arching trajectory, or the second most arching trajectory (either ahead or behind the .338 Lapua). This was a factory 30-caliber cartridge based on the .338 Lapua Magnum … To answer your question: no, you cannot shoot 338 Win Mag out of a 338 Lapua rifle. The sectional density correlates with the amount of penetration a bullet will have on target and since we are not looking at bullet types and designs in this article is a good standard for comparison of the two cartridges and the rounds we have selected for each. From the averages, the .338 LM has a little less than 300 extra yards of supersonic flight than the .300 Win Mag round. The .338 Winchester Magnum wasn’t an immediate commercial success for the company, but it has gradually developed a reputation as an excellent all-around cartridge for big game during the ensuring decades. John. Both cartridges shoot the same diameter bullets, but the 338 Lapua normally uses heavier and more aerodynamic bullets with a higher sectional density than the 338 Win Mag. A higher sectional density means deeper penetration. I’m planning on hunting big game from A distance of 400 yards plus and I also plan on utilizing a muzzle brake. There are plenty of sites with this data that is generated by incredible marksmen and are valuable resources. One of the downsides of the .338 Lapua … This was a factory 30-caliber cartridge based on the .338 Lapua Magnum … The caliber of the bullet, as well as its weight, can be used to determine a bullet’s sectional density (SD). Thanks for your comment Kirby, glad you enjoyed the article. Both cartridges are also belted magnums with the same .532″ rim diameter and the same SAAMI maximum average pressure of 64,000psi. We still see on average, less bullet drop from the .300 Win Mag rounds (-11.16″) versus the .338 LM rounds (-12.92″). Ihave a light .308 BLR, Factory Remington 700 in .35 Whelan and now the Sako m995 in .338 Lapua. As I’ve stated multiple times in this article, the .300 Winchester Magnum, the .338 Winchester Magnum, and the .338 Lapua are all excellent rifle cartridges overall. This high amount of recoil energy is going to be a “necessary evil” to obtain the speeds, range, and power that comes with these two cartridges. For two cartridges that excel at long range shooting, and are often used for extreme distance shots, it is important to look at how far the rounds of these cartridges can remain supersonic. It is also available in a wide array of bullet styles which gives it a lot of versatility. Formally introduced by Lapua Limited in 1987, the designers of the .338 Lapua Magnum accomplished those goals by utilizing a new case based on the .416 Rigby. It saw service with the military in both Afghanistan and Iraq and is still in use with military personnel today. How much this impacts accuracy falls more on the user’s experience, and we’re not going to go into if this would give one cartridge an advantage in accuracy, but it was worth mentioning. The data used to compare the trajectory and wind drift of the cartridges was obtained from Hornady and Winchester. It is a common mistake to think that the maximal velocity you can get out of a round means a better overall performance. Which is pretty impressive for the .338 LM to be so much heavier without falling that far behind in velocity. BONUS OFFER: Get your 500 Page Ammo Comparison Handbook (worth $43) for FREE right into your inbox. The .300 Win Mag can take a withstand a whopping 64,00psi according to SAAMI specifications. But I am really curious about what your thoughts are on the 7mm-300 WM vs. the 338 Lapua Mag on the effective external and internal ballistics for hard target interditions out to 1500m+ on these two rifles. There are also some very important differences between the three cartridges when it comes to bullet size. That weight makes a big difference in ME with the 300 win mag doing 3500 ft-lbs at the muzzle compared to the 338 lapua’s mighty 4832 ft-lbs. A couple hundred fps faster with the heavy 30 Cal bullets which given their bc puts it right in the range of energy while flatter shooting than even the LM until you get to ranges people do not hunt game at except very rarely 1200+. i just picked up a s=Sako m995 in .338 lapua. As with any comparison of two cartridges, the trajectory of their flight path is going to be an area of discussion. 150 grain, 165 grain, 180 grain, 190 grain, 200 grain, and 220 grain bullets are the most popular for the cartridge. Not only that, but 338 Lapua … After all, there’s a reason why it’s such a popular cartridge among African as well as Alaska and Canada hunting guides. The two cartridges have a similar trajectory at normal hunting ranges, but typical 338 Lapua loads have 30-40% more muzzle energy. 308 vs 30-06 vs 300 Win Mag: Cartridge Sizes. Clearly, that rifle in .338 Lapua would have a very stout recoil. We are dealing with bullets, not bowling balls. Too hot of a round can be dangerous due to extreme pressures and if the round is not paired with the correct twist rate of the barrel, the bullet can be highly unstable in flight. The “Official” .300 Lapua Magnum While nearly every 30-338 you see in the USA is a wildcat, manually formed by necking-down the .338 Lapua brass, there was an “official” version, the “.300 Lapua Magnum”. THE BEST GUN DEALS AND HANDPICKED GEAR RECOMMENDATIONS, Subscribe to our Newsletter and we send you the best deals right into your inbox. For what it is worth, I pay a mere $37.00 per 20 rounds of Weatherby brand, .300 Wea Mag. With the larger data set, the results are nearly identical to the numbers that we saw above. It will feed from a standard magnum action with high BC bullets and give you almost identical performance as the 338 Lapua Mag. Momentum is simply how well an object, bullet in this case, in motion can stay in motion. Go with the .338 Lapua. For the .338 LM we think big game hunting, and for taking down large and often dangerous game, we lean towards the Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond 300gr. All three cartridges are capable of getting the job done on all of these species. 6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor: Which 6.5 Cartridge Is Right For You? The ballistic coefficient is derived from an equation that includes input variables from specific cartridge specifications. Looks like the Blaser R8 Professional Success weighs a little over 8 pounds. The amount of stopping power that is thought to bring down game effectively is debatable and shot placement is a key component to this baseline as well. Most weights are within the 150-200 grain range, but there are several lighter and heavier rounds available. We have listed these ten rounds below. The bullet must be able to penetrate deep enough into the tissue to reach and disrupt vital organs. With 300 grain bullets, the win mag throws them at ~2300 fps, whil… The designers opted for those shortened cases so that all three cartridges would fit in a standard length rifle action (same as the .30-06 Springfield) instead of the longer magnum length action required by the original .375 H&H cartridge. All other things being equal, a bigger bullet will make a bigger hole, cause more tissue damage, and result in more blood loss. MarkolBB. Let’s say that a really good muzzle brake can reduce recoil by 20%. Though few hunters have a need to utilize the extreme long range capabilities of the cartridge, the .338 Lapua is still capable of delivering more power at longer range than just about any other comparable round. 1,000ft.lb of force is warranted for deer, 1,500ft.lb for elk, and this trend continues as the game size increases. 26″ barrel throated to allow proper bullet seating loaction Even so, the .338 Win Mag is not rare by any stretch of the imagination and rifles like the Browning X-Bolt, the Mossberg Patriot, the Ruger American, Guide Gun, and Hawkeye, the Savage 110, the Tikka T3x, as well as the Winchester XPR and the Model 70 are available in both cartridges. The range being my back yard. Beyond 300 yds is where all of the hot magnums really start to shine. Instead, we want to take an unbiased look at the performance of both and use that information to make better decisions of which cartridge will better serve you depending on the situation. When picking out a round for use, it is important that you take into account all of the factors when determining the amount of penetration you will need from your round. When comparing to other popular hunting rounds, the .300 Win Mag is a relative newcomer, but it has had enough time in the rotation for us to understand its strengths and weaknesses. Our knowledge is more limited with exotic game, but it’s hard for us to believe the .300 Win Mag wouldn’t be appropriate in most situations. For this reason, the 338 Lapua has a flatter trajectory, penetrates better, and retains more kinetic energy at typical hunting ranges. produces about 37 ft.-lbs. Prices and availability vary from region to region, but the .300 Win Mag is by far the most common and least expensive. Some hunters have issue with the recoil for this sized game since just as effective rounds can take deer with much less kick. I have been looking for just such an article comparing the 3 cartridges. Are you more sensitive to recoil? We could widen or tighten this difference by playing around with the bullet weights, and this is a good example of why a larger sample size is needed for cartridge comparisons. Rare and Great! These are factory loads, and the performance data we are looking at comes from the manufacturer’s website and well trusted and accurate ballistic performance calculators. The takeaway is that the BCs that accompany a lot of these rounds give further indication that both of these rounds can excel at long range, especially the .338 LM. Below are the averages for the two cartridge’s sectional density. The difference is that the 300 win mag will do it with a 180 grn bullet, whereas the 338 lapua will do that with a 250 grain bullet. The ballistics chart below compares the trajectory of Hornady Precision Hunter and Winchester Expedition Big Game and factory loads for each cartridge. Around that same time, the “Magnum Era” also began in earnest when Winchester rolled out a line of new belted magnum cartridges utilizing a modified .375 H&H case. There are rounds with higher velocities from the muzzle out to 500 yards, but it is dependent on the specific round. No belt to deal with in FL resizing. Honestly a better comparison than 338LM would have been the 338NM it’s a much more fitting hunting cartridge and has started replacing the Lapua in a number of military platforms as it can have the bullet seated at a ideal position in the case and still easily fit in standard LA magazines and in a mag load setup matches the larger Lapua case with the bullet buried in the case to allow it to fit in the mag. The .300 Win. Penetration is another component to a bullet’s stopping power. The results are pretty easy to interpret. Both of these cartridges have really high bullet momentum numbers for hunting cartridges, but the .338 is overly impressive. What are the pros and cons of a 338 Lapua vs. a 300 Win Mag? That exact same .338 Lapua load fired in a 15 pound rifle would produce only 32.08 foot pounds of free recoil energy, which is only a tiny bit more than the .300 Win Mag in the 8.25 pound Weatherby. This round has a muzzle energy of 4,677ft.lb and still carries nearly 3,500ft.lb of energy at the 300-yard mark and 2,842ft.lb at 500 yards. So, we have calculated the bullet momentum for the ten selected rounds and graphed them below (Graph 9). Share. Still, for comparing two cartridges, computer generated data is the best source of comparison and will be consistent from round to round. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to create free content that’s useful to hunters like yourself. This is particularly true with the .338 Winchester and the .338 Lapua. We also see that there is not much difference in how the two cartridges bled momentum. As you all know, the flight path of a bullet is not a straight line, and as the bullets move downrange, they are going to be bleed velocity and lose altitude. The .300 Win Mag is especially common and virtually every model produced by any firearms manufacturer of note is available in the cartridge. Please note, the following … From the muzzle out to 300 yards, there is over 1,000ft.lbs of difference between the two cartridges. And in our experience, a few inches flatter trajectory can make a world of difference, especially when you have big game in the crosshairs and the adrenaline is flowing. The SD and velocity paired with the controlled expansion of the heavy 300gr AccuBond bullet make this a deadly round for big game at a wide selection of ranges. It’s specifically designed for this sort of work and stands head and shoulders above almost all other rifle cartridges for long range precision shooting. That’s why most .338 Lapua rifles are pretty heavy and incorporate other recoil reducing features like a muzzle brake. At the end of the section, when we look at the averages of our larger sample size, we will also provide the recoil energy when the rounds are fired from the rifles of the same weight. The .338 Lapua and .338 Win Mag both utilize larger .338 caliber bullets. The .338 … I am looking to get one of the new savage 110 BA law enforcement rifles. The .338 Lapua Mag. Regarding recoil, the .338 LM cartridge produces quite a bit more recoil than the .300 Win Mag. As with most factory loads, they do fall short of the maximal distance that you can obtain with hand loads. At the 200 yard mark, all of the rounds are tightly clustered around the -3” mark though averages give a slight (.5”) advantage to the .300 Win Mag rounds. We see that the cartridges for each round tend to group somewhat tightly throughout the range of their flight though there is some drop off for the Hornady 265gr round. However, the .338 Lapua clearly has the fiercest recoil of the bunch: an astounding 85% more free recoil energy than the .300 Win Mag, even when used in a slightly heavier rifle! The .308″ bullets used by the .300 Win Mag are also used by other cartridges like the .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Winchester Short Magnum (300 WSM), .300 Weatherby Magnum, and .300 Ultra Mag. Best 375 H&H Ammo For Hunting Cape Buffalo, Bear & Other Big Game, 6.5 Grendel vs 5.56/223: Review & Comparison, Best 308 Ammo For Hunting Deer, Elk, Hogs, & Other Game, Best 7mm-08 Ammo For Hunting Elk, Deer & Other Game, 6.5 Creedmoor vs 300 Win Mag Review & Comparison, Best 7mm Rem Mag Ammo For Hunting Elk, Deer & Other Game, 6.5 Creedmoor vs 243 Winchester Review & Comparison, 6.5 Creedmoor vs 7mm-08 Remington Review & Comparison, 6.5 Grendel vs 308: Everything You Need To Know, Essential Muzzleloader Supplies Every Hunter Needs In 2021, The 300 Ultra Mag (300 RUM): Your Complete Guide, 6.8 SPC vs 6.5 Grendel: What You Need To Know. In addition to having a really long effective range, the cartridge is also (allegedly) capable of penetrating military body armor at ranges in excess of 1,000 yards. Mag. A bull moose is going to require more penetration than a whitetail deer. That performance comes at a price though: recoil. How well a bullet is stabilized also affects the trajectory of the bullet. Win win!! For time on the range looking to pop targets at long ranges, we like the .338 LM 285gr Hornady ELD Match. Let’s take a look at the larger data sets and see if we still observe these same trends. The drawback to this cartridge for hunting has to do with the firearm. The 300 Win Mag has less recoil and a slightly flatter trajectory at normal hunting ranges, but typical 338 Win Mag loads have 10-15% more muzzle energy and about 20% more frontal surface area. So, carefully analyze your potential needs and purchase the one you think will fit them best. However, while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with using any of those cartridges in those sort of situations, if that’s the only sort of hunting you do, then none of them are strictly necessary and you could easily get away with something lighter. We will come back to all of this in the application section, but we do want to note that in a lot of cases, either of these cartridges have more than enough momentum to drive a round through the target. Even for hunting, where windy conditions are sometimes a factor, having a bullet with a high ballistic coefficient is going to aid in long range shots. With large and dangerous game with thick hide, the huge amount of momentum and the high sectional density of the .338LM rounds are going to make getting the round through the vitals much easier. It’s just something to keep in mind, especially if you wander into the world of handloading. Mag. I also set throats to offer the best match seating bullets ideally for those I plan to use. This will be my only magnum … It will also really do a number on really big game like elk and moose with good shot placement. It actually came last week and I’m super stoked to get to the range. Do you spend a lot of time in the mountains or the backcountry mountain goat, sheep, or tahr hunting where it’s really nice to have a lightweight rifle? We always have a bit of an issue when talking about accuracy for two cartridges. Like anything, you’re favorite round might be completely different from what we outline here and as long as its getting the job done and your happy with its performance, go with it. drops 7.1 inches at 300 yards, 20.7 at 400. This is an extremely popular caliber for long-range shooters including those chasing big game and those in precision shooting competitions. 176gr/3450fps .564 (G1) .284 (G7). While there is no SAAMI rating for the .338 LM, the international CPI rating is 60,916psi though with their safety standards; this means they safely fired the cartridge at psi’s over 75,000psi. Once I burn my RUM barrel out I might look into the PRC or the 300 … With the amount of stopping power these cartridges have, it is overkill for deer and other medium sized game. With that, the .338 LM rounds have the advantage when it comes to hand loading as they can be loaded slightly hotter and the heavier bullet and higher BC might sway you towards it as your long range cartridge of choice, but we could easily make the argument for the .300 Win Mag as well. Now don’t get me wrong: there are a number of really good .338 Lapua rifles out there. This caliber can be packed with large amounts of powder giving it a huge advantage in velocity and in turn, the ability to carry a large amount of energy over pretty impressive distances. We are looking at around 30lb/ft.s difference at each yard marker. On average we are looking the pretty large differences between these two cartridges; Muzzle (989ft.lb), 100yds (897ft.lb), 200yds (859ft.lb), 300yds (799ft.lb), 400yds (741ft.lb), and 500 yds (688ft.lb). It would be nice to have some decent factory ammo available. If your cheek weld isn’t perfect, your groups are almost certain to open up considerably at 300 yards. .338 Lapua 300gr SMK vs. .300 Win Mag 220gr SMK. There is a fine balance between maximal velocity and maximal performance. However, there are honestly very few hunting situations that require a cartridge as powerful as the .338 Lapua. This expansion also relies on velocity, but we will leave that topic for another time. Mag. While it does have the least kinetic energy at all ranges, it’s still relatively powerful and is suitable for most species of big game. And as we saw just above, there is some variation within each cartridge, but with such differences in the average, if you want more bullet energy, the .338LM has the advantage. We will also take the distance out to an extra 100 yards. Corey I am with you on the same page. Remington sent shockwaves through the hunting and shooting worlds when they introduced the 7mm Remington Magnum in 1962, which also used a shortened and necked down .375 H&H case. On average, the .300 Win Mag does have a flatter trajectory with a difference of .78” (300yds), 1.96” (400yds), 3.76” (500yds), 5.74” (600yds), and 8.54” (700yds).