Has anybody got one in a 16" or less handgun? If so, what kind of velocities are you getting with 180's or 225's? I had a .338-06 JDJ at one time and I may purchase another, but I may go with a Win. Mag instead seeing how I'm already set up with dies, brass, ect....... J.D. quotes in his literature that his .338-06 outperforms the Mag. in short barrels. I was getting alittle over 2800 fps. with Barnes 185 X's and 2650 fps. with 200gr. Hornadys out of a 15" barrel including the Arrester brake. Is this what you folks are getting with the Win. Mag.?

Rugernut

R.N.,
Used to have a 338wm Bullberry barrel, and from my experiences I would choose today a 338-06AI or JD's wildcat. I sent the data with the barrel when I sold it. It was one first ones in a handgun length that Fred had put together at the time.

Ernie,

Why so?

RN, I recently got a 338WM from Bullberry. It has a 15 inch barrel. I've only put 10 or so rounds through it. Haven't chrono'd yet. I know that you are probably in a hurry to make your decision, but should have some data once the weather warms up. But I don't see why 2700 fps with the 180-200 gr bullets isn't possible. Just my opinion.

MM,

I'm not in that big of a hurry, let me know how she does. I know the mag. may not be as efficient as the "06" version but should be able to at least match it, but with greater muzzle blast IMO. I just wanted some hard data if you will.

BTW, whats the matter, is it cold up there or something? It's been in the single digits at night here with some below 0 wind chill. NOT GOOD!

Thanks

warmer weather will sure bring some excitement can't wait to hear how the 338 win mag does. also gonna give my 300 win mag a workout.

To make a long story short I tried to push the 338 WM and learned the hard way when you try to push a high pressure round with a fairly large case head (in a break-open action)you are going to get more flex and shorter case life, not to mention frutrations. If you have about the same case capacity with a smaller case head--less thrust against the action so you can have higher pressure safely. For instance you can take a 17 Rem. or 223 and run it to the same pressures as any bolt gun safely in a Contender. Take a standard 308 Winchester and run it in the same pressure and you will have a major problem in the Contender.
You can safely use a 338WM in an Encore and get good performance. Just realize that you will likley get better performance with a case having the same/or close to it's capacity with a smaller case head. You can run the smaller head harder with a great safety margin since it is putting thrust in a smaller diameter, than say the 338 WM.
FWIW the cost & time of wildcatting and expensive dies may still make the 338 WM the best choice.

So what J.D. says is true then. I never had a problem with any of the JDJ's. Wildcatting and the cost of the dies is old hat for me and not a big deal, I just wanted to know how the Win. Mag ran in the Encore. I love the round myself. But I'll stick with the .338-06 JDJ then. I already know how it does.

Thanks Ernie.

ernie........do ya remember how it compared to listed data? .....or how far under max one should stay to get best overall performance and brass life etc.?

i can use the bellm headspace indicator to control my loads/brass stretch/headspace, but it's always nice to have a rough idea of what may happen where. lol

I never went ov er the max in the laod manuals. I was using X bullets (I'm sure that could have added to the problem, especially if it had a tight bore). At the time I had never heard of Mike of the headspace indicator. I don't remember the year, but the Encores were relatively new. After having 2 custom hunting XP's that shot sub half inch groups without a problem one I was soured for sure with that barrel (Wilson chrome moly).
I don't remember the data well enough to share it with you. I have on several occassions wished I had copied it.
Also learned that a rough chamber compared to a highly polished one will allow the case body to better grip the chamber walls and help reduce backthrust.
I would also encourage the use of the slower burning powders. Lower pressures, better case density, and usually a lower extreme spread.