[Dfoster479]

Does anyone have any experience with the 340 weatherby? Thinking about getting one but haven’t heard much about them

 

[Thenarwhal]

It's a serious cartridge, about 300 FPS faster with a given bullet than the .338 Winchester. It's an old cartridge, not going away but not booming in popularity these days either. Expensive ammo and brass. It's on par with the .338 Lapua but the Lapua can match it in every metric and ammo and brass are easier to find. Get both.

 

[Mr. Chitlin]

Have a good brake and recoil pad.

 

[Thenarwhal]

I remembered a .340 Weatherby story. A buddy and I were shooting at the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico one day in the late 80s. We were on the rifle range and a guy pulls up and gets out with a really nice, ornately carved leather rifle case. Took out a beautiful old Weatherby in .340 Magnum. Set up on a bench near us and showed us the rifle. He shot a few rounds and it was a boomer. The muzzle blast was nasty. He got done and packed up. Standing there on the line, he holds the rifle with the muzzle toward the ground between his feet, slides the rifle into the case and proceeds to blow a foot deep crater in the ground. Nice leather case was shredded and hanging in ribbons. He was damn lucky not to shoot himself. We were kind of shocked but the best part of the whole incident was the guy's reaction. He never said a word, never looked around at us, kept his back to us the whole time as he picked up the shreds of leather, went to his truck and drove away. He would have crawled into that hole and disappeared if he could have. I've never seen a guy more obviously embarrassed but more unwilling to acknowledge it. .340 will do a number on a leather case and make a damned impressive excavation between your boots.

 

[Dfoster479]

Its a good thing he didn’t shoot himself or anyone else. I bet next time he made sure the chamber was empty

 

[Buck-Ridge]

I knew a guy here in the county that had one. He was deer hunting with it and was hoping to use it to shoot at deer crossing at 500 yards from his stand. He also had a 375 H&H he deer hunted with. He liked big guns. He said the 375 almost knocked him out of his lockon shooting at an odd angle one time and he wasn't using it in an elevated stand anymore. He is the.one that sold me on a 35 Whelen.

 

[moose]

I have one bought it about 30 years ago to hunt Alaska with my brother, never made it there. First time I shot it was on a rainy day, so I jumped out laid it across the hood and shot. Couldn't hear out of my left ear for weeks. It had a muzzle brake and the sound bounced off the windshield . It shoots very flat and hits hard. I reload for it and it's a shooter. I've shoot one deer with it. Hit a doe (bad shot on my part) in the right hind quarter exiting out her left front shoulder with a 200grain ballistic tip at 3,350 fps wasn't pretty.

 

[Coniahargenio]

I had one for several years, I loved it! It was
bang-flop. Don’t load light bullets fast, too much tissue damage. 250 grain, well constructed bullets do NOT ruin meat, fools throttling 180 grain lightly constructed bullets do. The 340 is a thumper, do not get the brake, learn to shoot it well. In a properly made stock it’s easy to learn just takes range time and budget. The fact is when you pull the trigger there will be recoil whether you flinch or not. Train yourself to not flinch.
just how I did it.
Get the 340, shoot it a lot, and your guides will love you! Shoot it 2 boxes a year, and well they won’t. Why? because you will flinch like every other greenhorn.

Now I shoot a 338 rum pencil barrel with no brake, and 300 grain bullets. They defy wind incredibly

hopefully no one is offended, just how I see it.

 

[dirtdart]

Love'm. I shoot 338 WinMg now but would buy another MKV 340WM if I could find one. 250 Sierra's are the most accurate things I ever shot from mine.

I shoot my 338 often even though I haven't hunted with it in a few years. Medium bore rifles are fun to shoot and extremely accurate. Gotta load your own to enjoy them.

 

[Shovelershooter]

I have one. It's hell on elk or anything else in North America. I plan on taking it to Africa next summer for everything short of buffalo. It would work fine on them were it legal. Ferocious muzzle blast with a brake, but I wouldn't want it without one. Ammo is hard to get, so stock up when you find it. Hendershots Extreme Ammo will load lots of different flavors for you. Mine loves the 225 grain ttsx. I cannot stress ear plugs enough.

 

[Hivernan]

I get some folks just like large caliber rifles, and that is fine. But outside of Brown bears, why would one want a 340 for North American game?

Cons:

• extremely loud
• super expensive ammo
• recoil…

Pros-
- kills deader than a 300WinMag

 

[Shovelershooter]

It is way overkill for deer, but I think it's what the Good Lord intended for elk to be shot with. Any angle at any reasonable distance.

 

[Dfoster479]

Ended up with the weatherby mark v accumark elite

 

[Dfoster479]

I get some folks just like large caliber rifles, and that is fine. But outside of Brown bears, why would one want a 340 for North American game?

Cons:

• extremely loud
• super expensive ammo
• recoil…

Pros-
- kills deader than a 300WinMag

I hunt in Africa every year and plan on a moose/ brown bear hunt next year. Just wanted a little upgrade from the 300 but didn’t want to pack around a 416 rigby

 

[Coniahargenio]

That’s beautiful!!

 

[Shovelershooter]

Wow. That's sharp. You're gonna love it.

 

[Shovelershooter]

What scope do you have in mind d?

 

[Dfoster479]

What scope do you have in mind d?

Probably leupold vx-6 3-18

 

[Shovelershooter]

Can't go wrong there.

 

[dirtdart]

I get some folks just like large caliber rifles, and that is fine.

Actually a medium bore. Medium bore rifles are considered too light for most African PH's in the heyday of African Safari