New what caliber??

midwesthunter · #1 02-15-2010, 11:13 AM

Ok I had a thread earlier that I was going to build a 7mm STW but wanted longer barrel life. So what caliber? So now I'm thinking I want a bigger caliber. The donar action is a 8mm Rem Mag, I have been considering the 300 wsm, 300 rum, 338 edge. Kind of leaning towards the edge. Will be used for all around fun, paper steal, small/big game. Will be reloading of coarse. Soooo question is whick one should I pick? Currently don't have anything bigger than a 30-06.

Long Time Long Ranger · #2 02-15-2010, 11:32 AM

All of those are great rifles. The 300 ultramag barrel life would probably be about similar to the 7mm stw. I have five 7mm stw's and three 300 ultramags. I don't know how many rounds they have shot but they all still shoot good. The 300 short mag is excellent and will give tremendous barrel life. If you intend to shoot this rifle a bunch I like that choice. For a long range hunting rifle for all around hunting of big game that includes elk size critters I would do the 338 ultramag. It has the same performance as the 338-300 ultramag you call edge and will work better with your action. They both shoot 225 grain bullets near 3300 fps, 250 grain bullets around 3100 fps and 300 grain bullets 2800-2900 fps. These two are the top performers at long range game with your action. If you don't intend to hunt elk size stuff there are a bunch of choices.

liltank · #3 02-15-2010, 01:18 PM

I really enjoy my 300WSM. Another caliber to consider is the 338 Norma mag. Good strong caliber and won't smoke the bore as quickly as the rest. It runs 300 SMK's at 2750 with a calculated optimum barrel length between 23.5" to 25". I believe it to be a very good design and was developed to fit normal long action lengths. Read the article 338 Norma Review on the home page and then read the discussions. It is a very viable caliber for your applications.

Tank

Long Time Long Ranger · #4 02-15-2010, 04:09 PM

I like the 338 Norma but thought it had the lapua bolt face. I just stayed with what could be done fairly easily with the 8mm mag action. I am getting to old to keep up with all of them but I think it is a shortenned blown out lapua. Let us know for sure. That is a very interesting round and may be one of my next builds for a lighter weight big 338.

sniperjwt · #5 02-15-2010, 05:56 PM

My vote is stay with your original choice of the 7mm STW.

I like it better than any of the others you listed.

liltank · #6 02-15-2010, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Long Time Long Ranger

I like the 338 Norma but thought it had the lapua bolt face. I just stayed with what could be done fairly easily with the 8mm mag action. I am getting to old to keep up with all of them but I think it is a shortenned blown out lapua. Let us know for sure. That is a very interesting round and may be one of my next builds for a lighter weight big 338.

It is a blown out shortened version, but closer to the original 416 design. When the Lapua was made they made some dimensional changes to create the Lapua. It's OAL in the casing is 2.500" I really like the idea of that cartridge. I don't think I will shoot any farther than 1500. I could be wrong.... it's been known to happen! ;)

Tank

midwesthunter · #7 02-16-2010, 06:24 AM

I will have to look into the 338 norma a little more. But when comairing ballistics between the 300 WSM and the 338 EDGE, yes they both can hit 1000 yards but the edge does it with alot more athority, and doesn't have the drop or drift that the 300 WSM has. So to me it would be a little more forgiving. As for still build the 7mm STW, I have to 8mm mag actions, so thats not tattaly out of the picture.