Anybody regret NOT going 338?

[MudRunner2005]

X, that's a good quote. My grandfather always said, "Beware of the man who only has 1 gun, 'cause chances are he knows how to use it..."

 

[luke]

If we were comparing heaviest for caliber with highest bc wouldn't it only be fair to use the 190gr matrix 7mm with a bc of .807. It wouldnt change the outcome much but that is the heaviest for the 7mm that I am aware of.

 

[yobuck]

i think alot of the thinking and therefore the problem lies in the fact that many
people know by what they read. watching them fly across wide valleys and smash into a distant hillside brings about a totaly different perspective. i am a
show me type individual. i dont jump to conclusions about anything without
seeing it first. i dont own nor have i ever read brian litz,s books or any others.
about 15 and maybe more years ago we met up with bruce baer and a couple buddies while deer hunting. they had a 338x416 with them and i had a 36"
30x378. i was pushing a 200 smk at about 3500 fps. anyway since we werent seeing any deer to shoot at the idea emerged about seeing this 338 shoot.
there was a rockledge over there i had shot at many times at 1480 yds.
well to get right to the nuts and bolts part he whipped my *** bad. not only did he get there with less elevation his was decidedly more consistant. for those of you who are saying well you should have been using a 240 smk ill answer by saying you never did the comparison by shooting at 1500 did you.
put down the book and go shoot. its like checking out the rice burners with live ammo.

 

[Rangerpl]

I bought a .338LM for various reasons. Probably not the best reason, but I wanted to have something that I knew I wouldn't soon grow out of or catch myself 'wishing' or 'wondering' if I should have gone with the larger caliber. How many times have we all done that? Maybe not specifically with rifles but with other toys such as 4 wheelers, boats, and what not...I know I have. I'm definitely impressed by the .338LM ability to put the smack down on larger game at great distance (at least what I've read), but I'm equally interested in whay else I can do with a .338LM.

I've read many posts stating the .338LM is too much gun for N/S American game, but I wonder if as much study has been done regarding tuning the .338LM for lighter loads? What performance related comments would there be when comparing a 160gr .338 bullet or a 300gr .338 bullet?

Biggest downside I have with my specific rifle is the weight and the cost of the ammo. It wouldn't be hard to shoot up a mortgage payment with 1 sitting at a range if your shoulder could take the punishment.

I grew up in western Montana and have a close friend who still lives there. I remember when we were young boys out hunting and watching a heard of elk trot along a far ridge (seemed the story of our lives at that time), my friend said "wouldn't it be cool if we had a rifle that could bag an elk that far away?". After some time at the range over the next year or so, I'm hoping that I can answer that question with conviction....YES IT IS!

 

[cohunter14]

Hey now, I hate imports, too. LOL but the 7mmSTW is like the Lambo and the .338 Lapua is like the GTSR Viper.....Both will go 230, but the Lambo will get there faster...

So that would make the 7 RUM like a Formula One car then I guess...faster than the STW. And I would say the .338 is more like a Monster Truck that can go 230mph as well! Get there quick and once it does, it will run your *** over!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Thanks for the well thought out reply.

Everyone has a different idea of what long range is and what sort of hunting rifle best suites their hunting style/terrain. A lighter caliber for a lighter rifle was sort of where I was going.The lighter rig being more mobile not more accurate/stable.

Your 12 pound rig is exactly the route chosen by my good buddy. Not a bad set up at all.

Your disdain for the 7mm and assorted "pea shooters" is understood.
At one time I had no use for such calibers either, but with modern high performance controlled expansion bullets they are sure death within their respective expansion range. For me the jury is still out on a 7mm Berger at 3500fps (for instance) at 25 yards, but that is just me. I too prefer a bit more horsepower latitude on game such as elk.

If you don't feel a rifle or caliber then you will not be confident in it and should not use it.
Beware of the man that is confident in the same rifle...He might just surprise you!

I don't disdain 7mm's. I hunted with a 7 RM for many years and took a lot of game with it. It just isn't my first choice in LR elk rifle. If it was all I had, I would use it out to what I considered it's max effective range. I just prefer the RUM because it has more punch. The 7 STW (I prefer the 7 Dakota) is very capable of taking an elk @ 1000 yds. The RUM increases the odds.

 

[MudRunner2005]

So that would make the 7 RUM like a Formula One car then I guess...faster than the STW. And I would say the .338 is more like a Monster Truck that can go 230mph as well! Get there quick and once it does, it will run your *** over!

Not really....The 7RUM is only about 1.2-3% faster (which averages about 61 fps) than the STW and uses a 12-14% powder increase. It might be like a turbo'd Lambo...Just slightly faster than a naturally aspirated one...

As for the monster truck (.338) analogy, I would say that's a fairly good one.

These are numbers that have been crunched by one of our own.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f126/why-7stw-over-7rum-113975/index2.html#post804018

 

[cohunter14]

Not really....The 7RUM is only about 1.2-3% faster (which averages about 61 fps)...

Common now, that is the difference between the 7 STW and the 300 RUM that MontanaRifleman gave earlier. You can't claim that the STW is great because it is faster than the 300 RUM, but not acknowledge that the 7 RUM is that much faster than the 7 STW...just saying, can't have your cake and eat it too!

Either way, to get back on board with the OP, whether you go for a 7mm, .308, or .338 cal, if they are in any of the caliber's referred to in the last 11 pages, you will have an excellent long range rig. Obviously everyone has their opinions.

 

[yobuck]

I bought a .338LM for various reasons.

I've read many posts stating the .338LM is too much gun for N/S American game, but I wonder if as much study has been done regarding tuning the .338LM for lighter loads? What performance related comments would there be when comparing a 160gr .338 bullet or a 300gr .338 bullet?

Biggest downside I have with my specific rifle is the weight and the cost of the ammo. It wouldn't be hard to shoot up a mortgage payment with 1 sitting at a range if your shoulder could take the punishment.

when you decide its ok to shoot at a live animal theres only 1 thing thats important.
that is hitting and killing the animal as quickly as possible.
the best gun is the one having best chance of doing that. size of the cartridge
is insignificant.
as for the lighter bullets sure they will give higher initial velocity. but that will soon be gone. the 338s have become popular for 1 reason and that is good bullets. 20 years ago you could hardly find anyone using a 338 in pa.
the 30x378 was the king of the hills. you either had one or you wanted one just that simple. now all thats changed and we can thank the good bullets for that happening and its getting better.
as for cost of shooting dont shoot it unless you have a reason for doing so.
practice with others. i would argue you dont need to shoot that much anyway.
broz just stated he had some woman who had never shot long range hitting targets right off. that should tell you something about the difficulty. of coarse
she was only able to do that because he put the clicks on.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

If we were comparing heaviest for caliber with highest bc wouldn't it only be fair to use the 190gr matrix 7mm with a bc of .807. It wouldnt change the outcome much but that is the heaviest for the 7mm that I am aware of.

If the .807 BC were true, it would indeed up the ante for the 7mm cartridges, but it would still not hit as hard as the 215's and 230's from the RUM. That said, Bryan Litz lists the Matrix .284 190 VLD G1 BC of .637. The Berger 180 Hybrid will give more bang for the buck.

 

[sandbar782]

Some very interesting points and a good read. Thanks for the inputs. You all are lucky to have opportunity to practice at some of those distances. Pretty cool.

 

[angus-5024]

If the .807 BC were true, it would indeed up the ante for the 7mm cartridges, but it would still not hit as hard as the 215's and 230's from the RUM. That said, Bryan Litz lists the Matrix .284 190 VLD G1 BC of .637. The Berger 180 Hybrid will give more bang for the buck.

That and we would need to compare custom .338 bullets that can lay a smack down on even the bergers.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

Everyone is going to have their opinion on this topic. But when the smoke settles and the boys grow to men there are two calibers that really have better capability than other calibers. If you look at F class shooting, If you ask the manufacturers of custom long range rifles what caliber they use, if you understand ballistic coefficient, If you do this you will come to the conclusion that the 7mm caliber is the best long range caliber with recoil in mind. The 338 can do better but to push 300gr of lead to modern velocitys you will most likley start to flinch. On a budget a 162 amax or 180 berger in a 7mm rem stoked with retumbo and a WIN MAG primer 26 in barell 1 in 9 twist or faster is hard to beat.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Everyone is going to have their opinion on this topic. But when the smoke settles and the boys grow to men there are two calibers that really have better capability than other calibers. If you look at F class shooting, If you ask the manufacturers of custom long range rifles what caliber they use, if you understand ballistic coefficient, If you do this you will come to the conclusion that the 7mm caliber is the best long range caliber with recoil in mind. The 338 can do better but to push 300gr of lead to modern velocitys you will most likley start to flinch. On a budget a 162 amax or 180 berger in a 7mm rem stoked with retumbo and a WIN MAG primer 26 in barell 1 in 9 twist or faster is hard to beat.

Thank you, my fellow 7mm brother. I agree completely.

However, for me it's a 180 VLD stuffed into an STW case where it's touching the lands, with a bunch of H1000 and a Fed 215 GMM primer. It works wonders when shooting 3-shot groups into the same ragged hole from a Rem 700 Sendero SF 7mmSTW with a 26" 9.25 twist barrel..