Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
I agree both will make exceptional long range rifles. Barrel life would be the issue. A 338 ultramag barrel is hard to wear out.
300 RUM or 338 RUM?? Which and why???
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remingtonman_25_06
Well-Known Member
I bought a 700 LSS in 300 RUM about 6 years ago and burned the barrel out in 2 years of shooting. I shot mainly 200g AB"s at 3200 and 210g VLD's at 3000. It was a very very accurate rifle for a factory sporter and would consistently hit my 15" plate at 1K. I killed a few elk with it, furthest was 525 yards, and those 200g AB's were hammers.
However, when the barrel went south, it was time to rebarrel to the EDGE.
The 300g SMK just cant be matched by any 30 cal bullet for retained energy or wind drift. This is what you want in a LR rifle. Who cares how flat they shoot...
If it was me, I'd go the 338 RUM and stick a 225g AB in it and be completely happy out to 1K.
However, as someone stated earlier, run the numbers with the 300 RUM/200g AB and 338 RUM/225g AB and there aint a bit of difference between the 2 really out to 1K. The real difference is when your able to stick a 300g SMK in the 338, then you can start to see why they shine at 1K due to the .770 BC. In all actuality, the 30 cal bullets usually have higher BC's then 338's, except for the 300g SMK, and can be driven faster which results in flatter shooting is all.
I've shot 2 elk in the last 2 years with my 338 EDGE and the 300g SMK at 2850fps. First was a spike at 915 yards, misjudged the wind a bit and hit him a bit forward then I would have liked, base of the neck/shoulder but it dropped him on the spot, and exited leaving about a 1" hole. My 6x6 was shot this past season at 498 yards and hit him right behind the shoulder, and exited the offside shoulder leaving about a 1.5" hole. He ran about 20 yards and was toast.
However, when the barrel went south, it was time to rebarrel to the EDGE.
The 300g SMK just cant be matched by any 30 cal bullet for retained energy or wind drift. This is what you want in a LR rifle. Who cares how flat they shoot...
If it was me, I'd go the 338 RUM and stick a 225g AB in it and be completely happy out to 1K.
However, as someone stated earlier, run the numbers with the 300 RUM/200g AB and 338 RUM/225g AB and there aint a bit of difference between the 2 really out to 1K. The real difference is when your able to stick a 300g SMK in the 338, then you can start to see why they shine at 1K due to the .770 BC. In all actuality, the 30 cal bullets usually have higher BC's then 338's, except for the 300g SMK, and can be driven faster which results in flatter shooting is all.
I've shot 2 elk in the last 2 years with my 338 EDGE and the 300g SMK at 2850fps. First was a spike at 915 yards, misjudged the wind a bit and hit him a bit forward then I would have liked, base of the neck/shoulder but it dropped him on the spot, and exited leaving about a 1" hole. My 6x6 was shot this past season at 498 yards and hit him right behind the shoulder, and exited the offside shoulder leaving about a 1.5" hole. He ran about 20 yards and was toast.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
I've been watching this thread with some interest because I'm considering a 338 RUM or EDGE as well, and I already have a 300 RUM. I think both have their advantages and disadvantages, so which one is best depends on what your priorities are. One thing I want to mention though is that there is a .30 cal bullet that will equal or beat the 300 SMK in wind drift. If I use a .62 BC and 3500 fps MV for the GS HV 177 it will beat the 300 SMK with a BC of .76 and MV of 2850 fps (EDGE velocity) to well past 1500 yds. The drift is close, but the GS edges out the SMK. Who cares about trajectory? I do. With the GS i would be able to zero at 320 yds and be 3.5" high @ 175 yds and 5.4" low @ 400 yds. A point blank hold on out to 400 yds aiming about 2/3rds the way up the body on deer or elk. Very handy if you get a shot in that range and dont have a whole lotta time to get set up which has happened to me a number of times. another advantage to the GS is that @ 5000' elevation, it will expand out past 1500 yds. I'm not sure what the SMK expanding velocity is but it slows to 1800 fps @ 1100 yds. IME, I think expansion would be iffy past 1200-1300 yds and certainly a shoulder shot would probably be the best option on elk. But.... the rib cage is a bigger target than the shoulder and it think the expanded GS would do much more damage going through the boiler room than the non-expanded SMK. Having said that, there do seem to be some very interesting .338 bullets coming on the market soon. Interesting....
That being said if you used the 265 HATs in .338 at 3000 fps would they not be much higher in energy and be very close in drop. Also at 3500 fps that would seem to be much more of a barrel burner. I think it depends whether you want to pay the price of custom bullets, depending on the shooters goals. All in all both great choices, but would be leaning towards the .338 RUM or edge because of longer bbl life and highest b.c. 300 smk out of the .338 and .308 factory bullets and custom bullets.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
Yup, just like I said in my post, it all depends on one's priorities. I think most would agree that the 338's will have significantly longer barrel life, but they also have a lot more recoil. The recoil in my 300 RUM is managable for me without a brake which is very important to me. I'm not sure how managable the 338 RUM would be without a brake. If the 338 RUM didn't kick any harder than the 300 RUM, or if I didn't care about brakes, it would be an easy choice.
As for the HAT 265's, the manufacturer claims tests showed bullet drops that exceeded .9 BC. When I ran the numbers, they showed 1.3 BC. On the other hand, Brian Litz tested the G1 BC to be .649, which if true, puts the HAT behind the SMK down range and way behind the GS. Frankly, I believe Brian Litz' testing results. There will be a shoot in Las Vegas soon to get some more field data on the HATs and other bullets.
On the 30 cal GS bullet at 3500 fps being a barrel burner, GS makes a very good case on their bullet promoting barrel life because of the design of their bullets and claim it's been proved in tests. In any case, performance usually comes with a cost. We can have our cake and maybe even the icing with it, but cake with icing and ice cream isn't likely
As for the HAT 265's, the manufacturer claims tests showed bullet drops that exceeded .9 BC. When I ran the numbers, they showed 1.3 BC. On the other hand, Brian Litz tested the G1 BC to be .649, which if true, puts the HAT behind the SMK down range and way behind the GS. Frankly, I believe Brian Litz' testing results. There will be a shoot in Las Vegas soon to get some more field data on the HATs and other bullets.
On the 30 cal GS bullet at 3500 fps being a barrel burner, GS makes a very good case on their bullet promoting barrel life because of the design of their bullets and claim it's been proved in tests. In any case, performance usually comes with a cost. We can have our cake and maybe even the icing with it, but cake with icing and ice cream isn't likely
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Overkill338
Well-Known Member
I've still got to try the 180 E-Tip and Accubond in my .300 RUM. If it shoots them well enough, I may not change calibers.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
There are a couple of reasons I dont like brakes, the biggest being the greatly increased noise factor. My rifle are carry rifles and my preferred method of hunting is spot and stalk. I carry ear plugs with me when I'm hunting and if I have time, I'll put them in before taking a shot. But I have had a lot of situations where I haven't had time to put them in and keeping earplugs in while spot and stalk hunting just doesn't cut it. It's really not an option for my style of hunting. Another less important reason is the added weight and length, mostly the length. I like my barrels to be as long as practicle for velocity and carrying which would be about 27" maybe 28" for me. So using a brake is a tradeoff in velocity for my type of hunitng. They aslo come with a price $$$
Jon A
Well-Known Member
Please, somebody, donate some of those 177's to the Nevada test so we can get some real numbers on them.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
I agree!!!!
