I worked with Bob at Extreme Machine on one project. He is a nice guy but will not work with him again. Because of that work, he let me in on the specs of his 338 Extreme long before it was released. Personally, it offered nothing that many of us were not already doing, just being packaged under a new name and this time was said to use a special beefed up 505 Gibbs designed case made from a special brass maker to their exacting demands.....
That was the story I got.
When I asked why he was getting such low performance levels for a 265 gr solid bullet design, roughly 3200 fps, he said it was because that is where they shot the absolute best and that there would be an added advantage of longer barrel life. I was told this entire project was a ground level new design for sure accuracy and precision........
I told him we were seeing 1/2 moa accuracy at 3400 fps with the 300 gr SMK and at that velocity, it kicked the hell out of his slightly higher BC bullet at 3200 fps.....
Then, a press release was mistakenly sent to my e-mail address. It told basically all the information that you have been given about the brass maker. I also heard and read about the test results with the Xtreme and to be honest, I was a bit surpised it did not shoot better. I personally believe it was simply a problem with poor bullet design more then anything else, as we have been shooting the 300 gr SMK at 3200-3300 fps for years out of the 30-32" barrel lengths and getting amazing accuracy results.
In my opinion, go with the 408 based wildcats. Bruce is in your area and will serve you as well as anyone in building you a 408. I talked with him several times when I was designing my personal wildcat and he was very helpful and willing to help as I have always found him to be.
Joel is also a wealth of knowledge in this area as well so you will be well taken care of in your area.
Just stay away from the Extreme.... Just my opinion.
