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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
New and confused (so many choices)
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<blockquote data-quote="Long Time Long Ranger" data-source="post: 445365" data-attributes="member: 505"><p>I have got less than 500 rounds super accurate barrel life out of the 30-378 wby. Sometimes a bit more but they are rough on barrels. By the time you get a good load worked up and all your long range testing your barrel is on the downhill. I have 338-378's with well over 1000 rounds that still shoot great with the barrels in excellent shape. That is why I quit working with the big 30's. I still have some that work very well and just took a mulie at 1033 yards and an antelope at 904 yards with my 300 ultramag. The big 30's are fun to shoot but just do not last as long.</p><p> </p><p>The big 338's have much better barrel life and much more stopping power at extreme long range than smaller calibers. </p><p> </p><p>You need to decide what weight rifle and what range you plan on shooting most. Around 800 yards seems to be about the breakover point for easy hits with extremely fast cartridges. You can do 800 yards fairly inexpensively and with over the counter rifles, cheaper scopes and a rangefinder. Beyond 800 yards the difficulty is exponential and not on a gradual curve. This means spending quite a lot of money on a custom or semi-custom rig and much more money on support equipment. The rig will be heavy. The best are the cartridges based off the Cheyenne Tactical case and the 50 BMG Improved case. Check with Kirby Allen on here because I think he has a chey-tac based wildcat down to 16-17 pounds or lighter now. That would be your biggest baddest SOB out there in a rifle anywhere near light enough to hunt with. These can be pushed between 3300-3400 fps with a 300 matchking.</p><p> </p><p>The next is going to be the Excalibur, improved 338-378 wby, 338-416 imp., etc. which can be done in a 10-12 pound rifle. They can push the 300 matchking to 3100+ fps. Next step down at the bottom of the big 338's are the 338 RUM, 338 Lapua and 338-300 RUM which also is called edge and several other names. These three all will average around 2800 fps with the 300 matchking. The improved lapua can get you 100+ fps over these three. All velocities are considering 30" barrels. If you want to save some money the ultramag based ones are cheaper to build with a donor action and cheaper to reload, thus their popularity. Any of these cartridges will kill animals further than anyone can hit one with 100% repeatability. Just depends on how much money you want to spend or how many clicks you want to turn. Loosely speaking 100 fps equals about 100 yards more downrange you can go with the same reliability.</p><p> </p><p>With good new high BC custom bullets being developed in 375 caliber these are worth considering. The standard 378 wby is now one of the best long range rifles out there pushing BC's over .9 at near 3000 fps.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Long Time Long Ranger, post: 445365, member: 505"] I have got less than 500 rounds super accurate barrel life out of the 30-378 wby. Sometimes a bit more but they are rough on barrels. By the time you get a good load worked up and all your long range testing your barrel is on the downhill. I have 338-378's with well over 1000 rounds that still shoot great with the barrels in excellent shape. That is why I quit working with the big 30's. I still have some that work very well and just took a mulie at 1033 yards and an antelope at 904 yards with my 300 ultramag. The big 30's are fun to shoot but just do not last as long. The big 338's have much better barrel life and much more stopping power at extreme long range than smaller calibers. You need to decide what weight rifle and what range you plan on shooting most. Around 800 yards seems to be about the breakover point for easy hits with extremely fast cartridges. You can do 800 yards fairly inexpensively and with over the counter rifles, cheaper scopes and a rangefinder. Beyond 800 yards the difficulty is exponential and not on a gradual curve. This means spending quite a lot of money on a custom or semi-custom rig and much more money on support equipment. The rig will be heavy. The best are the cartridges based off the Cheyenne Tactical case and the 50 BMG Improved case. Check with Kirby Allen on here because I think he has a chey-tac based wildcat down to 16-17 pounds or lighter now. That would be your biggest baddest SOB out there in a rifle anywhere near light enough to hunt with. These can be pushed between 3300-3400 fps with a 300 matchking. The next is going to be the Excalibur, improved 338-378 wby, 338-416 imp., etc. which can be done in a 10-12 pound rifle. They can push the 300 matchking to 3100+ fps. Next step down at the bottom of the big 338's are the 338 RUM, 338 Lapua and 338-300 RUM which also is called edge and several other names. These three all will average around 2800 fps with the 300 matchking. The improved lapua can get you 100+ fps over these three. All velocities are considering 30" barrels. If you want to save some money the ultramag based ones are cheaper to build with a donor action and cheaper to reload, thus their popularity. Any of these cartridges will kill animals further than anyone can hit one with 100% repeatability. Just depends on how much money you want to spend or how many clicks you want to turn. Loosely speaking 100 fps equals about 100 yards more downrange you can go with the same reliability. With good new high BC custom bullets being developed in 375 caliber these are worth considering. The standard 378 wby is now one of the best long range rifles out there pushing BC's over .9 at near 3000 fps. [/QUOTE]
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