Ultra Long Range Caliber?

[royinidaho]

Roy

Lot if's here and hope. Nothing wrong IF you know the pitfalls and are prepared to take it in the shorts, but normally not a practice for uninformed.

BH

I hear you on that. At times its a real PITA but I seem to carry a bad gene.

I AM learning the pit falls, and there are plenty.

Experience is the best teacher, as long as it is someone else's experience. That's something I haven't really learned as of yet.

However, I am confident that good will come from this.

Roy

 

[DoubleGobble00]

Thanks for all the help and information. I consider ultra long range to be at least 1600 yards and beyond. The longest range I have found goes to one mile but I would like to shoot further in the future if I can find a place that will allow me to do so.

Seems like the 408 case necked down to a 338 is the way to go. I am not too worried about barrel life. Since it will cost so much to shoot I doubt that will be a problem. I also look forward to the berger 338 bullets that will soon become available..

Here are a few more questions for you.

1) If I was to do a 338 snipetac, 338 Allen mag, or 338-408 improved... Would I have to send my parts to the gunsmith who designed or developed the round to get my barrel chambered? Or can you rent reamers so a local gunsmith can chamber my barrel?

2) Who makes dies for these rounds and how much do they cost?

3) What type of powder is most common? Is it more expensive than regular powders?

4) What scope would stand up to the recoil with muzzle brake? Would a NXS be my only choice?

5) I have a Rocker Chucker Supreme press.. Is that big enough?

I want to get a good idea of what I am getting myself into. Since I have the magnum bolt, I can always build a 300 win mag for now and then build a 338/408 later on down the road when more $$$ would be coming in. So before I bite the bullet, I am just trying to get my head wrapped around the cost of this bad boy. Also, the cost could determine how many guns I need to sell to complete this build.

Thanks again,

DoubleG

 

[djbwow2008]

Kirby is hunting but should be back in the shop around Feb 3. Shoot him a email then [email protected] and I'm sure he will give you all the info you need. I know kirby makes the reloading dies for his 338 allen mag. Most I've seen do have the NXS on them with 4 sets of rings.I am having Kirby build me a 338 ax. I found Kirby to be very honest and is a straight up good guy to deal with. If it were me I would go with the 338 Allen mag and have Kirby build it. He is a perfectionist and the gun would be top notch.

Dan

 

[liltank]

I can answer two of your question. The one about dies can be done two ways. One is getting the demensions of your reamer and sending a copy of the blue prints to the reamer to the die maker of your choice. I know that Redding dies can make you specialty dies, but they require the above. Or you could send your reamer to them for more accurate construction.

Another way is to fire form your rounds and send three fired casings to RCBS or Hornady. They will make you the dies to match. I will say that they will be rather costly.

As far as powders are concerned, they are the same as any other. They will cost the same, its just that you will be loading 150 to 200 grains of powder. It will be consuming powder at a very high rate. Therefore it would pay to buy the 8# kegs once you find a powder that works. My cousin only gets 65 reloads to a 1# of powder for his 338 Lapua at 92.2 grns of H1000. You will probably be using the slower stuff, like Retumbo, BMG50, IMR 7828, or H870 or an equivalent of. Others will be able to tell you good powder combo's because I do not own something this big.

Tank

 

[Joel Russo]

DoubleGobble00:

Here's answers to your questions..


1) If I was to do a 338 snipetac, 338 Allen mag, or 338-408 improved... Would I have to send my parts to the gunsmith who designed or developed the round to get my barrel chambered? Or can you rent reamers so a local gunsmith can chamber my barrel?

There are a few different versions of the .338-.408. Once you decide on a gunsmith to build the rifle for you, he will have the reamer to chamber the barrel. Trust him to guide you through this process. All of my .338-.408 rifles are improved versions of the case. They carry a 35* shoulder and minimal body taper in the case. I have Baer do all my metal work.

2) Who makes dies for these rounds and how much do they cost?

Most custom rifle builders chambering for this round, will offer you custom dies. Neil Jones will also make them for you. I had Baer make me all my dies, full length size die, and inline seat die. I have a few of each. Figure about $300.00-$450.00 for dies depending on where you get them.

3) What type of powder is most common? Is it more expensive than regular powders?

In the .338-.408 you will be shooting H50 BMG. With the 300 gr bullets, figure around 132-140 grains depending on the barrel. It is no more expensive than the other Hodgden powders. You will want to buy the 8lb jugs.

4) What scope would stand up to the recoil with muzzle brake? Would a NXS be my only choice?

The recoil is not sharp as you are using slow burning powder in a bit heavier rifle. The NXS will be fine, as will the other top end scopes. I would not suggest an inferior piece of glass.

5) I have a Rocker Chucker Supreme press.. Is that big enough?

You will want to buy the RCBS Ammo Master or similar press made by Hornady.


Do yourself a big favor..... When you get serious about having a rifle built chambered in this caliber.... Talk to someone who has experience specifically with the wildcats on the .408 case.

There's allot of guys willing to offer information on something they have no personal experience with.

 

[philny1]

Listen to what Joel Russo tells you, his advise is sound. He's been shooting the wildcat based .408 stuff for years.
He's got them figured out, I know, I've shot plenty of his rifles.lightbulb

Phil

 

[DoubleGobble00]

Thanks so much for all the help and useful information. I appreciate it! The 338/408 wildcat is impressive. Now I have to decide if I can afford to build it at this time. It sure would be a nice gun to have around.

DoubleG

 

[liltank]

Thanks so much for all the help and useful information. I appreciate it! The 338/408 wildcat is impressive. Now I have to decide if I can afford to build it at this time. It sure would be a nice gun to have around.

DoubleG

Personally any gun is nice to have around!!! Stun gun, BB gun, shotgun, etc. I'm not picky.

Tank

 

[DoubleGobble00]

Alright.. Let me break this down to see if I want to go this route. Looks like these are the costs:

Parts I have:
BAT 1.55MB - $1200
McMillan A5 fully inlet - $600
Titanium recoil lug - $75

Parts I need:
Rem ADL trigger guard - $50
Barrel - $300
Painkiller brake - $175 (I think)
Picatinny rail - $100
2 sets Mark 4 rings - $300
Scope (12-42 BR Nightforce) - $1200
Jewel 2 oz br trigger - $175

Labor for gunsmith - $800 (estimate)

50 pieces Jamison brass - $125
300 SMK Sierra 50ct - $30
Jug varget powder - $150
Custom Dies - $400
RCBS AmmoMaster Press - $270

Amount needed to finish and shoot build - $4075
Total build with shooting supplies - $5950

Do you see anything I am missing or can remove? Let me know. This might put me over the top to just build a smaller caliber.

DoubleG

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I'm not sure what you would save with smaller cal, other than some brass and powder cost. Maybe the muzzle break. Best I can figure, it'll cost some where between three and four grand to put together a full on custom.

Steve

 

[liltank]

You can get an EGW base for $40.00. They make them to fit about any action. Your total looks about right though. Makes me think it is going to be a very long time before I ever get to build a custom rig for myself.

Tank

 

[DoubleGobble00]

With a smaller caliber I think I could save this:

1 set Mark 4 rings - save $150
Used my Leupold 8.5-25x50 VX-III from another gun - save $1200
Brass - save $75
Custom dies to Regular - save $300
Jug powder to lb powder - save $120
Use my Rockchucker press - save $270

Save about $915 using Leupold scope or $2115 with scope

Total build - $5035 without scope
Total build - $3835 using Leupold scope

Left to pay out of pocket for reg mag - $1960 using Leupold scope

So basically it is a difference of $915 to go ahead and build the larger caliber over a regular magnum. I guess in the long run that is not too bad.

DoubleG

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I don't figure the scope is part of the rifle. There are options for the scope no matter what the cal is. You can use your Leupold on the larger cal. Powder cost will only vary on how much you shoot. Per pound it is the same.

All in all, you may save a couple hundred from big to smaller. The big Chey Tac case does give some hurdles in the loading. If you stay on the .338 Lap case for the build you can get a pretty hot long range rig with out the loading difficulties.

Show us the pics when it's done.

Steve

 

[theodore]

The 338 Edge can hit the ultra range and some have been custom built with savage actions (short and long). This info is new to me, so far I found it to be fairly cheap and worked out fine according to what I have read.

Plus the 338 Edge barrel will withstand the heat better than the 338/408 wildcat- save money over time.

Just a thought.

Good luck.