338 edge barrel lenght?

T

timmyatnop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
387
Location
north platte ne
Hi everone Iam gona get a 338 edge build started in a few months and i was wondering if i should get a 30 inch barrel or 32 inch with muzzel break on the end it would be 32 inches or 34 inches total lenght. Maybe if awyone has one they could tell me what velocieties there getting out of there barrels, Iam trying to get some ideas before i send my action a kevin to start this build for me. I really wanted, one really big boomer but after talking to a few people ive decided to go this route ,iam realisticly just shooting to 1000 or 1200 yards so mabey the edge will work great to that distance. Any experience you have with this calliber that you can share with me would be great THANKS TIMMY.gun)
 
You made the right choice. Go with a 30" barrel plus the brake at the longest. No reason to go longer.
 
I went with a 29" plus brake, running 300's at 2830.

Biggest reason, much longer wouldn't fit in my soft case. :D
 
I would go 28 to 30" + brake what bullet are you planing on shooting and will your rifle be a Single shot or repeater.
 
Maybe someone that is smarter will correct me. I think as long as powder is still burning and expanding in the barrel you will gain velocity with longer length. A 308 that shoots 40 grains of fast burning 3031 (just a guess) would probablly loose velocity with a 32" barrel because the powder would be done burning and friction would slow it down. You will be shooting over 90 grains of slow burning powder like 7828 H1000 and retumbo. That is slow powder and a lot of it. I think 2 more inches will give you a lot more velocity. I would guess 100fps if not more. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, thats just my thoughts.
 
Im using a 30in. I get 2795fps ( 300SMK) with a load that is shooting in the mid- high .2s. I have shot loads at 2890fps, but my best load has ES of 8fps, and the accuracy is great. Its been shooting 4.6in to 5.5in 3 shot groups at 1000yrds no BS. It makes me look good, and is fun to shoot. I dont think you will gain 100fps with 2in more barrel. I would think more like 40-60fps. Thats about what you will usually see.
 
Im in the same boat. I am currently waiting on a barrel for my Edge as we speak.

I researched this topic quite a bit and what it boils down to is functionality.

I wanted something that I could tote around and not be too cumbersome.

I opted to go with a 30" barrel in the Remington 17 contour.

As with a few of my other guns it seems like there is an accuracy node at a certain FPS. From what i've researched with the Edge 2800 +- 50 FPS is where everyone is at getting the happy medium between accuracy and speed.

As stated in a prior post, there is a point of deminishing returns on barrel length.

For ME the extra 50-100 FPS gained by going 4 inches longer isn't worth it.

I was just reading another thread about a big, long barrel on a factory action. The accuracy was suffering and the gun was getting beat to death because the 8 lbs of steel barrel was putting too much stress on the action and 1/4" screws that hold it all together.
 
The big 338's gain very little velocity with barrel length. I did quite a bit of testing on it with barrels from 26"-34" several years ago. 18-23 fps or so on average per inch. That is why for a hunting carry rifle the shorter stiffer barrels are popular. If you don't have to carry this rifle up and down hills then go with the longer tube, no need not to. But if it is a carry rifle go lighter. The accuracy loads in my rem 700 338 RUM with a 26" barrel are in the 2700's with the 300 grain smk. Can push them into the 2800's with no problem but go with where the accuracy is. My two 26" 338 Lapuas shoot the 300 smk in the high 2800's with best accuracy. They are carry rifles and I saw no need to up the velocity a few fps and handicap me with the longer barrels. My two 338-300 RUM's I built back in 1998 have 28" barrels and shoot the 300 smk around 2800 fps with best accuracy. They are not that much heavier but I didn't gain much velocity either. You are just not going to gain much with the extra barrel length so go with what suits your needs the best. I have built many 338-300 RUM's, 338 RUM's and 338 Lapuas since the 90's with 26-30 inch barrels. All of them have best accuracy in about the same fps range with some shorter barrels actually having faster accuracy loads than the longer ones. Basically whether you get a fast barrel or a slow one will make more difference than barrel length. If you go to a 34" class barrel then you will start to notice a seperation from the shorter barrels. But from 26-30 inches not going to see much. All things being equal maybe 80 fps.
 
That 93 grain load shoots excellent in both the 338-300 RUM and the 338RUM. I haven't tried the new lots though that people say are to hot at 93 grains. Just be careful of that.
 
I have a 30" barreled plus 2 1/2" braked edge AI. I would stay with a 27 - 28" barrel and a 2" brake just so you can use a standard case without needing something special. Most dragbags will also not accept a rifle with a 30" barrel and 2" brake. Longer cases and bags are available but the price goes up. And there is no real advantage to the extra 2" of barrel.

I found my best vertical disp with berger hybrids at 2930fps. I have pushed the 300mk up to 3060fps with 96gr of H1000 (old H1000), but groups were best at about 2950fps. My barrel seems a little fast, but my speeds have been chronied and confirmed with drops out to 1000.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 14 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

B
338 Optium Barrel Lenght
Replies
2
Views
2K
sniper2
S
T
.338rum barrel lenght
Replies
7
Views
2K
trazman
T
R
barrel lenght???
Replies
3
Views
1K
backwoods83
backwoods83
T
338 edge barrel
2
Replies
19
Views
12K
at&tr
A
R
7mm-08 Barrel Lenght
Replies
3
Views
1K
retiredcpo
R

Recent Posts

Top