.338 Edge or .300 RUM

[HuntnID]

Ok so I am really starting to get into this Long Range shooting stuff, so I want your opinions. I have about $1600 to spend and I want to buy the best gun I can. I was thinking about the .300 RUM but then heard about the .338 Edge. I would mainly be hunting elk, so the more oomph would be helpful. I was wondering, how much do the .338 Edges go for? Thanks.

 

[Down Under Hunter]

Ok so I am really starting to get into this Long Range shooting stuff, so I want your opinions. I have about $1600 to spend and I want to buy the best gun I can. I was thinking about the .300 RUM but then heard about the .338 Edge. I would mainly be hunting elk, so the more oomph would be helpful. I was wondering, how much do the .338 Edges go for? Thanks.

G'day mate !

I would do a search on 338 edge and read the posts. There is heaps to read on the topic. As far as price goes I 'm sure there are budget rifles in 338 edge and the rolls royce deluxe version ? Depending on your demands and what you want your package to be ?

After reading as much as I could on the topic I get the feel that most guys that go to the edge, are after a super high performance, highly accurate rifle. So they tend to get all the trimmings done, triggers, blueprinted, ext mag boxes etc and this adds up.

I weighed the price against a couple of other custom rifles and felt the edge was extremely good value for money for what it will do.

I think you will probably find a cheaper option with the 300 ultra though ? A great rifle is no good without a decent scope as well to do it justice ??

You will see there are some very helpful and talented people on this site that give freely their knowledge and experience. And like they did for me, I'm sure will get you headed in the right direction.

Good luck.

 

[robbor]

300 rum or 30 lapua

The 300 rum kicks more than hard enough that I dont have a desire to go to 338. If I did it all over id probably go to a 30 lapua imp and shortened so id have a tad more magazine room if shooting a repeater. The $$$ goes very fast, really figure your budget. I spent over 400 just on dies brass and bullets, doh!.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Ok so I am really starting to get into this Long Range shooting stuff, so I want your opinions. I have about $1600 to spend and I want to buy the best gun I can. I was thinking about the .300 RUM but then heard about the .338 Edge. I would mainly be hunting elk, so the more oomph would be helpful. I was wondering, how much do the .338 Edges go for? Thanks.

Is the $1600 just for a rifle? Do you have a scope and rings? The .338Edge is a great cartridge. The .300Rum is the biggest I would personally go without a brake. The 338 RUM is a ton of rifle as well.

AJ

 

[HuntnID]

Yes. The $1600 is just for a gun. I will be getting a brake, a trigger job and the works on it.

 

[Wild_Bill]

338edge or 300ultra

Hi if this is your first build this is the cheeper option. Get a Remington Sendero in 300 Ultramag. First have the trigger tuned, have an oversize recoil lug fitted and the action squared and the stock properly bedded. Then have a good Quality Slab style muzzle break fitted. Have a 1 piece 20moa base fitted with 8X40 screws. This will give you an awsome rifle. Now if you want to upgrade at the time or later a 338 barrel can easily be replaced and an extended mag box fitted. If you want to go the Edge straight away you could get ang long action Sendero with a worn barrel to save a little on the purchase. A Mag action is prefered but any Rem long action is adaptable.

The 300 Ultramag should be able to shoot the 240gr Sierrs and is a great long range projectile. However the 300gr 338 projectiles are better beyond 1000yds in regard th energy and balist

 

[Bravo 4]

+1 on what Wild Bill wrote....what I did, spent about what you want to.

 

[Mysticplayer]

A few thoughts

First off, welcome to a great place and a great way to hunt. There are lots of useful articles on the home page if you haven't visited.

For LR hunting, you must first get lots of practise. The 300RUM and 338 Edge are going to be expensive and tiring to practise with. Not to mention hell on your barrel.

How far do you intend to hunt? If you haven't spent time shooting LR, it is quite the learning curve so having a super duper rifle doesn't mean you can put the bullet where it matters. Only practise will do that.

So if you are looking at 700yds and in, why not the 300WM, 338WM, or 300Wby. All are plenty powerful with the 300WM the most common, so easy to set up.

My suggestion would be to look at a Savage heavy barrel in 300WM. They have some very nice laminated stock versions. Put a good brake on it and you are making noise for around $800. The accutrigger is a superb trigger so you will not need to spend money to swap that. The savage rifles once bedded will shoot 1/2 MOA in general. That is plenty accurate for most any LR hunting application and equal to many custom hunting rifles.

Spend the extra money on ammo, scope and time at the range/field. Expect to burn out that barrel in 1500rds so money for a replacement is in order. If you practised once a week and shot 50rds each outing, that barrel will be toast by next summer. The RUM and edge would be toast alot sooner.

Cartridges like the RUM and Edge really shine when you are pushing very heavy for calibre bullets in very long barrels. The difference between a 300WM and a RUM in a 26" pipe and 208gr Amax is about 100fps. For this slight increase in velocity you are burning 40% more powder and 2/3 the barrel life. Then there is significantly more noise/recoil.

No elk is ever going to complain about being poked by the slower rd and will die just as quickly.

Jerry

PS if you really want to do some practise, with the extra money you now have, pick up a Savage HB in 223. Now you can practise for pennies and your hunting rifle will last a few seasons. Just shoot the 75gr Amax at 3/4 the distance of your 300WM and you will get the same doping.