Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
Articles
Latest reviews
Author list
Classifieds
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Hunting
Long Range Hunting & Shooting
338 for elk hunting- Build a lightweight rifle
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Bret GRAVELINE Graveline" data-source="post: 2044652" data-attributes="member: 108926"><p>I put together the rifle you're looking for 25 years ago, back in the 70's Colorado elk camp was at eleven thousand feet, back then 8 lb rifle was a mountain rifle, my Ruger 77 in 338 weighed close to 10, over the years I turned the barrel down and restocked it with slimmer classic style stock of bastogne walnut, with a 2.5x8 Leupold loaded with sling came in at 8 pounds, in the 80's if you wanted a elk you needed to be prepared for a long shot, my 8lb 338 was up to just about any task I asked of it, in the 90's I added a 6lb 257 Ackley but not for elk, a little older now a 6lb rifle was a delight, about 95 I found Sako M995 in 338 Lapua, nice rifle but a little to heavy to my liking, being a fan of the big cartridge Ackley and light rifles I wanted it all in one package, I Ackley improved the Lapua, PTG made my reamers and hornady produced the dies, going back to my roots, I choose a ruger 77 tang safety action, a pacnor number 3 super match grade barrel, and a brown precision classic stock, I decided the num 3 barrel was a little heavy so I turned it down a little finishing the crown out at .590 and a 26 inch finished length, I cut a muzzle break into the barrel so actual barrel is really 25in, The gun has worn several scopes starting with a 3x9 Burris with a ballistic plex reticle, but currently wears a Leopold 4.5x14 with a Boone & crockett reticle, I'm leaning towards going back to the 3x9 its a quarter pound lighter and I as I'm just as likely to find myself pointing this rifle at something standing just in front of me verse across a canyon, I learned how to use a mill dot reticle while spending my summers picking on rock chucks and prairie dogs, hitting a coke bottle size rodent with consistency at 600 plus yds makes deer and elk seem like a chip shot, the finished rifle with 3 rds and sling tips the scale at 8 lbs 3 oz, it shoots the 185 225 and 250 grain Barnes X bullets to the same point of impact, the 185 leaves the muzzle at just over 3600 fps, the 225 gr at just under 3400 and the 250 at 3200, i don't hunt with the 250 gr as I don't feel I need it, recoil is stiff But with a good synthetic stock and muzzle break I don't feel its any worse than a standard 338 Winchester, a good hand laid fiber glass stock such as brown mpi and others obsorb recoil, most if not all the more popular long range stocks i see in use these days are not so forgiving, while it cant be felt the entire butt of a foam core stock acts like a 14 inch recoil pad, a glass stock with Kevlar will save weight but Kevlar does not flex so felt recoil is more severe, this gun will hold sub 1/2 minute moa, with the 185 being almost half that, I shoot four 3 shoot groups to average out my group size, the gun only holds 3 rounds so I feel firing more is wasting good Cooper, sighted 3 inches high at 100 yards its a point and shoot 450 yard gun when aiming center mass on deer, I purchased 200 rounds of Papua brass, using a select 21 rounds to do my load development I' never to lost a case fatigue, good luck in your rifle quest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bret GRAVELINE Graveline, post: 2044652, member: 108926"] I put together the rifle you're looking for 25 years ago, back in the 70's Colorado elk camp was at eleven thousand feet, back then 8 lb rifle was a mountain rifle, my Ruger 77 in 338 weighed close to 10, over the years I turned the barrel down and restocked it with slimmer classic style stock of bastogne walnut, with a 2.5x8 Leupold loaded with sling came in at 8 pounds, in the 80's if you wanted a elk you needed to be prepared for a long shot, my 8lb 338 was up to just about any task I asked of it, in the 90's I added a 6lb 257 Ackley but not for elk, a little older now a 6lb rifle was a delight, about 95 I found Sako M995 in 338 Lapua, nice rifle but a little to heavy to my liking, being a fan of the big cartridge Ackley and light rifles I wanted it all in one package, I Ackley improved the Lapua, PTG made my reamers and hornady produced the dies, going back to my roots, I choose a ruger 77 tang safety action, a pacnor number 3 super match grade barrel, and a brown precision classic stock, I decided the num 3 barrel was a little heavy so I turned it down a little finishing the crown out at .590 and a 26 inch finished length, I cut a muzzle break into the barrel so actual barrel is really 25in, The gun has worn several scopes starting with a 3x9 Burris with a ballistic plex reticle, but currently wears a Leopold 4.5x14 with a Boone & crockett reticle, I'm leaning towards going back to the 3x9 its a quarter pound lighter and I as I'm just as likely to find myself pointing this rifle at something standing just in front of me verse across a canyon, I learned how to use a mill dot reticle while spending my summers picking on rock chucks and prairie dogs, hitting a coke bottle size rodent with consistency at 600 plus yds makes deer and elk seem like a chip shot, the finished rifle with 3 rds and sling tips the scale at 8 lbs 3 oz, it shoots the 185 225 and 250 grain Barnes X bullets to the same point of impact, the 185 leaves the muzzle at just over 3600 fps, the 225 gr at just under 3400 and the 250 at 3200, i don't hunt with the 250 gr as I don't feel I need it, recoil is stiff But with a good synthetic stock and muzzle break I don't feel its any worse than a standard 338 Winchester, a good hand laid fiber glass stock such as brown mpi and others obsorb recoil, most if not all the more popular long range stocks i see in use these days are not so forgiving, while it cant be felt the entire butt of a foam core stock acts like a 14 inch recoil pad, a glass stock with Kevlar will save weight but Kevlar does not flex so felt recoil is more severe, this gun will hold sub 1/2 minute moa, with the 185 being almost half that, I shoot four 3 shoot groups to average out my group size, the gun only holds 3 rounds so I feel firing more is wasting good Cooper, sighted 3 inches high at 100 yards its a point and shoot 450 yard gun when aiming center mass on deer, I purchased 200 rounds of Papua brass, using a select 21 rounds to do my load development I' never to lost a case fatigue, good luck in your rifle quest. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Hunting
Long Range Hunting & Shooting
338 for elk hunting- Build a lightweight rifle
Top