338 RUM to 28 Nosler

[Deleted member 25294]

So I have a Remington 700 in 338 RUM that shoots great but wallops even better. It's not the shoulder pain that gets me at all, but the wicked blow to the cheek gives me a serious headache (even with a muzzle brake). That and tracking my shots is **** near impossible.

I really don't need the serious knockdown power of the 338 so I've been thinking about re-barreling to 28 Nosler.
With the 195 Berger it looks like little will be lost in long range energy, and I wont have to singe feed the long 250 grain VLD's, also recoil should be a lot less..

I'm looking for some pros and cons of the 28 Nosler; barrel life, velocity, recoil etc..
Information from those of you who have experience with this round would be great.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

Nothing wrong with the 28 Nosler, it's a fine round fully capable of handling just about any game you'd care to harvest BUT, very limited in choices of rifles, you going to have $400 in barrel, $200 to true action, $150 to chamber/install ...stock work? And then we toss what happens down the road, continued offering, brass availability on and on.Why don't you just keep the rifle and go buy a 7 mm rem mag or 300 win mag for far less than what you'd have in the rebarrel. If this is a hunting rifle you don't need bench rest groups to harvest game, any bolt action capable of inch and a half groups will more than accomplish that. Take a little time to weigh the options.

 

[bigngreen]

I've done quite a few 338 Rum's with 250's and with the right brakes they should be very, very pleasant to shoot, I found the 250 Berger shot very well at mag length which does jump it a lot but it has consistently shoot small there.

Changing to a 28 Nosler would be cake and without a doubt would reduce recoil while maintaining excellent ballistics. Most gunsmiths including myself all have their reamers set up for seating the 195 properly which will still mean you'll need an extended box but that's not an issue. Don't let anyone talk you into giving up accuracy because it's a hunting rifle, that's just plain foolish!!

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Your conversion of a R700 from 338 RUM to 28-Nosler is a diddle. Just change the barrel.

If the rifle shoots, adding all that action truing expense may not be needed.

If you want to do more, great but it may or may not improve the rifle.

 

[Danny1788]

I just finished my personal 28nosler it weights 9.5lbs with scope and bipod. so pretty light weight. Its a rem 700 action, .250 PTG lug, brux 1-9" 25.5" #4 fluted, 3 port lil beast brake, manners EH3 stock bedded, Talley rings for a WBY MV5 lapped into place which gives me about 10moa.

My reamer is setup to load a 180gr hybrid at 3.63" so it still works in a factory mag box and I can chase the lands.




I just started the barrel break in last week. Shooting RL33 and 180gr hybrids starting velocity was 2900ish and I got up to 3090fps but didn't have enough time to shoot my higher charges yet. I'm hoping to get over 3200fps with RL33. groups at 300 are showing promise, I was shooting one handed off the bench and rest. Recoil is about a 270win a lot less than a 338RUM. Ive done the 338 edge and it was just too snappy of recoil for my taste.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

Very nice looking rifle! I plan on keeping a factory magnum contour so final weight would be right around 9-9.5 lbs all set up. Do you think the brake is necessary? I've been wanting to get away from that too if possible, but not if the 28 is jumpy as hell without one.

As for mag length, my rifle is a factory RUM so I can seat out to a COAL of 3.65" without modifying anything. Would that be sufficient with the 195 EOL?

And yes the mod should be very easy; I plan on doing the pre-fit w/ barrel nut from McGowen. I've done the "Remage" in the past and had no problem getting exceptional accuracy.

Thanks guys

 

[Danny1788]

Very nice looking rifle! I plan on keeping a factory magnum contour so final weight would be right around 9-9.5 lbs all set up. Do you think the brake is necessary? I've been wanting to get away from that too if possible, but not if the 28 is jumpy as hell without one.

As for mag length, my rifle is a factory RUM so I can seat out to a COAL of 3.65" without modifying anything. Would that be sufficient with the 195 EOL?

And yes the mod should be very easy; I plan on doing the pre-fit w/ barrel nut from McGowen. I've done the "Remage" in the past and had no problem getting exceptional accuracy.

Thanks guys

The brake question is your call, I feel like I shoot better with a brake at longer rangers.

It depends on the reamer used mine has .181 freebore which is what I wanted for the 180gr hybrids. You can send Mcgowen some loaded rounds to throat it to the 195 at 3.6ish if you want. But that will put the 195 below the neck shoulder junction and . If you are dead set on shooting the 195EOL then have the action milled for a wyatts box and have the chamber throated with about .220 or more freebore to seat the 195 out longer. That's what I would do.