Building a 338 RUM

[cumminsusa]

Going to build my first custom rifle a 338 RUM off of a Remington 700 XCR. Having hard time deciding what kind of barrel to get. I am thinking a krieger but can't decide if i should go stainless or chrome moly. Stainless would be heavier and more expansive. The chrome moly weighs less and is not as expensive and i would have to decide on a finish. I would like know what some of you guys have done and to hear what your opinion is on what i should do as a beginner.

 

[mrbb]

well I built mine on a rem 700 ss action, blue printed, and used a hart barrel, with there intermitted fluting , finished at 26 inches, don't remember the exact barrel size, but its fairly heavy, but still able to carry it pretty far without a major pain!
put on a HART muzzle break, one of the removable ones
, and never use it, too much back noise with it on for me!
I have it in a Mcmillian stock.
all in all, it loves 250 grain loads,
I shoot Ac 250's, and can hold 1/2 '' groups if I do my part!
I have it right now in just a stainless finish, but do plan to have it coated with cerecoate, nothing fancy, just a solid color to match the stock!
I have a leupold mark V 4.5x14x50mm scope on it also
it still has its factory trigger, but it has been tuned to 2.5 lbs, and breaks clean and crisp

as it is, recoil is no problem, can shoot 40+ rounds at the bench with no problems
never weight it, but would guess it at about 13 lbs all set up! in hunting mode

I have no complaints at all!

 

[woods]

Brux barrel

Welcome

#5 contour 26" with a gunsmith magnaport/brake

on a controlled round feed Beretta Mato action with a HS Precision stock. In the butt of the stock I put 2 mechanical recoil suppressors

with a Kahles 4x12x52 MultiZero and camo'd the stock

It weighs 12 pounds all loaded up and ready to dance. Right now I am treating my brass nice and only pushing the 225 gr TTSX's and 225 gr Interbonds at 3075 fps or so but getting good accuracy and it recoils like a lightweight 30-06.

If I were doing the same rebarrel right now I would go with a Pac-Nor 3 groove or one of 5R barrels, not because the Brux is not excellent, just because my last rebarrel was a Pac-nor 3 groove and I could not believe how easy the clean up is. No break in necessary.

 

[Tikkamike]

Assuming you want to keep it light the CM Barrel in a #2 contour from krieger would certainly do that, the only problem is its not as weather proof. The recoil will be slightly more with a lighter gun but with a good muzzle brake it shouldnt be an issue. It would be very destinctive looking with the stainless action and blued or ceracoated barrel. Either way its going to be a sweet gun. If you go with a stainless #5 contour you may not be able to keep your XCR stock.... I am kind of thinking CM would be pretty sweet. but like I said anything is gonna be cool just go with what your guy is telling you. Keep in mind elk hunting is a lot of work and that extra weight gets heavy after a while

 

[Chas1]

From the Lilja Barrel's website on the difference between CM and SS is as follows:

The primary difference between the two types, as far as rifle barrels are concerned, is that chrome-moly can be blued and stainless steel cannot be using conventional methods. Rifle barrels made from stainless steel will last longer, as related to throat erosion, than chrome-moly. Stainless steel resists heat erosion better. Also we can get a slightly better internal finish when lapping with stainless steel.

I prefer Krieger in SS.

 

[Tikkamike]

Thats good info

 

[JD338]

cumminsusa

Go with a SS barrel and don't look back.
This is a Hart #5 fluted 24" chambered in 280 AI and pillar bedded in a LSS stock.

When it comes time to rebarrel my 338 RUM, I plan on the same barrel but 26" length.

JD338

 

[Chas1]

very nice looking rig.

 

[cumminsusa]

Thanks for the info guys. That is an awesome looking setup. I like the blued action and stainless barrel.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

I agree with all the guys who like the blued action & the SS barrel- they look great, I have that set up on a HEAVY 6-284 with a Rem 700 long & SS Krieger Finished at 28". Plus I just put a heavy 28" Shilen Select Match SS on my .338 Ultra with a McRee precision style break. I did however cera-kote the barreled action in OD green with a coyote tan McRee precision stock; to say the least the rig shoots even better than it looks! If you don't plan to cera-kote, the SS on Blue offers eye catching contrast that is also economical.

 

[Tikkamike]

I am in love with that rifle! I was gonna go synthetic but that LSS stock looks amazing!

 

[JD338]

Here are a couple more pictures of my M700 Hart barreled 280 AI.

JD338

 

[cumminsusa]

Ok going to junk the XCR stock and can't decide what to replace it with. I would love to get a laminated stock for accuracy and looks. But I want the rifle to be light weight for hunting. Any opinions on what i should do and go with.

 

[JD338]

cumminsusa

I got really lucky and found a NIB LSS stock. I had the barrel channel opened up to accommodate
the Hart #5 barrel as well as the recoil lug for the Tubb lug. You might try looking for a LSS stock and also look at Byods.

FYI, the 280 AI pictured above weighs in at 9 lbs even.

JD338