Howa 1500 338 Lapua?

[Alaska_Seth]

On Lutz Moeller's website is a 338 Lapua magnum that Pete Roedale built on a Howa 1500, looks like it works with AICS magazines.

Anyone know what kind of nightmare is involved in this and the approximate amount of bolt face steel leftover?

 

[rscott5028]

You might want to ask Lutz and Pete since they built it.

"Bolt face steel" isn't the only issue to contend with and mfgs such as Savage are beginning to offer off the shelf 338 LMs at consumer friendly prices.

Nonetheless, there are other cartridges you may want to look at that alleviate some of the challenges in dealing with the 338LM and may even outperform it. e.g. 338 Edge, 338 RUM, 338 SIN.

In any case, looking at the pros and cons of those cartridges may help identify the challenges of converting a Howa 1500 to 338LM.

-- richard

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have spoken to him about it. He mills off the feed ramp from the mag box and a few other things. I would just do a single shot or a 338 RUM. I had Kirby Allen put a REM 700 mag box in my HOWA gave me enough room to use VLDs as a repeter.

 

[J E Custom]

On Lutz Moeller's website is a 338 Lapua magnum that Pete Roedale built on a Howa 1500, looks like it works with AICS magazines.

Anyone know what kind of nightmare is involved in this and the approximate amount of bolt face steel leftover?

There are many actions that can be made to except the .588 bolt face of the Lapua case.

Traditionally, the reason a person goes to the Lapua over the other 338s (.532 case heads)
is for the quality of the brass and the durability when fed large doses of hot loads.

I personally dont see anything wrong using one of these actions if someone wants to, but
I just dont like to remove any metal from an already small bolt (.700 thousandths) when there
are larger bolts/actions available.

If you look at removing bolt face metal from a .700 bolt you will end up with .056 or less on
each side of the .588 Lapua bolt face. That is not very much and offers very little room for
the extractor.

Also the larger bolt face places more stress on the lugs because of the increase of squair inches
of surface of the bolt.

I do not recomend or build any cartrige over .532 on the smaller actions with bolts .700 or smaller.

Again, It is done all the time and is an excepted practice but why do it when there are larger actions
available that don't have to be weakened to except the .588 or .600+case heads.

It is just a personal thing with me and respect for holding something that operates at or above
65,000 Psi.

There are several cases that will equal or exceed the Lapua that will fit a standard magnum bolt
face without alterations, but if its a Lapua that you want, go for it . (Just build it on a larger action
and you wont be sorry).

A good example of a factory action that works great is the Weatherby Mark 5 with the .583 boltface.
It only has to be opened up .005 thousandths, the extractor works with little or no fitting and the
magazine length is already longer by over .100 thousandths than the standard long actions.

The cost of the Mark 5 actions are more, but the savings in machining more that offset the
difference.

Also there are lots of custom actions that are designed for the larger cartriges.

Again this is just "MY" opinion for what its worth.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Alaska_Seth]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

 

[Boss Hoss]

Edited

 

[375rifleman]

Howa 1500 in 338 Lapua. Whats involved what Howa actions go start with? What gunsmiths would even do this? Thanks in advance for any thoughts, opinions, or answers.

Regards

 

[Alaska_Seth]

This was more common 10-20 years ago, when there were not 20 actions for the 338 Lapua.

 

[375rifleman]

I just thought that by going the Howa 1500 route that I could build a rifle with less money than if I used a Savage, Remington, or custom action.

 

[Alaska_Seth]

The cost of building a custom rifle on any action will always be greatly increased by going through the Remington or Howa route. A Savage will always be crippled by horrible trigger options. The Howa has a great trigger, one of the best triggers in any factory rifle in the world at the less than $1500 price point. I am not sure the Tikka Two-Stage on the Tikka Tactical rifles is better.

The new Jard Savage trigger might change that.

The cost of converting a Howa or Remington to 338 Lapua will generally be more expensive than putting a Lapua bolt, and a pre-fit barrel on a Savage. The cheapest 338 Lapua action that I know of is the Stiller, I believe it is around $1000. You would have the cost of a good trigger $400, a barrel blank $400, barrel installation $400, a stock $180-1500, bottom metal $150-450, mounts and a scope.

A new Savage 338 Lapua repeater can be found for $1200-1500, and a single shot is $1000. I don't think there is a cheaper option.

 

[375rifleman]

Thanks, Pacfic Tool and Gauge sells both their own custom tactical actions, and custom blueprinted Remington actions. Would either of these actions be a good idea? Or would elsewhere be a better option? Thanks in advance for any thoughts, opinions, or answers.

Regards

 

[Alaska_Seth]

PTG is a dumpster fire. They have the ability to produce quality products, but anything you order you need to call and make sure they have it in stock.

They will not allow you to cancel an order, and will charge you a restocking fee on something they don't have in stock if you cancel the order.

 

[Alaska_Seth]

The Stiller is made for a Lapua, the PTG/Remington route doesn't leave you with much steel to work with.

For similar prices I'd pick the Stiller.

 

[375rifleman]

Thanks, I will transition to looking towards Stiller actions although I've heard good things about Definiance actions just don't know anyone that has one. Particularly one chambered in 338 Lapua or 338 Lapua based wildcats.