Need help - .308 or 300 UM

[devildoc]

I'm glad to see you have a better learning curve than most of us; but, I forgot to mention something. First, you need to think about what bullet you want to use because you want to make sure you order a barrel with a fast enough twist to stabilize the bullet, but not so fast to increase pressures needlessly. So once you figure out what caliber you want post back so we can help you with bullet selection and therefore figure out what twist rate you need to order your barrel in.

 

[mattj]

I would honestly suggest getting a .308 first. Granted, it's not really suited to shooting elk at 1000 yards --- however, it will allow you to PRACTICE a lot more -- and you'll need all that practice before you should be shooting animals at 1000 yards anyway

The thing to keep in mind is the cost to feed your beast: in addition to the per-round cost of the .300 RUM, even if you are reloading, you will shoot the barrel out MUCH sooner than you will with a .308 -- ie after 1000-1500 rounds. I practically feel guilty every **** round I put down my RUM's tube thinking about how I just burned away 1/1000th of my barrel life -- and I can hardly bring myself to practice 'rapid' follow up shots due to 'barrel burn guilt'... (exaggerating slightly here, but you catch my drift...). To put it in perspective, if you take into account the cost of a barrel, getting it chambered, installed, etc -- with the .300 RUM it's like adding $.40 to the cost of every round you fire.

For target shooting, a .308 will get to 1000 just fine with the right load, and your barrel will last MANY times as long as the RUM.

Also, the .308 will be much better suited to most competitions -- for example, 1000 yard F-Class would make great practice (you can shoot in F/TR even!).

I wish I'd been around to give myself this advice a year ago when I started my custom build. I love my RUM, but I just received it in October, and am ALREADY in the process of trading some of my other gun stuff for a .308 so that I can afford to practice more.

As for barrels -- if you are concerned about turnaround time for a custom barrel blank, check out Brux barrels Welcome -- I've heard nothing but good things, and unless they have recently become victims of their own success, they can apparently get you a made-to-order cut-rifled hand lapped barrel blank in 2-3 weeks.

 

[mattj]

By the way -- to get that first precision .308, especially if you're on somewhat of a budget and want to start saving up for the 'next' gun which will be the big boomer....

My advice would be to do what I'm doing: Snag a used rig.

Stake out the for sale section on sites like this and Sniper's Hide -- smokin' deals come up all the time -- you just have to have an idea what you are looking for and have the cash ready so you can jump on that deal before somebody else beats you to it.

The best deals will generally be on Rem 700s, Savage 10FP's, FN PBR/SBRs, etc. that have have been massaged by a gunsmith (action trued, bedded, trigger work, etc etc). Trued factory actions don't keep their value the way guns built on custom actions do. If you aren't bent on winning vs. the best of the best in competitions and such for a while, looking for a rig with a custom barrel isn't necessarily a must -- factory guns trued/bedded/etc by a smith can turn out to be half-minute guns, so don't shy from buying a 'proven' gun from somebody just because it has a factory barrel.

The other advantage is the seller will often be able to tell you exactly how the gun shoots with certain loads, etc.

 

[tuffy6969]

I'm glad to see you have a better learning curve than most of us; but, I forgot to mention something. First, you need to think about what bullet you want to use because you want to make sure you order a barrel with a fast enough twist to stabilize the bullet, but not so fast to increase pressures needlessly. So once you figure out what caliber you want post back so we can help you with bullet selection and therefore figure out what twist rate you need to order your barrel in.

How about .338 Lapua. Help me with that one Devil.... also, have you seen these: Custom Made Rifles, Custom Tactical Rifles and Custom Sniper Rifles by Van Dyke Rifle Designs What do you think? gun)

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I agree w/ an earlier post saying that you should figure out your cal. and intended bullet before you order the barrel in order to figure out the twist that will be needed. What twist you choose now will effect your bullet choice here after.

I believe McGowen Precision Barrels can turn around inside a month.

My .02 worth.

Steve

 

[tuffy6969]

Thanks Rocky - this is going to be a long project. I need all the advice I can get!

 

[devildoc]

Well, as much as I hate to do it, I'm gonna have to sort of agree with Mattj here. If you are not yet familiar and competant with the big boomers I'd probably recommend you stick with either the 300WSM, 300WM or something comparable. Even with a good brake your recoil management skills have to be well developed in order to have good follow through with the big .338's. On the other hand I think with a good brake the above mentioned 30's are more than manageable even for a fairly novice shooter. I personally would not recommend using a .308 for Elk, but there are a whole lot of people who would disagree with me and I couldn't fault you for going that way either. But I really don't think with a custom build and a good brake there is much advantage to the .308 other than cheap factory ammunition which to me is a mute point since I think you should be practicing with the same ammunition you will be hunting or competing with.

However, that's just my opinion and I'm by no means the ultimate authority around these parts. You may also want to talk to some of the smiths that frequent this site and get thier opinions. Fiftydriver and Shawn Carlock are two that pop to my mind. Remember, an opinion is like an anus; everybody has one and everyone thinks all the others stink worse than thier own. I'm no exception to that rule.

Talk to people and maybe pick up a copy of Precision Shooter and look at the equipment lists for the recent matches. Talk is cheap, but the guys who are winnin' the money use what works. If you're lookin' to build a hunting class gun that you intend to compete with might as well look at what kind of builds people are winnin' with in that class.

 

[tuffy6969]

Good advice Devil......maybe I'll stick with .300 Win Mag or .308.