I've been working on this for about 18 months now and it's finally done. The goal was to have a 2000+ yard specialty pistol that could match or exceed the performance of a 338 Edge rifle. I've always been partial to the specialty pistols for long range shooting so this was a logical move for me. I currently do most of my shooting out to 1300 yards with a Savage Striker in 284 Win and have had excellent results over the years. As the ranges get stretched further each year I've come to realize that my SP just can't keep up. I had to break down and start running a rifle out to the 2300 yard mark. That's where this project came in.
When working with the pistols, in order to get the performance I want I need to step up one class in cartridge selection. To get 300 Win Mag performance from a 19" barrel I went with a 300 RUM, to get 338 Win Mag performance I went with a 338/375 Ruger case, to get 7-08 ballistics I went with a 284 Win, and the 6mm BR matches a hot loaded 6 PPC. So in order to get 338 Edge ballistics I had to go big, really big! Enter the 338/408 Cheytac Improved!
It took a few weeks to come up with a parts list for the perfect ELR pistol project and it was kind of "spared no expense" proposition. Here's what I ended up with:
-BAT CT action (octagon profile)
-20" Lilja barrel (1.450" tapered to 1.350" at the muzzle)
-Jewell Trigger
-Joel Russo pistol stock mad of Bubinga
-Terminator T5 muzzle brake
After collecting all of the parts I started to interview smiths to build it for me. I've had 8 or 9 smiths do work for me in the past and most were capable of producing very accurate guns. This time I wanted detailed finish work and an actual "gun builder" instead of a parts assembler. 3 of the smiths I talked to didn't want anything to do with the project because the said it wouldn't be safe. A few others just had no interest in the whole concept. Alex Wheeler of Wheeler Accuracy not only saw the potential of the project but he was actually excited to see it through. Alex Wheeler is an accomplished LR benchrest shooter and an excellent rifle builder as you can see in the pictures. He handled all of the metal work as well as the stock inletting and finishing. The fact that he used barrel stubs as the escutcheons was a great little touch! The finish is beautiful, the fit is perfect, the bedding is flawless and the timing of the action to the trigger is perfect. On top of that his turnaround was nothing short of spectacular; it was measured in weeks not months or years!
All I need now is to get out and shoot it! I sent the smith 5 loaded rounds to function test the gun and he said that it's almost unimpressive. The loads I gave him were 300gr Berger OTMs over 140gr of H50BMG. When shot at dusk there was no more flash than any other cartridge and he said you can almost shoot the gun free recoil. While the gun does weigh about 16# without the scope, a lot of credit needs to be given to the Terminator brake that's on there. I have a T4 on my 338/408 Rifle and there's no denying the effectiveness of the brake.
I'll keep posting updates with velocity results when I get a chance to start test firing. I'm just finishing up doing some work on my truck this weekend (had a brake line rupture while pulling the boat!) so I'll be back up and running to get out next week to start shooting.
Andrew
When working with the pistols, in order to get the performance I want I need to step up one class in cartridge selection. To get 300 Win Mag performance from a 19" barrel I went with a 300 RUM, to get 338 Win Mag performance I went with a 338/375 Ruger case, to get 7-08 ballistics I went with a 284 Win, and the 6mm BR matches a hot loaded 6 PPC. So in order to get 338 Edge ballistics I had to go big, really big! Enter the 338/408 Cheytac Improved!
It took a few weeks to come up with a parts list for the perfect ELR pistol project and it was kind of "spared no expense" proposition. Here's what I ended up with:
-BAT CT action (octagon profile)
-20" Lilja barrel (1.450" tapered to 1.350" at the muzzle)
-Jewell Trigger
-Joel Russo pistol stock mad of Bubinga
-Terminator T5 muzzle brake
After collecting all of the parts I started to interview smiths to build it for me. I've had 8 or 9 smiths do work for me in the past and most were capable of producing very accurate guns. This time I wanted detailed finish work and an actual "gun builder" instead of a parts assembler. 3 of the smiths I talked to didn't want anything to do with the project because the said it wouldn't be safe. A few others just had no interest in the whole concept. Alex Wheeler of Wheeler Accuracy not only saw the potential of the project but he was actually excited to see it through. Alex Wheeler is an accomplished LR benchrest shooter and an excellent rifle builder as you can see in the pictures. He handled all of the metal work as well as the stock inletting and finishing. The fact that he used barrel stubs as the escutcheons was a great little touch! The finish is beautiful, the fit is perfect, the bedding is flawless and the timing of the action to the trigger is perfect. On top of that his turnaround was nothing short of spectacular; it was measured in weeks not months or years!
All I need now is to get out and shoot it! I sent the smith 5 loaded rounds to function test the gun and he said that it's almost unimpressive. The loads I gave him were 300gr Berger OTMs over 140gr of H50BMG. When shot at dusk there was no more flash than any other cartridge and he said you can almost shoot the gun free recoil. While the gun does weigh about 16# without the scope, a lot of credit needs to be given to the Terminator brake that's on there. I have a T4 on my 338/408 Rifle and there's no denying the effectiveness of the brake.
I'll keep posting updates with velocity results when I get a chance to start test firing. I'm just finishing up doing some work on my truck this weekend (had a brake line rupture while pulling the boat!) so I'll be back up and running to get out next week to start shooting.
Andrew
In order to get the performance I wanted, I needed to get a bit excessive. 
