Will the 338 be worth it??

[4xforfun]

Here is where I am at.....I have a hunting blind/cabin/benchrest/shooting shack which is on a big ridge and is also on 25 foot stilts I use during deer hunting. We are able to see and shoot as far as we want to...not that we do. I have a spot that I want to bait that is unhuntable up close. It is 1375 yards out. I usualy have my 1000 yard LG set up in the cabin. BAT 8.5 M with a magnum bolt face. I have been considering screwing on a 338 EDGE tube, which is all the firepower I can come up with without buying a new bolt.
The only thing holding me back is the fact that I have a 30 cal tube now spitting out 210 VLD Bergers at 3275 FPS. The chrono was telling me 3230 and I didn't believe it so I did a drop test out to 1000 yards on my range.....I actualy had to INCREASE the velocity to 3275 in the computer to make the drops work out!! I tested and retested. I didn't show ANY psi signs (other than the chrono data) untill I was 2 gr hotter and I got the telltale "click" or "hitch" at the top of the bolt lift. I also got slight primer cratering also.

From what I have read here, the most I can expect from an Edge would be 2800 fps with the 300 gr bullets. On the other hand, all I can "expect" out of a 300 WBY is 3000 FPS with 210 gr bullets!!! Plugging those numbers in the computer shows an increase in energy by 400 lbs with the 338, from 1100 to 1500, but a loss in FPS over the 210 vld. Now, I know the phrase " no replacement for displacement" could apply here....At those velocitys will the bullet open up? A 338 hole is bigger than a 308 hole.

Do any of you/would any of you go through the expence of a new tube for this platform? BBL, gunsmith, brass, bullets, dies, cleaning supplies, ect...

 

[liltank]

Forget the Edge, I would say go with a 300RUM and 240SMK's. That will put the smack down on a deer at 1375yds. My brother in law's brother shot an elk at 1550yd with a 30x416. I think the RUM is running real close to those types of velocities. The Hornady 225 and Berger 230 would also be viable choices.

Tank

 

[4xforfun]

Tank,

I aready have 900 240 SMK's laying around.....just cant get them to shoot the small groups like the VLD's. Switching to them, probably loosing a hundred FPS in the process with my present tube will net me very, very little. Not to mention that, in my lay opinion, the SMK is a tougher bullet, and is less likey to open up at that 1500 - 1600 FPS range than the Berger.

I don't know what I would gain going to a RUM......I already am well past most reasonable RUM numbers already......and even at best would only gain 50 to 100 FPS. Like I said...this bbl/action combination is a freak of nature. if someone told me that they were getting these numbers I would laugh at them. Like I said, the PSI numbers I am generating must be near off the charts. But, like I said ....I am showing ZERO PSI SIGNS!!!! Except those my brain conjers up when looking at the chrono data!!!

 

[royinidaho]

I'd in all seriousness stick with what you are shooting now.


Just practice and go get 'em..

 

[Bravo 4]

Without reading your post I said "yes" it's worth it.

But I happen to read it and think you've got something good going on right now. I'm with the others on this one, stick with whatcha got.

 

[WildRose]

If you were shooting elk and moose I'd say "go for it". For deer I certainly wouldn't because you have a really sweet thing going already.

 

[angus-5024]

If it aint broke, dont fix it!

 

[T3-OleMan]

10 - 4 on the "don't fix it!"

 

[HARPERC]

"IF" it was between seasons there is room to quibble. Most places the season is here or near, time to run what you brung ! Between seasons set it up for some practice shots, if you don't like what you have, change it after you've made a practical evaluation

 

[4xforfun]

Thanks, guys!! That is kinda what I was thinking. But, since I had never owned a 338, I was kinda looking for an excuse to "need" one. I have done the load development for 3 different 338 Lapuas and had a blast!

One thing I didn't mention was the accuracy thing. I left that out of the equasion on purpose. Pretty much everything I screw on this action shoots....this tube is no exception. It didn't quite make my standards for a match bbl during original load drvelopment. I had baught 3 new tubes for it and simply took the BEST of the BEST for competition. This tube really came alive when I decided to make it my hunting tube and started to burn mounds of Retumbo. It will hold 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups out past 1K....every bit as good as my best match tube!!!! The extra velocity is just an added bonus. Again, this is a 17 pound pure match rifle. Not a hunting rifle. I have all of my rests and bags on the bench in the cabin.

My actual "hunting" rifle is a Rem Sedaro 300 WBY. I had Clay Spencer tune it up and put one of his 30" match tubes on it. I "only" get around 2980 FPS with it with the 210 Bergers, but it too is a shooter. I actualy won an IBS 1000 match shooting it.....5.2xx inches.

 

[Boss Hoss]

Well I am a 338 Slut! Send me your email and I will send you the reamer print for my 338 Slowpoke based on an improved 338 Lapua which Speedy designed and Kiff made. Have a few of these and they don't suck. Started as a 1K IBS round but even with a break on them in light gun the bag manners were not what they needed to be.

If you get Speedy Gonzalez to do the tube (he works on BAT's) and dies I will let you use my reamer. Do not trust anyone else with them.

 

[4xforfun]

Well I am a 338 Slut! Send me your email and I will send you the reamer print for my 338 Slowpoke based on an improved 338 Lapua which Speedy designed and Kiff made. Have a few of these and they don't suck. Started as a 1K IBS round but even with a break on them in light gun the bag manners were not what they needed to be.

If you get Speedy Gonzalez to do the tube (he works on BAT's) and dies I will let you use my reamer. Do not trust anyone else with them.

[email protected]

I would love something based on a Lupua, but with that comes the added expence of buying another bolt......somewhere in that $600.00 range. Add that to the bbl, smith, dies...ect..... Now if I DID buy another bolt, i would go with a Lapua improved, something on the 378 WBY, or even the Chytec case!!!

Go big or go home!!!

Thanks again!!

 

[Boss Hoss]

Check you email. The print is there..

Going to send you the print of the 300 Slowpoke as well a improved 300 RUM...