two part gunsmith question on 338 lapua mag

C

CMaier

Guest
1) What commercial receiver would you use to build a 338 lm, first second choices, not custom ,
looking for a donor rifle.

2) Bbl length and contour for 1500 yard plus shooting.

thanks
 
would you consider the savage actions acceptable ?

am i asking too much of a "factory" action ?

( i used a stiller on my mk 13 300 win mag)
 
Any action that has a 1 1/8" diameter thread and a .750" diameter bolt. I wouldn't suggest using any action that has a 1 1/16" diameter thread or .700" diameter bolt.
 
CMaier said:
noo custom actions....

or are you saying none of the commercials are worth the effort ?
Click to expand...

Lissen to Mike.....it ain't about "worth the effort" it's about not stuffing a rifle bolt thru your zygomatic arch.

I've got 338L's built on Wby Accumark, Savage large tenon and standard 110 and 700 actions, because I CAN. But I will never sell one and I've done it just to monitor expansion on the tenons. Savage does offer the 338L as a chambering in their large tenon configuration and I guess if you really want to you can cannibalize one of these. I can't imagine why you WOULD, but you could.

I've done three using the Stiller action designed for the 338 and I would never use anything less for a customer's rifle.
 
http://riflebarrels.com/378-weatherby-cases-in-the-remington-700-action/

This is a link to an article Dan Lilja wrote about using a .378 Wtby in a 700 action. The same logic is applicable to using a .338 Lapua in a 700. Remington has offered the .338 Lapua in the 700 action. Freebore length in it is excessive compared to most custom chambers which I figure was intentional as the longer freebore lowers pressures making it to where the cartridge can be used in the 700 when used with sammi pressured cartridges. Several years ago I built a .338 Lapua on a Bat M with a 1 1/8" thread. Large massive action. It had a clocked brake on it. He loaded it with some 50 BMG powder he had and blew a primer. I had to remove the barrel to get the fired case out of the rifle. When I reinstalled the barrel, the brake was no longer clocked correctly and had to set the barrel back to get the brake aligned correctly. There was enough pressure that something gave. I figure it was the softer threads on the 416 barrel that stretched. Not sure how many times he rebarreled that rifle after that, but it was at least three new barrels before he passed away. Doubt if very many people shoot out that many .338 Lapua barrels. While no one ever plans on having reloading errors, they do happen. Certainly better to have it happen in something other than an action that will marginally handle the cartridge.
 
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Mike Bryant said:
http://riflebarrels.com/378-weatherby-cases-in-the-remington-700-action/

This is a link to an article Dan Lilja wrote about using a .378 Wtby in a 700 action. The same logic is applicable to using a .338 Lapua in a 700. Remington has offered the .338 Lapua in the 700 action. Freebore length in it is excessive compared to most custom chambers which I figure was intentional as the longer freebore lowers pressures making it to where the cartridge can be used in the 700 when used with sammi pressured cartridges. Several years ago I built a .338 Lapua on a Bat M with a 1 1/8" thread. Large massive action. It had a clocked brake on it. He loaded it with some 50 BMG powder he had and blew a primer. I had to remove the barrel to get the fired case out of the rifle. When I reinstalled the barrel, the brake was no longer clocked correctly and had to set the barrel back to get the brake aligned correctly. There was enough pressure that something gave. I figure it was the softer threads on the 416 barrel that stretched. Not sure how many times he rebarreled that rifle after that, but it was at least three new barrels before he passed away. Doubt if very many people shoot out that many .338 Lapua barrels. While no one ever plans on having reloading errors, they do happen. Certainly better to have it happen in something other than an action that will marginally handle the cartridge.
Click to expand...

I went out recently and bought, on the open market, one of them Weatherby Accumark deals in 338-378 Wby Mag.......paid stupid money for it. Tore it down to find a wee tenon! It's got a corncob of little locking lugs and evidently Wby has considered them to be sufficient for years but when I'm done I'ma' screw the factory barrel back in and sell it......

They DO have a nice, long and capacious magwell though......
 
al,
glad you paid for that education, not me.
thanks again to both of you.
 
Another Option

The .338 Edge is a better option for the Rem. 700. The mag well can be altered for Wyatts extended box. Most other commercial actions will be single shots as magazine length suffers. Norma .300RUM brass necks-up nicely to form the Edge.
 
aww but the question is 338 lm,

( if it gets close to 338lm in velocity/weight,
then we are back to safety of the receiver shank
dia/bolt dia. yes ??)

thanks
 
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the brass

The Edge, because it uses .300RUM brass as its parent, utilizes the magnum bolt face of .532+. I believe the Lapua uses .587+. This brings into the discussion surface area and bolt thrust, calculations that are "out of my wheel house". There are "boo-koo" 700s built chambered for the .300RUM, the .338 X .300UM would operate at similar pressures as the .300, brass being the limiting factor. Would it be better to have bigger diameter tenon threads? Couldn't hurt! But, the Rem. 700 action seems to do a pretty good job of handling UM cartridges. see www.defensiveedge.net for more (and probably better) info.
 
I am currently testing the 338-378 (and the originals, both 378 and 30-378), the 338L, the 338 McCallum (a blown out and Improved 338L) the 338RUM, a blown out 338RUM, a "338 Edge" and also the real 338 Edge........(99.9% of all the "338 Edges" out there ARE NOT Shawn Carlock's actual creation, but instead just reamers cut to resemble his, but with conventional throat configurations. The real 338 Edge is a lot more complicated than just a 338 formed from 300 brass) I've also got a 338 Norma and a 338 Win in the mix for comparison but they're not "contending with" the big guys....

I've got 9 barrels, 8 reamers and 5 platforms going and at this juncture testing is far from complete but I can almost state as fact the IF I COULD GET GOOD BRASS the RUM variants are the most attractive.

IMO if either Win or Lapua would produce RUM brass the search would be over.
 
over the 338 lm ?
and safe in a 700 action ?

one of our shooters does use a RUM.

( 800 to 2000 yard steel prone known distance)
 
BTW my testing is limited to only two bullets, the Barnes 280 LRX BT and the Berger 300's (all 5 generations/iterations)
 
what brass have you used with the 338 rum ?
one shot ?

26" bbl's ?

1/10 twist

bbl dia on the 338 run on a 700 action ?
 
CMaier said:
what brass have you used with the 338 rum ? Rem
one shot ? I have no idea what the question is

26" bbl's ? yes

1/10 twist yes

bbl dia on the 338 run on a 700 action ? all testing done w #5 Shilen's
Click to expand...


what brass have you used with the 338 rum ? Rem


one shot ? I have no idea what the question is


26" bbl's ? yes


1/10 twist yes


bbl dia on the 338 run on a 700 action ? all testing done w #5 Shilen's
 
barrel size & brass

I'd recommend nothing smaller than the Remington Sendero contour. "What brass have you used with the .338RUM?". NONE! I've not used the .338RUM. The .338 Edge is different than the .338RUM. I've had best longevity from Norma brass, primer pockets on Nosler and Rem brass 'open up' after just a few firings/loadings. With the Edge being a wildcat (not SAAMI) you are bound to find many variations of the round. "Keeping it simple" would be my advice. 26" barrel?,, I like 28" with a 9-9 1/2 twist. 300g SMKs seem to be my projectile of choice. I've tried others, but always go back to the SMK.
 
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