338 RUM custom build questions...

[TeacherMan]

I've got a 338 Remington Ultra Mag 700 that I'm wanting to turn into a long range beast! I'm figuring I can start with the action off of the rifle and go from there. I know what scope will be going on it so we can skip that conversation at this point  With that said I've never done a custom build and have no idea where to start. Educate me lol 

[jay.sharkbait]

I've got a 338 Remington Ultra Mag 700 that I'm wanting to turn into a long range beast! I'm figuring I can start with the action off of the rifle and go from there. I know what scope will be going on it so we can skip that conversation at this point  With that said I've never done a custom build and have no idea where to start. Educate me lol 

Is it an older Sendero?

[TeacherMan]

Bought it about 10-12 yrs ago. Its the Remington 700 adl 338 RUM stainless. Like I said dont know much in this world. Figured it would need a new barrel, stock, trigger, and

[JPhelps]

Give Travis at RBros a call. He was great to deal with and easy for a newbie to talk to.

http://rbrosrifles.com

[Biggerhammer]

When it comes to spooky accurate .338 barrels. Benchmark barrels does AMAZING .338 barrels. You can choose any smith you like. Give Chris a call at Benchmark in Arlington, they built a .338 Edge for me that has shot 1/2" inch groups at 300 yards. I believe Yorke a member here also has had amazing accuracy with the Benchmark .338 barrels.

A .338 Ultra is a very accurate cartridge with a lot less hassle on a Rem700 , dealing with the Edge on a Remington when it comes to OAL with the heavy high BC bullets is a pain. If I was to do it again , I would go with the .338 Ultra and call it good.

[b23]

A .338 Ultra is a very accurate cartridge with a lot less hassle on a Rem700 , dealing with the Edge on a Remington when it comes to OAL with the heavy high BC bullets is a pain. If I was to do it again , I would go with the .338 Ultra and call it good.

What hassle is there with a 338 Edge over standard 338RUM?

With either, the 338 Edge or 338 RUM, I'd recommend putting an extended mag box in, it'll add very little to the price of your build.  Opinions will vary but if a long range hammer is what you want I'd make it a single shot.  When you shoot things at distance, you're going to be doing it setup from a prone position and single feeding your long range rig can be done just about as fast as reloading from the magazine, while prone.

Is the stock on your rifle a factory wood stock or is it one of those cheap plastic stocks?  If it's a wood ADL stock and you want to save some money, you should be able to just have that stock bedded and use it.  If it's one of the cheap plastic stocks, it would be the first thing I changed.  Or, if you just want a different stock because you want a different stock, how much you want to spend will be your only limiting factor.

If you aren't already aware, a 338 Edge is a necked up 300 RUM case to .338 Caliber.  There is no fireforming involved you just run a .338 caliber expander through the case mouth of a 300 RUM case.  Many 338 Edge shooters just use a tapered expander on the decapping pin in their FL or neck sizing die.

Barrel length and pressures being equal, the 338 Edge on average will shoot a little faster than a 338 RUM.  Is it a lot faster, no, it's usually in the 50-75fps range but the 338 Edge with the parent case of the 300 RUM has a slight case capacity advantage over the 338 RUM case and does yield some fps advantage.

If you want to shoot factory ammo, your 338 RUM is what you'll want to stay with.  If you already have the dies and you're setup to reload for your 338 RUM, that could be another reason to just stick with the 338 RUM.

300 Rem Ultra Brass shows up on the shelves a lot more than does 338 RUM brass, so keep that in mind, also.

You can also go to a 338 Lapua based something or other.  I've got a 30-338 Lapua improved built on a chromoly, not stainless, Rem 700 that shoots the 230 Berger at 3250.  It has a 28in #6 Lilja tube w/Defensive Edge brake, HS Prec. (Sendero take off) stock, NF 5.5-22x56, NF rail and double set of NF rings.  It weighs right at 11lbs empty, which is pretty good for a gun like this.  It shoots extremely well but if you want to go with anything 338 Lapua based I'd highly recommend going full custom instead of semi custom because by the time you have all the work done to the action you can nearly buy a Stiller custom but it's an option.  Just not a very economical one. lol

If you want to build a very capable long range hammer on somewhat of a budget, keep the option open to shoot factory ammo if or when the need or want arises, I would recommend either a 300 RUM or 338 RUM.  If you have no concern of ever shooting factory ammo then I'd go with a 338 Edge.  I'd put a fluted #6 or Sendero taper 28in tube on it from one of the top tier barrel makers such as Benchmark and a good quality side discharge baffle brake on it.  I'd also have the action blue printed before they hung a new tube on it.  Most of your good gunsmiths won't do the job if they can't blue print the action first.  I'm sure you can find some that will and probably even some that will tell you it's completely unnecessary but I think it's always a good idea on a factory receiver.

[TeacherMan]

Thanks for the info! It is a cheap sythetic stock. I'm wanting to stick with the 338 RUM for the fact I have a few hundred brass and all the dies along with tons of powder.

I would like to finish the build of the gun in the 1000-1500 mark if I can. This isn't including the scope thats another $2000  I'm calling one of my buddies tonight to talk about the build and go from their.

I was looking online right now and Cabelas has their long range 700 300RUM on sale for $699. The stock looked nice and the barrel. I'm going to talk to him about that and see if that would be a better staring platform.

Appreciate everyones ideas and messages.

[Biggerhammer]

Single shots SUCK! No problem feeding from a extended mag box when it comes the the .338 Edge. Now add the cost and find decent bottom metal and a detachable mag for the .338 Edge at little cost. As for the Lapua it will take a custom action due to the case head size and with all but the heaviest bullets the .338 RUM is faster than the .338 Lapua. The only thing the Lapua has over the .338 RUM is the brass quality. Proper prepping of ones brass for a .338 RUM and the RUM gives up nothing to the Lapua.

The fact is any animal hit with any of the three( .338 RUM, .338 Lapua, .338 Edge), is going to be just as dead. As for the range limits of all three very few are going to take it there. Let alone be capable enough to matter which of the three prior mentioned chamberings their driving

It's so, close it comes down to Persenal preferance and the matter of how simple or complicated a person wants to make it. I've dumped my .338 Edge for a 30" Benchmark barrel in .300 Win mag for slinging the Berger 230 OTM's .

[b23]

Single shots SUCK! No problem feeding from a extended mag box when it comes the the .338 Edge. Now add the cost and find decent bottom metal and a detachable mag for the .338 Edge at little cost. As for the Lapua it will take a custom action due to the case head size and with all but the heaviest bullets the .338 RUM is faster than the .338 Lapua. The only thing the Lapua has over the .338 RUM is the brass quality. Proper prepping of ones brass for a .338 RUM and the RUM gives up nothing to the Lapua.

The fact is any animal hit with any of the three( .338 RUM, .338 Lapua, .338 Edge), is going to be just as dead. As for the range limits of all three very few are going to take it there. Let alone be capable enough to matter which of the three prior mentioned chamberings their driving

It's so, close it comes down to Persenal preferance and the matter of how simple or complicated a person wants to make it. I've dumped my .338 Edge for a 30" Benchmark barrel in .300 Win mag for slinging the Berger 230 OTM's .

LOL  What sucks about a single shot if we are talking about a long range shooting/hunting rig?

It does not take a custom receiver to make a 338 Lapua or any round based off the 338 Lapua case.  A Rem 700 may not be the perfect choice but any long action Rem 700, preferably the chromoly not stainless, will work.

Why do you need a detachable mag system?  How many rounds does your hunting rifle need to hold?  Do you plan on missing a lot or do you hunt by the spray and pray theory?  If a detachable mag setup holds a certain "cool" factor for you and you think only wimps shoot single shots, by all means have at it.  Whatya think, a pocket full of 5 rnd mags enough or do you just skip straight to the big dog 10 rnd mags??  I'm sure you could carry 4 or 5 of those 10 rounders all loaded up ready for action. LOL

 

[Biggerhammer]

Ah Hahaha! Rough day princess?

[jay.sharkbait]

FiiiGHT!!!!!!

[257 Wby Mag]

Mine should be done here shortly. I bought a rem 700 adl 300 rum and parted it out. Lapped trued the action, 29 1/2" 9.3 twist broughton custom contour, McMillan A-5, Jewell trigger, 40 moa night force rail and rings and seekins dbm. I'm with Landon, you can have the single shots...

[jay.sharkbait]

Single shots SUCK! No problem feeding from a extended mag box when it comes the the .338 Edge. Now add the cost and find decent bottom metal and a detachable mag for the .338 Edge at little cost. As for the Lapua it will take a custom action due to the case head size and with all but the heaviest bullets the .338 RUM is faster than the .338 Lapua. The only thing the Lapua has over the .338 RUM is the brass quality. Proper prepping of ones brass for a .338 RUM and the RUM gives up nothing to the Lapua.

The fact is any animal hit with any of the three( .338 RUM, .338 Lapua, .338 Edge), is going to be just as dead. As for the range limits of all three very few are going to take it there. Let alone be capable enough to matter which of the three prior mentioned chamberings their driving

It's so, close it comes down to Persenal preferance and the matter of how simple or complicated a person wants to make it. I've dumped my .338 Edge for a 30" Benchmark barrel in .300 Win mag for slinging the Berger 230 OTM's .

LOL  What sucks about a single shot if we are talking about a long range shooting/hunting rig?

It does not take a custom receiver to make a 338 Lapua or any round based off the 338 Lapua case.  A Rem 700 may not be the perfect choice but any long action Rem 700, preferably the chromoly not stainless, will work.

Why do you need a detachable mag system?  How many rounds does your hunting rifle need to hold?  Do you plan on missing a lot or do you hunt by the spray and pray theory?  If a detachable mag setup holds a certain "cool" factor for you and you think only wimps shoot single shots, by all means have at it.  Whatya think, a pocket full of 5 rnd mags enough or do you just skip straight to the big dog 10 rnd mags??  I'm sure you could carry 4 or 5 of those 10 rounders all loaded up ready for action. LOL

FYI, there is a huge demand for chassis systems with detachable magazines....

[257 Wby Mag]

B23 knows everything....

[257 Wby Mag]

338 lapua never even crossed my mind, I pondered the edge a little but settled on the vanilla 338 rum