338 lapua or???

[NW SURVEYOR]

Rebel,
Here's my two cents,

I have rebarreled my Sako Finnbear to 33 Nosler which is a standard-length cartridge.
It shoots 270 Grain ELDXs with a BC of .757 out the pipe at 2940 FPS.
I'm using 250 CCI Mag Primers with 81.5 grains of RL-19.
COAL is 3.510"
At the muzzle there is 5183 F/Ps of energy.
At 700 yards it's still a very respectable 3126 F/Ps which compares to my 7 mag with a 160 grain Hotcore at 3113 F/Ps at the muzzle.
This is an accurate rifle shooting sub 1-inch groups.
It's paired with a NightForce NX8 2.5-20x50 scope.
I had a brake put on it when the guy rebarreled it which makes it real easy to shoot.
The rifle's not light, no old Sakos are, but it shoots great with a total weight at exactly 11 #s with scope and sling.
This setup won't break the bank if you have a Finnbear with a worn-out barrel, which I did.
Also, the Finnbears have longer box which accommodates the longer COAL.
Have the guy mounting the barrel give you a little extra freebore to accommodate the extra COAL.
One other thing to consider, which may not be important to you is the new life that you will breath into your old Sako.
All for the cost of a barrel.
As for shooting 300 grains Sierra's, I could only get 2644 FPS with 80.0 grains of RL-19.
But, what the heck, I think the 270 ELDXs would be lights out for moose, as the elk I've shot have all been real clen kills up t0 560 yards, which is my furthest shot at game so far.
Sorry to get so long winded, but this 33 Nosler is the real deal.

Good Luck to oyu and the boy next year.
Rob.

[mountainman]

Go 338 Edge+ as mentioned. Great round and will handle that bull if the range gets a little longer then expected👍
Good luck buddy!

[NWShooter]

Take a good look at the .375 Ultra Magnum and a 260gr Accubond. 3050 FPS easy out of a 26” barrel with hand loads. Can be run on a standard magnum bolt face long action. Where as the Lapua requires a custom action with a larger bolt face. If you are purchasing a factory rifle, then the action doesn’t matter, you get what you get in a factory offering. Can also run a 300gr Accubond @ 2750 plus with hand loads. 600 yards is child's play for either cartridge and the .375 makes a great big bear rifle.

[jasnt]

I got a savage 112 target magnum in 338 lapua I’d part with for a hell of a deal.  Single shot action.  Shoots great (see my 37xc build thread).  Still ton of life left in her.round count in my sig    If your at all interested hit me up before I shoot it again and change my mind

Looked hard at this rifle, but the single shot keeps me looking elsewhere.  Reality is it would be fine as it should be a one and done kind of rifle...LOL 

Haven't ruled it out, but still considering other options.  I'll pm you if I decide to go this route.   

you won’t find a better deal on a 338lm.  And with the money ya save you could have the action milled for magazine.   $600

[idaho guy]

Thanks for all the replies.  At this point, looking for a factory rifle that I can mount a scope to and start loading for.  I'm not convinced I'm gonna be all in on the shoulder breaking big boomers..... , so would like to try it first.  My motto is "why not", so when I was looking at a new toy to load for.....well why not a 338 lapua.  We hunt moose in Canada and it would be a great pairing for such a large animal...even though our 300 wsm's have proven to be great plenty, butttttttt....WHY NOT!!   

Looking pretty hard at the Savage 110 Long range 338, but it is proving to be a hard rifle to find. 

Have found a few Weatherby mark V in 338....any thoughts on the Weatherby rifles and their out of box accuracy??  Never owned one. 

Christensen makes a couple....but I have not had the greatest experience with Christensen.  The one and only I owned was a kind of a downer and did not meet my expectations.

 

My buddy has the 338-378 weatherby it was super accurate right out of the box. I bought the 30-378 weatherby at same time and it was my most accurate rifle. Both Mark v I also bought same weatherby in 270 wby mag and 257 wby mag all tack shooters. I watched my buddy shoot a huge black bear (se Alaska diy hunt) at long range with 338-378 and it looked liked something picked it up and threw it on its side 😂

[slm9s]

When I was looking for a big LR rig I ended up with a switch barrel 338RUM and 7mm Rem Mag on an Underground Skunkworks action.  The reason I say this is that as others have said the 338 Lapua uses a bigger case head.  That really limits your cartridge options for that action.  Just something to think about.
If you're just scratching an itch, whatever used rifle in 338rum, 338edge, 340wby, 338/378wby, 338Lapua, 375h&h, 375wby, 378wby etc would work for your goals.
Good luck.

[Alchase]

My shoulder hurts from reading this thread.

375 Cheytac has less felt recoil than the Lapua.

 

You can buy 338 Lapua’s off the rack that shoot 1 MOA or less.

I have never seen a 375 Cheytac on any rack (box store) for sale.

There is an old saying (that I just made up, but I am old) 
Great rifles are not bought, they are made!

338 Lapua is a great round. But I think I would do a 300 WSM, much more pleasant to shoot.
 
Still the 375 Cheytac would be pretty awesome!

[jrebel]

My shoulder hurts from reading this thread.

375 Cheytac has less felt recoil than the Lapua.

 

You can buy 338 Lapua’s off the rack that shoot 1 MOA or less.

I have never seen a 375 Cheytac on any rack (box store) for sale.

There is an old saying (that I just made up, but I am old) 
Great rifles are not bought, they are made!

338 Lapua is a great round. But I think I would do a 300 WSM, much more pleasant to shoot.
 
Still the 375 Cheytac would be pretty awesome!

We have two 300 wsm's and love them.  They shoot better than we can with the handloads.  My son's shot a 5 shot group at 300 yards cutting the same cloverleaf hole. 

This is more of an itch that I want to scratch and will be purpose driven for a moose hunt.  The Lapua is easily purchased of the shelf and has components for reloading readily available.  If I like it and want to keep moving in the big bore direction.....then building will definitely be the better option. 

Another question...

I'm not overly concerned about weight as this rifle won't be packed very far from any vehicle.  I will be tying my loads with H1000 pushing a 300 grain accubond.  I have read that the 26" barrel is not the best for H1000 due to the burn rate.  Would I be better off with a 30" barrel for said powder / bullet combo.  The FPS is negligible in my mind but finding other powders or burning through powders I have in stock is a major concern.  H1000 is in good supply and I'm currently not loading any other rounds with it. 

Thoughts?? 

[jasnt]

30” will definitely help that h1000 out.  I was getting 2830 with my 26” and 300gr Berger’s and h1000.  Got to a point where more powder wasnt given more speed.  Re33 had better speed but dirty stuff.  Never got to try retumbo

[jrebel]

30” will definitely help that h1000 out.  I was getting 2830 with my 26” and 300gr Berger’s and h1000.  Got to a point where more powder wasnt given more speed.  Re33 had better speed but dirty stuff.  Never got to try retumbo

Did you find the H1000 worked well in a 26" barrel?  I can't figure out why it wouldn't but some sites said it would work better in a longer barrel.  US869 is a lot faster burning powder so I would believe that to be true....but H1000 seamed to me to be a fine powder in a 26" barrel. 

The barrel length is the difference in about 3 lbs of gun between the two I'm looking at.  Not sure the weight will matter when we are only talking 3lbs...

[jasnt]

30” will definitely help that h1000 out.  I was getting 2830 with my 26” and 300gr Berger’s and h1000.  Got to a point where more powder wasnt given more speed.  Re33 had better speed but dirty stuff.  Never got to try retumbo

Did you find the H1000 worked well in a 26" barrel?  I can't figure out why it wouldn't but some sites said it would work better in a longer barrel.  US869 is a lot faster burning powder so I would believe that to be true....but H1000 seamed to me to be a fine powder in a 26" barrel. 

The barrel length is the difference in about 3 lbs of gun between the two I'm looking at.  Not sure the weight will matter when we are only talking 3lbs...

I love h1000.  It works great and pretty clean compared to some other options.  It worked very well for me. Yes a longer barrel will give you more performance and efficiency imo.  If I didn’t sell mine to fund another project I would have eventually went with 30-32” barrel.   My Ed was in the low teens for 10 round.  I do think that with the 26” the 250gr bullets was better for wind out to 1500. Then the heavy 300’s took over

[idaho guy]

It’s refreshing to read a thread about larger calibers for a change 👍 6.5 created a weird race to the smallest caliber you could hunt with IMO. not wanting to discuss caliber preferences AT ALL. Just a fan of the bigger guns myself will be following along for updates on what you go with jrebel

[Magnum_Willys]

26-27” barrel H-1000 would be my choice - faster powder for shorter barrel.  At 30” try n570 and RL33 for greater speed.

With 28” barrel I got 2800-2820 with H1000 and 300 gr
With Rl33 got 2850-2870

With 30” barrel got 2880-2930 with rl33.   Havent tried h1000 yet.

The 30” carbon barrel can be VERY end heavy with a light stock.   

[hunter399]

I like all the discussion.
I'm just not sure what the end goal is,seems most of the goals can be achieved with a 7 mag or a 300 win mag.
With a lot better packing weight. For hunting that is.

Prove me wrong?
Or tell me what the end game is.

[Magnum_Willys]

I like all the discussion.
I'm just not sure what the end goal is,seems most of the goals can be achieved with a 7 mag or a 300 win mag.
With a lot better packing weight. For hunting that is.

Prove me wrong?
Or tell me what the end game is.

For critters handoaded 215 bergers in 300 wm can get it done to 1000 yards so yea, why go bigger?  Because if you are crazy enough to shoot that far you want all the help you can get.  You lose a critter with a 300 or 7mm then you go up to a 300 gr at 2850 plus fps.   I have 300 wm and Lapua.   Have not lost any game yet with the Lapua.  For most people I would suggest the 7mm.