338 Lapua or RUM???

For hunting purposes, they're both so close together in terms of ballistics that they're equal for all intensive purposes. The real question here for you is, how much money do you want to spend?

If you already reload for either cartridge, I'd be iclined to go with that. If buying loaded factory ammo, I'd buy the RUM for shear cost advantage.

Another consideration is the firearm itself. Not many factory hunting rifles are chambered for either cartridge and the ones typically chambered for .338LM are usually much more expensive than .338 RUM offerings.

You haven't exactly given us a lot of information to go on here so I'm lead to believe you either haven't put a lot of thought into this or you're novice to it all. Have you shot either cartridge before? Recoil on a typical lighter weight hunting rifle is going to be sporty at best. Having said that, I'd choose neither cartridge. A .300 Win. Mag should be all the cartridge you need for your intended hunting purposes.

Your question may garner more appropriate responses in the hunting section than the precision shooting forum.
 
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Everything to do with a .338 Lapua is expensive... the RUM is considerably cheaper... BUT - I feel if one is to use these huge cases, the idea is to get the highest velocity... and so you should be using 28 inch barrels or longer as well to achieve this.

I think those long barrels are ridiculous for general hunting... and I think you can easily shoot a smaller .338 cartridge with a shorter barrel and it will work just fine at all practical hunting ranges and animals.

It is an oldie but it is really hard to beat a .340 Weatherby with a 26 inch barrel.

Entirely a personal choice.
 
I love my .300RUM, loading with 200gr ABonds and using AA3100 - 86gr, primer is Fed215M. This shoots so accurate that some of my hunting buddies switched to .300RUM for moose at longer range.
I zero the rifle at 300m and I am good for another 100m without playing with the scope.
RUM calibers are great for longer ranges and if this is a case for you, get it.
 
I would go with the Ultramag because of the difference in cost.I myself chose the 300ultramag over the 30-378 for the same cost factor,and with 26" barrels,the difference in performance isn't great.
It certainly would be nice to have higher quality Lapua brass,but I have no problems achieving 1/2 moa to 5/8 moa with Remington brass.
 
For hunting, 338 RUM. For extreme range plinking, you can add the 338 Edge/Mystic/Tomahawk and other variants of the 338-300RUM to the mix but the difference is not huge and you will need a 4" mag box.

Rem is your action of choice. Dirt cheap and more then accurate with a bit of tuning.

However, the recoil on these two are BRUTAL. You will need a muzzle brake and that is no fun to hunt with unless you plan on stand/static hunting.

Unless your ambitions including dropping big animals beyond 800yds, there are so many better more effecient choices.

A 338WM is way big enough for any NA game a very long ways from the muzzle. The 300WM and 7RM are also more then enough as thousands of hunters have proven.

Then there is the 30-06/270/308, etc, etc, etc.
Jerry
 
However, the recoil on these two are BRUTAL. You will need a muzzle brake and that is no fun to hunt with unless you plan on stand/static hunting.
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I found a significant difference in recoil between the 300ultramag,and the 338ultramag,with the 300ultramag being quite manageable without a brake if you have a quality stock and recoil pad, and keep the scoped rifle at around 10lbs.
 
stubblejumper said:
I found a significant difference in recoil between the 300ultramag,and the 338ultramag,with the 300ultramag being quite manageable without a brake if you have a quality stock and recoil pad, and keep the scoped rifle at around 10lbs.
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I agree,
I have just changed my recoil pad on my Remington LSS rifle, which is rather cheaper gun, to R3 pad.
I can see difference in recoil. I was shooting this rifle over the weekend from bench about 12 rounds, and 12 rounds of 9.3x64 with no bruise on my shoulder.
 
I've spent quite a few years hunting with the 338Win, the 340wby, and the 338Ultra.

Out of all of the 338's I liked the 338Win the least (as a long range hunter). I found long range accuracy difficult to attain at best and it is plain slow with the big bullets that make the 338 bore a legend.
In my opinion the 338Win is a great close range hammer (inside 300 yards) that will put meat on the table and have plenty of power for bear insurance, but it is not much of a rifleman's surgical instrument.

The 340 also has plenty if smashing ability and 250 grain bullets at 2850-2900 are a step up from the 338Win.
Every 340wby I have ever shot has been plenty accurate (at long range) as well as being fairly easy to get good accuracy from.
The 340wby might be the best round for a guy that wants a bit more than a 338Win....Most will learn to manage recoil and shoot it well. As an added bonus it feeds well from a Remington platform.


The 338 Lapua is an accurate round, but the big bolt face dictates the use of actions that are both expensive and heavy. It brings no practical advantage to the hunter and and offers no significant ballistic gain over the 338Ultra.

The 338 Ultra's accuracy can only be considered inspiring.
95-96 grains of RL-25 drives a 225 grain partition or accubond to 3200fps and will do it in one very small hole in every gun I have ever shot.
The results are pretty much the same with an accurate 250gr at 3000fps with H-1000, RL-25, or Retumbo.

The big challenge (if you chose to accept it) is developing the mental wherewithal to translate all of that long range horsepower into well placed shots from improvised field positions. You have to want to master the monster and along the way you will need absolute focus on attaining the goal. In the process of pulling off a long shot from a difficult position be advised that you can expect to be hit with the scope....It will happen sooner or later.
Plain and simple most that try the fast 338's sell them shortly after firing the first few rounds.

The challenge is significant...Expect to be tested.
 
I have a 338 RUM in a Remington Sendero with Ken Farrell steel rings and base and a VXIII 4.5-14 X50 LR with B&C reticle, this is a pretty heavy package and recoil is not that bad without a brake. To date I have about 350 rounds through this rifle and it has taken 1 moose and 3 deer.
 
I am building a .338 LM simply because I believe that brass quality is the biggest factor in comparably built rifles. 300 RUM maybe cheaper but when you factor the time in to sort brass, clean primer pockets, and de-burr FH - just not worth it because you still won't know if the case walls are all uniform. I also am not a fan of Rem brass -- I cut a bunch of different cases a while back to see the difference in case walls (I wish that I still had pics of it) but you could see that the domestic brass was really not concentric - Rem was surprisingly (or not) the worst mind you this was in a .22-250 so I don't know that it applies to all their cases.
 
There are many LR hunters that use Rem brass with excellent results. The 338 Edge is likely the most popular variant off the 300RUM brass. No issue shooting 1/4min.

It is not as durable as Win or Lapua but at sane pressures, holds up very well. Many of my 300RUM cases have seen 10+firings.

The issues of case wall concentricity has been mentioned enough to become 'fact'. My own testing has shown that as long as the neck is even and the case lines up with the bore (ie no runout), the case VOLUME matters a whole lot more then wall thickness variations.

At worse, it is a few thou. difference.

The only thing gases expanding at 5000fps really care about it getting OUT of the case. As long as the 'funnel' is pointing in the right direction and the neck release is the same, that thrust will be the same IF the combustion chamber volume is the same.

Jerry
 
Jerry, I agree that case wall thickness isn't a huge deal but in the big picture it is just one more reason for me not to go with a Remington Case caliber. I have a .221 Fireball and the fact that only Remington produces cases is a huge PITA. I can honestly say that after trimming, uniforming primer pockets, deburring FH, and uniforming neck thickness, I would rather not have to do it. If I was shooting a factory gun with a nice sloppy chamber then it is not a huge deal but if I am going to build a nice LR blasta I would like the comfort of knowing that the best brass is available. Esp considering that the cost difference between shooting RUM and LM (for reloaders) isn't that much.
 
Glock4ever, there are many who still do basic prep on Lapua brass especially neck turning. For the best performance, I would certainly give it a check.

For me, I actually like prepping my brass as I get to confirm all is consistent. I consider this an important part of my reloading routine. YMMV.

No matter the brand, I only work on my brass AFTER it has been fireformed. Seems to yield the best results for me.

Jerry
 
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