I am looking towards this cartridge as the chambering for my first dedicated hunting gun. I have been target shooting for many year but have little experience hunting large game. Will this cartridge do for deer to moose? I like the idea off .338win performance in a small package. Let's hear your opinions.
.338 Rcm
- Thread starter B
- Start date
It shoudl do well on any big game animal.
Only drawback is that it is somewhat new and therefore rifles and ammo may be hard to find.
Also, it is unlikely any other rifle manufacturer other than Ruger will chamber it, if that is a concern to you. I like Ruger rifles, so it wouldn't be a big deal to me.
Only drawback is that it is somewhat new and therefore rifles and ammo may be hard to find.
Also, it is unlikely any other rifle manufacturer other than Ruger will chamber it, if that is a concern to you. I like Ruger rifles, so it wouldn't be a big deal to me.
I am a big fan of Ruger, that won't be a concern. I imagine it will be expensive to start, but if the ballistics are true I don't see it dying out anytime soon. I always wanted a .338 WSM, but I think Ruger has it pegged.
I've been playing with mine for a couple months and so far, results have been quite promising.
As advertised velocity is close to the 338 Win Mag. and the rifle seems to group well with bullets ranging from 160 gr. up to and including 210 gr.
I haven't tried any heavier bullets because of a job-site injury preventing shooting and hunting for this season...( torn right rotator cuff ).
Store-bought meat for me till next season...
Regarding the little Ruger Compact, its a very nice handling rifle much like its bigger brother ....the 375 King..
As advertised velocity is close to the 338 Win Mag. and the rifle seems to group well with bullets ranging from 160 gr. up to and including 210 gr.
I haven't tried any heavier bullets because of a job-site injury preventing shooting and hunting for this season...( torn right rotator cuff ).
Store-bought meat for me till next season...
Regarding the little Ruger Compact, its a very nice handling rifle much like its bigger brother ....the 375 King..
if you can handle the recoil (it will be quite stout compared to most target rifles) it will work just fine on all 4 legged game this nation has to offer.
as has been said before, ammo is new and hard to source. I personally wouldn't choose a cartridge like the RCM's unless I handloaded.
as has been said before, ammo is new and hard to source. I personally wouldn't choose a cartridge like the RCM's unless I handloaded.
Getting the stainless one or the all black one? I like mine, the stock fits well, which is important with something that responds to the trigger like the .375 does.
About the .338 RCM, I have a gun rag with an article by Boddington about the RCM's. He tested the .338 with good results. The experimental ammo he was using was getting 2780 FPS with 225 grain bullets in the 20" tube. That was consistent with .338 Win Mag velocities out of a 24" barrel. If the real world off the shelf ammo or handloads are similar, then it would be a great cartridge. The 20" barrel is handy, and I sure like to carry it over a longer tube in the thick stuff for sure.
Ruger and Hornady put some bucks into the R&D of this, so it will not disappear any time soon. You may have limited factory ammo selection, but handloading is always the way anyhow.
You can't go wrong with the Ruger rifle for a hunting stick either. Good luck.
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Curt to be honest I am confused as to what I bought? I believe its stainless but when you go to the Ruger site it list's everything as coated with this or that. In all honesty I don't really care what shows up I just like the idea of a .375 with a 20 inch barrel and I believe either version will be tought as nails.
The RCM listed at the store is a stainless version for sure and when I inquired about it I believe they had dies,brass, and a bit of factory ammo.
The RCM listed at the store is a stainless version for sure and when I inquired about it I believe they had dies,brass, and a bit of factory ammo.
They're both stainless. One is matte grey finish, the other is coated in a black corrosion protectant.
The RCM is a cool cartridge, although I don't think it will be chambered in anything but the Ruger. Which kinda sucks that you don't have any options really.
The other downside is I would think the muzzle blast in the 20" barrel would be quite loud while hunting...
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Apparently one of the selling points for the RCM's is lower blast\recoil. If everything they say is true this may be a hell of a cartridge.
In spite of putting some fairly "stiff " loads thru my rifle, I've found it quite tolerable to shoot ....however I did put a Limbsaver pad on it as the Ruger recoil pad should instead be called a rubber butt-plate as there is no recoil absorbency whatsoever as far as I'm concerned.
You must have the thin, red pad. The pad on my Hogue stocked Ruger is nice and squishy. Effective for sure. I don't like the looks of the red rubber ones. The Limbsavers are excellent. I have retro-fitted two rifles with those.
