I have decided to go with this caliber if any one is familiar with this caliber,with making brass etc. I live in Regina surrounding area and I have yet decided what brand of barrel to go with and who to make it for me. Currently I am on a bit of budget so I would like to go cheapest route possible. The subject for the build is a howa 1500 stainless with a houge stock the gun is chambered in 3006 as of now. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated thanks boys.
338 06 AI advice
- Thread starter dragonbreath306
- Start date
X 3 !!
When I had my 338-06 built about 10 years ago the "all-in" cost was just over $700.00 for a Bevan King Stainless barrel installed on a CRF action, with the entire rifle coated with Teflon. I don't imagine it has gotten any cheaper since then.
Cheapest route is to sell the howa and buy a Vanguard in .338WM. Easily loaded down to 338-06 levels. You could even keep the howa and just buy the vanguard, and it will still be cheaper.
Custom rifles and "on a budget" don't really go together...
Custom rifles and "on a budget" don't really go together...
go with the 338 06. if you want a lot more speed go to the 338 win. there is quite a bit of difference in recoil between the two, the 338 06 being much softer if that matters to you. i have owned 338 wins and 338 06's and curenty only have the 338 06 with another soon to follow.
I have my heart set on a 338 06 ai I was told that the case life is longer and u can squeeze a bit more hp out of her nipping on the heels of a 338 win mag. And the howas are generally cheaper then vanguards depending where u go and honestly there identical. I definitely would consider the a square so far the smith I spoke with about it has ai reamers soo I may go that way. I never heard of bevan king barrels im interested espicially cause my action is already stainless. Thanks for your input guys.
I know where you are coming from, and some things you just HAVE to have, but if you want to nip the heels of a .338WM, you are going the long way around to end up at the same spot. I'd not be concerned with recoil in a Vanguard...
If you do build your 338-06AI, plan on $800 for the barrel, chambering and install. Don't cheap out on the barrel, and get the contour right the first time. If you go too heavy, you will regret it, and too light might heat too quick. I'd look at something in a #3, but some makers #2 are heavier than others.
Also, I believe the Howa action has metric threads, which may or may not matter to your smith.
I doubt you will get a barrel from Bevan King. Look at Gaillard, shilen, kreiger, broughton...
If you do build your 338-06AI, plan on $800 for the barrel, chambering and install. Don't cheap out on the barrel, and get the contour right the first time. If you go too heavy, you will regret it, and too light might heat too quick. I'd look at something in a #3, but some makers #2 are heavier than others.
Also, I believe the Howa action has metric threads, which may or may not matter to your smith.
I doubt you will get a barrel from Bevan King. Look at Gaillard, shilen, kreiger, broughton...
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Bevan King is from Pouce Coupe BC and builds a very fine barrel. Due to ill health he is not producing anything right now as far as I know.
The 338-06 AI is a non-starter in my book. The velocity gains over the "standard" version are negligible at best while you run the risk of poor feeding from your magazine.
The "Plain Vanilla" 338-06 is nipping at the heels of the 338 Win Mag with bullets of 225 grains and under. If you really need 250 or heavier bullets I would suggest just buying a 338 Win Mag.
338-06 Case life also is irrelevant as in my experience the 338-06 cases can be reloaded as many times as the parent 30-06 - or in other words 20+ times when proper re-sizing techniques are used.
In the end though it is your rifle and your money and many of us here have built rifles for no other reason than we wanted to.
Guntech . Do you know if going with a 24 inch barrel would give me more fps. Im torn between 22 inch or 24 inch. The 24 inch may make the gun slightly heavier or front heavier which I suppose may help with the recoil. I most likely will be shooting 225 grain or 200 grain accubonds or gmx bullets. Probably not much of difference but if the gun shoots nice I could see myself shooting it often even tho the gun is intended to be strictly elk and moose medicine, possibly it may see an africa hunt.
As much as I find most AI's to be highly overated, that shoulder sometimes makes for accurate
No flies on my Non-AI 338-06.
The barrel on mine is 24" and Bevan cut the chamber with a long Weatherby-type throat. The accuracy is dependent on how concentric the chamber is cut and I have no measurable run-out in either the case body or neck with mine.
This group BTW is what this rifle will do day-in and day-out. Sighted ~3" high at 100 yards I can hold dead on on deer-sized animals out to close to 300 yards.
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notsorichguy
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I really like mine!
I am also in the camp that thinks the AI is a bit too little to bother with the other hassles that may crop up.....
Unlike 'boo s pic above mine still shoots better than I can, my 3-shot groups hover around 3/4" when I do my part. My 225 gr load averages out at 2690 FPS, and there's no way in heck I can hold dead on on a moose out to 300...... More like 260y..... But my barrel is cut and crowned at 22".
It's an interesting cartridge, has great stopping power. To date I've taken 2 moose and 4 deer with mine.
I opted for a hart barrel in a sporter contour. The barrel cost $425 to the smith and the chambering, threading and instal was $275. But this was a few years ago, so I'm a little unsure of the prices today. I would expect at least a 10% increase from that.
All in by the time I put on an aftermarket stock, bedded it, true'd the rem action I started with, added a timney trigger and a DM, a new scope and leupold rings and then shipped it off to have it all ceracoted....... I'm into a SPS rem 700 for about the cost of a new cooper rifle...... Cooper even offers rifles in 338-06! Once ya start, where do ya stop.......
All that said, I'd probably do it again!
I am also in the camp that thinks the AI is a bit too little to bother with the other hassles that may crop up.....
Unlike 'boo s pic above mine still shoots better than I can, my 3-shot groups hover around 3/4" when I do my part. My 225 gr load averages out at 2690 FPS, and there's no way in heck I can hold dead on on a moose out to 300...... More like 260y..... But my barrel is cut and crowned at 22".
It's an interesting cartridge, has great stopping power. To date I've taken 2 moose and 4 deer with mine.
I opted for a hart barrel in a sporter contour. The barrel cost $425 to the smith and the chambering, threading and instal was $275. But this was a few years ago, so I'm a little unsure of the prices today. I would expect at least a 10% increase from that.
All in by the time I put on an aftermarket stock, bedded it, true'd the rem action I started with, added a timney trigger and a DM, a new scope and leupold rings and then shipped it off to have it all ceracoted....... I'm into a SPS rem 700 for about the cost of a new cooper rifle...... Cooper even offers rifles in 338-06! Once ya start, where do ya stop.......
All that said, I'd probably do it again!
