.338 RUM barrel life, and 5 groove vs. 6

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sailor91

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Anybody out there own a .338 RUM, custom built or otherwise? I'm getting one built and I've been wondering:
a. a 5 groove or 6 groove barrel; and
b. what kind of barrel life can I expect?

Also, some of my buddies are telling me I'm nuts and just get a .338 WM. I'm looking for a cartridge that's dead accurate at 750 yards (9-10 lb rifle), a good 200-400 yard deer slayer, and has the bullet sectional area to stop something in it's tracks at close range. I figure the .338 RUM should fill all of those roles. I currently shoot a .300 WM, the recoil doesn't bother me in the least. Aside from the obvious "wow" factor of .338 RUM, I think I'm on the right track choosing this cartridge.

Any input?
 
Barrel life should be pretty decent. 1200 rounds at least, depending on how hot you get it. What sort of barrel profile were you looking for? Going to be shooting lots of paper or just take it out in the fall?
 
cam1936 said:
Barrel life should be pretty decent. 1200 rounds at least, depending on how hot you get it. What sort of barrel profile were you looking for? Going to be shooting lots of paper or just take it out in the fall?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Planning to use a 26" heavy sporter contour barrel with 250 gr Nosler Partitions. The rifle is intended for hunting, with trips to the range for practice, sighting and working up loads. About 75 rounds per year, give or take.
 
I have a collection of a few of the faster 338's.
That used to include the 338Rum, but in a moment of stupidity I rechambered to 338Edge.

Yes, the 338RUM is very accurate. I think more so than the 338Winchester.
Yes, it kicks plenty hard or (perhaps more importantly) viciously fast.

The best hunting bullet for long range hunting is the 225gr Accubond at just under 3200fps.
Reloader 25 is the powder to start with.

Its killing power is impressive, but I would never claim it will stop any animal in its tracks...Cause it wont always do that.

Does it offer anything over the 338Win in terms of 400 yard hunting?
Probably not.
Will it make hitting a 500 yard target any easier?
Definitely not.
In fact the recoil will make your job a great deal more difficult.

Ignore everything else I have said, but hear this....
There is no worse place to learn the craft of long rang shooting than behind the trigger of a fast and fairly light 338 Rum.

Food for thought. ;)

Good luck!
 
Well stated advice.

From experience I can tell you a 6.5lb 300 wOnt phase me for 40 rounds on the bench. But a 9lb .338RUM will kick your butt after 10.


X-fan said:
I have a collection of a few of the faster 338's.
That used to include the 338Rum, but in a moment of stupidity I rechambered to 338Edge.

Yes, the 338RUM is very accurate. I think more so than the 338Winchester.
Yes, it kicks plenty hard or (perhaps more importantly) viciously fast.

The best hunting bullet for long range hunting is the 225gr Accubond at just under 3200fps.
Reloader 25 is the powder to start with.

Its killing power is impressive, but I would never claim it will stop any animal in its tracks...Cause it wont always do that.

Does it offer anything over the 338Win in terms of 400 yard hunting?
Probably not.
Will it make hitting a 500 yard target any easier?
Definitely not.
In fact the recoil will make your job a great deal more difficult.

Ignore everything else I have said, but hear this....
There is no worse place to learn the craft of long rang shooting than behind the trigger of a fast and fairly light 338 Rum.

Food for thought. ;)

Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
I've had 338-06 IMP, 338WM, 338-8MMmag,340 WBY and 338-378 WBY. What am i shooting now, a long throated light weight 338 WM. Just sayin.
 
sailor91 said:
Anybody out there own a .338 RUM, custom built or otherwise? I'm getting one built and I've been wondering:
a. a 5 groove or 6 groove barrel; and
b. what kind of barrel life can I expect?

Also, some of my buddies are telling me I'm nuts and just get a .338 WM. I'm looking for a cartridge that's dead accurate at 750 yards (9-10 lb rifle), a good 200-400 yard deer slayer, and has the bullet sectional area to stop something in it's tracks at close range. I figure the .338 RUM should fill all of those roles. I currently shoot a .300 WM, the recoil doesn't bother me in the least. Aside from the obvious "wow" factor of .338 RUM, I think I'm on the right track choosing this cartridge.

Any input?
Click to expand...

sailor, as far as 5 or 6 groove barrel there is no advantage one way or the other. Your barrell life will depend on quantity of powder burned so the lighter bullets with their higher velocities will give you more barrel wear. Accurracy at long range is more of a function of the shooter than the choice of caliber. If you are looking for a good 400 yd deer slayer then you are way overgunned in my opinion, your 300 WM will do that easily. The 338's of any flavour are truly great calibers and the larger ones are great fo giving you the best long range ballistics with the right bullet choice but then again so are the 6.5's, 7's and 30's. A friend of mine hunts elk with the 338 RUM and 330 Dakota loaded with VLD Bergers and they give excellent long range ballistics but he can shoot his guns with exceptional skill at long range. Go ahead and build your gun but be aware that lesser calibers can give you what you are looking for also.
bb
 
The bore life of the 338rum will be better than most of the smaller calibers that will match it's drop numbers at long range. The 300 berger hybrid or the 300 matchking are likely the best bullets past 500 yards, with the accubond or TTSX as a better option under 500. Both the 300gr have been used on game and gotten ok reviews (do a search on longrangehunting.com), and after putting the hybrids into stacks of dry paper at 100 - 400 yards I would use them with no issue. They behaved very similar to the game king for expansion. The 250gr gameking is also a good bullet for long range, it has an equal BC to the accubonds, but it gets forgotten all the time.

Personally I would go with something more like a Sendero contour barrel and go for a rifle weight more like 10 1/2 pounds all in (scoped etc). Add a pound of rifle weight and it will make a noticeable difference to the recoil. My edge (just under 19 pounds) kicks like a 30-06 in an average sporter weight rifle, with the brake it kicks like a 243. If that weight is too high, then drop to a smaller caliber.
 
I have a Remington 700LSS in .338 RUM and have had it since they first came out. It has the 26" barrel and will literally drive tacks with the 225 grain accubond and H1000 at just under 3200 fps. I think that the barrel life will be decent as it is overbore, but not to the point where it is going to eat barrels for breakfast. I have owned .338 WM's and find that there is noticeably less drop with the RUM. It shoots flat as a laser gun and I have never recovered a slug from game with it. Which groove to get in a barrel? I don't think 5 or 6 will matter much. One thing for sure, you will need good optics that can take the recoil. I have a Zeiss atop mine after it ate a number of Bushy's.
 
Someone mentioned a muzzle brake. That would be murder on your ears with this caliber - in my opinion. I would rather just add some weight to your custom rifle and keep the brake off.
 
sailor91 said:
Anybody out there own a .338 RUM, custom built or otherwise? I'm getting one built and I've been wondering:
a. a 5 groove or 6 groove barrel; and
b. what kind of barrel life can I expect?

Also, some of my buddies are telling me I'm nuts and just get a .338 WM. I'm looking for a cartridge that's dead accurate at 750 yards (9-10 lb rifle), a good 200-400 yard deer slayer, and has the bullet sectional area to stop something in it's tracks at close range. I figure the .338 RUM should fill all of those roles. I currently shoot a .300 WM, the recoil doesn't bother me in the least. Aside from the obvious "wow" factor of .338 RUM, I think I'm on the right track choosing this cartridge.

Any input?
Click to expand...

If we ignore the various large case .338 wildcats and proprietary cartridges, it seems to me that there are 3 cartridges which are contenders for you: the .338 Lapua, the .338 Ultra, and the .338-387 Weatherby. All of these rounds will fling 250 gr bullets at close to 3000 fps or 300 gr bullets close to 2700.

What intrigues me is your proposed end use for this rifle, the extremes of which seem to be diametrically opposed; so I'm interested in seeing what it actually looks like when you're finished. Normally short range stopping rifles are designed for quick handling which doesn't have much in common with a long range rig that would typically be fired from prone with a long barrel to maximize the velocity for down range performance. Clearly a compromise is called for, and I'm interested in seeing how you solve the problem, or if you end up throwing up your hands and build to one extreme or the other.

When attempting to minimize the length of the barrel, large calibers loose a smaller percentage of volume per inch of barrel length than smaller caliber barrels when shortened. For example a .510" barrel has a volume of .204 cubic inches per inch of barrel length ahead of the chamber, where a .338 has .0897 cubic inches per inch of barrel length ahead of the chamber, or roughly 44% of that of the .50. In the case of my .375 Ultra, if we allow for a cartridge that is 3" long, my 20" barrel volume of 1.888 cubic inches, which is sufficient to achieve about 91% of the velocity possible from a long barrel. In order for a .338 Ultra have a similar volume of "combustion chamber" that is the combined volume of the chamber and the rifled section of barrel, requires a barrel of at least 24" in length. If my calculations are correct, a 24" barrel is sufficient to produce a velocity of 2730 with a 250 gr bullet; which is manageable, if a bit long to be ideal for close range use, and a bit short for shooting out to a half mile at live targets. The dilemma you now face is that a 250 gr bullet at 2730 is the velocity you could expect from a .338 Winchester from a 24" barrel. So the question then is, can you exploit the advantage of the larger capacity Ultra cartridge in a 24" barrel?
 
My first barrel on my STW 7mm was completly shot after 400 rounds as i was shooting 139grs full trottle loads at 3400fps it was very accurate but i lost accurracy around 420 shots. I had a new barrel installed and start shooting 145grs at 3100fps, same accuracy and well over 1000 shots with no lost of accuracy, easy to burn your barrel for 300fps... Cheers. JP.
 
Boomer said:
If we ignore the various large case .338 wildcats and proprietary cartridges, it seems to me that there are 3 cartridges which are contenders for you: the .338 Lapua, the .338 Ultra, and the .338-387 Weatherby. All of these rounds will fling 250 gr bullets at close to 3000 fps or 300 gr bullets close to 2700.

What intrigues me is your proposed end use for this rifle, the extremes of which seem to be diametrically opposed; so I'm interested in seeing what it actually looks like when you're finished. Normally short range stopping rifles are designed for quick handling which doesn't have much in common with a long range rig that would typically be fired from prone with a long barrel to maximize the velocity for down range performance. Clearly a compromise is called for, and I'm interested in seeing how you solve the problem, or if you end up throwing up your hands and build to one extreme or the other.

When attempting to minimize the length of the barrel, large calibers loose a smaller percentage of volume per inch of barrel length than smaller caliber barrels when shortened. For example a .510" barrel has a volume of .204 cubic inches per inch of barrel length ahead of the chamber, where a .338 has .0897 cubic inches per inch of barrel length ahead of the chamber, or roughly 44% of that of the .50. In the case of my .375 Ultra, if we allow for a cartridge that is 3" long, my 20" barrel volume of 1.888 cubic inches, which is sufficient to achieve about 91% of the velocity possible from a long barrel. In order for a .338 Ultra have a similar volume of "combustion chamber" that is the combined volume of the chamber and the rifled section of barrel, requires a barrel of at least 24" in length. If my calculations are correct, a 24" barrel is sufficient to produce a velocity of 2730 with a 250 gr bullet; which is manageable, if a bit long to be ideal for close range use, and a bit short for shooting out to a half mile at live targets. The dilemma you now face is that a 250 gr bullet at 2730 is the velocity you could expect from a .338 Winchester from a 24" barrel. So the question then is, can you exploit the advantage of the larger capacity Ultra cartridge in a 24" barrel?
Click to expand...

I hear ya.
My Brno 602 is in .300 WM, 10 lbs or so empty, and has a 25" barrel. It's bulky as heck, but I've had near 10 years getting used to the heft. I've hunted brush, sloughs, and prairies and once I got used to the massive feel of the gun, I've never looked back. I've nailed a running black bear at 300 yards after jumping off an ATV, and took a leaping Sask white tail at 15 yards (all I had for warning was the doe that shot out of the brush 10 feet ahead of him). Mind you, the shoulder punch is peanuts from a 10 lb rifle in .300 WM. Point is, I got used to reaction shooting bulky rifles, so I'm willing go with a 26" barrel.

Moderate recoil doesn't bother to me much (.338 WM 250 gr in a 7 lb rifle is what I would term moderate), but adapting my shooting mechanics to work with the extra recoil is gonna be a treat. I've never been big on muzzle brakes, but I may have to cave in for this build.

Does the occasional shot at 750 yards warrant buillding a rifle that winds up being used between 50-350 yards? I hope so... I'm still going to be packing a .30-06,.338-06, or .300 WM as a backup, which gives me the option of packing away the cannon if I'm in the deep brush. I'm going to get the rifle built, although I may regret it later.
 
I noticed the OP is from Duncan.

If you want to shoot my 338's Rums in both 8.5 pound hunting rifle and 16 pound tactical rifles you are more than welcome to do so.
They are chambered in 338Edge, but this is pretty darn close to what you want.

My buddy has a 10 pound 338Lapua hunter (once again the same as the 338 Rum) that would be an identical match to what you want to build.
I would arrange for his rifle to be there as well.

Send me a PM and we can meet at the Victoria Fish and game..I practically live there anyway. :p
 
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