There is some good feedback in this thread. Depending on your situation, 338lm can be not bad to load/ shoot. What distance are you shooting? I regularly shoot at 1300 meters and have access to 1600 plus within 5 minutes of my house, so these big calibers can be stretched out.
I love 338lm and have been shooting it in various rifles for about 9 years now. I'll never forget when I first pulled the trigger on one.
A note on cost. I took the expensive route and bought a great first 338LM and glass (PGW with a premier reticles scope). There are cheaper ways to do it, but ultimately a good scope and a decent rifle aren't cheap (probably would cost $4k to $5k if you found great deals on both? I've had a couple beers and this is off of the top of my head). It is definitely cheaper than when I was shooting 416 barrett. Yikes that was pricey.
Reloading (assuming you already reload):
-Pretty much a must to truly enjoy it (at least in my mind). My buddy and I shared a set of dies when we first bought our rifles to reduce the cost. We actually split the first box of lapua brass too.
-Bullets aren't too expensive if you aren't shooting lathe turned solids (bergers appear to be over $1 a bullet these days but still its not too bad). When you find a deal buy a whole bunch.
-Brass, buy 100 lapua brass new or find a bunch of once fired. I've done that a couple times and have a ton of lapua brass kicking around now for my various rifles.
-Powder, again, buy bulk. I load h1000 for the most part. Shoot me a PM if you want the company name as I don't think they are a sponsor here.
Rifles:
-Best value is to buy used. No question here. You can get into a nice 338lm (sako, hs precision, or some others) for less than $4,000 depending on what you are looking for (I'm always looking because I love them). If you want to shoot me a message with your budget as I've seen some decent deals lately
-As others have said, custom rifles bought second hand can be a great value. Keep an eye out for that. I've had a couple stellar semi customs (these were in smaller calibers) for good prices I bought off of here.
-You may want to consider a switch barrel platform like a desert tech SRS or barrett mrad so you have some flexibility. You could buy a desert tech in 300 WM or something and have a 338LM conversion kit for example. They aren't cheap, but you can get into a couple calibers in a great rifle for less than the cost of 2 rifles.
Finally:
-There are some great magnum calibers that will do well out past a mile. 300 WM, 300 RUM, 28 nosler (on paper - waiting for my rifle to continue experimenting), etc. I just find the 338 and bigger calibers more fun to shoot. They may also be easier to spot your misses at distance as well.
-These smaller calibers will be cheaper to get into
-I've actually started moving on from 338LM into faster 338's and such to achieve my goals
-Consider all your options and understand what it is going to cost. If that doesn't stress you out GO FOR IT. I regret none of my time with the 338LM. It is so much fun.
Ben
Desert tech in a faster 338 cal (36" custom barrel):
Timberwolf with an S&B
I love 338lm and have been shooting it in various rifles for about 9 years now. I'll never forget when I first pulled the trigger on one.
A note on cost. I took the expensive route and bought a great first 338LM and glass (PGW with a premier reticles scope). There are cheaper ways to do it, but ultimately a good scope and a decent rifle aren't cheap (probably would cost $4k to $5k if you found great deals on both? I've had a couple beers and this is off of the top of my head). It is definitely cheaper than when I was shooting 416 barrett. Yikes that was pricey.
Reloading (assuming you already reload):
-Pretty much a must to truly enjoy it (at least in my mind). My buddy and I shared a set of dies when we first bought our rifles to reduce the cost. We actually split the first box of lapua brass too.
-Bullets aren't too expensive if you aren't shooting lathe turned solids (bergers appear to be over $1 a bullet these days but still its not too bad). When you find a deal buy a whole bunch.
-Brass, buy 100 lapua brass new or find a bunch of once fired. I've done that a couple times and have a ton of lapua brass kicking around now for my various rifles.
-Powder, again, buy bulk. I load h1000 for the most part. Shoot me a PM if you want the company name as I don't think they are a sponsor here.
Rifles:
-Best value is to buy used. No question here. You can get into a nice 338lm (sako, hs precision, or some others) for less than $4,000 depending on what you are looking for (I'm always looking because I love them). If you want to shoot me a message with your budget as I've seen some decent deals lately
-As others have said, custom rifles bought second hand can be a great value. Keep an eye out for that. I've had a couple stellar semi customs (these were in smaller calibers) for good prices I bought off of here.
-You may want to consider a switch barrel platform like a desert tech SRS or barrett mrad so you have some flexibility. You could buy a desert tech in 300 WM or something and have a 338LM conversion kit for example. They aren't cheap, but you can get into a couple calibers in a great rifle for less than the cost of 2 rifles.
Finally:
-There are some great magnum calibers that will do well out past a mile. 300 WM, 300 RUM, 28 nosler (on paper - waiting for my rifle to continue experimenting), etc. I just find the 338 and bigger calibers more fun to shoot. They may also be easier to spot your misses at distance as well.
-These smaller calibers will be cheaper to get into
-I've actually started moving on from 338LM into faster 338's and such to achieve my goals
-Consider all your options and understand what it is going to cost. If that doesn't stress you out GO FOR IT. I regret none of my time with the 338LM. It is so much fun.
Ben
Desert tech in a faster 338 cal (36" custom barrel):
Timberwolf with an S&B
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