Thinking about a new precision build .300 or .338 edge?

Farlsincharge

Farlsincharge

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I have a late model Remington Sendero in .300 win mag. It has been sitting for a few years as I have been busy with other rifles. It has been completely built (bedded, trigger, firing pin etc, etc) The only thing I haven't tended to is the factory barrel. It is looking like it will be next spring before I will be able to begin shooting/load development.

I have started to think that being I won't be using it much until after winter maybe it is a good opportunity to do something else with it. I don't have much personal experience with the .300, but I know there is a lot of online masturbation about the belted cartridge and it low case life and lack of accuracy due to headspacing. In the quest for high powered precision I am wondering if I would be further ahead abandoning the .300 before I even get started. Turn it into a .338 edge.

If a guy was to do this, what manufacturer of barrel would you go with? I was thinking Gaillard.
Would a guy have to brake an edge? (It would see ~20 rounds an outing on average) and it does have a simms pad on it.
Should I just abandon the idea and load some 210gr pills in the .300? I know my costs and component availability will be much better if I stay this route

This rifle will be used primarily for long range hunting (mostly varmints).

What say you?
 
I shoot both cartridges. For the 300WM I just neck size the cases, in theory it will head space on both the belt and shoulder by doing that. I've had no trouble with case life.
The 338 Edge is a fun toy no doubt. You'll want a brake on it if you build one. Definate advantage going to the 338 is the big heavy high BC bullets..
 
I don't know if this is familiar? ;)

It's a .338 Edge I built a while ago...

338edge-0.jpg


and a 300 Win Mag...

300wsmleft-0.jpg


both would work well in the Sendero stock too.

.
 
7RM and 180gr VLD's. Of the magnums I have built and tried, the 7mm RM continues to be a Gem.

If you are getting a barrel put on, GUNTECH has a great reamer that is tight in the belt area. No bulging so you only need to worry about the top of the case when sizing.

Did the 30cal boomer thing with a RUM and heavies. Still have a 338 Mystic waiting to get finished - no real motivation right now. Recoil and costs don't motivate me these days.

The factory 300WM with 208 and 210gr VLD's will do very well at LR too. A better barrel will just make overall accuracy better.

Even a 260AI/6.5 Mystic and 140gr VLD's will be great for LR plinking and plenty of punch for varmints. Of course, the bolt head isn't right but you get the idea.

Lots of options.

These days my shoulder is sore and I have more fun plinking with my fast twist 223 to distances I used to shoot my boomers.

Jerry
 
300/338 varmint rifle? Well, whatever floats your boat! I see it as a very powder/barrel-hungry exercise, (The 7RM would be worse) but it's your money.

Here are my thoughts and remember what you paid for them... the 300WSM is a potent cartridge. Donp on this board built one as a gopher rifle using a 15" twist, for 120 grain bullets. He tried loading 155 palma bullets (fantastic long range pills) and achieved well over 3200 fps, and phenomenal accuracy. He uses it in F-Class competition.

As a varmint gun, you can't help but giggle. with 120 grain bullets whipping out at 3600+ it vaporizes varmints in a MOST spectacular way. Recoil is acutally quite manageable. I actually think a 308 and a 180 bullet kick more. Varmint hunting is all about velocity. I don't see that happening with a 338.

For incredible long range accuracy, that combo of a 155 and the 300WSM is outstanding too. Anyway, the short mag case will give you much better barrel life.

As to barrels, Gaillard are as fine a button rifled barrel as I have ever used.
 
I have both and both are good....And bad.

Couple of points for you to ponder.

The 338 is the clear choice at 1500+, but if you don't shoot there it makes no sense...Even then I'm not sure.
The Edge is over twice as expensive to shoot as the 300Win....And you are going to shoot a lot!
The Edge has very few ideal bullets while the 300 has many to choose from. What if your Edge doesn't like the 300gr Sierra?
There are others, but availability is sporadic at best and the price goes up significantly (of course).

Dennis has a fantastic 300Win Reamer...I would do that....OK I did.

If you want to learn to shoot at distance don't kid yourself and get a 6mmbr....Been there done that....Just sayin. ;)
 
X-fan said:
I have both and both are good....And bad.

Couple of points for you to ponder.

The 338 is the clear choice at 1500+, but if you don't shoot there it makes no sense...Even then I'm not sure.
The Edge is over twice as expensive to shoot as the 300Win....And you are going to shoot a lot!
The Edge has very few ideal bullets while the 300 has many to choose from. What if your Edge doesn't like the 300gr Sierra?
There are others, but availability is sporadic at best and the price goes up significantly (of course).

Dennis has a fantastic 300Win Reamer...I would do that....OK I did.

If you want to learn to shoot at distance don't kid yourself and get a 6mmbr....Been there done that....Just sayin. ;)
Click to expand...

I will probably never have that much opportunity to push over 1000-1200 yards. I already shoot smaller calibers at distance, I'm looking to have some punch left over at 1000 with this one though.
My main concern lies with the belted cartridge. I'm not sure why, but I don't really like the idea. I'm going to do some more research and see what I could easily turn this rifle into instead as i really don't want a break and it sounds like a .338 would be unmanageable without one. Maybe a 7mm STW or .300 RUM.
 
I have a 300wsm, a 300 win mag, an 300rum and an Edge AI... Just got the edge but the rest I have been playing with for a while. Two in hunting weight rifles, the rum is basically a re-barreled sendero. If you want a little more pop way out there the win mag may be one of the best especially if you don't want a brake. I don't think even 20 shots in a session would happen from the edge, something about a 300gr bullet at close to 3000fps... My RUM will push a 200gr accubond at a chrono'd 3245fps (27" lilja barrel). I don't have a brake on it, but after 20 shots you can feel it, its not the pounding, it just wears on you. I would think 20 from a win mag should be ok, and pushing the 208 amax it would be tough to beat.

There are many options for bullets in the 30 cal to try out, I would be looking at any bullet with a g1 bc of over 0.55. Berger 190 or 210 VLD, 208 amax, Sierra 210 mk, 200gr accubond to name a few. With the options available you should find one that shoots well.

If you are going to re-barrel anyway, I would also go 7mm. With no belt I would try a 7-300wsm, with a long throat since you have plenty of room. You could seat the 180gr berger out so that the boat tail starts at the bottom of the case neck.

All that said, the 300gr berger pushed just short of nose slump territory is pretty much tops... but you will need a brake. And you should see what it does to a gopher! Houston we have lift-off...
 
I've been thinking of doing the something similar for a year or so now. I was just going over my my Sierra load data and the 300 RUM gain over a WM with a 240 gr MK is about 100 fps. As I understand it the RUM case will last longer so if a new barrel is in the works it seems to me it's a better choice. What about barrel life? Will an Edge extend barrel life in any way worth considering?

How good is Nosler brass? I see it's available for the 300 RUM.

I just want to do this to have something that can go a long way if I have the chance to shoot over 1000 metres. I'll likely shoot it 5-10 rounds at a time while I'm letting the .223 cool down so getting beat-up won't be an issue.

Ohh who am I kidding. I'll probably spend most of my time just looking at it...but hey, that's fun too right?

I'm still looking for a Tikka M-65 mag for .308 NM...anyone?
 
Obtunded had a formula with the case capacity in grains of H2O versus the bullet diameter in thread a while back. Here is a link.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487625&highlight=barrel+life

Without going through actually measuring the numbers, maybe I will get a chance tomorrow night, I would guess the 30 win mag and the 338 edge to be well ahead of the 300rum. The Edge should be significantly ahead of the rum, as it has the same base case capacity and a larger bore.

I have roughly 850 rounds through my rum, and it is still holding it's accuracy level, although the throat has crept forward. I try to keep the barrel pretty cool when shooting, which should help. I can't tell you much about the edge, I have only put 57 rounds through mine... I only got it a couple of weeks ago.
 
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