to buy a .338 or not

yotawheeler

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So a friend of mine has a Sako that what converted to .338 Lapua from an obsolete weatherby caliber. Gun has a Lilja barrel that has been magna ported and braked. action is the factory sako action with a wood stock. the round count on this gun is unknown however i would not hesitate to say it is under 100 rounds since it was converted to .338....what would something like this be worth? the condition on it is what i would call no better than fair/6-7 as the wood has several dings from bouncing around in trucks ect and needs refinishing and the stainless barrel could be media blasted or refinished in some to make it acceptable to me as well. the action is slick and smooth as can be but i need to either put a different stock on as the cheek riser interferes with my grip as I'm a left handed shooter...at $1500 would you guys consider this a good deal?...the gun shoots a cloverleaf at 100 yards and comes with a older leopold scope...i realize pictures are worth a thousand words but....i haven't got any. seller is a friend of mine, rifle is not for sale to anybody except me....any thoughts would be appreciated. all work on this gun was done by a professional gun smith
 
How bad do you want/need a 338 Lapua? If you have a place to shoot it and you can afford to shoot it then I'd seriously consider it as long as the rifle functions and isn't a POS.
 
Well...,there is a world of difference between want and need......I don't NEED on at all...but they sure are a cool gun. The cost of shooting it it's something I have considered at $5/round....I can reload but even then I'm probably looking at $2-3 each I do have places where I can stretch it out beyond 1000-1500+ yards on private land once I am capable of shooting that distance

And I can't remember what caliber it was originally 30 cal weatherby that was difficult to find ammo for....I want to say .375 weatherby or something along those lines...
 
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Well...,there is a world of difference between want and need......I don't NEED on at all...but they sure are a cool gun. The cost of shooting it it's something I have considered at $5/round....I can reload but even then I'm probably looking at $2-3 each I do have places where I can stretch it out beyond 1000-1500+ yards on private land once I am capable of shooting that distance

And I can't remember what caliber it was originally 30 cal weatherby that was difficult to find ammo for....I want to say .375 weatherby or something along those lines...
you can buy Sellier and Bellot match ammo for $3 a round
 
Well I picked up the .338 off my buddy and it's not as beat up as I had initially thought, there are some dings in it but nothing that I can live with for now. Anyways...here are a few pics of the rifle. Now I need to try to track down some brass and play with the reloading press that's still in the box...I'll have to practice with my .308 first though I think..



 
I'm guessing that because the rifle was originally owned by an older friend of mine (just turned 72) so Im thinking that the recoil was a concern for the smith building it and now the thing is a pussy cat to shoot....kicks about the same as my savage 10 PC in .308....it is bloody loud and you can certainly feel the shockwave if i let anybody else shoot it and I'm standing next to them
 
Well I picked up the .338 off my buddy and it's not as beat up as I had initially thought, there are some dings in it but nothing that I can live with for now. Anyways...here are a few pics of the rifle. Now I need to try to track down some brass and play with the reloading press that's still in the box...I'll have to practice with my .308 first though I think..




very nice looking rifle.enjoy
 
Nice looking rifle! The scope could likely be upgraded to help your long range potential.

Is there a distance limit on that particular scope? What makes you think that rifle isn't 1000 yd capable as it sits? Load development and shooting will do more for long range potential than replacing scope. I recommend the OP maximize what he has, to determine what shortcomings that setup has if any.
 
^^^^
nonsense.
The only way that scope can be used at 1000 yards is to Kentucky windage aim 300 some odd inches high and wing it left or right for wind. I mean the gun will shoot that far, but you'd have a hell of a time precisely dialing it in, (if it has enough travel) and a hell of a time any time you change distances after that.

Ya get a scope with real turrets at least.... Unless you just want to be sure you kill your 200 yard moose. Actually, I'm not sure I'd want to use it for that. A gun like that is gonna give ya a concussion and leave your hat aiming out your ear. I wouldn't want to shoot it. It'll take a real tough guy to hold steady for the second shot. The first shot will be right in the middle but after that you're going to know the pain. Second shot could go anywhere after that.

I don't mean to bash, but 338 recoil from a light rifle... I know guys that are afraid of 30-06 that weigh about the same. I saw a guy once with a 300 win mag wound a $5000 buck at a game farm, never found more than a few drops of blood. The shooter was a customer that we took out for a treat, but our sales guy had to pay the bill just the same. I watched him peel off the hundos. He wasn't happy.

Heavy recoil makes most guys shoot badly. Not the guns fault, just human nature.
 
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Play , reload, practice, test, try, experiment , turn ,twist, sit, lay, stand ..............

Don't be discouraged by others, practice your reloading and your shooting, things will only improve and you will only learn what upgrades you want to make in the future.
 
^^^^
nonsense.
The only way that scope can be used at 1000 yards is to Kentucky windage aim 300 some odd inches high and wing it left or right for wind. I mean the gun will shoot that far, but you'd have a hell of a time precisely dialing it in, (if it has enough travel) and a hell of a time any time you change distances after that.

Ya get a scope with real turrets at least.... Unless you just want to be sure you kill your 200 yard moose. Actually, I'm not sure I'd want to use it for that. A gun like that is gonna give ya a concussion and leave your hat aiming out your ear. I wouldn't want to shoot it. It'll take a real tough guy to hold steady for the second shot. The first shot will be right in the middle but after that you're going to know the pain. Second shot could go anywhere after that.

I don't mean to bash, but 338 recoil from a light rifle... I know guys that are afraid of 30-06 that weigh about the same. I saw a guy once with a 300 win mag wound a $5000 buck at a game farm, never found more than a few drops of blood. The shooter was a customer that we took out for a treat, but our sales guy had to pay the bill just the same. I watched him peel off the hundos. He wasn't happy.

Heavy recoil makes most guys shoot badly. Not the guns fault, just human nature.



looks like OP stated in post #12 that recoil is a non issue.
 
One technique which can be employed by a long rage shooter using a conventional hunting scope, and a flat base mount, is to place an aiming target well above the impact target. The height needed above the impact target can be determined by shooting at a 100 yard tall target. Place an aiming point low on the target and fire a group with the scope adjusted for minimum elevation, then fire a second group using the same aiming point, but this time with the elevation maxed out. If your particular rifle needs 30 minutes of elevation to hit point of aim at 1000 yards, but you only have 10 minutes of vertical adjustment available, your aiming target must be 20 minutes or 200" above the center of your impact target, some 16.5'.

There is nothing like making solid long range hits with inconvenient techniques to wet your appetite for more appropriate equipment. If you can't afford a scope with high quality, precise, and repeatable adjustments, then a less expensive scope, that has multiple aiming points in the reticle, might be a solution. An investment in a sloped scope base can be a relatively low cost solution to insufficient scope adjustments or hold-offs.
 
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