Who's Got A Remington 700P In 338 Lapua Magnum

Brass has the shoulder angle changed to 40 degrees, minimum body taper. I haven't weighed any of these cases, but basically the increase follows a formula wherein 25% of the percentage of increased case capacity is velocity. So, if you gain 10% in case capacity, you will gain 2.5% in velocity over the standard case. As some cases gain more then 10% (an arbitrary number), the increases can be larger then that. If you rechamber an existing barrel, you must shorten the shank slightly to get the 0.004" "crush" required in the design. That allows you to safely fire the original factory brass in the chamber to reshape them. - dan
 
To switch from the standard Lapua would require rechambering ($200-250, assuming the 'smith has the reamer)or rebarreling ($400-700, and the reamer issue again), plus the cost of the dies ($100-150, depending on who you get them from). The same bullets could be used of course, and you could re-use your brass by fire forming. I guess it would depend on the velocities you wanted to see. In the standard Lapua, I get 2960 fps with 250 gr bullets from a 26" barrel. This is just barely faster then my 340 Wby, and actually a little bit slower then a 338 RUM I've played with, but that could well be just a "fast vs. slow" barrel thing. It was quite a bit slower then a 338 Imperial I did some loading for, which struck me as a little odd considering the relative case capacities. If 3000 fps is your goal (with 250 gr bullets), you need either a 30" barrel (not a bad idea in this caliber anyway), or the AI version. Or go to a 338-416 Rigby, improved or otherwise, or the 338-378 Wby (which is essentially the same thing as the 338-416 anyway, except for the radiused shoulders) for speeeds in the 3200 fps range with 250 gr bullets. If you are shooting 300 gr MKs, then the AI or the larger cases are really the only way to get 3000 fps. FWIW - dan
 
A friend of mine has a PGW Timberwolf he had rechambered to .338AI, and swears by it over .338LM. Aside from the increase in velocity, he claims that the switch increased brass life, a LOT.
I've emailed him for more details and I'll post them when he replies. I can say that if I ever get a .338LM, I'll be having it rechambered. Even if you get 2 or 3 more shots out of your brass, the re-chambering will pay for itself before you need a new barrel.

I can't comment on the 700P's, but this rifle is amazing to shoot. I was expecting to be beaten up by the recoil, but even without a muzzle-brake, it's no worse than my .300Win mag. With a muzzle brake, the gun settles down so fast you can watch your own swirl on longer shots (600m +)

Cheers.

Tim
 
Max Owner said:
You guys with the factory barrells...

Is the recoil bearable? Meaning can you sit down and fire 100 rounds in an afternoon?
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LMAO...Yup, and shoot 0.50 "all day long" too...;)

Silly rabbit.

While I haven't owned a .338 LM I have a .340 Weatherby Accumark which is a little lighter than the 700P. It's not something you want to sit down with for extended range sessions. 4,000-5,000 foot pound muzzle energy chamberings generally aren't extremely pleasant to shoot unless the rifle has sufficient weight and muzzle breaked to offset some of the felt recoil.

All depends on how recoil sensitive you are. If you reload for $1.50 per round, you're going to burn up a fair amount of coin if you're doig 100 rds. a session. Your pocketbook will feel the pain more than your shoulder would.
 
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Max Owner said:
I can tell you have allot of friends............
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Hey, consider yourself priviledged that I took precious time out of my schedule to answer your question. I would have thought the answer to your question was relatively obvious. Probably why no one bothered to reply but me.
 
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Max, I don't find the recoil that bad, but if I were to sit down and run 100 rounds through it, a good brake would be a requirement. My 340 Wby doesn't weigh much, and has a straight comb classic style stock. When I was fireforming Wby brass from 375 H&H, I had to find "volunteers" to help me, lol. And the 338 LM kicks a little harder then that, FWIW. If you want to try one or the other, or both, I'll be In Edmonton for the next 3-4 weeks or so. - dan
 
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