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338 Lapua Magnum
dfletcher
Member Posts: 8,179 ✭✭✭
I've been toying around with the idea of adding a 338 Lap Mag to the "Of Course I Don't NEED This" collection and would like to do it in a fairly simple and cost effective manner. Savage as a platform comes to mind.
Is the Savage 112 BVSS an appropriate action & if so, are barrels available (or easily rechambered to) in 338 Lap Mag?
Is the Savage 112 BVSS an appropriate action & if so, are barrels available (or easily rechambered to) in 338 Lap Mag?
Comments
I've used these for the .510 Wells and .460 Short A-Square,- built on the .460 Weatherby case.
A-Square uses these actions for their .495 and .500 A-Square and others. If there was anything any better or stronger I'm sure they would use them.
I'm making a Wells on an Olympic action with a .460 bolt face. A little longer and wider, needs no re-shaping for positive ejection.
You're getting into a little more $$$ though with this action.
While the Savage might meet your economic needs, it won't handle the physical constraints of the .338 Lapua cartridge. The Savage isn't in the group of actions that will accommodate cartridges the size of the Lapua. The bolt diameter is too small. When you say Lapua, think large magnums like the .460 WBY such as I.Shute mentions. This cartridge has the 0.588" boltface not the 0.532" like the .375 H&H so any action that works for the big Weatherby's will work for the Lapua. The problem is that they aren't cheap or even inexpensive. Remington prematurely announced that they would be releasing a .338 Lapua on the M700 acton but so far they are renigging due to problems with cartridge pickup and feeding. Besides, when you open up the boltface to handle the rim of the Lapua, there isn't much left of the bolt nose to stop and contain the cartridge.
Jerry Stiller make an action to handle the Lapua as does McMillan, Lawton, BAT and supposedly Surgeon soon. Check their websites for prices. Sako used to make the TRG-S, a reasonably priced rifle that would work for the Lapua but those are discontinued now. The older BBK 602's will work if you can find one or the newer CZ-550 Safari model is big enough. The Remington will work but as I stated above, the lack of material left on the bolt nose is questionable.
My suggestion is to skip the Lapua and make one of the .338 RUMs or the .338 Edge which is the .300 RUM necked up to handle the .338 bullets. I know this flies in the face of what the Tactical Sniper Wannabes will tell you since they believe that nothing can be the equal of the Lapua but they are wrong and are letting the name color their judgement. There isn't a nickle's worth of difference between the two cartridge as far as performance is concerned. The big difference is that the RUM case WILL fit into a Magnum action such as the Remington or a Winchester without problems or the additional high price of one of the new larger actions.
The other objection is that there's only one supplier of RUM cases and that's Remington and most folks don't think that they will get the longevity or case life from the Remington product. At 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost of the Lapua cases, I do quite nicely with about 7 reloads per case.
Have fun and do some searching for more information before jumping into this not so inexpensive project.
Best.
the 338RUM can be done on a rem700 action (especially if you use a donor action already in a RUM chambering). The brass is MUCH cheaper, and the performance is right on the heels of the huge lapua case.
do a 338rum, or the edge, or even the 338-300rum improved (I beleive that is the 338 tomahawk???)
also if you are on a "savage budget" how are you going to afford ammo? keep in mind you also need a helluva scope to wring out that long range performance
I'd like to keep a budget of around $1,400.00. I think the best approach is to wait & see what I can get in 338 RUM.
Here's a good start:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=64735659
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=64719064
Best.
Now, THAT'S a fun rifle!
I agree that the P17 would work fine for a project like this, I.Shute stated as much above.
"My buddy built a .30x416 Ackley Improved with one, and, as I understand, that's the .30 cal version of .338 Lapua. I believe it even trumps .300RUM."
Only by a few percent and then only when you start using 30"-36" barrels. In standard type 26"-28" barrels it doesn't make a even the slightest difference. When you get up into these volumes it's the barrel length that contributes the greatest advantage to any cartridge where velocity is concerned. You can only burn so much powder in any given barrel length and when the volume gets to be so huge the barrel length needs to get huge also. The problem is the impracticality of length.
I started a 30-416 Improved project about 6 years ago by selecting a 40" barrel, yes that's four zero inches. The powder selection at that time was not as large as it is now so that created somewhat of a limit. Powders like 50 BMG, one of the 20mm surplus powders and the slowest of the VihtaVuori were the only ones that had any hope of being useful. Even given the enormous length, this cartridge is inefficient because of the inequity between the bore volume, the energy conversion of the powder. The heat of explosion couldn't convert the powder fast enough and if you used a faster powder you got into pressure trouble way too fast. This is just one of those projects that wasn't and really isn't appropriate. Similar projects like the 30-378 and the 338-378 fall into the same category. The only parameter that gains efficiency is when you enlarge the cubic volume of the bore in relationship to the powder volume with something like the .510 Wells.
Best.
Still, it's a fun rifle...really fun to have range neighbors ask "What the heck is that!"...
It should be a fun rifle!
You'll have to excuse me but I can't let you think that this is an explanation for muzzle flash, unfortunately it's not. Unburned powder does not continue to burn once it's left the barrel. A quick test is to put out a clean white sheet on the ground in front of the muzzle and shoot the rifle a few times then shake the collected powder into the middle of the sheet. It will be unburned.
Muzzle flash is the result of the plasma or extremely hot gases created by the burning powder that do not have time (barrel length) to cool sufficiently to prevent a fireball or flash as the plasma exits the muzzle.
Best.