338 Edge VS 338 Lapua Improved
- Thread starter Wachsmann
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It's been pretty well documented that RL33 commonly yields higher ES/SD with longer bullet jump to the lands, and lower ES/SD with the bullets seated closer to the lands.
I was getting ES in the 30-50 fps range in my 30/375 S.I. with 215gr Berger Hybrids until I jammed the bullets 0.012" into the lands. Then my ES dropped to ~9fps.
Phorwath,
That's good info, I've been about 10th off the lands, I'm looking forward to pushing them in! Are you liking the RL33 in your edge?
Tom
SLEDGE HAMMER
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Why not just go with the 338 Excalibur !!!!Grafs have the brass for $4? shipped PTG do the reamer ,got to special order the dies from RCBS but you can run the 300 Berger at over 3100 in a 30 inch barrel easy .
I'm only shooting RL33 now in a 30/375 Ruger Improved. That cartridge has less case capacity than your .338 Edge. I load 87.7gr RL33. In that rifle I experienced a large reduction in ES when going from 0.007" jump to 0.010-0.012" jammed. I was jamming bullets 0.021" into the lands during barrel break-in and load development, because I was fireforming the cases to the wildcatted chamber dimensions. I needed the bullets jammed hard to hold the base of the cases in contact with my bolt face. I was also chronographing many of those loads. A consistent trend developed of low ES with jammed bullets. Your rifle may or may not act the same as mine did... Only one way to know...
I have a .338 Edge but haven't loaded for it in quite some time. I'm in the process of building a .338 Lapua Rogue - a 338 Lapua Improved with a 37-degree shoulder. Got all the components, so will be sending action / barrel / brake to a gunsmith soon. I do intend to begin load development with RL33 in that rifle. Which is why I'm tagging along in this Thread.
Here's a good thread that details load development, with a focus on how bullet seating depth affects ES with RL33:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...ad-development-120353/index18.html#post862519
So, to the folks that are getting temp MV changes, how are you accounting for this? In theory, it's simple to theoretically adjust for velocity changes solely based on MV in regards to vertical POI, but a ballistic program, to my knowledge, cannot account for how barrel whip, might throw that bullet to the side or down or whatever due to the bullet exiting at a slightly different timing in the barrel whip sequence due to MV changes secondary to temp changes. Maybe some of you dealing with this can report back to us.
There is no way to account for changing point of impact with a ballistics program. The ballistics program cannot predict how POI might change with differing MVs.
I rarely experience a 30-degree F temperature swing from my load development and testing temperature at the time I'm shooting at a large game animal. In fact generally less than 15F at the times I take my shot. I'm almost always shooting in the 40-60F temperature range, and generally in the 45-55F range.
Daily high/low temperature swings could exceed 35F, but at the time of the shot while sheep hunting over the past 40 yrs, the temperature has generally been very similar to what I have pre-programmed into my ballistics calculator.
I do have a MV versus Temperature calibration curve in my ballistics program for RL33. As you can see, it's nowhere near the 3fps/degree F rate posted earlier in this Thread. Here's what my calibration curve looks like, based on my collection of MVs collected over triplicate chronograph data with RL33:
fmajor
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately the 338 Excalibur/er brass is limited quantity and a 'no longer in production cartridge' made initially by Jamison. Grafs is simply selling the remaining stock.
I'm only shooting RL33 now in a 30/375 Ruger Improved. That cartridge has less case capacity than your .338 Edge. I load 87.7gr RL33. In that rifle I experienced a large reduction in ES when going from 0.007" jump to 0.010-0.012" jammed. I was jamming bullets 0.021" into the lands during barrel break-in and load development, because I was fireforming the cases to the wildcatted chamber dimensions. I needed the bullets jammed hard to hold the base of the cases in contact with my bolt face. I was also chronographing many of those loads. A consistent trend developed of low ES with jammed bullets. Your rifle may or may not act the same as mine did... Only one way to know...
I have a .338 Edge but haven't loaded for it in quite some time. I'm in the process of building a .338 Lapua Rogue - a 338 Lapua Improved with a 37-degree shoulder. Got all the components, so will be sending action / barrel / brake to a gunsmith soon. I do intend to begin load development with RL33 in that rifle. Which is why I'm tagging along in this Thread.
Here's a good thread that details load development, with a focus on how bullet seating depth affects ES with RL33:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...ad-development-120353/index18.html#post862519
Your information is so valuable, thank you! I'll be paying close attention.
SLEDGE HAMMER
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fmajor
Well-Known Member
Yeah - I'm with ya!
The 338 Excalibur (and a very few wildcats) getting the 300gr bullets to an easy 3,000-3,200 would be the sweet spot for me.
Kirby Allen's 338 Raptor is another one, but he has communicated difficulty in sourcing brass.
In fact, there was a thread similar to this several years back and ultimately no one cited a reliably-sourced option for an "in-between 338 Edge and 338 Allen Magnum".
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/anything-between-338-edge-338-am-27830/
jmden
Well-Known Member
I guess that if you are in a well known and fairly tight temp range for your hunting, RL33 would work. Again, I've heard some guys say they are have significant temp stability issues and other say they are having relatively little temp stability issues with RL33. Why the differences? Perhaps the differences being reported in temp stability here are due to differences in bullet jump or lack of? I don't know. I shot a bear last month at 65 degree temps at 643 yds. Shot another one yesterday at 49 degree temps and 405 yds. As the fall progresses, I can easily be down into single digits, teens or 20s when later deer and especially elk hunting (last years elk was over 1100 yards--you can't be shooting distance like that and not know if your MV is right on or not) at 6000+ feet in November. So far in my temp testing (both ammo and rifle at ambient), Retumbo has done very well in this regard.
