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338 EDGE

MTM,
My load is; 300 grain Sierra MK - 91 grains H-1000 - CCI LR Mag Primer COAL 3.775.

Your thoughts? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks,
Oneshot
 
Shot my 338 EDGE today. I was rock shooting and had a ball. I was shooting 300 gr SMK, oal 3.915", CCI 250, Fed brass, H1000 93.0 gr., 2806 fps. Since you guys are shooting about the same velocity I thought you might like some field dope.
temp 72 deg, hum 18%, bar 28.2, wind 2-4 full to half

969 yards
downhill .98 cos
22.25 moa up 1.25 moa right
first round hit

1371 yards
level
up 39.75, right 2.50 moa
1st round hit ( lucky wind guess )
3 rounds into about 10 inches

1733 yards
uphill .94 cos
up 56.00 moa, left .75 moa
1 round miss low 8 or 10" and left by 3 feet
2nd round correction up .5 to 56.50 moa and right 2.00 moa to 1.25 moa

Even at 1700+ the 300 gr Smk still traveling at about 1300 fps would knock enough dust off to see through the 5.5-22x NXS. Also to note, that once a hit was made at 1733 it was fairly easy to judge differences in the wind and keep up the hits on the 25-30" rock. Of course it is the first round hit or miss that counts. I shot at some 700-900 stuff afterward and it just seems to be very easy after shooting twice as far. I was soon humbled by not reading a full wind across a canyon that I was protected from, shooting better than 1 foot right of my target rock at 741 yards. I missed a 2.00 moa crosswind. All good things to remember but you must stay focused in LRH.
 
Well I have to say that I am still very impressd with the 338 Edge. I did some shooting this weekend with a buddy of mine, he was the one who bought the Mossy Oak camo Edge shown earlier in this thread. We welded up a 14" x 15" steel gong target and set out to have some fun. We set the target up a 700 yards and proceeded to ring it every shot for a ten shots each. It was just way too easy! So the next morning we decided to make it a bit more interesting. We set the target up a 1200 yards and broke out all the gear and set up to have some real fun. Long story short I was able to connect with the target 8 out of 9 shots. The first shot was 2 inches right of the gong with a hit on the target frame. 1 more click left and I was in business for an 8 shot string of ringing steel. Shawn's Edges are great rifles!! Watch out whitetails! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Oneshot
 
I'm looking for some dies for the 338 Edge. Do I have to wait the 14 weeks for Redding to make them or does anyone know where I could get them quicker?
 
Good Grouper,
I have loaded the 225 Accubond at 3490 out of the 30" tube with H1000 but was not impressed with the accuracy. In all fairness to the Accubond I did not spend much time with it. I am a 300 gr fan. I have used the 250 Sierra mk with great success.
 
MKF350,
Redding usually has them in stock. If you are in a time crunch buy a FL sizing die for 375 Ultra and a set of 338 Ultra dies. Use the 375 die to fl the cases and the 338 die set to neck size and seat ther bullets. You will need to have the sizing button tapered if you want to use it to neck out from 30 cal, some sizing buttons need a little work.
 
3490! That's <font color="red"> SMOKIN'! </font> /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

You say you had good success with the MK's. Do you mean with accuracy or on game or otherwise?

THe 250 grian Lapua Scenars have almost 1 full point higher bc than the 250 MK's and I was thinking about having a reamer made throated for them but I don't know about game performance with the Scenars. If I hit too far back into the lungs (I am a shoulder shooter) at long range, will it open up still on soft tissue?



I am a 300 grain fan myself for the MOAG, but this will be a shoulder fired, lightweight hunting rifle and I think the 225's and maybe the 250 would be a little easier to control for 1k+ elk shooting. Whatdaya think?
 
I think for less than 1k the Accubond will work the best for what you want, so long as it shoots well for you. I have had lots of report of the 225 Accubond shooting very well out of other 338 super mags. I did not shoot much better than 1/2 - 5/8 with it, but did not spend a fair amount of time with it. I use a 300 Ultra with 200 gr Accubonds for a packing rifle and the 300 SMK / 338 EDGE load for LRH. I have had good success with the 300 gr SMK on game from small to large at distances from 70-1200 yards. The larger game shots have been shoulder shots that contacted bone and the results were good. I done have any field date on the 300 in lung only shots. The biggest problem that has gotten back to me is lack of blood trail to follow from the pass through of the match bullet. For the packing gun I believe that the Accubond is one of the best things going for LRH especially in 30 cal. Let me know if you get a good 225 load or any interesting field performances from 338 cal in general.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The biggest problem that has gotten back to me is lack of blood trail to follow from the pass through of the match bullet.

[/ QUOTE ]


Not doubting you. Just curious, but I've never heard that from someone who has actually used them. And since my expierence has been just the oppisite, I'd like to know, if you dont mind, what animals, ranges, rounds, and bullets, etc. were those with. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Sounds good Shawn.

I have only shot 1 big game animal with a match bullet and it performed well also. It was a 140 grain 6.5mm Berger on a doe antelope at 1030 yards. It punched her about 2 inches up from the brisket and made a rather fantastic wound channel considering where it hit.

This weekend, I will hopefully make it two animals killed with a match bullet. I have a doe antelope hunt in Wyoming and am going to try the 95 grain Berger VLD's out of my 6 br improved at hopefully 800 yards or so. Antelope are not terriby hard to kill so it should work. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Let me know if you get a good 225 load or any interesting field performances from 338 cal in general.

[/ QUOTE ]
I will definetly let you know how the 225 Accubonds shoot, but I am really hoping I can get the 250 grain Scenars to work. I will probably end up using which ever one hits my 15" gong at 1500 yards more consistently.
 
Charles,
The game animals I have had experience with were mostly whitetails and a couple of black bears, I should have been more clear and said consistant blood trail to follow. I have had 2 and witnessed 3 match bullet hits that left a few drops on entry and exit but no trail to follow. Now those 5 hits only make up 15-20% of the big game hits with match bullets I have seen but there was in my mind an issue to be considered. I believe, after some soft and hard medium testing with the 300 gr SMK that a soft tissue pass through (in between 2 ribs and out between 2 more) does not leave a large enough exit hole for good trailing when velocities were below 2000 fps or about 850 yards. Now a rib pass through shot at this same velocity was still fairly impressive, leaving a good exit and perminate cavity in the soft medium that was 4 to 5 times the size of the soft medium pass through shot. Even more impressive is the 300 SMK's ability to break large bone at lower velocity. The 300 SMK will pass through 3/8" mild steel at 1800 fps or 1000 yards. The really impressive game shots I have seen with the bullet were high shoulder shots that absolutly anchored the game on the spot. The pass through, run off with lack of blood trail shots were ranges of 650 to 1184 yards of the 5, 4 were recovered and the shots were good single and dual lung shots (no heart shots) that failed to contact any bone. Trailing distance varied from 70-200 yards. I really like the SMK but have taken to shooting for bone.
 
Thanks Shawn, thats an interesting thing about the lack of blood trails. Thinking about it now we've shot several where the velocity was around the 2,000fps range, and though we've always gotten good exits wounds, even on soft tissue hits, there has been a lack of blood trails. Usually there's an "exit spray"( a line or cone of blood, that sprays out of the exit, sometimes 20-30ft long directly behind the animal) but not much of a trail if the deer runs. Never really thought about it untill now, as we usually watch them fall.
On soft tissue, behind the rib cage hits, we get VERY big exit wounds. Several have almost broke in half /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif when loaded in the truck.

Another thing I've noticed is we get bigger exit wounds and sometimes the SMK's fragment completly and dont even exit out of faster twist barrels. On average with 30cal 10 twist barrels we get 4-6in exit wounds and very few DOTS( dropped on the spot). With 8 twist at the same velocities or very close we either get much bigger exit holes, 6-10in, or little to no exits wounds but the deer dont move after being shot. On the inside we get alot more tissue damage and find the bullets completly fragment. I talked to Chris Mathews about this for a few minutes and he reports the oppisite. Have you ever played with faster, than normal, twist barrels, and noticed increased or decreased terminal performance?
 
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