338 Norma Mag / Med. Weight Hunter

[Truc]

not sure you understand, the electronic ear muffs amplify the the softer sounds but muffle the loud gun blast, I have been using them since becoming a range officer so I can talk and hear people during the commence fire.

 

[TXshooter]

I believe my 338 Norma weighs in around 13 lbs. and has a brake. Boy is it loud. I would not hesitate to go without. My personal opinion is that the kick isn't that bad. As for brass life I can only say that on 3 loadings mine still looks new. Primer pockets are real tight. Mine is shooting the 300 gr SMK at 2750 and a one hole group at a 100 yds.

 

[Mike 338]

not sure you understand, the electronic ear muffs amplify the the softer sounds but muffle the loud gun blast, I have been using them since becoming a range officer so I can talk and hear people during the commence fire.

Yes, it sounds perfect for those scenarios but due to the bulk, I don't see it working for me.

 

[Mike 338]

Anyone test 250 gr. bullets with this caliber? How do they fly and what speeds are you getting?

 

[tree guy]

Has anyone built a standard weight (<10 lbs.) 338 Norma Magnum and if so, what are your thoughts now that you have it? I'm curious about twist, barrel contour, ease of reloading, brass durability, felt recoil and do you like it enough to keep it forever?

I built a 338 norma mag about 3 years ago it has a 25 in. custom stainless barrel less the brake.It has a remington contour in light varmit,it weighs 12 lbs. with a 26 pwr. horus scope on it. I am using norma brass and I annealed the cases before using them.So far I have cracked about 5 case necks while shooting 3,000 rounds in the 3 years that I have had it. I have a .total of 250 cases that i have been loading . I have shot 300,250, and 225gr. bullets with various powders but my favorite load is 77gr. of IMR 4350 with a 225 gr. barnes triple x bullet @2800 F.P.S.The best group was .051 thousants 3 shots at 100 yrds.The best group at 500 yrds. is 1.006 thousants .The only real problem that i've had is shooting the gun and getting it hot in the summer, is sometimes when you do this you will get brass build up in the barrel. The best thing to do is have a good bore scope to check after you clean it. I have the same problem with my 300WSM and my 270WSM I just think that is going to happen if you shoot that fast with a big bullet.This is my favorite gun, I love the big blast.If you shoot 700 yrds you can see the bullet hit the target it takes that long for the gun to settle down on the target again.I built the gun on a remington 700 30.06 action with no problems. The gunsmith had no problem opening up the bolt face for the bullet.Robert synder built the gun for me from manning Iowa. www.rwsgunsmithing.com is the place to go.