Difference between 338 Edge and 338 RUM?
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Long Time Long Ranger
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The primary difference is the 338-300 RUM is a wildcat cartridge requiring extra time and effort to load. It is also a little longer making it more difficult to load long 338 bullets and make them feed through the rem 700 action. The cost of reloading is higher with the 338-300 because of dies and necking up brass. 338 RUM dies are a fraction of 338-300 dies since it is a standard cartridge and brass can be bought over the counter. Other than that they are virtually identical.
Remington tested this extensively before they came out with the 338 RUM. They solved the feeding problems with the long bullets in the 700 action by slightly shortening the case. They found that there was negligible performance loss by doing this. Either will do anything the other will performance wise. After all my work developing the 338-300 RUM from 1998-2001 Remington through us a curve ball and introduced the shortenned version. I talked with them at length at the shot show in 2001 about their decision to shorten the case and was skeptical at first. However after extensive testing of my own at my range Remington was right. The 338 RUM is the better cartridge. It feeds better and the performance is so close there is more difference between individual barrels than the two cartridges.
I spent quite a lot of time developing the 338-300 RUM with different throats until I had it right. To my knowledge I was the first person developing this cartridge and producing it in quantity. I was hyping it pretty hard to gunsmith friends around the country and Sierra bullets as I was testing the new 300 grain SMK at the time and was the only one to their knowledge working on it that hard. I built numerous rifles for elk hunters from 1998-2001 in 338-300 RUM. Probably the first elk ever killed with one was with one of my rifles. But when we shot them side by side on my range I never sold another 338-300 RUM barrel after 2001. The 338 RUM did the same thing in a factory cartridge and nobody saw a need to go to the extra trouble and expense required necking the 338-300 after seeing all the side by side testing in 2001. They even shot the same accuracy load of 92.5 grains of the old H-1000 with the 300 SMK which was the best bullet at the time for long range in it and what I designed the throat around. 93.5 grains Retumbo also shot great in both.
Many of the original builders and shooters of the cartridge could not understand the popularity numerous gunshops had with the cartridge after many quit producing it in 2001 with the introduction of the 338 RUM. Although it is a great cartridge and nobody can deny that it does nothing the factory version doesn't do while being more trouble to work with. So there is a little background from one of the first guys to work with both cartridges and test them side by side. I personaly have shot and hunted with the 338 RUM since 2001 while my 338-300 RUM rifles have collected dust. I did pull one out of mothballs this summer to do some load testing with some Cutting Edge bullets to see how they performed in this chambering with the way I had the throat set for the 300 smk.
And the heck of it is Remington designed the 300 RUM off ole Abry's 338 cartridge up in Canada which was the first 338-300 RUM in the 1980's before there was a 300 RUM.
Remington tested this extensively before they came out with the 338 RUM. They solved the feeding problems with the long bullets in the 700 action by slightly shortening the case. They found that there was negligible performance loss by doing this. Either will do anything the other will performance wise. After all my work developing the 338-300 RUM from 1998-2001 Remington through us a curve ball and introduced the shortenned version. I talked with them at length at the shot show in 2001 about their decision to shorten the case and was skeptical at first. However after extensive testing of my own at my range Remington was right. The 338 RUM is the better cartridge. It feeds better and the performance is so close there is more difference between individual barrels than the two cartridges.
I spent quite a lot of time developing the 338-300 RUM with different throats until I had it right. To my knowledge I was the first person developing this cartridge and producing it in quantity. I was hyping it pretty hard to gunsmith friends around the country and Sierra bullets as I was testing the new 300 grain SMK at the time and was the only one to their knowledge working on it that hard. I built numerous rifles for elk hunters from 1998-2001 in 338-300 RUM. Probably the first elk ever killed with one was with one of my rifles. But when we shot them side by side on my range I never sold another 338-300 RUM barrel after 2001. The 338 RUM did the same thing in a factory cartridge and nobody saw a need to go to the extra trouble and expense required necking the 338-300 after seeing all the side by side testing in 2001. They even shot the same accuracy load of 92.5 grains of the old H-1000 with the 300 SMK which was the best bullet at the time for long range in it and what I designed the throat around. 93.5 grains Retumbo also shot great in both.
Many of the original builders and shooters of the cartridge could not understand the popularity numerous gunshops had with the cartridge after many quit producing it in 2001 with the introduction of the 338 RUM. Although it is a great cartridge and nobody can deny that it does nothing the factory version doesn't do while being more trouble to work with. So there is a little background from one of the first guys to work with both cartridges and test them side by side. I personaly have shot and hunted with the 338 RUM since 2001 while my 338-300 RUM rifles have collected dust. I did pull one out of mothballs this summer to do some load testing with some Cutting Edge bullets to see how they performed in this chambering with the way I had the throat set for the 300 smk.
And the heck of it is Remington designed the 300 RUM off ole Abry's 338 cartridge up in Canada which was the first 338-300 RUM in the 1980's before there was a 300 RUM.
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Wow! Very detailed information. I own a custom Sako AV in 338 RUM which I'm just starting to experience with. My barrel was made with a blank from Douglas. It's a 26" with 1:10 twist mated with a copy of the Savage 338 Lapua muzzle break (one with 3 large ports). I tried 84 gr of H1000 with Berger 300 gr tactical hybrid and it's very accurate. I will try heavier powder charger to see if accuracy improves. The COAL I used is quite high.
Thanks for the information guys!
Thanks for the information guys!
Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
You should be able to shoot 88+ grains of the new H-1000 which is hotter than the old. The old stuff we were testing back in 2001 hit 92-93 grains with best accuracy and performance in the 338 RUM. With your 26" barrel you may get to 2800+ fps with retumbo but the best accuracy is going to fall in the 2700-2750 fps range probably. If you have retumbo try that. I get some of my best loads with it. If you are a dedicated extreme long range shooter beyond 1200 yards to over a mile the 300 grain Berger you are using is a good choice. If your hunting is inside 1200 yards there are other bullets that will outperform it with much less recoil in a light 26" Sako rifle. With your 26" barrel Sako I doubt it would be a serious extreme range gun so you probably would be much better off with a lighter bullet. The Sierra loading manual lists 93 grains H-1000 as their top load for the 338 RUM with the 300 smk but that was with the older lots of H-1000. The newer lots shoot about three grains less.
The 225 grain Cutting Edge bullet is what I shoot in my personal 338 RUM. It has a .64 bc and I push it around 3300 fps out of my 26" barrel with 101 grains Retumbo. It will average about 500 fps velocity gain with a great reduction in recoil. It makes it a pleasure to shoot. They also have a 252 grain with a .72 bc and a 260 grain with a .76 bc if you like the heavies. I can drive those between 3050-3100 fps in my 26" rifle so you can compare performance on a ballistic program. They also recoil much less than the 300 grain in a light rifle.
I put all the background in there to let you know my background with the cartridge and not some guy on here just talking.
The 225 grain Cutting Edge bullet is what I shoot in my personal 338 RUM. It has a .64 bc and I push it around 3300 fps out of my 26" barrel with 101 grains Retumbo. It will average about 500 fps velocity gain with a great reduction in recoil. It makes it a pleasure to shoot. They also have a 252 grain with a .72 bc and a 260 grain with a .76 bc if you like the heavies. I can drive those between 3050-3100 fps in my 26" rifle so you can compare performance on a ballistic program. They also recoil much less than the 300 grain in a light rifle.
I put all the background in there to let you know my background with the cartridge and not some guy on here just talking.
LTLR,
Do all three of these bullets stabilize in a 10-twist barrel? Thanks for sharing your load data with the Cutting Edge bullets.
Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
The 225 and 252 yes in a 1-10. The 260 is a very long sleek bullet quite a bit longer than the 300 grain lead core bullets. It looks like a mini missile and is very impressive. Talking to the guys at CE they recomend a 1-9 or faster twist for it. The past two weeks since I returned from your country in Alaska I shot the 260 quite a bit out of my Hart 1-10 twist 338-378 at 3225-3300 fps. I got some very good groups out of it to 1500 yards. I have not worked with it in the 338 RUM enough to make a determination if it could be done. Just some velocity numbers is all I have done so far with the 338 RUM. In my opinion I would shoot the 252 grain as the heaviest CE bullet at 338 RUM velocities in a 1-10 twist. I have shot it out of my rifle with some excellent groups. Trapper at CE over the weekend was shooting some amazing groups out of his new 338 Hart (338-300 RUM) with the 252 max agg with a 1-9 twist at 3050-3100 fps or so. I have shot that bullet out of my 338 RUM well in a 1-10 twist to 3100 fps with 97 grains Retumbo.
I started first using the Retumbo and 250 gr. bullets. I was using 250 SMK and 250 Sierra GameKing . The purpose was to have the best accuracy for target shooting and just change from SMK to GameKing and maintain the point of impact. I was using 96 gr. of Retumbo and the accuracy tested at 200 meters was not so great. I was told later on by a gunsmith that the velocity in those rifle was too high and I should try lighter loads and heavier bullet. I then tried 85 gr. of Retumbo using the 300 SMK and the result was phenomenal!! I shot 2 groups of 3 rounds at 200 meters and in both cases the bullets were all touching each other. So following this, I came to the conclusion that my rifle "disgest" the heavier bullet better. Next plan was to shift my target / hunting bullet weight to 300 gr. Shopped around and bought Nosler 300 gr. Accubond and Berger 300 Gr. Match Hybrid OTM Tactical. BTW, Nosler website do not show the 300 gr. Accubond but they exist. When I opened the box of the Nosler's, there was a paper with recipe showing "For best accuracy 84 gr. of H1000" so I applied this and the results were OK with the Nosler bullets but excellent with the Berger. The COAL for the Nosler's was 3.580" to fit the magazine during hunting season but the Berger was 3.850" (maybe 3.950" don't remeber now??) and do not touch the rifling. I will continue experimenting by increasing the loads for the with the Retumbo and H1000 and shooting 300-400-500 meters; some say accuracy improves over higher distance as these heavy bullets will stabilize. I also need a higher magnification scope to shoot at longer distances. That's why I posted an add for a Bushnell Tactical 4.5-30.
Here's a picture of my rifle. The barrel is a piece of art!
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What do you think about 88 gr of Retumbo with the 300 gr Nosler Accubond at a COAL of 3.580" for hunting? Or should I use the H1000 instead. I have both powders.
