Help me pick a “big” 30 or convince me to keep what I have.

[memtb]

Other than your present rifle is "INCREDIBLY HEAVY" for a hunting rifle……spend your resources on components for what you have!

After your first hunt, assuming you actually carry your "field piece" for several miles in hunting terrain…..you can then concentrate on a "hunting rifle"! memtb

 

[EMAZ2]

Keep what you have and buy a more mainstream hunting rifle…if you want to stay in the .300s - I'd go the more vanilla .300 WM. Easier to find ammo,far cheaper to shoot than the Lapua and can double duty as your long range target and hunting round. Which means you'll get more use out of it. If keeping the Lapua could also consider dropping down into the 6.5's for target distance and hunting for even cheaper round pricing.

As indicated by @memtb carrying a heavy rifle for hunting will have you buying a hunting rifle quickly. Most would be cutting that 15-20lb bench rifle in half to hunt with.

 

[DTF370]

Keep what you have and buy a more mainstream hunting rifle…if you want to stay in the .300s - I'd go the more vanilla .300 WM. Easier to find ammo,far cheaper to shoot than the Lapua and can double duty as your long range target and hunting round. Which means you'll get more use out of it. If keeping the Lapua could also consider dropping down into the 6.5's for target distance and hunting for even cheaper round pricing.

As indicated by @memtb carrying a heavy rifle for hunting will have you buying a hunting rifle quickly. Most would be cutting that 15-20lb bench rifle in half to hunt with.

I think there may have been a misunderstanding. This rifle is for ELR use and might find its way into the field occasionally with me. I am in no shortage of hunting rifles. Specifically, I normally hunt with a 6.5 SAUM Defiance setup. And I earlier had stated that a 15 to 20 pound rifle is no problem for me. I will not be humping it around mountains or going miles with it. In fact, I have absolutely no interest in having a large caliber sub-10 pound rifle. I can't imagine having a sub 10 pound 338 for mostly target shooting.

 

[EMAZ2]

I think there may have been a misunderstanding. This rifle is for ELR use and might find its way into the field occasionally with me. I am in no shortage of hunting rifles. Specifically, I normally hunt with a 6.5 SAUM Defiance setup. And I earlier had stated that a 15 to 20 pound rifle is no problem for me. I will not be humping it around mountains or going miles with it. In fact, I have absolutely no interest in having a large caliber sub-10 pound rifle. I can't imagine having a sub 10 pound 338 for mostly target shooting.

That makes a lot more sense…I had interpreted based on your title and initial post that you were looking for an all-purpose long range target/hunting rifle. Outside the .338 and .300 WM, I don't have enough experience with the other .300 cartridges to advise…I know I cringe a little paying double per round sent versus the .300 WM. Which is where I was basing my comments around availability, cost, and actual regular use.

 

[FEENIX]

Did you feel somewhat limited by the 3.950? In mine, . This has been my only real hesitation to stay with the 338I ended up single loading because a CIP length mag was too short from where my rifle liked LMAI

This is one of the reasons I went with .338 NMI over .338 LMI.

3.7" COAL with 300 Berger.

 

[DTF370]

This is one of the reasons I went with .338 NMI over .338 LMI.

View attachment 456784


3.7" COAL with 300 Berger.
View attachment 456787View attachment 456788
View attachment 456792

Any mods to get your defiance to fit in the MPR chassis? That's a sweet setup. As to your reasoning for OAL, that's been renting space in my head. I love that a CIP length mag has a ton of room for a 300NMI. With my 338 LMI, optimum seating depth was beyond 3.850 therefore I was single loading in a repeater action. Since I am basically a navy SEAL, I feel gravitated to functional mags.

 

[FEENIX]

Any mods to get your defiance to fit in the MPR chassis? That's a sweet setup. As to your reasoning for OAL, that's been renting space in my head. I love that a CIP length mag has a ton of room for a 300NMI. With my 338 LMI, optimum seating depth was beyond 3.850 therefore I was single loading in a repeater action. Since I am basically a navy SEAL, I feel gravitated to functional mags.

Yes, my GS opened up the recoil lug area a bit. Thanks!

 

[westexhunt]

I try to stay as simple as I can get by with when picking a cartridge. Since I went through a similar process choosing a long range cartridge 7-8 yrs ago there were not as many choices or at least I didn't know about them. I started with a 338 Lapua and didn't have a can for it so I hated it (only shoot with cans for the last 10+ yrs). Went to 300 WM and enjoyed it but thought I could use more so I built a savage into a 300 rum. Have since bought another (rem 700) and really enjoy shooting both of them with 208 and 210 gr bullets. I kind of get on board considering new custom cartridges etc then end up with the old standbys. Really like my 300 wm's and 300 rum's.

 

[jensenj71]

I am really surprised how close my 300NMI 26" barrel with 230 OTM at 3015fps is to my 338 Edge 30" barrel with 300SMK at 2750fps. Less drop, higher velocity and just slightly less energy at 1000yds and 1500yds. Granted, now that I have N570 and ADG brass, I could lean a little harder on the Edge and get another 100fps. I just want something that isn't 52" long and 15lbs that I am comfortable with out to 1000yds. The 300NMI is significantly more than my 300WM and a little more than my 300RUM. The advantage of the 300NMI seems to be brass life.

If rifle weight and a magazine feed isn't an issue then a 338 is very hard to beat. If I was shooting 1000+yds I would definitely grab my 338 Edge or 338 Terminator.

 

[Taylorbok]

338 provides a substantial increase in splash which is important for ELR