Introducing the 338 Texan

[Lefty7mmstw]

tag... I've got a lh 300rum I'm thinking of re-barreling...

 

[Doublezranch]

Since my Texan's conception, I've been doing endless testing. My goal was to put the Texan through it's paces with the 300 and 250 grain bullets respectively. My testing uncovered some real surprises. The Texan with a 31" barrel will propel a 300 grain bullet 3150. No pressure, no hard bolt lift. My only issue is the Sendero contour whipped like a orchestra conductors batan. At one point, striking the wood stock so hard it made a very distinct mark. After opening the barrel channel a bit more, I decided to try the 250. Berger, SMK, and Accubond all shot very well with the Accubond taking the prize of most accurate. I am currently shooting the 250 Accubond at 3300 fps. I just shot the best ever group that measured .162 MOA at 100 yards and .5 MOA at 300. The Texan has proven to be a real contender when it comes to long range horsepower.

Below are the 250 Berger and SMK groups at 100 yards.

 

[Doublezranch]

.....and the SMK

 

[Timber338]

Wow... VERY impressive. Thanks for the update.

 

[elkaholic]

That thing will be a real HAMMER! Good job......Rich

 

[Doublezranch]

Thank you gentlemen. What I have found is that the cartridge is extremely efficient. Velocities are off the charts and accuracy is wonderful if the shooter does their part. The most interesting thing I found was that the 300 Berger really struggles at velocities above 3k. The bullet loves to ride at 28-2900 respectively. All this data was achieved in 200 rounds.

Needless to say I am ready to finally hunt with the 338 Texan. Testing is complete and there is a speed goat in WY, and a whitetail buck in ND that will reap the benny's. I'm very excited to see want the 30 Texan can do. No doubt another efficient long range hammer!!

 

[J E Custom]

Since my Texan's conception, I've been doing endless testing. My goal was to put the Texan through it's paces with the 300 and 250 grain bullets respectively. My testing uncovered some real surprises. The Texan with a 31" barrel will propel a 300 grain bullet 3150. No pressure, no hard bolt lift. My only issue is the Sendero contour whipped like a orchestra conductors batan. At one point, striking the wood stock so hard it made a very distinct mark. After opening the barrel channel a bit more, I decided to try the 250. Berger, SMK, and Accubond all shot very well with the Accubond taking the prize of most accurate. I am currently shooting the 250 Accubond at 3300 fps. I just shot the best ever group that measured .162 MOA at 100 yards and .5 MOA at 300. The Texan has proven to be a real contender when it comes to long range horsepower.

Below are the 250 Berger and SMK groups at 100 yards.

Thanks Jayson.

This is not to Hijack your post just wanted to add to it.

First, Its nice to have a competent shooter do most of the testing on this project.

The purpose of improving the 375 RUM case is simply to increase the powder capacity of the RUM cases to it's maximum potential. I hunted with a 338 RUM and felt comfortable/competent out to 1200 yards for Elk. After lots of research, I decided to wildcat an already great case (Not to out do anything else) but to see where it led me.

Originally the plan was to shoot a 250 grain bullet, and do some comparisons using the 300 grain
bullets. the barrel diameter was picked for the 250's knowing that the contour might be to light for
the 300 grain bullets torque. It looks like Jayson proved this out. the Texan far exceeded any of my expectations. I was looking for 3000 ft/sec+ with 62,000 psi max pressure. Reaching 3150 with a 300 grain bullet without excessive pressures definitely surprised me. (Pleasantly).

My 338 Rum had a #7 contour and it shot every bullet weight well, but the 300s were just to slow for the trajectory I wanted. As stated on other post, my opinion is that if you want to propel a big bullet fast, you need a big barrel contour, unless you are willing to fight to find a load that shoots well. My problem with finding a good load using a light weight barrel has always been that if anything changes the load was no longer as accurate because the light barrel was not as forgiving.

As mentioned, I am developing a 30 Texan and so far the results have been very good. I would let Jayson do the 30 Texan testing but why let him have all the fun. I am still fire forming the brass and
loads I am using to fire form are 104 grains of powder, 200 grain Accubonds and 3082 to 3086 velocity for 10 rounds with a SD of 2 in a 26" barrel (Hunting weight rifle) I could go to 106 grains of powder to get a little more crisp forming but like the 338 Texan Cartridge Overall length is only changing .006 so I will leave it alone. accuracy with this load is sub 1/4 moa during the fire form
so I intend to hunt deer and pigs with it.

Thanks again Jayson for all your hard work and keeping me as well as the membership informed on the Texans progress.

J E CUSTOM

 

[elkaholic]

Great job Jerry! A wildcatter after my own heart This just proves again that efficiency counts. One of my clients has a hunting load developed for the 300SS traveling at 2978 with the 215 Berger with a 3" coal...........Rich

 

[J E Custom]

Great job Jerry! A wildcatter after my own heart This just proves again that efficiency counts. One of my clients has a hunting load developed for the 300SS traveling at 2978 with the 215 Berger with a 3" coal...........Rich

Thanks Rich.

Like you, I don't try to come up with the biggest or Fastest I want something that fills a gap
and uses less powder (More efficient) to achieve the same velocity with great case/brass life. Plus, I learn something While having fun from every design that I can apply to the next wildcat.

I like to use the philosophy of "IMPROVE" in my designs.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Wachsmann]

Once my barrel is burned out on my 300 RUM I think this will be something I'll really be looking at. This has definitely opened a window up for the RUM action that I have been looking for. I think those Weatherby action are a little stronger built but it seem like a good candidate for a barrel change out along with some other mods.

 

[Wachsmann]

I have finally spent sometime at the range and was able to compile some data. I have preliminary results for 2 powder/bullet combos. The first being the 300 otm with N570. All data was based on a 63 to 65k psi as max. I could certainly load it much harder with the stiffness of the Mark V action, but there was really not need to. Jerry and I are after barrel and brass life, hence the max pressures.

At the range, shooting a 100 yards the 300 otm shined. With a 102 grains of N570 the velocity was very close to 3100 fps with no pressure signs and a .25 cc group. As I stretched her to 200, the target looked like a shotgun hit it. I checked the usual suspects, action screws, bedding, loose scope. None of the above. Baffled I called Jerry and we thought maybe, just maybe the Texan doesn't like the 300 otm. Hoping that wasn't the reality, I loaded up some 280 Barnes LRX bullets and I put a clover together at 200 with the same 102 grains of N570. At the same time I loaded 3 test loads of Reloader 33. They were 104.5, 105.5, and 106.5 respectively. 104.5 and 105.5 were underachievers with a velocity of mid 2900's and 106.5 being the most accurate of them all with the 280 LRX with a top velocity of 3000ish. 106 is very compressed. All charges are loaded with a drop tube.

I really think the 300 SMK will be a hero for the Texan. The SD's with the N570 are under 5. I have a feeling that the magical potion for the Texan will be the SMK and N570. The Texan seems to burn all of the powder you can jam into the case. It loves velocity and shows very little signs of pressure. I look forward to heading to the range this week with the 300 SMK and see how it stacks up. I have no doubt it will show velocities very close to 3100 with a psi of 65 to 66k.......and no pressure signs.

When ever you get you loading dialed in and get some good numbers would really like to here what you final load data you setteled in at. It just seem like a really good build.

 

[Timber338]

Just curious if you guys have any updates with how this rifle is shooting?

 

[Doublezranch]

This year I was able to fill all my tags with the Texan. I ended up settling with the 250 Accubond with a muzzle velocity of 3200. This load a very mild. The best group I shot was a inch at 1430 yards. My biggest problem was that my barrel contour is too light for pushing the big bullets hard. A heavy contour barrel will really push a 300 grain bullet extremely fast with lots of energy.

 

[Timber338]

1 inch at 1430 is almost embarrassing. That's all you could do?

HA! Wow. of course I'm kidding. That's beyond amazing. What powder did you use with the 250? Also, what contour is the barrel?