Have had several .340 weatherbys, am down to two now and one of them is for sale..
Would like to build a .338 ultra but don't here to much about them.
Are they hotter??
What will the .250 gr. do in the FPS department in the ultra??
Is it worth stepping over from a known cal. to the new??
What do you guys think??????
Straight shots.... MD

Maddog,

Have a look at the data we have for the 338/404. This should give you an idea of what the 338 Ultra is capable off.

These two cartridges should be very close in performance.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Maddog,

Bob Hagel tested a wildcat called the 338 ABE Express. This article is in Wolfe Publishings Wildcats. The book is a lot of reprints from previous handloader and Rifle magazines.

Unlike the 338/404 Saeed refers to the 338 Abe Express is virtually identical to the 338 Ultra inthat it has the case shortened to 2.75" and I guess for the same reason as the 338 Ultra does, that is, magazine lenghth and 338 bullets.

Loads listed for 250 grains and 26 inch barrel were:

H870 104 2892
H4831 92 3078
MRP 92 3044
IMR 4831 87 3042
IMR 4350 85 3018

Mike

If you're satisfied with the double-radius shoulder and the freebore of the .340 Weatherby, then stick with it. My preference is for a conventional shoulder and only enough freebore to fully utilize the magazine length, so I'd opt for the Remington Ultra -- but not for power's sake, since there's no real world difference between it and the Weatherby.

The only .340 I've owned was in a Sako TRG-s. I just couldn't make it shoot like the other three TRG-S's I own, so I traded it for the same in .338.

Maddog: I don't think that you would gain a thing going to the .338 Ultra. I'd stick with a proven performer. If your looking for a hot rod in .338 bore why not go with the .338-378 Weatherby Mag? It's the hottest stick you can buy in .338 caliber. I love my Accumark, and it's deadly accurate. Recoil with the Accubrake is not bad at all. I'm a little skeptical of all these "beltless wonders" at the molment. It seems that everybody is jumping on the "beltless bandwagon" lately. Kind of reminds me about all the people that stood in line to buy the "dot com" stocks a while back! Call me old fashion but I think a Magnum should have a belt, useful or not. Bill T.

MADDOG,
I have a 338 RUM in a Rem. 700 BDL and I like it very much. I do handload for it and the best group to date is 5/8" (5shots at 100 yards). I am very pleased.

I've only had experience with one Weatherby, a .270 Wtby. in a Mark V Lazermark. It is not very accurate to say the least.

As far as a comparison goes. I know brass is cheaper for the RUM, compared to the Weatherby. Even though the RUM takes a little more powder, but it's hardly worth mentioning. You can also check-out the data that Hodgdon has on their website=> www.hodgdon.com ...they have both the 338 RUM and 340 Wtby listed on there.

If it was me, I'd take the 338 RUM. I did, and have never looked back.

Good Luck.

[This message has been edited by mnmark (edited 05-15-2001).]

I shoot a .340 Wby, an old scratched, beatup, sporter model without all the fancy do-dads. I get one hole groups with a Barnes XLC that weighs 225 grs. at 3150 average fps, when I do my job of pointing and pulling the trigger. If the .338 RUM can do this with the same amount of powder, I see no difference. I would hate to stuff even a few grains more powder in the case, mainly because of recoil. I shoot larger rifles than the .340 Wby and can take recoil, but I want to see a return for the pain. I would not like to use 5-10 grs. more powder for the same speed and more recoil, provided accuracy is the same. Good Shooting.

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I just started working up loads for the .338RUM last week. I'm using RL-25, Rem 9 1/2 primers, and Barnes X 225gr bullets. Starting load was 95 grains and ended up with 98 grains at 3155 fps (five shot average). Funny thing was that 97 grains gave me the same average velocity, but with a higher standard deviation, so I stopped. I could see the skyscreens rattling everytime I fired, so I think 5-6 feet is too close for the chronograph. I'll set it at 15 ft next time and repeat the tests. I'm also looking at trying IMR4831, IMR7828, and the 225gr Nosler Partitions, since I have those handy.

Shotone -- My load is 90 gr. RL-19 and we are getting essentially the same speed. Good Shooting.

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You guys that shoot the .338 RUM, whats the twist rate of the factory Remington barrel??? Bill T.

I had a Weatherby 340 that never shot better than 2" groups despite two months of reloading effort. Not to Dis Weatherby, but I'm not the only person to have had problems with accuracy from their guns. Just look at the chambers sometime with a good borescope, frteebore and all, YUK. I suspect but never proved it also was a bad barrel. I traded it off and have never looked back. I built a .338RUM on a Rem 700 using a shilen barrel with No Brake. It shoots both the lapua and speer 250 gr bullets with 87grs of Rl-22 at 2860fps sd 8 into nice tight 5 shot .75" groups all day long. I agree the cartridge is identical to the old ABE express and therefore should be able to beat both the .338Lapua and/or .340 Weatherby easily with the lighter bullets. One thing I have learned is that stainless steel barrels seem to be more accurate in .338 than chrome moly. This is of course based on limited experience, but I wonder if others have observrd this also.

Bill T,

Mine is a 1 in 10 twist with the 26" barrel.

What do you guys think about the wildcat .338/300 ultra?? Heard allot about it lately. What do you think the performance would be. Have you or anybody you know had any experience with it ???????? MD

[This message has been edited by MADDOG (edited 05-17-2001).]