I would probably put a Leupold VX3 1.75-6 with extra heavy duplex on it. Excellent eye relief, good field of view, and all the power you will need for a 300+ yd. shot.
Leupolds LRT scopes have better eye relief than the standard Vari X IIIs. I have a 8.5 X 25 LRT on top of my .338 RUM primarily for load developement. It's stood up to a lot of pounding too as I use the RUM for long distance target shooting.
The ER models would be useless on a rifle such as this, IMO. They are "scout scopes" and designed to be mounted over the barrel on rifles like a lever action Winchester. I would use either the variX-3 1.75-6x or the 2.5-8x, which is my own choice on this type rifle. Either has more than adequate eye relief.
Posts: 1148 | Location: The Hunting Fields | Registered: 22 May 2002
I just mounted my new sendero with a Leupold 4.5-14 LRT 50mm with a badger 20 MOA base and medium rings. This is my long range rifle and will be used on Elk out to 1200 yards. I'll be working with the 300 grain sierra. For Anybody who thinks these ranges mentioned are too long, I'll respect your opinion. But I know myself and my abilities. I've been shooting long range for many years (I'm 26 years old) and know my capabilities--Also remember the vital area on an Elk is almost twice the size of a deer's.
Leupold! The eye relief is generous and it is flexable. I have tried many scopes under $500 none compare. Most scopes require the head be postioned in the exact same place or you will experience blackout. My Leupold has close to a 1 inch of eye relief forgiveness when shouldering.
MOA, Your post made me think of several questions. With your base, rings, and scope, how much clearance do you have between the objective bell and the barrel? I was interested in building something on the order of a 338 ultramag on a rem 700 with a 30" #8 or #9 Douglas Barrel with the notion of shooting the 300 grain bullets. I would guesstimate velocity could be 2800-2900 FPS with 30" of barrel and a heavy charge of slow powder (maybe RL 25?). What velocities do you expect from your 26" Barrel? I was using a ballistic calculator on the SST shooting page starting a 300 grain with a BC of .760 at 2700 fps was supersonic to 2000 yards. 1590 fps/1685 ft lbs at 1200 yards. I guess the power is there if you can accurately determine range and wind doping. Do you think the 300 grain SMK will expand at 1590 FPS?
Montana Marine, Ring height is a good question. I wish I had someone who knew when I ordered mine. Buy the Bagder .823" (standard height). I was going to order the .885" but took a gamble and it payed off. They fit perfectly. I haven't shot 1200 yards with this rifle yet but will post when I do. As for the 300 SMK-- I never really considered it for long range hunting (because it's a match bullet) until I read Lilja's article on his web sight on long range hunting. This is a 30 pager and a must read. He says it's very effective on game at long ranges. Another one to consider is the 275 grain that is barnes X or swift A frame (can't remember now). Oh yeah, use.800 as the BC for the 300 grain sierra, Lilja says in the article that .800 is what it really is. The 338 is an excellent round. I decided to buy mine after shooting my brothers sendero with .3 MOA 100 yd. groups with factory ammo. Saeed is working up loads for this, there is already some data on this forum. Do a search. Email me with any questions and remember that that ring height works with the badger base, I can't guarantee it'll fit on other bases. Good luck with your rifle.--MOA
Montana Hunter .9 MOA would be accurate for me;you make me feel very good;I will get mine within a week;I dont know if the rifle will group within 1.5 inch;if yours brothers did so;it is very interesting...
MOA, It will be awhile before I get to the .338 Rifle. But I do have a Browning .338 WinMag Stainless Stalker, a nice light-carrying powerhouse. I recently started developing loads for a rifle just completed: Rem 700 30-06, 26" Douglas #7, Badger Base, Rings (.823 height, plenty of room for my 40MM objective, was wondering if a 50mm would need taller rings but I guess not.), Badger Floorplate, and Badger recoil lug. Leupold 3.5 x 10 x 40 LR M3, devcon titanium bedded in a Mcmillan A2 desert camo. Barrel, receiver, floorplate parkerized gray. This rifle has been expensive and three years in the making but finally finished. For now I am enjoying the heck out of it, developing loads with sierra 190 MK moly. will post some data when available. Good luck with your 338 Ultra! I would be interested to know how your velocity and accuracy are when you get your loads worked out. MM
MOA, not really sure how accurate the ballistic calculator is. But, with the amount of different variables that can be computed I would imagine that most inaccuracy would be a result of incorrect BCs as provided by the bulletmakers (as you indicated on the 300 gr SMK). Here is another link to the page where I found the ballistic calculator, lots of good stuff here.
