I am considering purchasing a 338 lapua action/barrel combo from montanan rifleman company. This appears to be a fantastic round, and I have heard nothing but good things about MRC. Any suggestions/comments appreciated.

Thanks,
Regards,

I scoped a Sako 75 in .338 Lapua a few years ago for a buddy. VERY accurate as far as I shot it; 300 yds. But in a std sporter weight rifle the recoil was bad enough that he had to install a brake.
I'm assuming you have shot a Lapua before? If not You may want to try one before commiting to the project. NOT meant as any personal afront here. Recoil is one of those personal things from person to person. My personal limit may not bother You at all.

FN in MT

FN,

Appreciate the info. I have never shot a 338 lapua. However, I own and shoot a 375 H&H. I intend to have a muzzle break installed on the 338. I think this will help.
Thanks again,
Regards,

You know what you're getting into then. The Sako I shot was later used on an AK moose trip and Jeff knocked a large old bull over at 400+ yds. The Guide was very impressed whith what a 250 Swift at 3000+ can do.

I have steel plates at my range at 100 200 and 300 yds and that Sako rung the 300 yd plate as easily as my varmints guns do. It was very accurate. Neat round.

Good Luck.

FN in MT

I got 3179 fps with a 240 grain North Fork bullet this past weekend with my .338 Lapua. That is quite a formidable bullet at that speed. My group was not quite a one holer, two in one in a figure 8 and the other within .5 inch. I will back off slightly and see what happens, my bolt was slightly hard to lift, yet no signs of pressure on the primer. Good shooting.

I like my Sako, but in retrospect, I should not have braked it. Hurts my ears even if I wear muffs and plugs. Maybe it is the concussion. 250 grain factory miras kill white tails.

The 338 Lapua IS a great round. I got into this round many years ago when I found a Sako TRG-S Lapua for sale cheap. I hadn't had a 338 bore rifle before, and liked the idea of an elk rifle in a "unique" round.

I tried different combos but settled on a modest load with a Nosler 250 Partition for hunting. This load was fairly accurate (1-1.25) and accounted for 5 elk between myself and a buddy.

This year I tried the Barnes 210 TSX and am very happy with both it's accuracy and terminal performance. We're talking 1/2-5/8 3 shot groups with me behind the rifle. Nice. I took a nice mulie and a cow elk with this load. On the elk a quartering forward shot hit her to the inside of left shoulder/neck junction and exited on the last of her right rib structure. I heard the "thwok" and she folded big time.

I am a bigger bore type of guy, shooting 338 Lapua, 375 H&H, 416 Rigby and 458 Lott. Sure a smaller bore would do a workmanlike job but I like the bigger stuff AND like to use something different. This brings me to the recoil issue.

My Lapua is the older TRG-S with a 24" tube, no brake. It weighs 8 5/8 pounds with scope unloaded ( it is set up with a good pad and proper LOP and eye relief). For someome who thinks a 300 Win is a bugger, it is too much (at least initially). My Lapua does recoil, but compared to my big bores it is nothing. I have NO hesitation to shoot from any field position and benching it doesn't bother me. As stated above, recoil is subjective and yes you do have to acclimate yourself to it.

I really like the 338 Lapua brass, especially Lapua headstamped brass. It is IMHO the best out there. Uniform primer pockets and flash holes and it lasts!

I love the 338 caliber for NA big game. It is just so useful and does the job (on elk size game) with panache. Is the Lapua better than the 340 Weatherby or 338 Ultra? It can be loaded hotter than both of these, but I don't think the game can tell. Honestly, I stick with the 338 Lapua because I am familiar with it and have a big stock of brass (300+). If you are a devoteee of the 340 Weatherby or 338 Ultra good for you and I have NOTHING against these rounds. I just happened onto the 338 Lapua cartridge and that is what I am staying with in the fast 338 bore!

I am thinking very seriously of having Hein building me a 338 Lapua rifle. I like my TRG-S but would like a custom on this round.

John

I own both a .338 Lapua in a target rifle (heavy) and a .330 Dakota. For a field cartridge, the .330 Dakota offers legs over a .338 WinMag without knocking the fire out of you.