Anyone hunt with a 338 lapua ?

I am thinking of getting a 338 lapua barrel for my blaser r8. I have the bolt head so the cost is just a barrel.

Don’t have any 338 rifles.

I really don’t know what 338 lapua would add over the 300 Norma mag but the cost is only a barrel. And I need more calibers.

Mike

Burn 100 grains of powder; launch a 300 grainer at 2800 fps. Usually not the first 338 that one gets.
I have two of them; come on over and we can shoot them.
Difference in a 300 Norma? Night and day.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Burn 100 grains of powder; launch a 300 grainer at 2800 fps. Usually not the first 338 that one gets.
I have two of them; come on over and we can shoot them.
Difference in a 300 Norma? Night and day.

Thanks for the invite.

Interesting. I will have two suppressors for it - silencerco 46 and 36. Ammo is $4-$6 a round.

I plan to use it for Kansas deer and maybe take it Africa for eland.

Mike

Kansas Deer with a 338 Lapua? Are you shooting them from Colorado? :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Burn 100 grains of powder; launch a 300 grainer at 2800 fps. Usually not the first 338 that one gets.
I have two of them; come on over and we can shoot them.
Difference in a 300 Norma? Night and day.

Thanks for the invite.

Interesting. I will have two suppressors for it - silencerco 46 and 36. Ammo is $4-$6 a round.

I plan to use it for Kansas deer and maybe take it Africa for eland.

Mike

Same reason I have shot deer with my over 40cal rifles.

Because I can

I have hunted with one once.

A friend helped me on a New Mexico oryx hunt and insisted I try his gun. I was glad to oblige as he was helping me on the hunt. It was an older Sako and it was topped with a nightforce scope.

Now, I do not consider myself a great shooter. I do okay but I was a little nervous as I had never shot the gun. He put a small quarter size sticker on the target and my first shot hit it. Yes, mostly luck but I was glad to quit while I was ahead. Besides, I felt bad shooting his $9.O0 a round custom ammo.

We found small group of oryx the next day and shot one at 400 (estimate) yards. I really liked the gun and loved the scope.

It's the recoil that you will notice. Most 338 Laps are on the heavy side. I have built a few 338 RUMS, which is almost the same thing, smaller longer case, and they need brakes. I don't get all this suppressor stuff. I know......
I'm working on a charged particle beam weapon so guys won't have any recoil, noise, or ammo to reload, and they can zap deer from a light year away from the comfort of their own home.

I have hunted with the 338 Lazzeroni - I think they call it the Titan.

Shot lots of African plains game with it.

If it was legal I would have shot buffalo too.

I have a Dakota African that I bought from Jon years ago,it's a 338 Lapua set up for 250 gr bullets,my load is the Barnes Tsx 250 gr @ 2750 fps,this gun is absolutely boring,it hits everything you aim at including giraffe,cow buff,wildebeest......!all one shot kills,the 338 win mag has a stellar reputation,the 338 lap pushes it up some more,you will not regret getting your gun set up for this caliber.

True, and it is a great round. I do reload it though; I won't pay for factory ammo.
For standard actions the RUM might be better; less bolt thrust, although Remington did put it on standard 700s.

I reload as well,to really enjoy the full potential of your guns? Learn to reload

I read this post to see what I was missing with my .338 Win Mag which normally gives me one shot kills here in the USA and in Africa.

The only benefit I saw was possible more striking power on long range shots. Since I have never had occasion to shoot an animal at a range of greater than 300 yards, I plan to stick with my .338 Win Mag.

You aren't missing anything. Really, no one needs that extra 200 fps. Oh, you are missing a lot of recoil and noise. Which for me, is half the fun of shooting.

The 300 Norma can push a 250 gr bullet to around 2500 fps. The 338 Lapua exceeds this by 400 fps, it can push a 300 gr bullet to over 2600 fps.
So as far as ballistics goes the 338 is the better choice. Now will the extra recoil be an issue is up to the shooter.

Recoil? Neither of my 338 Laps have any recoil. Like a 243 maybe.
One is an ArmaLite AR-30, the first one made. The other is a Ruger RPR.

Barrel ordered.

Picked up some hornady match ammo.

It will do in a heavy blaser safari chassis. The gun should weight 13 pounds with scope.

Waiting for the suppressors to get out of atf jail.

Mike

These posts make me glad I settled on the mild mannered and deadly 338 Win. that Ive killed hippo, Buffalo and lots of other stuff with and recoil and muzzle blast is mild by comparison..but to each his own on such subjects..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
These posts make me glad I settled on the mild mannered and deadly 338 Win. that Ive killed hippo, Buffalo and lots of other stuff with and recoil and muzzle blast is mild by comparison..but to each his own on such subjects..

Ray,
your wisdom shows in your words ,but honestly as a reloader? recoil & muzzle blast can be adjusted to suit the shooter,you call the 338 win mild mannered?dang you are a wild cowboy still

I have new long range .338 LM rifle. It has no recoil.

Jiri

Again, his 338 Lapua will have no recoil, unlike the 8 pound 338 Win Mag, which does.
You can't fool Mother Physics with words. Or wisdom.

This has some recoil - https://youtu.be/W4iYhHg2izg

338 LM is for kids: https://youtu.be/oNweSexknag



Jiri

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Barrel ordered.

Picked up some hornady match ammo.

It will do in a heavy blaser safari chassis. The gun should weight 13 pounds with scope.

Waiting for the suppressors to get out of atf jail.

Mike

Get a decent rifle I instead of one of these funny contraption!

The .338 Lapua is chambering that is truly as versital as any ever produced for shooters and hunters. I started with 30-30 graduated to a .308 Win and was happy as a Deer hunter. Then got a chance to Elk hunt and went up to the .300 Winny that got many Bulls for me. Then stepped up to a .340 Wby for a Alaskan Yukon Moose convincing my wife I needed the additional fire power but to be truthful it just gave me a reason to get something else. One of my shooting buddies who always wanted to one up me got a .338 Lapua and by the time he got it set up he had $1500 in it. He shot it and couldn’t get better than a three inch group. Long story short he got disgusted with it and although I didn’t need it in had a son and grandsons that would shoot it so I gave him $500 for it and it probably my Best Buy in a rifle. I had lots of bullets accumulated for the .340 making it simple to start reloading for it. Since I have taken Elk along with my son and one of my grandsons when he was 14 and his first Elk. My go to bullets are 240 grain Northforks and the 250 grain Barnes plain and blue coated bullets. My son took a 360 B&C bull in Kentucky with it and now will shoot only it at Elk after taking several with the .358 STA and .300 Winny. That is our story with the Lapua for what it’s worth. Good Shooting.

Had a Sako 995/TRG in 338 Lapua for 20 years or so. Sold it last year. Might build or buy another as I still have loading components. In my rifle with same weight bullets, it got about 50 fps more speed than my 340 Wby. It is definitely a step up from the 338 Win Mag (had one of those for a few decades as well). If you need the power, it is a good choice. - dan

Had a 8.75lb, .340 Wby for ten years. Handloads only. It loved the 250gr Nosler Partition at ~3000 fps (26" barrel). Never noticed the recoil (over 50 ft-lbs) in shooting a bull moose.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Yes sir a reloader can make any caliber to match his desires up to a point..Thats the kind of logic that ruins these conversations, enough of that for petes sake!!

The 338 Win suited me to a T..You can't beat that.

I literally ordered two 338 Lapuas yesterday; a Savage Elite Precision and a Long range hunter. We are going to convert them to 338 Norma.
Why? Because I can.
BTW there is no Poo in Lapua; I have been hearing a lot of that lately. It's Lop Wa.