I am looking for opinions on the 30-378 Roy. I am not a fan of belted cartridges--no good reason why--but I am interested in thoughts about the MK V in this chambering, and also what non-belted might be a comparable in power to it.
I have a friend that brought his MK V along on a recent hunt, it comes with a factory brake, and I was impressed with it's mild recoil and it's obvious power with 185-200 gr 30 caliber pills, seems to be a flat shooting rig with solid projectiles for open terrain. Only thing I didn't like was the 2 round mag capacity....

Had an early one that was excellent. Minor shot dispersion with hot barrel in hot weather. Weatherby offers a drop box which adds a third round.

Had one sold it off too a friend who wanted one . My .338 Lapua does it all and better . IMO.

Each too their own .

THE top of the velocity chart for .308's - a true super-magnum powerhouse! Love it. Can't remember if they are factory 26" or 28". I beleive the 1,000 yard shooters like a 30" tube.
I wouldn't worry about 2+1 or 3+1 myself but Macifej points out the solution.

btw, what is "Fwee Fivehundwed" all about?????

quote:

Originally posted by Buliwyf:
THE top of the velocity chart for .308's - a true super-magnum powerhouse! Love it. Can't remember if they are factory 26" or 28". I beleive the 1,000 yard shooters like a 30" tube.
I wouldn't worry about 2+1 or 3+1 myself but Macifej points out the solution.

btw, what is "Fwee Fivehundwed" all about?????

I believe the factory Accumark barrel is 26" + 2" of Brake...

Free 500 Grains...he was booted off AR by the Management.....

Ha Ha Ha Ha.....management all over the world is the same, booting poor folk around and out, Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Thanks for letting me know. I couldn't figure out what "Fwee Fivehundwed" meant but was seeing the slogan here and there. Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Did 500 Grains do anything in particular or just accumlative? I understand if you can't comment. Thanks again.

Peace

Good intel guys, thank you. I was not aware of the DBM being available, that is always my favorite mag option if the mags are of good quality and functionality.

I'll keep studying!

The velocity advantage of the 30-378wby over the 300Remington Ultra Mag is "footnote trivia".

But frankly I don't see a practical purpose for either cartridge... Their 338 caliper brothers OTOH...

AD

My experience from the x-378 Wby cartridges is the 338-378 Wby in an Accumark. It is an absolute riot to shoot but you more then likely want to be reloading for either of them. When factory ammo was 85 bucks a box I bought a total of 8 boxes. I also picked up 2 boxes of factory brass. I now have 200 cases which will last me for several years.

For those who don't care whether there is a belt or whether it's push feed/CFR, the Mk V is simply an outstanding action. Yes, the extended magazine will allow an extra round but is not a "detachable" magazine. In confirmation, the factory barrels are 26 inch plus two inches for the brake. Keep an open mind to this round as it is pretty much king of the mountain. The RUM is a very close second on velocities in .308 cal. As stated, the 338-378 is about as stout as a 338 gets if you want to consider a larger bore.

Ken....

I have a MK5 .338-378 Accumark and really like it, I would opt for the .338/378 over the .30-378 just as its a bit better on barrels I like the MK5 I never used to but now I actually own one I do. Barrel is 26" plus 2" break.

The Lazzeroni warbird is the expensive version without a belt. I have one with a 28" barrel and have no problem driving 180gr bullets at 3525fps with good brass life. Also I am now building a 30-338 norma mag which is a blown out and shortened 338 lapua case with way less body taper. It should get you in or very close to the 3500fps range with 180 gr bullets and let you load the heavier bullets way out and still fit in the magazine. Allowing for more use of the powder column.

I have an Accumark in 30-378. It is extremely accurate , a hoot to shoot. On the mag capacity I have never needed a follow up shot. Last deer shot (6pt 200lb) was @ 450 yrds and a frontal shot . bullet went in the chest and went completly thru to the tail bone with out exiting (180gr. BT ) . Everything inside looked like it had been put in a blender. The deer dropped in its tracks. Expensive if you don't handload. There is one for sale On Sniper Hide rite now for $900. Fantastic rifle

A great friend of mine had a 30/378 for one season. After hunting with his old 30-06 for years he felt he wanted a meaner rifle.....for whatever reason I can't tell you. He sighted it in and killed one deer and promply sold it after the season.....reason #1 was recoil.....he said it was a giant step up the ladder from the 30-06

This one is a pain to load for. When close to max, preassure can jump sky-high without any gain in velocity.
I have spoken to the people at Åmotfors in Sweden who developed this round for Westherby, and it was a real pain in the ass, due to large volume, small neck and the venturi shoulder.
They had to construct new powders and still was not to happy.
A .300 RUM is a far better cartrdige to load for, or the Lazzeroni in the high end.

Thanks all--kind of making me thin back to 300 Dakota as an option. I do wanta MK V now though.....Maybe it can be had in 338 Lapua....

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I do wanta MK V now though.....Maybe it can be had in 338 Lapua....

Probably not, but all MkV made for the .378 case is just a rebarrel away.
But remember, the .300 Wea'by is a super cartridge too...

Just my opinion here, but the 30-378, for the average hunter/shooter, offers nothing over the 300 Win Mag or 300 Weatherby Mag..

I can guarantee that there is not one person on here looking at two dead elk, one shot with a 300 Win Mag or 300 Weatherby Mag, and the other shot with a 30-378, can identify which animal was shot with which unless the shooters tell them.

Brent, Crazyhorse, good info, Thanks.
I had considered the 300 Wby, but don't feel it is that much over my 300 mag, or even WSM with lighter bullets...

I need to brush up on my 300 Dakota specs, that might be my best compromise as I prefer beltless. Getting to a MK V may be a little more than a rebarrel, I'm not knowledgeable to know what it takes to make the case/cartridge feed function properly, it is supposedly built for '06 length actions, but the case diameter is based off the 404 Jeffery case.....Hell maybe I'll just buy a 270

Hell maybe I'll just buy a 270

I am not now, nor ever have been a 270 fan, but for the average hunter/shootwer. I think a 270 or 30-06 would be a better choice than a 30-378.

If a person has the experience, than either a 300 Win Mag/300 WSM or a 300 Weatherby Mag would be the best choices available. JMO.

Fish,

Buy a Stiller or Surgeon action and chamber a top quality match grade barrel (I'd suggest the Bartlein/Krieger "under bore size 1:10 twist) using a JGS reamer in 300RUM. No massive freebore and no belt. Put HS-Precision bottom metal and mag in it and you will not have a feeding problem, EVER. And fit a Jewell trigger....you will never get that sort of pull from even a worked WBY trigger........

And the accuracy you will achieve will beat the hell out of the WBY. And velocity will not be that far behind especially if you use a 28" barrel.

Try RE-25 or N570 with the heavier bullets.

Re-22, N560 and IMR 4350/Re-17 with the lighter weights.......

You'll bloody love the thing

Crazyhorse, I like your thinking, I actually have the brass, dies and a Obemeyer barrel in 30 cal, was thinking of the 300 Dakota for those and other reasons above....I do like my 300 WSM's, but I've got a couple of those already...

Blair, I like your thought--to be sure, I've got a Surgeon 308, Krieger, Jewell, McMillan--shoots like mad!So what you are saying is build a 300 RUM with those components--or my 300 Dakota???

Blair likes high quality pop-guns..

Contact Lance Hendershot at Hendershot's in Maryland...he'll have or on the way a .30-378 from the Wby Custom shop with a 28" Kreiger Cut-Rifled Bull barrel, factory trued & lapped action, Phat stock, etc. That rifle will shoot rings around all these little guns. If you don't have time to develop proper loads or the $$$ for proper bullets, and $4000 for the rifle....OR...you don't need a rifle that will drop an Elk at 600 yards...get something more sedate....BUT buy what you want eh....??

Fish,

If you want to aproach the 30-378WBY in velocity you HAVE to go with the bigger RUM case.....the Dakota is great but similar in capacity to the 300WBY.

Or you could build an a 300 Tomahawk which is an Improved version of the RUM...........

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Blair likes high quality pop-guns..

Contact Lance Hendershot at Hendershot's in Maryland...he'll have or on the way a .30-378 from the Wby Custom shop with a 28" Kreiger Cut-Rifled Bull barrel, factory trued & lapped action, Phat stock, etc. That rifle will shoot rings around all these little guns. If you don't have time to develop proper loads or the $$$ for proper bullets, and $4000 for the rifle....OR...you don't need a rifle that will drop an Elk at 600 yards...get something more sedate....BUT buy what you want eh....??

It can't outshoot a properly built "pop gun" because you STILL have a crappy trigger and miles of freebore on that overpriced WBY Custom piece of junk, Mac. The 300RUM will be more consistantly accurate over a wider range of projectiles and loads............

The < 1/8 MOA delta (if you can shoot either that well) won't matter when your popgun's slug hits the dirt and the Wby's is still waaaay supersonic out til next Tuesday...I'm sure Mr. Jewell can come up with a trigger for a MKV...

Talking to Arnie is an experience

I'm not sure if Fish wants to shoot things out til next Tuesday?

And the difference between where a 300RUM and 30-378 become subsonic wouldn't be all that much mate........go on; pull the other leg

quote:

go on; pull the other leg

You haven't seen the Doctor's secret recipe...

I believe that one should own whatever rifle/ cartridge combination that makes him/her feel good, shoots well and instills confidence. However, to my mind any cartridge with a case capacity larger than the the old H&H or WBY case is too much of a good thing, and entirely unecessary for hunting. I wonder how hunters survived before all these huge cartridges came about? Bow hunters seem to be doing ok. Lou

the 30-378 wetherby, sure does not intrest me.
If you are a good enough shot to take advantage of all the velocity and range it may be a reasonable choice.
But 1st, with that much velocity thare are few bullets that will hold up at reasonable ranges.
To my thinking (and i,m not saying I know more than anybody else) for ranges out to 300 yards a 30,06 will do fine for any thing up through elk.
If you want to streach that then mabye a 300 win is a bit better.
But I have a .338 Win a 35 whelen and a45/70 for shooting animals that are to tuff for a 06 or a .308.
But I also have a 7mm stw from when I thought I was a great shot.
did,nt tke long for me to discover I was wrong.
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Lou:
However, to my mind any cartridge with a case capacity larger than the the old H&H or WBY case is too much of a good thing, and entirely unecessary for hunting.

Ah Dr. Lou, now you're just taking the fun out of it .

Ken....

I liked the idea of a 3400 fps 200 grainer in 30 cal, and my buddies MK V looked cool, and--mostly due to the brake I guess--was very mild to shoot, and I could hold quarter minute groups with it off of the fence and a bag of porland to rest on at 150 yards. He had the trigger reworked at some point.

I do like rigs built as Blair pointed out, and they damn sure shoot.

I call 500 my max range, and for that duty, I use a WSM of one cal or another, and a couple of my 270's that are souped up will do the gig. I like the idea of good power/speed/flatness out to 400 or so, and I don't really pay attention to the books as much as field experience. My friends gun was really flat out to 400, very little holdover and 6"ish groups at 400 with the fencepost/portland setup, I know the rig is capable of better from a more stable setup, but field accuracy was darn good.

I think the Dakota is probably plenty of power, but was just wanting to learn about the 30-378, it was impressive in the back pasture out in the real world......

Brents comment about the 30-378 being tricky to load for spooked me a lot, I don't like an 'unforgiving' round.

Thanks all for your input, I will be thinking of actions to build my 300 Dakota on, but it will be hard for me to steer away from a M-75 Sako.


Maybe a 30-378MK V will appear under my Christmas tree one year--with a couple boxes of brass!

Should be a fun round-they all are.I am looking forward to putting a Krieger on my 300RUM, M700 and finishing the work I started to find a load for it.It would be fun to have access to a range out to 400yds to practice.If you don't,you could choose a different approach.

quote:

Originally posted by Heat:

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Lou:
However, to my mind any cartridge with a case capacity larger than the the old H&H or WBY case is too much of a good thing, and entirely unecessary for hunting.

Ah Dr. Lou, now you're just taking the fun out of it .

Ken....

Sorry, about that Ken, I didn't mean to paint all that own the super duper magnums with a broad brush, it's just that I think much of my angst about these big cartridges has more to do with many of the folks that hunt with them than the cartridges.

I don't know how many hunting camps I have been in where you have at least one hunter who has too much money, not enough experience hunting and/or practice with the new rifle/cartridge combo, and poor judgment. I have seen many elk blasted to shit with 340 WBYs and larger because the shot was either way too long or poor shot placement.

A couple years ago I came across a couple guys that put 16 rounds of 300 and 340 WBY into a nice bull. Both had just bought their shiny new WBYs days before the hunt. They were under the impression that if they hit within three feet of a bull the mighty WBY would put it down. They thought it was funny. These are the same kind of guys who road hunt, never getting out of their escalades. Conversely, I met a husband and wife team that same hunt who successfully anchored their bulls with M99 Savages chambered in 308. Both shots were at about 150 yards. Two shots, two bulls.

Moreover, I don't understand the desire to make shots over 400 yards, not to mention 600, 1000 and such. To my mind that's not hunting, it's target shooting and or lazy hunters who trade the need for good hunting skills for a rifle that will do the hard work for them. I wonder what they would do if they only had a bow to use.

Thanks for listening. Lou

I hear ya Lou. I might have the boomer but long shots where I hunt are 200 yds. Without a doubt, shot placement IS everything. You and I both know of a couple of "long range hunters" but I can't say I am a fan of that. I don't care how practiced you are, there are too many variables with those 600 to 1200 yard shots. More power to those that can hit gongs and the like at those ranges but I can't see trying that on a living animal. I pretty much take the high road on threads like that and if I post anything it will be "nice shooting".

Ken....

AMEN!!

quote:

I call 500 my max range,

Fish,

If that's the max range then a 300RUM is the go mate. As it won't be subsonic at that range, despite Mac's stirrings........get the undersized barrel from Bartlein or Krieger and it will shoot everything including the monolithics.......

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
Had one sold it off too a friend who wanted one . My .338 Lapua does it all and better . IMO.

Each to their own .

Very specialized long range rifle. I had 2 Sako TRG-s in 30-378; extremely accurate, but boy, did they kick!
I rebarreled one to 338 lapua; the other still gives 1/2 min of angle groups 2 300 yds.

I chose the 300 RUM. Mine wears a 28" Shilen select match bbl, 28" long. It has a Jewel trigger at 1 pound and an H-S Precision stock. It has a brake and I can shoot it for hours w/o discomfort.

My 200 ABs fly plenty flat over Re25.

The only attraction I have to the 30-378 is from Mark Thompson and his custom reticle in a Leupold scope. He designed it specifically for the 30-378, 180 AB, at 3350fps if I recall. He sells the rifles with his long range shooting class. Here's his site. Heck, for the price, it would be almost worth it just to play in the class and get the rifle with that scope. It appears to be quite repeatable.

That said, I still plan on building another 300 RUM in the next year or 2.

And if anyone wonders about Obermeyer barrels, I spoke with Brian at D'Arcy Echols place today. They use 90% Krieger, 10% Bartlien. However, when I mentioned Obermeyer, he responded with, "if we could get them, we'd love to use them."