I am fairly new to hand loading but I have some parts and want to create something a little unique. This is what I have........

Remington 700 Long Action
Magnum Bolt
.308 Obermeyer 5R Barrel (Currently chambered in 300WM and threaded for Remington 700)

I was thinking that maybe a 30-338 would work but I'm open to suggestions.

Any ideas?

Robert

What advantage would the 30-338 give you over the 300 Win. Mag.?

You would need to set the barrel back to recut a 30-338 chamber. You will lose capacity a little velocity and basically have a 308 Norma magnum with a shorter neck. Sorry nothing unique that I see.

Different yes it is your $$$.

If it only needs to be A LITTLE unique, just make the freebore longer, so you can have .300 WinMags that fill out the space in the magazine. Looks cool, and so is the velocity gain with the long bullets.

unique and spending lots of time and money go hand in hand in the gun world. if that is no issue than...

Bents idea is good obviously...it came fom Bent so that goes without saying it is the cheapest too.

If you dont like that then how about a 30-7mm STW?

The action I'm using is my first rifle. I bought it as an ADL Synthetic 300WM in 1998 and have taken many deer with it. I am not opposed to selling the Obermeyer and buying a new barrel for the action if something strikes me as interesting. The plan was obviously to just re-barrel the action with the Obermeyer but I'm exploring other options right now.

Thanks for the input.

Robert

The place to start, IMHO, Mr. Ackley, Parker, did a two volume set of books reflecting his many decades in the gunsmithing business and the experiences of many, many gunsmiths, now forgotten, not just his own work/opinions. Thousands of cartridges. Factory. Improved. And wildcats. He retired in the 1980s, so it will not have the more recent, PPC, BR for example. A Mr. Titus necked the .300 Savage to .27 and rivaled the .270 WCF (.27/'06) with pre WW II powders.

Books are available from eabco.com, sinclair internationl, ebay sometimes (ignore the stuff about nursing, I guess there was a nurse named Ackley...)

In the much newer days of smokeless, H&H came out with the belted case for more capacity and something that would work thru a bolt action easier than the rimmed cartridge...

I am lead to believe that the taper was consistent with what worked best with cordite, the smokelss powder of the day.

Blowing the case out, putting a shoulder on it became big business. Mr. Weatherby has the largest name, but he was not the first or only to do it.

In the WW II era shortening the case to work thru the Springfield action was popular. Norma would loan reamers to rechamber to their version, .308 Norma Magnum. This is so close to the .30/.338 WCF Mag that data interchanges.

Of course, Uncle Sam was dumping the bolt action rifles, '03 and 1917, cheap. REA (Railway Express Agency) to your door, $18.50 No GCA then. Ammo was $0.01 per round with the gun. Mil. ball, of course...

Surplus, new, barrels for the guns. Easy rechamber.

Sorry, you are not going down a new path. It has been well worn, but 50 years ago or so.

.30/338 has a great rep for accuracy and barrel life. Nothing wrong there at all. At the same time, should you wish to sell, the .300 WCF Mag would be alot more "saleable."

The one that "floored me", The .30/40 Krag Improved, NOT in a Krag action--popular for use in the old single shots, would rival the performance of the factory .300 H&H Magnum -- which was loaded light for use in hot, hot lands like Africa and India...

Get the books and read them and see what has been done and is in the library and then... [Obermeyer makes great barrels, just not enough of them... Use it wisely.] LUCK. Happy Holidays. Happy Trails.

Thanks. For the sake of simpicity I will just re-barrel the rifle with the Obermeyer and stay with the 300WM. I will however start looking for a Ruger to rebarrel/rechamber into some sort of 25 cal.

Thanks,

Robert