338 Lapua Build Question

[Rustystud]

Answers

Bruce:

I do not condemn shooters who want to utilize their rifles to the outer limits. I actually make a living on those customers. There are some shooter who lack the character and intelligence to understand and accept their limits. Picking up a rifle and shooting it effectively to 100 yards is relatively common place. Shooting skills out to 600 yards requires an understanding of your rifle, the ammunition, the range and elements. Shooting over a 1000 yards relies on both great equipment, skills, and luck. I have customers who are shooters and customers who want to be shooters. To become a great shooter it requires a commitment of time, and money. There is no replacement for trigger time at the ranges you plan to shoot and in the conditions you are going to be shooting in. Just using come up charts and guessing doesn't cut it.

The .338 cartridges give us the down range performance required to safely and ethically harvest any North American big game species at ranges further than most are capable of shooting. There are rifle actions, barrels, triggers, stocks, and optics that are cut out to do the job. One ding their homework and planning with a good gunsmith is a must.

I personally know Dave Tooley and Mike Bryant, both are very knowledgeable and skilled gunsmiths and shooters. If I were having a rifle build I would feel confident with either of these gentlemen building my rifle.
Nat Lambeth

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Mike is retired and not building guns anymore

 

[Dusty Stevens]

One other alternative my customers like is the 338edge. It can be safely used in remington actions which brings the cost down.

 

[Dave Tooley]

It's no harder to load than anything else. The problem is you give up accuracy,around 20%, compared to a 30. I'm working on that last bit of accuracy now. Just have to get out and do some testing. With giving up that much accuracy sometimes you think it's out of tune when it's your perception that's out of tune. It's common place for a battle ready sniper rifle with factory ammo to shot sub MOA at 1K. All things considered that's not bad.

Dave

 

[Joe Woosman]

Thanks for the info Dave. I'm absorbing it like a sponge. Can you drop any hints as to where that last bit of accuracy is at????

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Yea i would love to gather some of that info myself dave. I wish youd start another thread about it.

 

[Dave Tooley]

Until I get this sorted out I have to keep it close. Sorry

Dave

 

[BruceSpears]

Thanks Dave!

Bruce,

I'm using a BAT L. Single digit serial number so that tells you how long I've had that action. I'm looking at 7 barrels on the shelf that were used on that action. You made a good choice. There is no reason to go shorter than 30" on the barrel. You're going to have a large rifle, might as well be long also. Anything past 30" becomes cumbersome with modest velocity gains.

Dave

Hi Dave. Thanks for your response, really appreciate it. I think we'll finish the barrel at 29" and finish it with a Harrell's Precision tuner/brake. I am going to have Doyle Anglin make my stock and fashion it like the Shehane Tracker 1000. I would love to hear your trials with different loads (especially the ones that you found to be the optimum in terms of distance and accuracy). I'm starting out with 300 gr. Bergers and Lapua Scenars. Thinking that I'll try some loads using 250 gr. bullets too.

When you're shooting long range, what scope(s) are you using? I'm seriously considering the March 8-80 x 56, but would love to hear if you have suggestions for a cheaper alternative. I like the fact that the March is a first focal plane scope. I think that Nightforce may have one too in their new Predator line. Also thinking about Schmidt & Bender.

Thanks for your thoughts and guidance, always helps to hear from someone that has already trekked down the path! Have a great evening!

Best regards,

Bruce

 

[BruceSpears]

Makes sense and thanks!

Bruce:

I do not condemn shooters who want to utilize their rifles to the outer limits. I actually make a living on those customers. There are some shooter who lack the character and intelligence to understand and accept their limits. Picking up a rifle and shooting it effectively to 100 yards is relatively common place. Shooting skills out to 600 yards requires an understanding of your rifle, the ammunition, the range and elements. Shooting over a 1000 yards relies on both great equipment, skills, and luck. I have customers who are shooters and customers who want to be shooters. To become a great shooter it requires a commitment of time, and money. There is no replacement for trigger time at the ranges you plan to shoot and in the conditions you are going to be shooting in. Just using come up charts and guessing doesn't cut it.

The .338 cartridges give us the down range performance required to safely and ethically harvest any North American big game species at ranges further than most are capable of shooting. There are rifle actions, barrels, triggers, stocks, and optics that are cut out to do the job. One ding their homework and planning with a good gunsmith is a must.

I personally know Dave Tooley and Mike Bryant, both are very knowledgeable and skilled gunsmiths and shooters. If I were having a rifle build I would feel confident with either of these gentlemen building my rifle.
Nat Lambeth

Good evening Nat, thanks for taking the time to elaborate. I agree with everything you said. My father is a very accomplished gunsmith and has built many, many high performance rifles over the years for both benchrest competition as well as for game. He has already built one .338, but with a different action than my BAT L. I am definitely doing as much homework as I can as this is a cartridge that I personally don't have much experience with.

I will be happy to provide data as I get it so that others can comment as well. Thanks for taking the time to respond, I truly appreciate it. Have a great evening!

Best regards,

Bruce

 

[Dave Tooley]

Hi Dave. Thanks for your response, really appreciate it. I think we'll finish the barrel at 29" and finish it with a Harrell's Precision tuner/brake. I am going to have Doyle Anglin make my stock and fashion it like the Shehane Tracker 1000. I would love to hear your trials with different loads (especially the ones that you found to be the optimum in terms of distance and accuracy). I'm starting out with 300 gr. Bergers and Lapua Scenars. Thinking that I'll try some loads using 250 gr. bullets too.

When you're shooting long range, what scope(s) are you using? I'm seriously considering the March 8-80 x 56, but would love to hear if you have suggestions for a cheaper alternative. I like the fact that the March is a first focal plane scope. I think that Nightforce may have one too in their new Predator line. Also thinking about Schmidt & Bender.

Thanks for your thoughts and guidance, always helps to hear from someone that has already trekked down the path! Have a great evening!

Best regards,

Bruce

Night Force is hard to beat. In F1 the BEAST is a good scope although I don't know why you would need F1 on this rifle. The ATACR would probably be my first choice. S&B has had a few issues lately and frankly I don't like the way they treated a friend of mine. Leupold has the MK8 3.5-25. Lots of $$$$. I don't know if you could ever use 80X on the March. It has to be a perfect day to use anything close to max power on my NF BR 12X42's. In '94 we used 5.5X22 NF's because of the elevation range. We shot out to and occasionally past 2400 yards. The crosshair didn't come close to covering up a crow so we really didn't need more magnification. FOV is always important. There's nothing worse than pulling the trigger and not seeing the impact. On a good day your buddies are hooting and hollering about the shot.