30-378 questions

[Austin]

I heard the 30-378 weatherby was originally began as a long range tactical round.I also heard some people use it in competition.Have any of you guys seen it in action?Just curious.

 

[oldjad01]

It is probably practical for regular use if you get the barrels in 6 packs at a real discount.

 

[eddyverhoeven]

800 to less than 1000 rds at best if you're very carefull and lucky, but it packs a hell of a punch.

Ed

 

[JER]

Nobody who is a serious long range competitor uses one.

 

[M700]

Hmmmm... Heard tell of some fellow over at the 1000 yard club in PA who uses one rather well... And has for a lot of years...

 

[JER]

Hmmmm... Heard tell of some fellow over at the 1000 yard club in PA who uses one rather well... And has for a lot of years...

Let me rephrase, no one who has ever won the NRA Long Range championship has ever used or needed one.

Like someone else said, if you get volume discounts on your barrels, the 30-378 may be for you.

 

[M700]

Roger that! It's the .308 and my good old Model 70 for me and NRA competition! Same rifle and load for both across-the-course and prone competition. Lots of fun, good accuracy,at least the rifle is accurate), long barrel life and mild recoil for those 80 shot RMC courses or 60 round LR matches.

I am fascinated by the use of the HUGE .30-378 & .338-378 though. Know of a few guys who use them for long-range benchrest, and know that they've been used as long-range elk cartridges.

Believe the early use of the .30-378 for military was purely a research function - where special lightweight bullets were blasted out at up to 6,000 fps! I don't know of any team,military or police) actually using the big .30-378 for tactical use. Of course, not all the teams do me the courtesy of checking in for my opinion on their hardware!

Regards, Guy

 

[Wild_Bill]

If you want a realy big bored 30 cal go for a 300 Remington Ultra mag you still have to be carefull in shooting tha barrel to hot. It holds about 15gr of water less than the 30-378 but with the new powders and projectiles it is awsome for long range shooting. Retumbo was designed here in Australia wearing out a six pack of barrels to develop the correct powder characteristics. If you go with an 11 or 10 twist and a 30" barrel you can shoot any heavy projectile available the 11 is probably better in such a large case. The Ultra mag is verry similar to 404 gefery based 30 cal wildcats that have been used for long ranged benchrest for many years. The biggest advantage with the ultra mag over any weatherby is the cost of cases Rem cases are cheep and if you loose them its no big issue but Norma made Weatherby cases are gold plated and fairly soft in the head if you are trying to gain every fps advantage . the other big issue is actions an ultra mag will work our of any magnum bolt faced action at least single shot safely make sure it has at least a 1 1/16" tennon though dont use it on a 1" tennon rifle the bigger the better but the 30-378 requires major bolt alteration that i believe is unsafe eventhough they have been done.

The bect ultra mag case though is the 300 RUM necked up to 338 and improved im working on one with a 60 degree shoulder just to be different.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[TheBlueEyedBear]

I recently sold a custom 30-378. Included a 28" Kreiger #17, 1-14 twist, fluted SS, with VAIS brake. NESIKA model 'M' action, Jewell trigger, MPI thumbhole stock, and a Swarovski 6x24x50TDS scope. Also had a,not big enough) Pachmeyer Decelerator pad. The gun was built specifically around the 150gr LAZZERONI LASERHEAD bullet. Traveling at the 4000Fps mark it truely was a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION. I used the gun one hunting season: Shot a bull Elk with it and I don't believe the animal even blinked. It was like a magnet pulled the animal to the ground. Then, after I picked myself up I saw the results.

Three reasons for selling:
Took a 2nd mortgage to build the gun;
Took another to feed it;
AND,,, muzzle brake, recoil pad and all,,,,
it beat the crap out of me!!

Good luck and have fun with your BOOMER!!