Advice on Magnum Rebarrel

[overkill]

Currently have a .338 Win Mag on a Winchester Mod 70 Long action. Its currently at the gun smiths waiting on a brake. I've had this rifle for 10 yrs. There are three shooters in my house and nobody shoots the thing because of the punishment, and I'm not sure anyone wants to be punished by noise either. Thinking a rebarrel to a different caliber is in order. I'm wanting to keep the cost down, so I would rather not have to change bolts. The 6.5 Rem. Mag seems like a viable contender. Does anyone have experience with this round. Recoil obviously being somewhat of an issue. I had a 300 win. mag for awhile. Took a year to quit flinching at loud noises. I hate having a gun that I don't shoot, and selling isn't an option.

 

[FryeGuy]

how about a .264 win mag? the 100hp's won't punish you anything like a 300 win mag. every one i have ever had has been super accurate. This is the only magnum cartridge i like to shoot. i shoot the 100hp's and 120 grain bullets. with my current .264 wm, i have only shot 3 things with it. 2 groundhogs, and 1 elk. they were all between 280yards and 320 yards. shoots super flat. look up the ballistics on it. it amazed me how the recoil was compared to other magnums. world of difference.

 

[cmillard]

give the 7wsm a try. go with a quick twist so you can shoot the high BC bullets--i would imagine since you had a .338 win mag before, it was probably for hunting--the 7wsm would make an excellant hunting/target rifle. the recoil will be less than the magnum .30s and it has a much more efficient case. plus, you will be able to use the same bolt as you have now. another plus is you won't have to worry about a belt on the casing to headspace off of.

 

[therifler]

6.5 rem. take a good look at the loading manual compare it to any of the Remington SAUM cartridges . You will find that the 6.5 never really caught on because it just does not have the proformance needed in a magnum case . Since recoil is your primary concern i suggest Rem saum in 7mm cal. or 300 cal.. I have built on these chambers before with great sucess both in accuracy and hunting. they load about 5% less powder than the WSM but still run close to them in speed and knock down power. www.therifler.com

 

[lelongcarabine]

The .338 Winchester Magnum shares the same case family as the 7MM Remington Magnum and the .264 Winchester Magnum. The 7MM Remington Magnum , IMHO, is the best choice for all around use and barrel life. This requires only a rebarrel with little or no magazine work. The WSM and RSAUM family of cartridges will require feed rail and magazine alteration as they are quite a bit fatter than the older belted designs. Out here in Colorado, most of the older diehards, that hunt Elk, Deer and Antelope, using only one rifle, prefer the 7 MM Remington Magnum. It is quite flexible to reload and excells in the accuracy department. 120 Gr. Nosler Ballistic tips provide a varmint hunter trajectory with low recoil. Outstanding on Antelope! 150-160 Gr. Noslers are the choice for Elk and Deer. With a match grade barrel, properly bedded in a quality stock, would be my choice under your circumstances. I would prefer a barrel length of , at least, 26". Hope this is helpful. Greg

 

[overkill]

Thanks for the help guys. The .264 might be a option, a friend has one and can't stop bragging about it, to the point I almost don't want one. I'll talk to my smith about what it would take to modify the mag to fit the short mags. There are some interesting possibilities available in those cartridges. I already have a 7mm Rem mag on a Savage action so I'd want to stay with something else. I shoot 1) for fun 2) for predator control 3)meat. I have guns specific for each purpose, but wouldn't mind having one that I could use for all three. From elk on down. Mind that in this area a popular elk rifle is the .243, and many antelope are taken each year with .223's.

 

[CJ6]

300 RCM It's different and gives you all the 30 cal bullet choices

 

[JRinCo]

If your'e just dying to rebarrel your rifle, any of the suggestions above are great. But the thing is that your'e still going to be shooting approximently 60 gr. of powder which equals LOUD!!!.

If on the other hand, you still like the .338, a muzzle brake works wonders in that caliber. I have one on my .338 RUM and its a dream to shoot. Yea, it makes allot of noise, isn't that what rifles do! Your going to have to wear ear protection anyway.

Put on a Vias muzzle brake, use the lighter bullets and enjoy!

 

[theotherben]

How about paying the tax, reducing recoil, and reducing noise with a silencer.

Are they legal to use/hunt with in your area?

Sadly, they're not approved for hunting here.

 

[overkill]

Thanks guys. A 300 RCM I'm not familiar with. I'll see what I can find. The .338 guys maybe right. I could put the brake on and just remember to where ear plugs when I go hunting. Are the Vias brakes that much better on noise reduction in comparison to other brakes. Suppressors are legal for predator hunting and target shooting only, which is what they are best for anyway. not sure I'm ready to pony up that kind of money yet. Friend has one on his 6.5 XC and it is the cats meow.

 

[overkill]

It would seem the choice has been made for me, the smith called and said he installed a brake last night. Told me to stick it in the safe and save it for a bear hunt someday. Thanks again for all your input. Guess I'll find a different gun for a builder.

 

[k80skeet]

Well the brake will make it a pleasure to shoot. As far as the 264 Winchester magnum goes it is a super caliber very accurate and low recoil the only problem is the barrel life is under 500 rounds. By the time you find a load the barrel is shot out. I have one that I use for hunting only. After replacing the barrel 5 times I decided to use a 7MM Remington Magnum that the barrel life is around 1500-2000 more to my liking.

 

[overkill]

500 rounds is pretty bad. I'm already through 200 with the .257 Bob and I'm not even close to break in yet. I'd probably get the same kind of barrel life out of a 6.5 rem. mag or a 6.5x.300 RCM since the velocity on caliber are the same.

 

[FryeGuy]

i guess i have had different luck with barrel life with the two i have had (.264wm). the first was a win 70, i had over a 1k rounds thru it and it did start to open up some on group size. when it started shooting 3/4" to 1" groups and i got ticked off and sold it. (i was young and not wise). my sendero is doing well, i have no idea on round count, bought it used, but i have easily shot over 300-400 rounds thru it myself. no problems yet. i will say i think it would be much easier to find factory ammo if you get in a bind with the 7mm mag, they have it everywhere. not so with the 264.

 

[overkill]

I've been hearing different things about barrel life on .264 wm's, Some are acceptable some shoot up fast. May have to barrel quality, cleaning regiment, hot loads , etc...
Agree extended trips would require a ammunition that is readily available at the hunting destination.
Thankfully for me thats out the front door. So I can get buy with handloads. Also this isn't my only gun, I have some flexibility up and down in hunting ammo selection.

 

[Sage Flats Shooter]

So did we decide what to do with the Magnum action and the kicking .338?

 

[Nutjob]

.257 Weatherby. 3600+ with 100 grain Barnes TSX and recoils like a .270. Good enough for anything in the lower 48.

 

[overkill]

Went with brake on the .338. Turns out I'm too cheap to spring for a new barrel

 

[wapiti25]

The 6.5 rem mag was originally offered only in the 600 rem with an 18" barrel- not a good match. The 6.5 rem mag case holds about the same amount of water as the 30-06 case- 6.5-06. The 6.5 rem mag would fit in your action/ bolt. Any caliber that you shoot untill the barrel gets hot will shorten the barrel life. 7mags burn barrels if you shoot them hot both loads and till they get hot. I'm considering a switch barrel gun that is a 300 win mag and add a 6.5 rem mag barrel. I have built two 6.5-06's they are fun to shoot. They fit between the 25-06 and the 270.

 

[overkill]

I hear what your saying wapiti25. My next rifle will most likely be in the 6.5 caliber. I haven't decided if I'll go with a larger case capacity(6.5 rem. mag, 6.5x55) or drop down to a something in the 6.5x39 or 6.5x47. There are going to be some newer 6.5x39 that won't protected by the designer.