Remington 700 338 lapua

[rem sendero]

I have been trying to figure out why people don't chamber a Remington 700 in a 338 lapua. Is it a safe cartridge for that action? I have been reading threads for a while and some people say it’s safe while others say the chamber pressure is too high. This forum seems to have a lot of people who do their own gun smithing , so I thought I would ask the question.

 

[alf]

Here's Dan Lilja's article against it written for PS magazine:

____________________________________________________________

I feel this way for several reasons. First the Remington uses a 1-1/16" diameter thread shank with 16 threads per inch. In my opinion this leaves a marginal wall thickness between the root of the barrel thread and the chamber wall. The .378 Weatherby belt diameter is .610" and the largest diameter of the big Rigby case is about .590". With a thread root diameter of about .992" or so (normal for 83% contact) that leaves a wall thickness of .191" over the Weatherby belt. With the Rigby case the thickness is a little better at .201" but still marginal in my opinion.

I think all of the custom actions designed for the big cases have a 1-1/8" diameter thread shank. Much better from my viewpoint. But someone wanting to use a Remington could argue that the Weatherby MK 5 action has the same barrel thread size as the Remington. That's true but it doesn't change the fact that it is still marginal.

The Remington's thread size isn't its only shortcoming though. To make case extraction work well a Sako extractor should be installed. Opening the bolt face diameter to .600" or bigger inside a .700" diameter bolt leaves just .050" wall thickness per side. Again, marginal in my opinion. But to make the Sako extractor work the outside needs to be machined away near the business end or it won't snap over the case rim. The problem is that the extractor pivots too far beyond the .700" diameter of the bolt nose and contacts the inside of the counterbore in the Remington-type barrel. Without removing some of the end of the extractor or opening the inside diameter of the counterbore, it won't work. Marginal again.

Several years ago I wrote an article for Precision Shooting that determined bolt lug strength for a given bolt size and material strength. There was included in the article a computer code that also calculated bolt thrust developed from various cartridges. If we run the numbers through the program for our example here, the 378 Weatherby case and a standard Remington 700 action, we find that the bolt thrust value is about 12,760 pounds for a stiff handload (and whose aren't?) of 65,000 PSI. The lug strength value is greater (thankfully) at about 37,770. But that isn't near as great a margin as some lesser cartridges have in the Remington action. And with the standard repeater model the lug abuttments in the receiver are probably weaker, at least on the bottom side, than the bolt lug. The reason for this is because of the substaintial machining required for the feed ramp.

The program I used to calculate these numbers also crunches a value for lug flex at peak chamber pressure. For this example it was .0026". This means that the cases are going to stretch this much each time they're fired and explains why it becomes necessary to full-length rezise cases. This stretching isn't as much of a problem with new cases because the brass retains some elasticity and returns close to its original size for a few firings.

Oh yes, one other problem with these cases in a Remington. It is a single shot only proposition. While this won't matter to many users it might to some. My advice, when asked, is to leave the Remington 700 for smaller cases.

Best regards,

Dan Lilja

 

[rem sendero]

The 338 lapua is some where between the 378 and the Remington Ulta Mag case, so is it a bad, marginal or good idea? it seems somewhat OK in comparison.

 

[alf]

The Ultra's web is .550"

The Lapua's web is .587"

The Rigby's web is .589"

The 378's web is .582" and belt is .603"

So with these measurements, based on Lilja's writings, I'd say no.

Beyond this, I have no experience to relate to.

 

[lynn]

Remington makes/sells the 700 in 338 Lapua already.

REMINGTONS M-700 POLICE IN .338 LAPUA!! YES, THAT'S RIGHT, THE CALIBER THEY HAVE BEEN PROMISING FOR YEARS IS FINALLY HERE. CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE FINEST LONG RANGE TARGET/SNIPER ROUND EVER INVENTED. BRAND NEW IN BOX, JUST DELIVERED FROM REMINGTON. THIS RIFLE IS AN EXACT DUPLICATE OF ALL THE OTHER PSS RIFLES. IT HAS A MUZZLE BRAKE AND DETACHABLE MAGAZINE. REMINGTONS FAMOUS SYNTHETIC STOCK AND WEIGHS IN AT 9 AND 1/2 POUNDS. LIKE ALL NEW REMINGTONS IT HAS THE "PRO-X TRIGGER". ONLY $1100.00

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The Buffalo Gun Center is family owned and has been doing business for over fifty years. We are the premier gun store in Western New York and one of the largest in New York State. Open 9:00 A.M. thru 9:00 P.M. Monday thru Friday and 9:00 A.M. thru 6:00 P.M. on Saturday.


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[fe1]

Remington 700 338 lapua Optics Help Please

Not intending to change the subject but I need some help on getting my Rem338L scoped up.
Which MOA scope base will I need to zero in @100 yds using the center x-hair and still reach the Max effective range of 1970 yds?
The scope I have is a Leupold 8.5x25x50 Mark4 ER/T FFP TMR Reticle (Not the M5) W/70 moa of elevation. This scope has hash marks for the 338L out to 600 meters.
Intended bullet will be a 250 gr. @ approx 2750 fps Thats what the hash marks are set up for.These values are printed in the Leupold Instruction book.
I hope thats all the info you guys will need to help me figure this out beings I'm new to the Long Range game.
T.I.A.

 

[alf]

Remington makes/sells the 700 in 338 Lapua already.

I'm well aware of that........

 

[Ing. Michael W. Mayerl]

I have been trying to figure out why people don't chamber a Remington 700 in a 338 lapua. Is it a safe cartridge for that action? I have been reading threads for a while and some people say it’s safe while others say the chamber pressure is too high. This forum seems to have a lot of people who do their own gun smithing , so I thought I would ask the question.

I`m an engineer for weapon development and I have a lot of experience and shelf made programs to calculate barrel wall thickness etc...
I agree with Dan Lilja but I must also say: the most important factor is the barrel steel.
For button rifled barrels a softer steel is used with most about 700 - 800 N/mm².
Standard Hammer Forged Barrel steels here in europe have about 900 - 1100 N/mm ² and for thinn barrels on combinated hunting rifles we use a special steel with 1100 - 1200 N/mm².

When Remington is using a good steel sort they won`t get a problem with their 1 1/6 Thread.
The CIP has reduced the pressure of the 338 Lapua to 4200 bar - in europe all rifles must be prooved with +25% pressure = 5250 bar.
My calculation programm say that the 1 1/16 Thread + good barrel steel with about 900 - 1000 N/mm² is ok.

By the way: better are barrel threads with less turns / inch.
I like threads with 1mm = 25,4 turns / inch. So the core diameter of the barrel gets higher.

 

[alf]

Also, to fit the 338LM to an existing bolt, the face needs to be opened up, which compromises the "three rings of steel", and a Sako extractor fitted, which has it's own potential safety problems. The factory 338LM, I believe, has a M-16 extractor.

 

[snowpro440]

Remington makes/sells the 700 in 338 Lapua already.

REMINGTONS M-700 POLICE IN .338 LAPUA!! YES, THAT'S RIGHT, THE CALIBER THEY HAVE BEEN PROMISING FOR YEARS IS FINALLY HERE. CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE FINEST LONG RANGE TARGET/SNIPER ROUND EVER INVENTED. BRAND NEW IN BOX, JUST DELIVERED FROM REMINGTON. THIS RIFLE IS AN EXACT DUPLICATE OF ALL THE OTHER PSS RIFLES. IT HAS A MUZZLE BRAKE AND DETACHABLE MAGAZINE. REMINGTONS FAMOUS SYNTHETIC STOCK AND WEIGHS IN AT 9 AND 1/2 POUNDS. LIKE ALL NEW REMINGTONS IT HAS THE "PRO-X TRIGGER". ONLY $1100.00

Description Shipping and payments Additional information
Shipping terms: SHIPS TO LICENSED DEALER ONLY


Description Shipping and payments Additional information
Trades: No

The Buffalo Gun Center is family owned and has been doing business for over fifty years. We are the premier gun store in Western New York and one of the largest in New York State. Open 9:00 A.M. thru 9:00 P.M. Monday thru Friday and 9:00 A.M. thru 6:00 P.M. on Saturday.


LISTING #

this must be a typo error on the price ... these guns are $1600.00