Gearing up for the first one of the year - Rifle that is...

timc

So The boss sorta gave me the go ahead for my new rifle, well at least she didn't yell when I mentioned t so I take it as "Go fer it" answer; sometimes you got to read between the lines!

I think I'm settling in on 338 Lapua and want something cool, out of the ordinary, around $2500 for the rifle which is not all that much for a rifle in .338 Lapua from what I am seeing but it will will leave me $1200-$1500 for optics in my budget. Anyone have suggestions for something cool, nice shooting and still in my budget? I know the Savage 110 BA is in there but it is not really calling to me. The Remington 700P MLR in the Euro optic chassis looks nice and in my budget but I may wait until this weekend and hit the gun show to see if there is anything.

Enablers do your thing!

JKP

Armalite AR30 is an option well within that price range but I would take the Savage first.

Big Chief

SS3 and maybe bullsi fired one a feller had I thunk when we had a TX shoot. I don't know what make it was.

shotgunshooter3

Big Chief wrote: »

SS3 and maybe bullsi fired one a feller had I thunk when we had a TX shoot. I don't know what make it was.

I think it was a Sako TRG 42. Nice shooting gun.

Also, I'd go Savage.

snake284

timc wrote: »

So The boss sorta gave me the go ahead for my new rifle, well at least she didn't yell when I mentioned t so I take it as "Go fer it" answer; sometimes you got to read between the lines!

I think I'm settling in on 338 Lapua and want something cool, out of the ordinary, around $2500 for the rifle which is not all that much for a rifle in .338 Lapua from what I am seeing but it will will leave me $1200-$1500 for optics in my budget. Anyone have suggestions for something cool, nice shooting and still in my budget? I know the Savage 110 BA is in there but it is not really calling to me. The Remington 700P MLR in the Euro optic chassis looks nice and in my budget but I may wait until this weekend and hit the gun show to see if there is anything.

Enablers do your thing!

Hey TIMC,

That thing looks YUGLI!!!

do something off the wall, build one.... On a Weathery Mark V action.

Zee

I DO NOT recommend going with a Remington 700 action for the .338 Lapua.

They took an existing platform and modified it to accept the cartridge. In doing so, they had to open up the bolt face to a stupid amount. The walls are now exceptionally thin.

Personally, and I might have touched one or two............I would choose an action built around that cartridge. Not one stretched to accept it.

Lerchess

I would go Sako or the newish Weatherby.

snake284

The Remington 700 action is plenty strong and unless you blow a case there's no issues. The three rings of steel have nothing to do with the ulitimate integrity of the action. The three rings of steel only help deflect gases from going back in the shooter's face. The thrust from the cartridge is absorbed in the bolt face, not the ring around the head. But most other rifles don't have the three rings of steel anyway. Even 98 Mauser's have an open bolt face on the bottom of the bolt, and lack the integrity of the Remington's three rings of steel. However, The 98 Mauser deals with this in other ways, like they have a couple of vents on the bottom of the bolt to route any gas from a blown case or primer away from the shooters face. Also, it is questionable if opening the bolt face of a Model 700 up to accomodate the larger case head of the Lapua would weaken the third ring of steel anyway. When opened up to accomodate the Lapua's case head, it still would leave a .055 ring to deflect gas. The Remington bolt is a generous .700 inches.

However, if I was building a custom rifle for the Lapua, I think I'd look around for a used Mark V Weatherby because of the generous bolt diameter. This in fact has got me interested. In fact, my 2014 Weatherby catalog lists the 338 Lapua in their Mark V Accumark and the Mark V Terramark. Both are VERY SEXY rifles.

snake284

Lerchess wrote: »

I would go Sako or the newish Weatherby.

Sako isn't as strong as a 700 Remington. It's smoother but not stronger.

Now a Mark V is a different story. The Mark V bolt head is like .7178 inches in diameter. That leaves plenty of metal for the third ring of steel. Plus, the Mark V action is rated at approximately 200,000 CPU. That's more than 200,000 PSI. The Mark V was MADE for this cartridge.

timc

Zee wrote: »

I DO NOT recommend going with a Remington 700 action for the .338 Lapua.

They took an existing platform and modified it to accept the cartridge. In doing so, they had to open up the bolt face to a stupid amount. The walls are now exceptionally thin.

Personally, and I might have touched one or two............I would choose an action built around that cartridge. Not one stretched to accept it.

That is very intersting, hadn't thought of that one. Need to think it more on Remington.

timc

shotgunshooter3 wrote: »

I think it was a Sako TRG 42. Nice shooting gun.

Also, I'd go Savage.

A couple of votes for the Savage, hmmmmm......

Diver43

Last weekend I stopped by a high end LGS in Pompano Beach. There was two reps in the store, one was from Barrett, their system looked and felt great but the price tag was so far out of my budget I just smiled and thanked the rep.

Another was a company called Nesika.

They had a really nice looking rifle that balanced really well when I shouldered it. The rifle had a semi long 26 or 27 inch barrel with a brake from the factory and was in a B&C or a stock that looked just like one.
When the rep said work the bolt and feel the trigger I was total surprised as testing triggers is often frowned on in some LGS down here. It was so smooth it felt like a totaly worked over trigger.
To me the best part was that it was almost affordable. about half of the pricetag on the Barrett. As it sat that day the pricetag was just under 3K. Of course he added that if I ordered one today the price would be much less.

I dont know much about these type of guns, but this one impressed me, might be worth a look

timc

Diver43 wrote: »

Last weekend I stopped by a high end LGS in Pompano Beach. There was two reps in the store, one was from Barrett, their system looked and felt great but the price tag was so far out of my budget I just smiled and thanked the rep.

Another was a company called Nesika.

They had a really nice looking rifle that balanced really well when I shouldered it. The rifle had a semi long 26 or 27 inch barrel with a brake from the factory and was in a B&C or a stock that looked just like one.
When the rep said work the bolt and feel the trigger I was total surprised as testing triggers is often frowned on in some LGS down here. It was so smooth it felt like a totaly worked over trigger.
To me the best part was that it was almost affordable. about half of the pricetag on the Barrett. As it sat that day the pricetag was just under 3K. Of course he added that if I ordered one today the price would be much less.

I dont know much about these type of guns, but this one impressed me, might be worth a look

They show their cheapest starts at 3k which is out of my being able to close my eyes around the wife budget.

twa

Armalite.........

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465783100

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465660483

JKP

twa wrote: »

Armalite.........

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465783100

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465660483

Good price there assuming that thing hasn't been fired a thousand times....

Buy it!

timc

twa wrote: »

Armalite.........

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465783100

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=465660483

First one is a possibility but I do hate that brake, looks like it has taken a lot of heat.

The second one is over my budget with a starting price of $4100

Bigslug

Here ya go Sport! http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-550-magnum-het-ii-338-lapua-manners-composite-stock-camo-detachable-ai-magazine/

If you're gonna run a cartridge based on a .416 Rigby, you ought to start with an action designed around a .416 Rigby.

timc

Bigslug wrote: »

Here ya go Sport! http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-550-magnum-het-ii-338-lapua-manners-composite-stock-camo-detachable-ai-magazine/

If you're gonna run a cartridge based on a .416 Rigby, you ought to start with an action designed around a .416 Rigby.

That is a sweet rifle. It another one well over my budget!

timc

Pulled the trigger on an Armalite AR30A1 in .338 Lapua. The price for this new in the box rifle was well below my budget which is a good thing because I spent more than I thought for my first batch of dies, brass and bullets! The rifle shipped this afternoon thanks to the promptness of my transfer dealer getting his FFL emailed first thing this morning. I already have a couple of nice sets of rings to use and I think I'm going to take the Leupold Mark 4 8.5-25x50mm scope off my AR-10 and put it on the new rifle and get something more suited to the AR-10. Headed to the gun show tomorrow to see what I can find.
This is the only pic I have for right now, will post more when I get the rifle on Tuesday or Wednesday; kind of pumped up on this one, I've been wanting a long range boomer for a long time.

twa

Congrats - What kind of distances will you be shooting at? Looking forward to a range report soon! :yousuck:

Farm Boy Deuce

Sweet iron.

timc

twa wrote: »

Congrats - What kind of distances will you be shooting at? Looking forward to a range report soon! :yousuck:

Well I've been meaning to get a membership to a long range club close to me that will get on to a 500 yard range but most local ranges only go out to 200 yards. This may finally give me the push to join.

JKP

Sweet! Definitely looking forward to your report.

timc

Should be all set! Got brass, bullets and the rifle coming, Just bought off Optics Planet a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm LR scope with TMR reticle that I am going to put on my F&D Defense AR-10 and take the Leupold Mark 4 8.5-25x50mm LR that it has now and put it on the new Armalite. I have a nice set of Nightforce steel rings to go with the scope and a decent bipod so I should be set.

This will probably do me in on gun buying for a good while, nothing like blowing your yearly gun fund all at once. Now I need to start saving pennies for more brass and bullets. I would like to have at least 500 rounds on hand but with the price of brass for this thing that will take me a long time!