My 340 Wby was never intended to be a long range rifle, it was intended to be a heavy hitting 500 yard elk rifle. I bought a bunch of Norma factory ammo loaded with 250 grain Woodleighs and they were slightly too long for my magazine. I took the magazine, cut it apart, TIG welded it back together with a spacer and then opened up both ends of the action as much as I dared to give me max operating length. IF I were starting out to build a big 33 from scratch for a DEDICATED long range rig I would use one of the custom actions that are built a little longer so that I wasn't handicapped from the onset. I would use either the 338 Edge or 340 Wby.
I can't justify the $2.50 a pop brass for the Lapua when it isn't any faster. I met a guy that was really into long range bear hunting and he had Kirby Allen build him a 338 Edge with a 30" barrel. It was a #7 or so fluted barrel with an A5 stock. It weighed like 14 lbs. I wouldn't carry that hunting. He was shooting 300 grain Bergers at like 2900 if I recall. It was a real hammer. He had killed deer to 1200 yards and bears to 1050. There is a lot to be said about the simplicity of the 340 Wby. Brass is of excellent quality and fairly easy to come by. It uses a normal magnum bolt face.
No reason you can't make a 338-375 Ruger or whatever they are called. Probably has the same capacity and would fit the magazine a lot better too.
