Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 win mag in a mcmillan edge

I'm thinking about putting a 338 win mag into a mcmillan edge classic stock I have. I'll probably knock the barrel off at 23" and top it with a Leupold 6x42. I think it would make a pretty slick elk rifle. Is a 338 win mag in an edge a good idea or a bad idea?

I have a .338 Win in an older McMillan Mountain Hunter Kevlar Special, stock weighs 27 ounces, so halfway between the weight of an EDGE and a standard fill fiberglass.

I would not build it that way again. Instead I would go standard fill Classic and bed it right.

McMillan will recommend magnum fill on that caliber. If you decide to go EDGE, a proper bedding job which reinforces the action area would be pretty much a necessity IMO, or it's going to give.

Awesome advice right there..

Laker I would not go Edge in 338. Standard or magnum fill.

Were I doing a 338 WM and wanted it in a fiberglass stock, I'd bypass McMillan and go right to a Bansner. Really, better ergos for a 338-sized rig than the bulk of McMillan's, and tough enough for the round, while still darn light (25-26 oz's)

And I say that as a guy that currently has three McMillans in the house.

I had a M70 338 in a McM Supergrade with edge fill. When I ordered it, McM's policy was 338wm max. Now they say 300wm max I believe.

It worked fine for the couple of hundred rounds I used it for.

I just put a 338 in an EDGE stock with standard fill. It has also been cross bolted.

There is no such thing as an "edge" stock with standard fill...

Yes there is Brad. Graphite shell. Standard fill.

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll just leave the McMillan edge on the Mashburn for now until another hair brained idea comes along.

Welcome to the club, brother.

I can echo what Brad mentioned above.

I had a .338 in a Bansner stock. And I had a McMillan standard fill on hand to vet the one I liked better prior to pillar bedding.

It could have been ergos but I suspect the Bansner has/had a little more flex to it so recoil wasn't nearly as noticeable with it as it was the McMillan. I went with the Bansner for that rifle.

Not a 338 Winnie, but I got a 300 RUM that has been sitting in a McMillan EDGE stock for about 8 years now.

How often do you shoot that rifle? Seems like an accident waiting to happen. That's a lot of recoil for an edge stock. Hopefully nothing ever happens there. Regards...

"Edge Fill" is the one and only thing that makes an "Edge Stock"... "Standard Fill" does not meet the criteria.

So Brad, what is a fiberglass shell with Edge Fill? You're naming it what you would like to call it, but that's how I ordered it and that's what I got.

For years I just ordered Brown's made of fiberglass for 300's 338's and 375's. Some had graphite reinforcement here and there and some did not. All shot well and like Scott said they tend to flex a bit so even hard recoiling rifles were comfy.

At the same time friends and I had 4-5 McMillans made for Sako's and bedded M70's in them chambered 300 mags and 338. These were stiffer.

Have had only 3 recent McMillans; two Edge and one mag fill in 375. So, I go by what Gene and Darcy have to say and both urge standard or mag fill for 300 mags and up.They seem to know this based on building custom rifles and watching what shoots/works and what does not consistently and over the long haul.

I handled a raw unbedded Legend standard fill the other day built for a 375 H&H;it was cross bolted. Since it came from DArcy I'd have built a 338 or 300 mag,or 375 H&H on that stock n a heartbeat. I may STILL buy it... nice stock!

An update of sorts...I just got off th phone with Darcy who was kind enough to call direct on this issue after I emailed him.

I wil paraphrase since the conversation was long but the bottom line is that you can get:


-An Edge shell with Edge fill(likely what I have on my Mashburn).

-An Edge shell with Standard fill.

-An Edge shell with Magnum fill. (!)

Of course the other fills will add a little weight.

Darcy knows this because he has Edge stocks with all three fills set up for work on the machines right now...

I will take the risk of quoting him since I was listening but not taking notes, but he told me that he would consider the 300 Win Mag to be the upper limit of cartridge for use in an Edge stock with Edge fill.

Whats the difference between the various fills? Again at the risk of paraphrasing him, it seems that with the more powerful cartridges the lighter stocks/fills show a bit more sensitivity to loads and accuracy than the same chambering in the heavier fills or shells,like standard or magnum. He has seen this numerous times working with lots of rifles, not just samples of one They get fussier,and he has seen rifles original bedded in Magnum stocks that shot in the .3-.4 shoot 2" in the light stocks. And those same rifles would shoot 1/2" in the lighter stocks but needed completely new load work up to do that.In other words they got very fussy.

I told him I would be ordering a Legend Edge for a pre 64 M70 FW and he thought going with standard fill was a pretty good idea.I will take that advice.

Great info Bob. Thank you.

No problem Scotty just passing along info. Darcy did say that McMillan has been very accommodating in mixing/matching these combos and thinks that a guy can have whatever mix he wants, assuming he has the time for a special order,and a check of course!


Here's a visual of a couple of stocks D'Arcy has in the works. Top stock is an EDGE shell with regular EDGE fill.

Bottom stock is an EDGE shell with MAGNUM fill. You can see the difference in the types of fills used.

Thanks to Darcy for taking the time to help us with this

My 7RM with 6x42 M1, LW's in a standard fill Classic is 8#1oz. Wouldn't want it any lighter and at 24" balances really nice.