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

I have four Bansners and like them very much, but, the original AHR-Micky on my custom CZ-550-9.3x62, AHR trigger and 3-pos. is THE bomb for me. super nice handle and really elegant.

This was a Jerry Fisher design, I'm told, so, one expects the best, eh.

If, I were 40 again and was "smart", I would buy one of the new Joe Smithson rifles on the GM Mauser action in 9.3x62, sts tube and with that and maybe my KMA, call it good.

Bob,

Have a Bansner on my 9.3 B-S too, which with the present scope weighs 7 pounds on the nose. I tend to use a 9.3 of some sort these days when a bullet weight of 250+ seems like it might be a good idea, and it's not too annoying to shoot at all with 250's at @ 2650.

I've had a bansner too, my favorite 338 win mag is in a Brown pounder though. Pretty much the same ergos, except for a longer grip (which I prefer) and lighter weight than the Bansner. This rifle has a 24" tube:


I've had many 338's over the years and much prefer that length. I've had 26" barreled rifles and can't stand them. Cutting them down to 24" was like giving them a new lease on life. Hell, Brads idea of a 22" or 23" barreled 338 is a good one too.... As long as it isn't counterintuitive to balance...

I like 23" tubes, have one and a custom sts 22.5"er, but, there is more muzzle blast and I find no difference in portability.

So, I would go sts cutrifled No 3 at 24" if I were to now build my "dream" .338WM and would gio 4+1 to about 8.25 scoped.

I shoot 250s largely due to the 210NP would not group well in my original P-64 Alaskan, while 250s do sub-moa. I like to keep things simple with the same trajectories as I am old and not very bright......works for me since January, 1968.

Yeah yeah 22, 22.5, 23 inch barrels don't any of you own 24s I think Brads 270 is even 23".

My 338 is in a Bansner with a #3 barrel 22" long.
It weighs 7 3/4lbs and with a deccelerator pad it it doesnt seem to kick as much as my 9.3x62 with a walnut stock that weighs a half pound more.

My 270's are 22" and 22.5"!

I'm not as experienced as many here, but I went back through my records and found I've owned 5 338 WM's, 1 Ruger, 1 Rem 700, and 3 Win M70's. All but the Ruger had 22" barrels. I've used them mostly on elk, though have used them on antelope and carried one on an Alaskan moose hunt.

I've mostly found those that discourage the idea of a 22" 338 WM have never used one.

Were I building a 338 WM tomorrow it would be on an M70 or similar action, 22" no. 2-3 barrel, and Bansner (High Tech) stock.

Unbelievable, just when I thought I was going to bed as a sane man!

Have had two with 22" , several with 24" and one with a 21".
I did lots of chronograph work. I preferred a 22" with about .615-.625" @ muzzle.
Sold all and now use a Whelen, 22", in a Hunters Edge.
No problem.

Never owned a 22" but friend did and i shot his a lot. Mine have been 23-24. I have found the differences minor.

Have a 375 going together with a Krieger tube I got from RinB. It will finish 23"

Poifect!

Many years ago, my best buddy, a superb shot and fine builder of mostly using rifles on P-64 actions, had one of those Sako stutzen carbines in .338. It shot well and since he was a working bushman, carrying in Grizzly country, while working solo each day on foot for weeks at a stint, it's 55mm tube was handy.

I was also bushwhacking for my din-dins and we met at a now closed Vancouver area rifle club and despite the 21 year difference in our ages and ethnic differences, hit it off and are still close friends. I told him of my strong preference for CRF and he let me shoot his Sako.

It was accurate and nice to handle, got 2700 with 250NPs, BUT, the blast just rocked my skull and I carried on with my longer tubes.

Several years ago, he was experimenting with .375H&H working rifles and I finished one he started on an "old" Mod. 70 as I was then considering going back to work alone in the mountains. It has a 20" tube and is both nice to pack and VERY accurate. But, I seldom shoot it due to blast.

Last month, we were shooting and he had his latest P-64-.375 with a 21" tube and we both like this one a bit more....."looneyism", thy name is rifle lover!!!!!

Frankly, I doubt it makes ANY REAL difference between 22-25" tubes, have 22.5, 23,and 25" and had the 26 and several 24s. I now just like a slightly longer tube due to blast, but, I might change tomorrow as the 23"s are so nice in balance and both the Dakota 76s I had shot "bugholes".

All this gack is fun and shows just how lucky we are to have all of these choices.

You guys running bansners do you order them and then finish them yourself or are you ordering directly from bansners finished? What do they run for price finished from them?

I bought mine unfinished, the last one I smoothed out and sent it out for paint and pad then had a 'smith inlet and bed

Back when my M70 was a .338WM I had it stocked with a Bansner. Great stock. This was about 7 years ago. I didn't want to wait for a McMillan and the Bansner was only like $260 (unfinished). They installed a pad at my LOP for about $70 IIRC. And the wait time was only a month or two.

Upon arrival, there was some sanding work needed to knock the mold lines off...several pinholes that needed filling and sanding too. A few hours of work and some paint of your choosing and you can have a fine stock for well under what McMillan is charging these days. Of course they offer finishing and painting but it all adds to the cost. I am a tinkerer and trying to do it on a tight budget so finishing the stock myself worked.

As noted already, there was a little bit more flex than a McMillan--shooting it as a .338 was a lot less uncomfortable as one would believe. Prior to receiving the Bansner, I had shot the rig in its original wood stock for initial load work up--that wood stock was a LOT stiffer and even though heavier, made for much less comfortable shooting. After swapping stocks, it was much more pleasant, even with stout 250gr loads.

Can't recall the exact weight, a few ounces less than 8lbs if I recall but I wouldn't have wanted it any lighter.

Oh, and it was a Douglas cut to 23"

Great thread fellas. I've got my old Alaskan with the 25" tube. At 6ft 5" the barrel length doesn't bother me a bit but I'm dieing to put it into a Legend.

Great Intel for a person building a 338 though.

How about 23" with NECG adjustable sights?

Laker,

I did exactly what you are suggesting.

Bobbed the barrel to 23", Bridges McMillan Edge.

Rifle weighs 8# on the nose with a Zeiss Conquest 2.5-8 mounted in Talley rings.

I confess to have "not" read all posts, but how much lighter is the McMillan than the "Mattel" plastic stocks of the Win.'s in the early 90's. Recoil should not be too bad! The Win. plastic stocks were pretty light, and shooting a factory stocked .338 Win.(fitted with a (Pachmayr)is not bad at all. At least, according to my wife!! memtb

The Tupperware stocks weigh in around 2.2 pounds (35 oz's). You do the math... My pounder weighs about 20 oz's with recoil pad, paint and glass bedding. A compact edge weighs about 26 Oz's. The bridges pattern and ledgend will both weigh more than the compact edge...