I have been looking for a 30-338 for a while, maybe a couple of years. I am not sure why this caliber, I have standard 06s an ackley 06, and a 30 Gibbs. I have had other 30 caliber magnums that I have sold. Anyway I guess I just wanted it to be different. If I were to have my choice I was thinking maybe a well done custom mauser of some sort, that has become what I favor. Ideally let someone else spend the bucks to build it and i’ll buy it for way less versus I shell out the money for the build! I found an online auction with some fuzzy pictures of a grade 2 custom shop Remington 700 that was factory chambered in 30-338. Obviously not a mauser but it sounded interesting. It was made in 1987 so in my opinion on the tail end of what I would call good years for Remington. I had a custom shop grade 1 in 300 mag for a short time. It was ok but not what I would expect out of something coming out of the custom shop. I bid enough money to get the rifle bought. When it arrived I was floored. It was amazing. Fit and finish was great, wood was nice checkering was great, inletting was perfect. It has actual steel bottom metal, and a nice skeleton grip cap that is inletted perfectly. Metal finish is a bright gloss. I am extremely pleased to say the least. It has no handling marks that I see. Reminder it is pushing 40 years old. My thoughts buying this was using it for a hunting rifle knowing it wouldn’t probably see rain, snow, and rough brushy terrain. Problem I am having is, do I do that, move it along if someone wants to offer the right price, or put it away as a collector? I dont do well not shooting my guns! I am struggling how perfect this thing is, I don’t even want to put a screwdriver to it to pull the stock off to look under it.

Might need pics to make that determination.

Took me a minute to figure out how to resize and add images. It is all original. I have the custom shop card with the caliber listed along with the builder and shop manager signatures. I have the signed test target too. I have a remington ad from 1986 listing 30-338 as a custom shop chambering for 700 and 40x. I have seen some 40 x chambered in this never a 700. Best I could do on the copy of the ad. 30-338 is listed 4 lines down on list of chamberings.

That’s cool as shít.


And an amazing rifle - one of the nicer Remington custom shop guns I’ve seen in a long time.

Nice score.

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Very nice rifle !
With the condition, rareness and documentation it's a collector.

Absolutely!
That's one of the few 300 chamberings that interested me.

Thanks guys, feel fortunate. I assume it was all the same guys guns that were at this auction. He had some really nice stuff. Most notable was a factory chambered 358 STA Winchester model 70 I unfortunately got outbid on that one.

A really very nice rifle in a very capable chambering. Is there an elk hunt in it's future?

My 30-338 was a custom built on an 03 Springfield action. It was more than I need these days so it's been re-homed but It gave me fond hunt memories..

Congrats on a beauty!

Very nice! Great cartridge as well!

Beautiful rifle, I personally would enjoy shooting and hunting with it, you only live one might as well live it up. I had few collectors and shot them all.

Custom shop rifles are very nice, have a 7mag and a 30-06

That is an exceptionally nice custom shop rifle. I'd hunt with it, myself. GD

Over the last 20 years after discovering Gunbroker and Gunsinternational, I’ve bought several used 700 Customs. I couldn’t afford them years ago when new but I can now when they’re used. 😊 They range from 222 Rem to 375 H&H and I’ve hunted them all, fully recognizing that I could affect future value. I bought a Grade II rifle a couple of weeks ago with some of the upgrades that the OP shows on his rifle. Inside the forearm the details like the gunsmith, the grade, date, etc. are written in pen.

We hunt mostly from blinds so I don’t have to bust heavy brush all the time so any handling marks are going to come from getting in and out of the truck or stand. If there’s bad weather and precip forecast, I can always take a rifle that’s more appropriate.

In general, even used they’re still not cheap but without fail all of them have been tack drivers. I have one 35 Whelen that thinks it’s a varmint rig. If there’s no action going on I can always look at the rifle looking for neat little features and detailing.

You gonna be selling these in the near future? That 30-06 looks tempting.

Nice.
The Model 700 is the nicest looking action, IMO.
A Savage 110 for example, looks like it was made from parts off an 1800's steam engine.
LOL

You’re probably sick of that 30-338 by now. I’d help you out in that case.

Thanks for all the good advice. I am going to order a set of steel talley rings for this, mount a 4.5 -14 leupold gloss 30mm tube scope that I picked up awhile back and start load development for my elk hunt this coming fall. Should put me in the running for nicest looking elk rifle in camp!

Shoot and hunt with that jewell! You are going to baby it, sure, but it can be done. You can buy a Gun Sliker from Alpine when it might rain. Fits well on any rifle. The 30-338 was an option back when alot of 1917 Enfield's were around (45-50 yrs ago) Gunsmiths would rechamber and open up bolt face. Presto. I tried to get my 1917 done but it was an Eddystone. they were notorious for being "brittle" they can even crack when you pull the barrel off. Think of the 30-338 as a .308 Norma Mag, a very good one!

The 30-338 is a good cartridge especially so if throated to use the 3.6" mag box. Don't know how yours is set up. Good luck
.mb

Sheesh man that’s way too cool a rifle to be a safe queen. Rifles are hunting tools. Go kill something with it.

Very nice looking rifle cool cartridge for sure!

Can you shoot .308 Norma Mag cartridges in that rifle?

No, 308 Norma dimensions are not interchangeable but many reloading manuals have 308 Norma and 30-338 load data being interchangeable. It should be easy to reload for, just run 338 mag or 7 mag through a resizing die and you are all set.

You should not shoot that rifle.
It is a bad rifle.
You should sell that bad rifle.
You should PM me first. 🤔

I know guys love to talk trash about a Savage, but I’m 47 and have had more issues with new Remingtons than new Savages. I’ve never had a Savage center fire not shoot from the factory. Yes they are portly and a barrel nut looks akin to the bullring piercing on a woman, but I buy rifles for accuracy first and foremost. Bang for the buck and accurate is what Savages are.

I used a 30-338 as my go-to elk rifle for several years. It is a fine round for that purpose, one of the best. I loaded the 180-grain Nosler Partition to about 3050fps. I killed three bull elk with that combo. I quit using it and sold it because the recoil was more than I wanted to handle. Nevertheless, it will always be one of my all-time favorites.

My Family has 8 Springfield and 1 Enfield chambered in 30-338. My second grandson has my late fathers Springfield and is going to use it on a javelina hunt this coming weekend. Dad would be proud of him. Kid even got his name on his own F35 as crew chief.

Great cartridge. Even Remington thought so when they chambered the 40X in 30-338. Congrats on your find with the custom shop 700