Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Which Big .33?

Tanner,

Was just thinking that. If he's not set on a .338, then it'd be real tough to woop a mid-range 7 with 195 Bergs.

That was mean. And I wish you boys would stop all the arguing about guns, it's so silly. After all, in this day and age, no one needs guns because no one really needs to hunt.

If I wanted to do this (I don't)....I'd take a hard look at the 340.My buddy's is sensationally accurate,actions to handle it are easy,and you can always make brass from anybody's 375 H&H stuff if so inclined.

12-15 pounds mountain ready sounds about right....

My thinking as well.

And, I agree with redneck on the trigger. (from the custom rifles thread)
Jeff, if you're counting every nickel on this project, I'd start with figuring the worth of that trigger as $0.00.

The odd thing with 33's is folks want a larger bore but hobble it with lighter bullets (long range shooters in the know excluded).
For hunting I have used the 33,35,36, and 37 calibers mainly on moose, all have been effective.
I have settled on the 36/9.3mm with 286gr bullets. With a sight in 3" high at 100yards it is in the kill zone to ~250 yards. With my Leica range finder and CDS or M1 turret I can come up to at least 600 yards but mainly it is used for shots that may occur between 250 and 400 or so yards in all practicability. The power is there, ability to get on target is there, and recoil is much less than anything that burns 70grs of powder or more.

BTW, a 300 win mag set up properly is no slouch at extended ranges either.

I've hunted and worked with both the 340 Wby and the 338 Rum and both are excellent cartridges that will push the high BC/heavy .338 bullets to good velocities. I'd give the accuracy and velocity edge to the Rum but what advantage the Rum holds is certainly in the "noise".

Like Bob says, the ease of finding 340 Wby brass/ammo is much, much easier. 340 Wby cases can be readily made from 375 H&H brass, though I feel 8 Mag brass or 300 Wby brass is easier to use. One pass through the sizer die makes perfect 340 cases whereas 375 H&H cases need to be incrementally sized down or the case may collapse.

The 338 Edge uses 300 Rum brass and is a little more difficult to find.

Run a 338 Rum or 340 Wby in a 9 lbs. rifle and don't look back.

.340 Weatherby with custom short throat (I think this is available, but I'm not 100% sure).

Bartlein or Schneider 1/9", varmint taper. I know you prefer Pac-Nor, but this is what I would do.

Holland radial brake

McMillan A-3 stock (fiberglass). One front stud for the bipod. A rear flush cup, maybe a front flush cup. Latigo sling set up to fit.

Standard (Wyatt's extended) box magazine with hinged floor plate. The .340 should feed fine in a LA Rem 700, which would all but eliminate the need for a detachable mag box (I don't think the 300 WM boxes work well with Weatherby cartridges because of the shoulder position/geometry. Again, not sure about that.)

Nightforce ATACR 5-25 F1 scope

About 14 lbs

Jeff, did I read you had recently put together a fairly heavy, LR oriented 7mm WSM? You might run the numbers for 195 Bergers and give them a go in your current rifle .....as the other fellas mentioned the larger 7s with these new bullets are right up there with the 338s, and using a currently owned rifle would let you experiment without spending a bunch of extra dough.

Yup. CW is right.

Just used the 375H&H case to illustrate it can be done,but the others may be easier. My buddy used to form from 375H&h stuff,which is why I mentioned it. The 340 is based on the H&H case....I think it's just the 300 Weatherby necked up.

if you decide on Lapua , the Weatherby accumark is a pretty decent package right oughta the box......the muzzle break on mine is very effective

the mark v has the proper size and strength to handle these big cartridges

there has never been a real shortage of 33 lapua brass....spendy up front but will last many, many firings

a big 33 will deliver considerable more energy way out there , over any 7mm

338 Allen Mag, 300 gr Berger OTM's at 3400 fps, if your gonna go 'Big 33' go full tilt.

"Which big 33?"

None of them.

Pass the 195 Bergers.

Hey SKane! Long time.

I won't be using the trigger (really like the Timney CE) but it should be sellable. I sold an X-Mark years ago. Maybe the recall has changed that. Doesn't really matter anyway- if it ends up in my parts drawer, that's ok.

Guys........... I already HAVE, and really love, a heavier 7 mm magnum LR/target rifle. That's in addition to two other 7mm's.... I have drank the 7mm cool aid, bought the T-shirt, got the tattoo, renamed my first-born "Seven", told the wife to call my COCK!! Ol' Number Seven.... grin.... I love the thing. Just to attempt to put this to bed here's a pic. Look on the Blueprints thread on the Custom Rifles forum for specs.




This is a different project. Much bigger, heavier, will be braked, not a carry rifle per se. It may or may not make sense but that's a debate for a different day.

Yikes! Bob, surely you jest. And you are! 😃 Gun bearers are not in the American tradition of mountain hunting

For the uninitiated here, I've found that with a classically styled stock (very little to no drop at the comb) with a good pad, recoil from a big 338 at around 8.5 lbs all up (in my experience the 340 Wby) is very tolerable with the motivation to shoot, shoot often, and work at it.

If not, forget about it, skip the big 30's too, and go to a big seven, or 6.5.

Think, "good barrel, good trigger, 'good bullet.'"

I worked with three Mark Vs in .340. The first guy wanted to use Nosler Partition 210s. I regularly got 3/4" three shot groups at 100 yards. The next one was a regular 1" shooter and the last one was always good for 1 1/4". The last two used Nosler Partitions 250 grainers.

To me the Mark V is a very good starting platform. My prefered rifle hss a Mark V.

.338 RUM.

Ken, that (or an EDGE) are certainly the obvious choices. Just exploring whatever else might make sense.

I have a .338WM but that's the only .33 I "know".

In my RUM I could get a 250 gr Sierra to 3000 fps from a 26" barrel. In a 9lb rifle it was too much recoil for me. In your soon to be made rifle,which you say will be heavier and braked,recoil will not be a problem.

The load I used was H-1000,Rem 9 1/2 mag primer and Remington brass.