Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 RCM ???

What prices are you seeing out there? The best deal I've found is $697.00 for the Ruger Hawkeye S/S in 338RCM, seems to be a fair price.

$660 at Bud's Gun Shop -- wood/blue.

Dennis

Your friend might also consider a .325 WSM. With the 220-gn AFrame, that's gotta be grizzly medicine.

I put the recoil of my .325's about squarely between my 30-06 and my 338 Win FWIW...

I used a guy named Stan Jackson at the recommendation of several locals. I am not sure if he works on levers but if you want his number it is: 907-250-0252. I am new to the area and cannot vouch for him personally but almost everyone I talked to around here has heard of and speaks very highly of him. I admit he is a nice fellow...we'll see about his work. Jeff, I have been around here just long enough to know that you are a huge fan of the 325 WSM. I admit I pondered this cartridge long and hard. In the end I went with the RCM cartridge mostly for bullet selection and one more down. I certainly am intriged by the WSM case though and I think I will try it out in the future. Cheers.

josh

Have one on the way with the intention of using it on an island bear hunt at the end of April. Will report...

Had my first range session today with the 338 RCM and 225-grain SSTs. Groups at 100 averaged only 1.6 in., but that was due more to the scope I'm using than anything else. For the time being, the rifle is wearing a Trijicon AccuPoint 1.25-4X24, with post/illuminated triangle reticle. It's not meant for fine aiming, really, but is built for speed. I can confirm that the scope is very fast... just the ticket for shooting big hairy critters at modest range. Best group with that scope, by the way, was 1.1 in., which leads me to believe the rifle will perform significantly better, accuracy-wise, with a more traditional scope. Recoil wasn't bad at all. This will be one very fast-handling package.

Try some 210 gr TSX's... They shoot well and likely will hold up .

Dennis

Just back from my Vancouver Island bear hunt and can report the 338 RCM performed flawlessly. Had some scope issues prior to the hunt... went from Trijicon to Burris and finally to Leupold. It was a tough hunt because winter was unusually severe and the bears were taking their time emerging from their dens. Passed on a good bear on day one, probably a 6-5, but not a very big head. Regretted it for the next four days. Hunt came down to the last hour of the last day, when bears finally started to move. Tagged a huge bear at 180 yards using the 225 grain Hornady factory load with the SST bullet. One shot, double lung hit, through and through. Bear whirled and leaped over a bank, but was dead on his feet. Simply rolled 30 yards down a steep hill and that was that. He squared out at just a tad under 7 feet. Based on that hunt,I have no qualms about the effectiveness of the SST or the rifle. Early groups with the gun were a bit loose, but it seems to be "shooting in" nicely now.

Good deal. I'm somehow not surprised you ended up with a Leupold... .

Got any pictures?

Dennis

Ruger made one big mistake in the 20" barrel(MUZZLE BLAST). IT NEEDS A 22" barrel. But saying that I still wouldn't buy one, why would I when my 338WM just keeps bowling em over, without struggling to reach these 'so called' factory speeds(special powders). I'm KIS & sticking with the proven Winchester Magnum & it's 51 years of history & authority. If it isn't broke why fix!

The M77 or FN Model 70 in 338 Win Mag would be the wise choice, bank on it!

If you don't have one, nor have even ever been around one, how do you know it has a "muzzle blast" problem?

Unlike you, I actually own a .338 RCM, and have fired a couple of hundred rounds through it, including killing three hogs in Texas with it. It does not have a muzzle blast problem, just for the record.

I was never under the impression that it was actually exactly equivalent to a .338 winchester Magnum, nor was I even vaguely concerned about that. The first time I was ever around a .338 Win Mag was in the late 1970's -- aa friend had two of them. I never wanted one then, nor have I ever wanted one since. Buying the .338 RCM literally had no connection in my thoughts and processes to the WM, so that comparison, such as it is, is of no consequence. What it does do is supercede the performance of my .338 Federal in the same length action, and by nearly 300 fps in some bullet weights.

The .338 Win Mag is no favorite of mine, nor of many other people. In my opinion, anyone shooting game big enough to actually require something on that order might just as well buy a real "big-bore" rifle like a .375 Ruger and be able to actually use big enough bullets.

YMMV...

Dennis

Looking back over this thread, I realized i forgot to add some results...

Here's a little accuracy result...



Another one...



Pretty good results on a pig with a 200 gr Hornady Interlock...



I'm pretty fond of my .338 RCM, and think it works just dandy doing what it does.

Dennis

Those are so damn nice groups!

KW,
Congrats on the bear!

I've owned 3 short mags so I know a little. But if you say you don't have a problem with the blast, great, I'm happy for you.

Enjoy & good day.


PS-I think ruger should of just chambered the 338-06 A Square if they wanted another 338, but maybe I'm the only one that thinks that way, hmmmmm.

I think Ruger knew they had the mass and ability to generate their own cartridges, and are enjoying the process. They have no reason to feel constrained by what someone else has done in the past, and they find it more fun to do things their own way.

Think about it...Winchester is reeling and struggling to survive; Remington is muddling along selling junk versions of what used to be pretty good, and Savage is, well...Savage. Kimber, Cooper and similar boutique manufacturers are selling well at about 50% to 100% or more higher prices than Ruger for comparable chamberings, but lack the capacity to dare introducing their own company cartridges. Ruger is pretty much the only major manufacturer able to step up and expect success. so they can have more fun inventing their own lines, knowing they will, in fact, sell plenty. And they are. So there is literally absolutely no reason for them to dip into the past to rely on someone else's invention.

It staggers me that so many fans of hunting and shooting have such hide-bound reactions when Ruger, Federal or someone else comes up with something of their own development, and complain bitterly that it's not exactly the same thing that someone else invented 50 years ago. Hey...if you don't like it, don't buy it. But the world won't change dramatically if it succeeds or fails. And if Ruger and Hornady stop making .338 RCM rifles and cartridges tomorrow, it will have literally no effect on my enjoyment of same. After all -- I also enjoy 6.5x54 Kurz Mauser, 8x56 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, 9x57 Mauser, and 9.3x57 Mauser rifles and cartridges -- and they have been "distant" from the current market since before the Second World War. Doesn't keep me from handloading them and enjoying them, though. So I kinda doubt that I'm going to suddenly run out of ability to load, shoot and hunt with my .338 RCM.

Again, YMMV...

Dennis

...........340 WBY!.....MUZZLE BLAST?????

20" barrels for the RCM`s a mistake by Ruger? They need a 22" barrel? How and why do you figure that??

I tend to believe that Ruger and Hornady knew exactly what they were doing in testing and developing shorter OAL rifles and chamberings, that can in SOME cases, duplicate longer barreled and longer action performance.

I guess my 16.5" barreled 300 WSM Ruger Frontier was a HUGE mistake? A quick, great handling, handy and very accurate rifle that`s only 35.5" long WITH `06 AI performance? Shall we also throw in my 20" barreled 375 Ruger Alaskan as well? Muzzle blast from these two? NOPE!!! NOISE? YES! But any extra noise is fine with me, as I wear protection on hunts and muffs always on the range anyway.

Regardless of your personal opinions, the shorter Ruger compacts, the 20" tubed RCMs and the 20" tubed Alaskans developed by Ruger/Hornady are hardly a mistake. Their sales across the board prove otherwise!

What they bring to the market, are offerings which allow the hunter/shooter different rifle choices, which are shorter, easier to carry in the field regardless of terrain, are just as accurate, with little sacrifice of overall velocity and at a reasonable price.

I have thousands of rounds experience with my former 24" 300 Win. The only real difference between that and my shorter barreled 300 WSM,,,,is MV. I notice very little noise increase and there is no noticeable muzzle blast.

During the last several years, the Ruger and Hornady offerings have challenged that `ol conventional thinking, that MOST rifles need to have 22" barrels and longer to be any good or worthwhile.

Like what the 375 Ruger is to the 375 H&H, the 300 and 338 RCMs shoot the same bullets just as straight and just as accurate as their 300 Win and 338 Win counterparts. In the case of 20" 300-338 RCMs, they do so with little performance sacrifice, while giving the added benefit of carrying around several inches less of rifle length and less overall weight.

Prior to their public release, the 300-338 RCMs, like the 375 and 416 Rugers, were thoroughly tested by Hornady in their testing labs and then in the hunting fields. With today`s modern technology, a new cartridge doesn`t need years and years in order to prove itself worthy, either at the range or on hunts.

I commend Hornady and Ruger for their saavy gutts and challenging the conventional old school of thought, or the conventional wisdom of many.

For me anyway.



No if that's what you like great. I will just stick my 338WM, that's all I'm saying.
And I actually sold off my 340Roy for my 338WM, it's a better round for me. And yes, MUZZLE BLAST was an issue with the 340.

They're fine classics, lets keep em separate.

..........By chance, was your 340 Wby the 26" barreled Accumark with the brake? Yep! Now those things will have the muzzle blast all-right. Certainly far more than either of my two even with the shorter tubes and no muzzle brakes. Many just automatically associate shorter tubes with being these awful flame thrower types which isn`t true.

I have bench fired 20 rounds from a 338-378 Accumark! What fun! As a matter fact, I really enjoyed it. The louder the noise and more the recoil, the better I like it!!!

NO my 340 Accumark was un-braked. I will never have a rifle with a brake, as I feel they're impractical & unwarranted for my style of stalking. And as you say they are very load