Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 338 Lapua recoil?

Pat-what kinds of speeds do the Lapua guys run and with what bullets and barrel lengths?

I would spect a lot of the fellas use the 300's don't they? What's it run a 250 @ 3K-3100 or so?

I've not played with one but looking at paper ballistics it doesn't appear to give much more than 100 over a .340? And how do they stack up against the RUM?

Thx
Dober

Pat,

I measured the case capacities using water, with 250 SMK's seated to standard OAL. Cases were once-fired Lapua in the .338 and Weatherby/Norma in the .340, weighing 332.5 and 228.7 grains respectively. H2O capacity was 97.9 grains in the .338 Lapua and 92.8 in the .340.

One of the .338 Lapua rifles I've tested weighed over 30 pounds scoped, due to the 32" barrel. 300 SMK's and 90.0 grains of Retumbo got right around 2900 fps, but the rifle not only weighed a lot but had a big brake, and kicked about like a .243.

30 lbs, if we take that rig then we're taking that Ingwe dude to be our porter...

Dober

I've ran the 250gr scenars at 3100 with VVN560. My go to load right now is the 300gr Berger OTM at 2840fps with H1000.

Barrel is a Bartlein 1-9.75" 5R, 28". I've yet to wear out a piece of brass. I have some with 12 firings. Lapua .338LM brass is amazing stuff....expensive but very good. If you like shooting 1500 yards+ with precision it's a good choice.

3100 with a 250 in a 28" sounds right. I've not run a .340 with a tube that long, but I have no doubt that if I did it'd go 3K with a 250. May have to put one together again one of these days, cept I'd have to go 27" cause I'm just can't do even numbers. The .340's on my all time accuracy list.

I do like the big 33's, and a 250 rolling anywhere from 2900-3100 is a lot of smoke and trail dust as my Dad would of said.
Fun to hear those big slugs thunk the gong,and yotes and porcupines as well....grin

Are you guys coming down for the Wood Bat in June?

Dober

Yowch! What was the weight of your rifle without scope? I'm figuring on shooting for around 8.5 pounds ready to go, but no sling or ammo.

Mark R Dobrenski,

Back in my .340 days the factory loaded 250 grain was 3,025 feet per second. My regular hand loaded averaged 3,050 feet per second from a 26" barrel.

KDK,

I don't remember the weight. It was a wood stock made about thrity years ago.

It never fails to crack me up how people want the heavy hitters in the lightest weight they can find but are terrified of the recoil to such an extent they'll post on a forum to pump up their courage via verbal atta-boys.

This question would best be asked over on....you guessed it...www.longrangehunting.com

Why of course. How foolish to come on the long range hunting section of an internet hunting forum and ask a question about a heavy recoiling, long range caliber which you have absolutely no experience with . WTF was I thinking about?

To those that are interested I got a chance to shoot the rifle and went ahead and bought it. Thing is awesome. Thanks for the verbal atta-boys .

what a retarded post.

the OP just asked a question. nobody is 'terrified' of the .338 LM. it is not a killer with a brake.

Good job!

My long range round of choice is the 338Edge which is nearly identical to the 338LM. In a standard 700 bdl with the magnum contour barrel it is easily manageable even from the bench. We use the JP enterprises Tactical brake and recoil eliminator.

My .338 RUM doesn't have a muzzle brake on it, wasn't willing to go deaf shooting the rifle! My rifle weighs in a 8.8 lbs, the recoil is not that bad, you won't sit on the bench and shoot 40 rounds but it is a great caliber!

Part of one of our challenges on the 24hr Sniper Adventure Challenge was shooting a Barrett MRAD in 338 L with a USO scope on top, to 1200 yds. It has a brake. It was my first time and the recoil was a pussy cat push.

Alan

Yea, it's like MD says, very much like a 340 B which I hunted with for years. Mine was 8.5 lbs out the door. Recoil was fairly stout and fast but I learned to handle it. With a break it will be reduced considerably but the noise will be horrendous--never shoot without very good hearing protection.

Im shooting a 338 LM IMP out of a pistol. It weighs 11.5 lb with brake and scope. Recoil is not bad about like a stout 44 Mag.

wasn't the world record sniper kill with the 338l I dont remeber but I think it was close to 2 mils? I shure would like to shoot one

Don't have anything bigger than a .338wm. I did pick up a .338wm with a magna ported barrel. I don't notice any increased noise and or blast from gas or anything else. It does an amazing job of keeping the muzzle from jumping. The energy is almost completely straight back. Can't say I notice any decrease in recoil. Recommended.

You're in the ballpark with .340 Wby and .338 RUM. In a light rifle, without a brake, it'll rattle your fillings.

The only .338 Lapua I ever shot weighed 52 pounds plus optics. It was a single shot on a short, sleeved 700 action with a 34 inch barrel in a leaded down McMillan BR50 stock, glue in.

The owner didn't like it, he was an old BR shooter and kept trying to look through the scope and pinch the trigger w/o his shoulder touching the gun. Even at 52 pounds, it'd clock him in the head ... and 52 pounds hitting you in the head, even slowly, isn't a lot of fun.

On the other hand, I used a conventional grip and barely touched the stock with my shoulder. No issues. Fun to shoot. Recoil maybe like a .22-250 sporter? Inch-ish 300 yard groups with the 300 grain Sierra.

Tom