338 Norma questions

[Goose]

Heard of any savage builds out there? The one's I've seen have been Rem actions. I see the shorter OAL as a pro, as well as factory brass and dies, but I've heard it requires a larger .585 bolt face. I'm interested in one of the big 338's, the edge and lapua are great also. I have two rifles that could serve as a platform. I have a centerfeed stevens 200 in .270, and savage 116shsak in 7Rm. I will be keeping the .270 barrel and selling the 7Rm barrel no matter which action I use. If I do decide on the 338 norma, I would need to find someone to chamber and thread the barrel, I'm not sure who has a reamer at this time. Any input would be great.

[sinman]

How about getting a 338 edge? lots of prefits are made in that and lots of dies, brass, load data

[geargrinder]

I'd agree with Sinman. The Edge is the easier build on a Savage because of the bolt head mods.

There's also the 338-375Ruger. Not quite the performance of the Edge or Lapua, but close. You'd still be able to run it as a repeater since the case length runs between 30-06 and 300win. Uses the plain old magnum bolt head.

[Goose]

Yeah, I was leaning toward the Edge. Would a repeater be easy to do with the Stevens action? I know it's getting quite popular, what are most people doing for dies?

[savageboy]

Does the edge really buy you enough increase in ballistics over the .338 RUM to warrent all the stuff- fireforming, dies, etc? I don't know. I shoot a .260AI vs. a 260 rem. Some would argue that its not worth the hassel to get another 120fps or so. (Sometimes I wonder if it is too when I'm fireforming, etc) but I felt that at 1000yds as long as I was in the F open class, I might as well get all out of the case that I could.

[sinman]

338 rum dies will work and you would have to lengthen the mag box to make it a repeater.

[geargrinder]

Yep, I use a $30 set of RCBS 338RUM dies. No fireforming. Just expand the neck of 300RUM brass.

I set my dies to size the neck and just bump the shoulder.

I understand that the centerfeed is easier to use as a repeater, but you'd still have to modify the mag box and how it fastens to the stock.

Yes, there is a considerable difference between the Edge and the 338win. 400-500fps difference with a 300g bullet.

[viper9696]

I think he might have been talking about the 338 rum vs edge

[sinman]

the big advantage of using a 338 edge over a rum is the better 300rum brass out there, plus a little more case capacity

[Goose]

I'm leaning toward the edge now, If I was building off of a rem I maybe would try the norma. I'll have my 7mmRM stuff up for sale some time soon. Any suggestions on barrel brand and type, or pictures/posts about other 338 edge builds?

[geargrinder]

I've built two. Both were chambered by Sinman. One was a Sinman barrel, the other was a McGowan that I bought and sent to Sinman.

He chambered, threaded for the action, and threaded for the muzzle brake.

For muzzle brakes I used $40 Ross Schuler brakes. They are 1" diameter copies of Holland QD brakes.

Here's the big one. 32" McGowan fluted heavy taper on a long/short action in a Stockade Pdog. Yes, it's a lefty.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/geargrinder123/S8001327.jpg

The other one I built was built as a repeater. If you search under my name you'll find some pictures and descriptions.

In my opinion, it's not worth the time to make the Savage into an 338 Edge repeater. I hate to say it but a Remington 700 is better suited for a repeater. Mostly because of the location of the action screws. Single shot, the Savage is just a no-brainer choice.