My new Savage based 338 Edge

[AJ Peacock]

All,

It's been a while, but I thought I'd post some pics of my 338 Edge. This rifle started out as a short action large shank plastic stocked 300WSM. I ordered a 28" Pac-Nor barrel and after headspacing it with a 300RUM gage, I sent the barrel off to Shawn at Defensive Edge for one of his awesome brakes. I restocked the rifle with a Joel Russo Laminate A5 stock. I used a Dednutz one piece scope base/rings and topped it all off with a Nightforce 3.5x15x50 NXS with NP-R1 reticle. I am extremely pleased with the finished product. Also, I am using SSS recoil lug and barrel nut. I did also face/square the boltface, as it was cupped and causing funky marks on the 300WSM rounds (even relatively light loads). I also lightly lapped the bolts.

[img width=600 height=400]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u193/AJPeacock_photos/Rifles/338EdgeSavage.jpg[/img]

Here are the 7th, 8th and 9th shots I took with the rifle during brake-in yesterday (100yds) it did better today, but I didn't take any more pictures. The load is 92gr H-1000, CCI-250, Rem 300RUM brass and a 300gr Sierra Matchking. Average velocity is 2750fps.



Other than the shoulder getting a little sharper, the brass doesn't even look as if it's been fired. The empty brass rechambers as easily as the headspace gage.

And before someone asks, yes it ejects empties easily, but the bolt must be pulled to eject a loaded round.

AJ

[Dangerous Dan]

That is a nice looking Hot Rod , And Your trigger work is not to shabby , shoot straight Dangerous Dan

[SHL540KB308]

Very nice AJ, good job on both the rifle and shooting. I like it!!

Later, Brad

[JCalhoun]

Nice rig! At 92gr of H-1000 you must have to buy powder by the pallet. ;D

[dcloco]

VERY nice fire stick and nice group to boot!

How far out are you going to stretch it? Those 300 gr SMK's REALLY fly well!!! After 1200 yards, they drop about 20"-24" per 100 yards at 2800 fps.

[AJ Peacock]

Nice rig! At 92gr of H-1000 you must have to buy powder by the pallet. ;D

No, pallet's won't fit through the door. But cases will!


Thanks for the comments guys, it is a very fun rifle to shoot. I was playing with seating depth this afternoon and shot 7 rounds that had an extreme velocity spread of 8 fps! Seated a little longer today and the velocity was averaging 2736, 14fps slower than yesterday. It's amazing what .005" can do. I shot a couple shorter ones at the end just to verify and sure enough they were a bit faster? This rifle will definitely shoot better than I can. I had a couple groups going today that were one holers and I couldn't take the pressure and turned them into 1/2"er's.

Later guys,
AJ

[AJ Peacock]

VERY nice fire stick and nice group to boot!

How far out are you going to stretch it? Those 300 gr SMK's REALLY fly well!!! After 1200 yards, they drop about 20"-24" per 100 yards at 2800 fps.

As far as I can. This rifle was really built as a practice platform for my 338 Allen Magnum. It shoots the 300 smk at 3300fps!, but I kinda wanna save the barrel on it, as it's a little tougher to replace than on this Savage! I'll be out at my dads place in October and will probably play with it out to 1500yds or so (thats about as far as we can easily get there).

Thanks,
AJ

[memilanuk]

AJ,

Very cool! I've been itching for a 'boomer' of some sort for the last couple years... waffling between a 7 WSM, .300 WSM, or a .338 Edge. Nice to know that the Edge *will* fit in a Savage action. Does it feed okay as well? Who did the pre-threaded & chambered barrel for you - you mentioned Shawn did the brake, did he chamber/contour the barrel as well?

For some reason I thought people were getting 2900-ish out of the .338 Edge? Maybe not.

[casts_by_fly]

I just can't wrap my brain around a 300gr bullet moving that fast. My neck hurts just thinking about the whiplash you'd get shooting it.

thanks
rick

[AJ Peacock]

AJ,

Very cool! I've been itching for a 'boomer' of some sort for the last couple years... waffling between a 7 WSM, .300 WSM, or a .338 Edge. Nice to know that the Edge *will* fit in a Savage action. Does it feed okay as well? Who did the pre-threaded & chambered barrel for you - you mentioned Shawn did the brake, did he chamber/contour the barrel as well?

For some reason I thought people were getting 2900-ish out of the .338 Edge? Maybe not.

The barrel was chambered and finished by Pac-Nor. I then headspaced it, marked the top with a sharpie and sent it to Shawn. He installed the 1" brake and sent it back. As easy as that.

It feeds (single shot) really well, drop a shell in, shoot it, eject the shell, "rinse and repeat".

With the brake, this thing is a pleasure to shoot. I haven't weighed it, but it probably goes 12-13lbs? I'll get it weighed one of these days.

I will be pushing the velocity up a bit after hunting season (just to see what she'll do), The load I am shooting is VERY mild. I would guess that I'll be able to get 2825 or 2850 from this rifle. I don't like pushing things too hard, if I want more velocity than a rifle wants to give me, I just get the next bigger rifle! I imagine a 30" Edge could get 2900 pretty easily.

AJ

[memilanuk]

I see... I only asked because I didn't see a .338 Edge listing on Pac-Nor's site. Then again, maybe I missed it?

Single shot only, eh? Thought maybe you'd gone the same route as Earl w/ the repeater bit.

Thanks again for the info... one of these days I'll catch up w/ all my other projects and start on this one

[AJ Peacock]

I see... I only asked because I didn't see a .338 Edge listing on Pac-Nor's site. Then again, maybe I missed it?

Single shot only, eh? Thought maybe you'd gone the same route as Earl w/ the repeater bit.

Thanks again for the info... one of these days I'll catch up w/ all my other projects and start on this one

It's a 338-300 Ultra (same exact thing as an EDGE).

AJ

[AJ Peacock]

I went out and did a brass life test on this rifle today. I shot the same brass 12 times and it looks like it is still going strong (thats all the pre-measured powder I brought to the range). Average velocity was 2752, with brass life like that, I'd say I can push up the load a touch ;D .

I cleaned the barrel last night, and decided to shoot the first 3 rounds as a group and see how the foulers would fly.

Here it is. .196" center to center ! Maybe I should leave the load alone? I had 1/4" down and 1/4" left in the scope since the first group. If I had left the scope alone, both groups would have been centered in the same spot on the bull I am still having problems hitting that dang dime :D



AJ

[ctrout]

Thanks so much for the report on brass life. I've been really curious about that. At $0.90 per piece, I'd like to get better that 2 or 3 shots per.

[AJ Peacock]

Thanks so much for the report on brass life. I've been really curious about that. At $0.90 per piece, I'd like to get better that 2 or 3 shots per.

Shawn Carlock is probably the single most knowledgable person w/re the 338 Edge. He said he throws his brass away after 8 firings, not because you can't go more, but because 8 times is enough and he wants to be very safe. I'll probably follow his lead.

AJ

[big honkin jeep]

Thats a nice lookin stick and some pretty shootin especially with a big boomer. Might have to convert my 116 rum lefty one of these days just for giggles. Not really sure why though its already too much gun for anything in the southeast. ;D

[jhurst]

what twist did you get?

[geargrinder]

Pretty sure it is a 10" twist.

[bajabill]

can the 338edge be added to an action that started life out as a 7mmRem Mag, standard shank threads? Would minor bolt head alterations be required?

[KRP]

can the 338edge be added to an action that started life out as a 7mmRem Mag, standard shank threads? Would minor bolt head alterations be required?

That's what mine started as, the RUM case head fits in a standard magnum bolt face.

[geargrinder]

I've heard that the new centerfeeds work even better. They allow even more COAL.

[Bubb]

Can I ask what you have $$ in that build? I'm really thinking about building an edge on my 112 BVSS 300 win action.

[geargrinder]

I'll take a stab at naming a price.

Russo stock- $380
Barrel- $300- I don't know how much a pacnor is but a 28" Shilen 338 Edge from Northlander is $300.
Dednutz mount- $50
NXS Scope- $1500 plus or minus
DE muzzle brake- $75 plus installation($75?)

So, if he started with a bare short action he spent roughly $2380.

Remember about 2/3 of that was the scope. If he already had the stock,scope, and mount it would have only added $450 to make an edge.

[theodore]

What would the 338 EDGE shoot just as well on savage long action?
And is the shank size a big deal?

[docsleepy]

theodore -- that thread was about 2 years old. You might have a better chance of reaching him if you PM him. He may not realize you found his thread and added another comment.