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Posted: 5/10/2007 12:31:30 PM EDT
| Ok i want to buy a long range rifle system and I think this is my choice due to cost and some other factors, I really like the .338 Lapua Mag round but god damn is it expensive, Black Hills 300 gr is almost 100 dollars for 20 rounds, so should I just get a .300 Win Mag instead, how inferior is the 300 Win Mag compared to the .338? |
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I was where you were about 18 months ago. Had the chance to buy an AR30 at a good price and needed to decide what caliber version I wanted. I went with the 300 Win Mag for precisely the reason you identified, I don't reload and the .338 Lapua round was unbelieveably expensive. Are the ballistics of the .338 better? Absolutely. I know someone has done a comparison of the .338, 300 Winmag and .308 rounds, complete with graphs. If you do an archive search you should be able to find it. My memory (which is unrealiable at best) is that the .338 Lapua really starts to shine vs. the other two rounds out past 800 yards. Velocity loss and bullet drop are nor nearly as fast between 800 and 1200 yards as the 300 winmag, which in turn is better than a .308. Essentially the issue is how frequently are you going to be shooting at 1000+ yards and how important is the superior ballistics of the .338 to you? Are you willing to pay between $3-5.00 for every round you put downrange to get this superior performance? One final consideration, I think the .338 round is a real barrel burner, so you're definitely going to get less life out of your barrel if you go this route. Finally, one thing I wouldn't worry too much about is the differences in recoil. The AR30 is a heavy gun and the muzzle brake is very effective. Recoil of my 300 Winmag is pretty mild. I doubt the .338 would be significantly worse. |
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