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Rifle between .30-06/.308 and .338 Lapua

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benstt

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I just added a .338 Lapua precision rifle to my stable. I have a slick .30-06 and a couple .308s as well. I'm looking for a proper rifle to fill in the space between those. I hear great things about the Browning Max Long Range so that'll likely be the platform I choose. I'm looking at chamberings now. I dont care a lick about "tactical" nonsense and I'm not overly worried about hunting as I have a seriously precise 168gr hunting round set for my .30-06. Between .300 PRC, .300 Win Mag, and .300 RUM, is there one with decidedly better ballistics?
 
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There is nothing a 300 magnum will do that the 338 LM won’t do better. I would look to expand your arsenal with a big bore, or possibly something smaller and flat shooting.

That said there is also no downside to having a 300 to play with either. Of all the 300s there really isn’t much practical difference in performance. The rum will beat the others by 150fps or so. The PRC is generally twisted fast enough for the heavy 30s and the 300 win has a lot of versatility and available ammo and components.
 
If you go the way of the 300prc I'd maybe go with the 300wsm. The reason as you state non- tactical could be a good/better choice and both being non-belted (which who care 1 way or the other). Non-belted is more of a fad than a "it's safer cartridge". I love my 300WMs, but if you use the top 2 or 3 heavy bullets you will need the wn and not the rum. Looking at reload manuals the don't list the heaviest bullets. The wm is the most versatile for the 200+ weights. The rum definitely has more velocity than the wm. SO you're not doing anything the tactical thing and not using it for hunting, where does it fall in to? Just a fun range gun? Maybe look on the free reloading sites for what would/could be your answer at least balisticly/performance wise? I've looked at short mags in the area of 300rsaum, 300wsm an 300rcm with the rcm fiut my bill. Do you know what bullet range you want to use?
 
I'm sure the .338 LM will be lights out but it's also stupidly expensive to shoot, even with handloading. A .300 strikes me as a good intermediate between the .30-06, which is my hunting rifle and certainly no slouch itself, and the .338 while not carrying quite the same cost as the .338. I do have a .45/70 for a big bore. I have thought about a 6.5 Creed but I'm leaning toward the .300s. I plan on the 190s or so but I might get into the 220+ if the rifle likes them. I see the Xbolt Max has a faster twist than most and could stabilize the big bullets.
 
benstt said:
I'm sure the .338 LM will be lights out but it's also stupidly expensive to shoot, even with handloading. A .300 strikes me as a good intermediate between the .30-06, which is my hunting rifle and certainly no slouch itself, and the .338 while not carrying quite the same cost as the .338. I do have a .45/70 for a big bore. I have thought about a 6.5 Creed but I'm leaning toward the .300s. I plan on the 190s or so but I might get into the 220+ if the rifle likes them. I see the Xbolt Max has a faster twist than most and could stabilize the big bullets.
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Sierra 210 or 220 grain I think needs an 8 along with Hornady 250gr. Most 200+ (except a few) will need a 9 - 9.25 twist. Berger 245eol might need something faster than a 9, but you can use their twist calc stabilize site program.
 
I found my X-Bolt Max Long Range in .300WM. I'll pick it up tomorrow morning. As luck had it, I went into a Fleet Farm on a whim and they had CCI 250s for $7 a sleeve and a few boxes of Federal GMM and Federals with Berger 185s on the shelves. I bought my limit. Once I find a few pounds of H4831sc I'll be well set with that rifle for the foreseeable future, hopefully until the supply issues start coming to an end.
 
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