Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

[psmith]

I posted this here instead of in the gunsmithing section because I thought it would be more useful here. Mods, if not, feel free to move it.

I recently purchased a 700p 338. I've been really pleased with how it shoots but the barrel is really too thin for this caliber. It seems to heat up fast and it would be nice to be longer for more velocity.

If weight isn't an issue, what profile, twist and length should I be looking at. Primarily shooting 300smk's. Is 29-30" too long? Should I be looking at faster than 1 in 10 twist? Am I limited to 1.250 diameter with the remington receiver? Is there a thicker profile than MTU and is the extra profile desireable?

Thanks for all your help. I've done 308 stuff for awhile now but am new to the 338.

 

[Alaskaman11]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

The round heats up real fast as it is, I know on my TRG I can only do 5 or 6 rounds before I notice the heat in the barrel. The 700 seems like the barrel is as fat as mine on the TRG.

 

[Sendero_Man]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

I have a 1.350 heavy modified MTU contour and mine heats up too.

Not a way around it for this caliber.

 

[Cinch]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

I'd go with a 28-30" 9.5 or 10 twist for the 300s. I think the MTU contour would be just fine.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

Think about balance. A muzzle heavy rifle is not an accurate rifle. You really don't gain much velocity going from a 26-27" barrel to a 28-30" Not enough for the aggrevation involved in carrying the thing. Think about a fluted MTU .950" on the muzzle, 27" long. No up charge for a long blank that way.

 

[patches]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dave Tooley</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Think about balance. A muzzle heavy rifle is not an accurate rifle. You really don't gain much velocity going from a 26-27" barrel to a 28-30" Not enough for the aggrevation involved in carrying the thing. Think about a fluted MTU .950" on the muzzle, 27" long. No up charge for a long blank that way. </div></div>
I would have to disagree with part of you statement. I know several people that have done extensive testing on the 338LM and they have found that this round really shines with a 30" plus barrel. Granted this is not something that you are going to want to hump around for a long time, but from a performance aspect this is important info.

The smith that conducted these tests was VanDyke Rifles and even though he is a little hard to get a hold of he is a wealth of info when it comes to the 338LM.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

Patches

I don't disagree that added barrel length will up to a certain point give more velocity. I've shot an Imp Lapua for a lot of years. Going from 30" to 34" was not worth the expense or aggrevation with the added length. 300 gr bullet at 3000 fps was about all I could expect and get the brass to live. Accuracy suffers when you push 338 bullets too fast but that's another discussion.
The Remington stock the man has is not designed for long heavy barrels. Just trying to save him from falling into the bigger, longer, faster is always better trap. Give me a rifle I enjoy handling and I'll shoot it better.
I'd suggest if he wants a 30" barreled rifle, start from scratch and plan it out so the whole package works in the end. In the end everything is a compromise.

 

[psmith]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

I don't know if I misunderstood some of the posts but I do have the action in an A5 stock if that means anything. I wasn't thinking of anything longer than 30" unless it would really help velocity that much. Its just right now that I have a 24" (26 with brake) barrel that is only a rem varmint contour and it seems that the gun could benefit from something bigger and heavier. Figuring out the best specs for me are the question. Shoot, right now I am only running 90 gr of Retumbo and 2550 fps since I want to learn the caliber and not give myself a flinch. I have some extra $$ and want to put a better barrel on it to give it a bit more mass. Right now it feels lighter than my 700 308. I'm only planning to shoot this from the prone so weight isn't too much of a concern but I don't want to pick the gun up and have it fall out of my hands because it has ten feet of barrel in front of it. I know with the 308 24-26" seems to be the best for velocity with many using much less. What would be the disadvantages of going to a 30" MTU contour? Maybe 28-29"? Thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Re: Rem 700 338 Lapua Barrel Advice

psmith

I didn't know you had restocked the rifle. That makes a difference. It's the balance thing. I'd recommend a fluted MTU taper .900"-.950" at the muzzle and the barrel with the brake finish @ 30"