Re: weatherby 30-378 mag?
Go with the 338LM.
The 30-378 is a spectacular round. It does so many things VERY well such as:
Trashes barrels and throats.
Tears up your shoulder.
Destroys checking accounts.
Burns up powder.
But oooooohhhhhh is it fast.
Take it from a guy who is having a 338LM built because he has a 30-378.
When people complain about the cost to shoot a 338LM, consider this.
A 20 round box of brass for a 30-378 is $70.
A 100 round count of quality heavy 30 cal projectiles are $40.
It uses about 100-110grains of powder per trigger pull. 7000 grains in a pound. A pound of Retumbo is $30.
A brick of 1000 primers are 50 bucks. $.05 each.
So to load 100 30-378's, mathematically, you are looking at $350 in brass, $40 in bullets, $5 in primers, and 1.5 lbs of pound, but you can't buy half pounds, so 2lbs of powder, at a cost of $60 dollars. <span style="font-weight: bold">Total for 100 hand loaded rounds of 30-378 comes to $455 dollars, if you hand load.</span> If you are going to buy it, you are at $650.
338LM brass is $250/100, bullets (300SMK) $32/50, Primers $.05 and they use about 90grains of powder. <span style="font-weight: bold">Total for 100 hand loaded 338LM rounds you are looking at $379.</span> If buying it, between $605 and $640.
Add in that a 30-378 barrel only lasts, at most, 800 rounds, and the 338LM lasts 2000 rounds. So you will need THREE 30-378 barrels to last as long as one 338LM magnum barrel. At $300 for a barrel and $300 for an install, you are at 600/barrel.
<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">That means over the course of 2,000 rounds, you will have a total cost of about $10,900 into a 30-378 and $8,200 in a 338LM, not taking into account the cost to replace brass. </span></span> <span style="font-style: italic">(and people complain about the price of an AW...)</span>
The 338LM is more financially viable, has better ballistics, better components available-specifically brass, and you won't have to have the rifle rebarreled OVER and OVER and OVER. The 338 wins. Hands down.
But if you want to shoot 30 cal bullets really fast, get a 30-378. After all its just money, and you can make more next week.