338-06 31in

N

Nathan c

New member
Just like to say hi :D first off I am VERY dyslexic and spelling is not my strong point so if that sort of thing bothers you please read no further. That and fat thumbs. :cool:

I like doing things different lol so instead of getting a .308 ect built for a long range bunch gun I had a 338-06 with a 31in baral. It is built using a Savage 110 270.

The thing is I have only seen numbers from a 24in or shorter barrels. Has any one also used a longer barrel and have the numbers.

If I put the photos up right I put my custom 700 bdl 7mm mag next to it for comparison and because it was dark a couple of shots of the wood.

I have not shot it because I need to get a scope rings ect. And I am waiting on the dies yet.
 
Honestly, I don't think you'll see much gain with such a long barrel on a 338/06. The bore to case volume of this cartridge doesn't warrant over a 24" bore length. If anything, the excessive length may limit accuracy unless the barrel diameter/weight is increased significantly.
 
The photos are too big (will try and resize in a bit) that's why they are not up but it's a 20+ pounds and that is from the barrel mostly if I remember right it's a 1in and a quarter so it's a thick one lol in any case it's an exparoment I can always have it cut back later if need be.

I just figured it's all been dun before maby someone out there had some numbers they have I could use as a starting point.
 
I doubt you'll see much of a velocity increase as well, but it will be faster than a 24" barrel. If you were to get 25 fps per inch you'll get 175 fps but my guess is around 100 fps faster. What twist is your barrel? If you want to use 300 grain bullets and went with the standard 1:10 you might have a problem getting them to stabilize since the .338-06 probably won't generate enough RPM's to do it.

Did you throat the barrel long so you could run it as a single shot? With the 06 case you'll run in to capacity problems with 250 grain or heavier bullets (higher BC) as you'll eat powder space if you seat them to a magazine length. I rarely shoot anything heavier than a 225 grain out of my .338-06 rifles as they aren't long range bench guns.

With the .338-06 the usual go to powders are RL15, H/IMR 4350, and IMR 4064 for the normal 185-225 grain bullets that are common with the .338-06. With your longer barrel you might look at a little slower powders like RL17, H/IMR 4831, and IMR 7828 for 250+ grains . You could even try powders like Magnum, Mag Pro, MRP, and possibly RL22 but you might be getting too bulky to get a good case fill to see any significant velocity gains. I know these last few powders worked well with my .243 and heavy 115 grain bullets getting me close to 3000 fps with a 26" barrel.
 
Hopefully the photo whent my 700 bdl 7mm mag on the right 338-06 on left
 

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Wow...
Is that an 1-1/4" bull? Looks bigger than 1".
Gotta be over ten pounds. Sure will help with recoil...
 
Thanks Taylorce1 good info

I hope to get the 100 fps out of it to Mach the 338 win mag some what I know the 2 are close. Now some may ask why not just get a 338 win mag ..... my answer .... where is the fun in that lol there are other reasons I picked 338-06 like 06 brass is VERY easy to get ect...

Yes it is a 1-10 I am planning to use 225 or lower as this is a target gun. I live in VA and if I am out target shooting and see a moose or an elk well I would probably grab my phone and photo it so when I told people about it they would not call the funny farm lol. I may try 300 just to see what it duse why not lol. I may have to get a conograf.

No its not set up for signal shot but if that works better I may just shoot it like it was.
 
I think you'll get about 20 fps increase in muzzle velocity for each inch longer than 24. But the only way to tell for sure is to get a 31 inch barrel, chronograph it properly, then cut off 7 inches and do that again at the 24 inch length.
 
I don't know if a .338-06 is a real good choice for target shooting, but I do notice that the barrels I see on the range tend to be longer than the ones I read about on the www and gunzines. Why don't those any-any shooters shoot 18" carbines like the tackytickle snippers do so well with?
 
The 20 fps/inch may hold true for a short distance, but with each extra inch I'd bet a lot less than that. I'd not expect more than 100 fps total between 24" and 31"

These guys only gained about 100 fps between 21" and 27" with a 340 Weatherby. Around 150 fps with the same barrel lengths with a 338 win mag. Going beyond 27" and the gains are in even smaller increments.

A 338-06 will see less improvement than the magnums with a longer barrel.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/short-barrel-magnum-velocity-19346/

I think 225's are too light for 338 caliber. You need much heavier bullets to get a good aerodynamic bullet. The 225 will be short and stubby in 338.
 
jmr40 said:
I think 225's are too light for 338 caliber. You need much heavier bullets to get a good aerodynamic bullet. The 225 will be short and stubby in 338.
Click to expand...

I agree, .225's aren't going to be the best for LR shooting. However, if you pick the right 225 grain bullets you can still find some respectable BC's that'll be better than .500. However, at the distance the OP is talking about shooting (300 yds possibly) BC won't matter too much.
 
I am thinking a bit more past 300 yards lol I don't have to think about if it will kill any thing other than paper. I am not ruling anything out. A 225 I could push faster but many have a bit lower bc or do 300 and get better bc ect.... everything is a trade off in one way or the other. But that's part of the dun of it.
 
My .338-06 has a 24" tube. All I can tell you is it is not nearly as close in real life on the chrono to the .338 Win. Mag as it is on paper. You can heat the loads up for the 06 and match factory Win mag, but if you heat the loads up on the Win. mag. then it pulls way ahead. I doubt 7" will close the gap much.
 
When I had this thing built I wanted something that not a lot of people have in my area. But one of the ?? I had to ask was how am I going to feed it. I could have gotten a 338 lupua the gun smith I have let's me make payments. But I can't get everything such as brass off the shelf and it would be WAY too much $$$ to feed. I did look in to the 338 win mag but then a gen brass no one has it on the shelf. On the other hand 06 brass EVERY gun shop has no problem and 338 bullets a lot of them have. So yes a 338 win mag can be made hotter and I may only get a 338-06 to just to Mach it at a standard lode but I will be able to feed 338-06 easy.
 
What also played in to my choice was the $$ I would have to spend on the original gun. With a 338-06 I could use any 30-06 or .270 to build with. When having a custom gun made you have to buy the gun X2 lol. It gave me a bit more to pick from. I was hoping to find a parts gun but I could not find one. I found a nice savige 110 .270 for 250$ to use thow I would have use a Remington or a Ruger ect... depending on price. Now I was not going to use say a Remington 710 lol a 700 yes but what I think of as a "working mans" good gun and the 110 falls in to that I think.
 
I built my .338-06 on a .30-06 that one of my knucklehead family members let the bore rust on. The reason I built the .338-06 is because I was able to get a very good barrel for $68. (long story)
 
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