So I have shot my 308s,6 CM and 260s out to 1 mile several times and i'm ready to get into ELR. Wanted to go with a custom but have also tossed around the idea of buying a Savage elite precision in 300 PRC or 338 LM to see if I like the ELR comps before I go all the way with a custom build. I have read so much where people say all 3 are about the same but I just cant believe that to be true. I have ran some numbers off factory ammo in my ballistic app and i'm just not sure. Looking for opinions of people that have first hand knowledge with these rounds. Also if anyone has some knowledge on the Savage I would be interested in that also. I know its not a custom rifle so I don't expect it to be, but would it be a good starter rifle? Thanks for your help
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300PRC,300NM or 338LM
- Thread starter Andrew863
- Start date
Are you talking Night Force ELR or Ko2M ELR?
300 Norma will run a bit faster than 300 PRC, either will be fine for the shorter range stuff.
To run with the big dogs you need a 338 or larger, which I would skip the 338LM and go to an improved at the very least but truly at minimum I'd go to 33XC.
300 Norma will run a bit faster than 300 PRC, either will be fine for the shorter range stuff.
To run with the big dogs you need a 338 or larger, which I would skip the 338LM and go to an improved at the very least but truly at minimum I'd go to 33XC.
Not sure I know it starts at 1510 he said and he said light class is 26 lbs and 338 or below. Which is what I plan to run.
With a 300 PRC, you have reached the ceiling of that action's capabilities.
With a .300NM or .338LM, you can always rebarrel into the XC cartridges for more performance.
For true ELR competitions you will want something bigger than any of the proposed cartridges. I think the .300NM is a great cartridge, you can stretch it out to 2500 yards but it won't be as competitive as the bigger cartridges. It's a great "trainer" cartridge for practice, and not quite as expensive for ELR practice as the bigger cartridges. You could always start off with a .300NM, and swap out barrels when you want to shoot a bigger cartridge.
With a .300NM or .338LM, you can always rebarrel into the XC cartridges for more performance.
For true ELR competitions you will want something bigger than any of the proposed cartridges. I think the .300NM is a great cartridge, you can stretch it out to 2500 yards but it won't be as competitive as the bigger cartridges. It's a great "trainer" cartridge for practice, and not quite as expensive for ELR practice as the bigger cartridges. You could always start off with a .300NM, and swap out barrels when you want to shoot a bigger cartridge.
That'll be pretty true ELR
If you are going custom and wanna stay in the light class 33XC or Snipetac. either will let you step into a 375 when you want, get a decent amount more velocity from the Snipetac but it'll be more of a headache to build also.
If you are buying a rifle something with a .585 bolt face will let you grow later.
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Get a AXMC/SR in 300 Norma Mag. Or other switch barrel rifle of your liking. We shoot up to 1.5 with the Normas. Have a 33xc barrel spun up for 1.5 to 2.5 mile stuff. Pretty much everyone I shoot with went this way (with MC/SR rifles) and has no regrets. Saves quiet a bit of money vs dedicated rifles.
I run a 300PRC out to 2500yds. If I were to have a Lapua bolt face action...I'd skip the 338LM....it is uncompetitive against my 300PRC.... the 300NM is a wash in real life with the 300PRC.....if you are going to run that bolt face...go 33XC and call it a day. You can take that to well past 2miles....and when you miss...it is the other 9485498549 things you need to account for besides the cartridge.
So...if East Coast and never shooting past 2500yds.....hell, most of the time we are barely pushing 2100yds....then a 300PRC is something that if things don't work out...you can easily pound steel at 1 mile and in....or even hunt with.
So...if East Coast and never shooting past 2500yds.....hell, most of the time we are barely pushing 2100yds....then a 300PRC is something that if things don't work out...you can easily pound steel at 1 mile and in....or even hunt with.
A starter rifle is a good idea and that Savage can be a good value. The 300 PRC really does run just past the 338 Lapua cheaper and with less recoil.
The Savage is a consumer grade commodity, so there is some risk you won't get a good example. Problems may include a not so great barrel, action screws not lining up with the chassis, and weak extraction from a bolt body that's too long. There are a lot of shit gunsmiths turning out crap guns based on custom actions for a lot more money too. Having an entry point and meeting people in the community will make eventual success more likely than buying once and crying forever based on the recommendations of people you don't know.
Rather than obsessing over differences in drift and drop tables that are actually insignificant, try scaling loads to time of flight. It's one of the more horrifying ELR calculations. 1 fps more velocity is about the same as moving a 2000 yard target 1 yard closer. The 300 Norma is good for about 60 fps more than the 300 PRC if the bullet, barrel length, and pressure are the same. The Norma will have about 3/4 the barrel life of the 300 PRC which will be under 1000 rounds. That probably won't be nearly as big a deal in a shooting competition as the number you draw in the shooting order and the shooting conditions that time slot brings. A 10 fps lower extreme spread is certainly a bigger deal than the speed difference between those cartridges. The same caution applies to high BC bullets. A high BC bullet is useless if that BC isn't consistent. Beginners would do well to just use the ATips. If you want to test other bullets against those, great, but do that testing at a mile or more. 100 yard groups are nearly meaningless in this application. It's not that the precision gets better at distance, it's that you have bigger problems from velocity and BC spread than 1" or 1/2" 100 yard groups.
The upsides for that Savage include a useable trigger and populated bolt heads are around $50 from Savage. A gun can be cheaply switched between 300 PRC, 300 Norma, 338 Lapua, and 33 XC. If you get a crap barrel, prefits are readily available. By the time you're done learning ELR, barrels are going to be goldfish and not puppies.
My son owns an Elite Precision in .338 LM. We were out the day before the hurricane/ts last week, winds gusting to 25 and he was hitting consistently at a mile (300 A-Tips). Downside is the barrel is short, at 26"- and for me, it's a bit of a lightweight for a .338 Lapua and thumps pretty good. Definitely a good "beginner" rifle (and non-beginner as well) for .338. Despite being reasonably accurate (sub-minute), like all Savage barrels, they look like shit with a borescope- and this one copper fouls pretty good from all the button chatter which keeps the Wipe-Out flowing...I'm going to order a longer, heavier blank for it and chamber it up beginning of next year.
His is the elite precision in the acc chassis and gold bolt. Everything online and the reviews show it as a 30in barrel. But yes I have also noticed that about savage barrels.
