PGW VS MCMILLAN??

[Rhys272]

I am looking at a PGW Timberwolf or a Mcmillan tac 338 as my first big 338 rifle. I was hoping some of you could chime in and let me know what you think the better rifle is and why. I know mcmillan makes great rifles having prior experience with the Tac-50 but I have no experience with the tac 338, and being a Canadian the PGW with the a5 stock has a real home grown appeal to me. That said I want the best rifle for my money so any help you can provide would be appreciated!

 

[nn8734]

I had a PGW TWolf for a couple years. Was a wonderful rifle, stacked 250g Lapua Scenars on top of each other at 300 with a felt recoil impulse less than my win mag. Hits at 1000 were routine and almost boring. It had the McM A5 and big square four-chamber brake. That said, I sold it for two primary reasons:

1). PGW has no distributor in the US; Triggertime Gun Club in CO was the last such distributor but PGW discontinued the relationship some years back. No distributor, no means of OEM level support/service such as when it needs a new barrel. In my mind, it wouldn’t be entirely a PGW rifle if someone else put a barrel on it.

2). I couldn’t get a suppressor made for it and PGW does not sell the can directly to civilians. All of my rifles are suppressed, and I didn’t want to run an end mount when it was designed to take a reflex so that was also a major factor in my decision to sell.

If neither of those are of a concern for you, or you are in Canada then TWolf all the way. It’s truely an iconic, awesome weapon and relatively rare to boot...Please know that the McM is no slouch either and would make an outstanding long range/ELR platform if you decided to go in that direction.

 

[Tony1320]

Don't forget to consider Cadex they are also Canadian

 

[Rhys272]

Thanks for the info! I know about cadex im just looking at a more conventional rifle design over a chassis. I currently have almost all chassis rifles and want to mix it up a bit. Should have put that in my original post I guess sorry.

 

[kthomas]

Some questions for you:

1. Are you in Canada or the US?
2. What is your intended use for the .338LM? Why the .338LM? What range will you be shooting them at?
3. Why these 2 rifles? What features of these rifles draws you to them?
4. What other cartridges do you currently shoot?

 

[Rhys272]

Hey Kthomas thanks for the reply!
Ill answer your questions best I can. As for why the 338lm well Canada just had a giant gun ban where all ar15 and variants and anything that produces over 10,000 joules of energy its prohibited. So .50 is gone and all the 40cals and even 375ct all prohib as of may 1st... 338 is one of the biggest calibers we can have now and I want to get my hands on one before they take the 338 from us as well.

Some questions for you:

1. Are you in Canada or the US? I am Canadian!

2. What is your intended use for the .338LM? Why the .338LM? What range will you be shooting them at? Mostly target shooting. 1500m and further sort of shooting. I am in the flat prairies so long range is fairly easy out here.

3. Why these 2 rifles? What features of these rifles draws you to them? Well I have prior experience with the timberwolf from my time in the military, and the tac 338 seems to be the american counterpart to the Canadian timberwolf. Also its a mcmillan! They have a reputation for building amazing products so wanted to compare these 2. Also worked with the tac 50 as well but this is years ago now. I am looking at these 2 mostly because they are very comparable and I really like the idea of having 1 rifle with a more traditional stock instead of chassid and what better than the mcmillan A5.

4. What other cartridges do you currently shoot? Currently have an AI AT in 308 and 6.5 creedmoor. And I sometimes steal my girlfriends .223 remington 700!

 

[kthomas]

I would understand the timberwolf for sentimental reasons. If sentiment is not the biggest factory, I would consider having Insite Arms build you a custom rifle in .300NM - that would be the route I would take.

I forgot to ask - do you reload?

 

[Rhys272]

Yes I do and will be reloading for what ever rifle I go for. I was looking at the 300 norma and 338 norma but I heard they were way harder on barrels than 338lap is this the case or are they not mich worse?

 

[Rhys272]

Anyone else have any good info?

 

[Tony1320]

I'll second kthomas's recommendation to have Insite Arms build you a rifle

They are great to deal with and build incredible rifles.

Call Harley and tell him what you like hes easy to talk to and really into shooting like us

 

[adamjma]

I'm certainly not into the boomer calibres, but I would third the suggestion to have Insite Arms build you something. The two barrels they spun up for my Tikka are absolute hammers. Every single shot I take I get immediate feedback on my form because I know the barrel isn't making the shot go off, I am.

Besides, if you get it custom built you can pick everything to be exactly how you want it.

 

[kthomas]

Harley will definitely take care of you.

I would suggest something like a .300NM built off of a Surgeon 1581XL action, in the chassis/stock of your choice.

I don't own a .338LM, but I believe barrel life of .300NM is a bit less then the .338LM. What's your criteria on barrel life, and how much of a concern is it?

Talk with Harley at Insite and let him know your criteria for the rifle, and he can walk you through a build tailored to you.

 

[Matt_3479]

I’ve had a rifle built by insite and as far as work goes i couldn’t be more pleased. Rifle is a 6 creed and just hammers! I don’t think you could go wrong with going with them

as far as Going with pgw vs McMillan tac 50 I’d favour the pgw. I’ve spent time behind 5 different pgw’s and all shot extremely well. Another one to look at is the cadex. I’ve personally no shot one but shoot with a couple guys that can’t speak morehighly of them! Also canadian