Who's got time and experience behind a RPR in 338L

[teddy12b]

I'm looking at a RPR in 338 Lapua. The reason is because I've been shooting out to 1,000 yards for a decade and would like to take a 3,000 yard class.

I'll be handloading, and already have some lapua brass, redding type s dies, but have really been trying to figure out which exact rifle I'd like to use and my thoughts keep coming back to the RPR. I've decided on the 338 Lapua caliber for what I want to do, but I debate in my head about the RPR or the Christensen Arms MPR. The characteristics of those rifle that attract me to them are reputations for accuracy, foldable stock which I think will make carrying those cannons a lot easier, and being mag fed. I'm certainly open to suggestions for other rifles, but for the time being those are the two I'm really focused on, and leaning heavily towards the RPR because as much as I like the idea of a lighter weight rifle for transport I think the heavier weight of the RPR is going to make an accurate shot that much more possible.

So I'm hoping anyone with a Ruger RPR can tell me it's great, it's junk or whatever their experience is before I go dropping the $$ on one only to be disappointed. I'm planning to test some factory Hornady 285gr over a magneto speed and then start handloading my own, but I like to know what bullets are better to start with too. Ideally the new hornady a-tip bullets will appear in 338 on the shelves and that'll be even better, but until then I plan to use the 285's.

Any advice would be great thanks.

 

[teddy12b]

Nobody? I figured someone here would have one and know what it likes to eat.

 

[phlegethon]

It’s surprisingly good for the price. I don’t think the ballistics would work out well for 3k though, probably would need at least a 375 cheytac or variant if not something bigger.

 

[Belisarius]

a friend has one. I shot it a few times, he loads the 285 eld over rl22 at just over 2800 fps. this is the most accurate 338 I have shot and by far the most inexpensive! recoil is minimal, I can watch the bullet impact at 600 with no effort.

 

[WATERWALKER]

I’ve shot probably 30-40 rounds through this gun. There were a variety of rounds from 250-300 grains. Recoil was very manageable w/ the OEM brake & the factory trigger was better than I expected.

It was a co-workers gun & he had trouble zeroing, so he asked me to help. I can’t really tell you how accurate it was because he was using a knockoff Atlas bipod & the scope (brand?) had issues as well. The turrets on his scope were anything but reliable so I told him we’re just wasting money at this point & I recommended a few upgrades, etc.

FWIW, I enjoyed shooting the rifle. Lots of others on this forum have had great luck w/ the RPR. I hope this helps.

 

[teddy12b]

That's all very helpful guys.

 

[teddy12b]

I'm getting closer to making the purchase as I've got everything else all setup and ready to go. Everything I've been reading leads me to believe the Ruger RPR 18080 is a solid rifle for precision work with the horsepower of the 338 Lapua. There's still just not a whole lot of reviews out there to leave no doubt in my mind.

 

[SIDS01]

I have 2 of them. I bought the first one the week after they became available and rebarreled it to 300 Norma before shooting it. I bought another one a few months ago and have been shooting it with the factory barrel. It's a 3/4-1 moa gun so far. The only Christensen Arms I've seen shoot was a carbon barreled 300wm. It was a 1.5-2 moa gun and the owner was spitting bullets.

A 26" 338 Lapua is a bit light for 3K, but the reality is any 375ct with a factory barrel is as well.

The 300 grain ATips are the way to go. They hold vertical at distance far better than the 285 ELDm or sorted 300 grain hybrids. They touch the lands at 3.860" in mine, so they won't mag feed. 5 thou into the lands, Lapua brass, H1000, and 215M primers. 93.0 grains of H1000 gives 2750ish fps in mine. I'd start at 90.0. R33 and N570 will give higher velocities, but you'll be guessing at what today's velocity is going to be. If it gets hotter, they'll go over pressure. If it gets cooler, velocities tank taking the velocity spread with it. More pressure gives more velocity, but the BC variation on the bullets opens up as well.

I paid around $1550 to my FFl for the first one. The second was under $1500 shipped.

You can do better than the Ruger brake. There is a nice bag rider assembly for the stock available and a plate to raise the recoil pad. They work well for shooting prone. In general, if you're going to upgrade the gun, the end game is going to be better with the RPR.

https://www.adjustablebagrider.com

 

[teddy12b]

That's a great review and I just placed my order. For now, I'm planning to leave everything as it comes from the factory. The scope still isn't in so I'm going to be borrowing a SWFA 10X from another until that comes in. I'm looking for spare mags, as I'd like to have about 4 or 5.

I am interested in the A-tips, but I think there's some special seating rods that are needed for dies if I'm not mistaken. Currently I have a box of factory Hornady 285gr and some of those bullets to reload. I'm buying a box of factory ammo in every type of bullet I'm considering for the rifle because I want to run it over my magnetospeed to test for ave fps, and s.d. I did the same with the fort scott TUI ammo. I'm still trying to get my hands on some H1000 so I can get some of those loaded up.

 

[Ranger Bob]

I'm subscribing to this thread because I'm half-assed interested in the 338LM RPR for no other reason than, I think they are cool. I hope you'll update with your experiences.

Bob

 

[teddy12b]

I have it in my hands as of my lunch break. I'll probably start a new thread whenever I start to get it dialed in. Something I'd forgotten to address previously was the bipod. I haven't given enough thought to which particular bipod I'm going to put on this thing.