Will 338 lapua still be competitive in elr competitions out to 2400 yards ???

[lash]

I do. Better design and less expensive. According to AB, they’re more consistent also. But take that for what it’s worth

Consistency hasn’t been an issue for me, understanding that my full stash if them is now almost two years old. I’ve weighed them and have not seen any variation in weight. I’ve measured them; oal and bto., wIthout any variation I can detect. My results at a mile plus have been very consistent.

That having been said, I’m no fanboy and expect that Badlands will get my next business, as said earlier. But that may yet be quite a while, after I build a better purpose built rifle. My 26” Savage factory barrel is getting long in the tooth and was never ideal for this application.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Haven't tried the Badlands but shoot the 400 gr Flatlines with good results. Had the bullet diameter match the bore grove diameter of the barrel.

 

[Geno C.]

These are the results from the ringneck ranch radar session. It’s caused a lot of stir in the force when it comes to bullets. The inconsistency doesn’t just come from weights and dimensions. It has to do with design as well, how the shock waves interact with each other and how the air flows on the bullets. The numbers are the numbers, I have pointed out the flaws with this plenty in the past but people like to look at what they think is proof.

 

[lash]

Interesting chart. I can certainly see where it leaves way more questions than it answers. There are only three .338 caliber bullets on there and the disparities I see for those three alone lead me to question the veracity of any conclusions drawn from it. The Berger 300 OTM is on there twice, once at 2829 out of a 9.75 twist and once at 2951 out of a 9.3 twist. They are to be compared to a Hornady 285 ELDM at 2887 out of a 9 twist...

Not much useful one could conclude using data like that, imo.

 

[BCX]

My spare 338 barrel in 1-8 twist just arrived. I could never try the Warner 256/285 siting on my bench as my 338 LM AI has a short throat. Debating on the 33xc vs another 338 AI throated for the solids on that spare barrel. Either way it will be a single shot w the solids.

 

[BCX]

The Berger 300 OTM was way more consistent than the Hornady 285 At a mile in my 338 rifle.

 

[brianf]

Although this sounds rhetorical where was the ringnrch ranch radar session held

Thanks

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Kansas.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Geno C.]

Although this sounds rhetorical where was the ringnrch ranch radar session held

Thanks

At the ringneck ranch ELR shoot in Kansas last summer

 

[brianf]

In Tipton correct.

I went hunting there for 10-12 years strait. Some of the original crew bring their kids now.

We were called the “New Yorkers”

I used to bring out a few rifles for guys to shoot

Actually shoot on the ranch/ property?

If I remember Keith used to make us shoot toward the east, there was a good size hill

Next time ask them about when I brought my AR-50 out and the AP tracer Ammo buried itself like a mole in the soil at about 750 yards.

Was prob 2006 or so

Lit the place on fire...serious.
Easily burnt a acre before we got it stopped. Melted my boots stomping it out.

Virgil a older guide was there, he was actually the FD chief.

Old bastard ran away when it got serious, didn’t admit it but he didn’t want to be around because it got a little nuts.

The guides loved shooting my rifles and the year before I brought the 50 out with Amax anmo.

They had so much fun that they actually chipped in and towed a old Ford Taurus station wagon up there and put a 2-3 propane bottles in it....thank god the field went in fire before I had it zeroed for everyone to shoot.

Crazy part was the next year I didn’t bring anything, they were all surprised. I was like..I almost burnt the whole place down WTF lol

 

[brianf]

Forgot to add

Keith was the owner back then. He was grooming 1-2 people to buy it from him.

He was a airline pilot...prob 75-80 by now i guess.

We always the opening weekend, there were a bunch of Korean War pilots that were out there the same time.

 

[Geno C.]

Interesting chart. I can certainly see where it leaves way more questions than it answers. There are only three .338 caliber bullets on there and the disparities I see for those three alone lead me to question the veracity of any conclusions drawn from it. The Berger 300 OTM is on there twice, once at 2829 out of a 9.75 twist and once at 2951 out of a 9.3 twist. They are to be compared to a Hornady 285 ELDM at 2887 out of a 9 twist...

Not much useful one could conclude using data like that, imo.

So while hard numbers are hard for me to swallow from that testing sessions for a few reasons, after talking with the guys from AB, you can trust the general trends. While they wouldn’t opening discuss the reasons, they did say that this is the general trend for the Flatlines. Now 2 weeks later, the same guys shooting the same flatlines shot some of the best scores on the first 6 targets at Spearpoint elr season finale. They struggled at the farthest target but I won’t say if that was a bullet problem or a shooter problem because the wind was stout.

Now if you really want to look at bullet selection from all angles, you can run the numbers of a cutting edge 400gr 375cal with a .865g1 and a Badlands 400gr 375cal with a 1.125g1 at the same speed. Run the high and low impacts at 3000 yards using a bc variation of .4% for the cutting edge and .5% for the badlands. See which one has the smaller vertical variation. This is a number for the variation that you can simply do nothing about. Even if all your bullets leave the barrel at the same exact speed this is the vertical you can expect to see over a give group

 

[Gilly]

I’m running the 250 ATips in my 300 norma with a 27" barrel at 2900 FPS and I am really impressed with the performance at 2000 yards. It’s definitely no slouch! I'm also at 4000 ft elevation so I have that in my favor. I really have never felt like the 300 Norma was inadequate at 2000 yards next to a 338, 33xc and 37xc, and has been very consistent for me. However, I know that next 400 yards + is going to get tough to keep up with bigger bullets out of a 33xc and up. I have been trying to decide what to step up to next to get further out but it seems like anything under the 33xc isn't worth it over what I currently have, the 338 improved is a marginal gain based on what I researched. So I will wait and see how my buddy gets along with his 37xc then decide. The 33xc was hard for him to dial in with 2 different barrels and multiple bullets so I am not real motivated to go that route. I need to get my Norma out to 2500+ and see how it performs there.

 

[paulwardd]

I've recently been reading into 7-300 prc (or norma) and it seems like a very viable option. Normal magnum action, much cheaper 7mm bullets, and less recoil. By the looks of it, 190gr Atips or 195 Berger EOL at 3200-3300fps is just 26ish mil at 2400. Just what I've read and I'm not super experienced but it definitely seems good