338-303 British

[Gunnerboy]

So i got a wild hair and decided to build up a wildcat, Had a p14 drill rifle that needed something cool built off of it.. So being id been wanting a 338 of some sort i dreamed up a 338-303 brit.. drew up the specs called PTG to get a reamer made and just so happened the owner there had dreamed up the same thing So got a reamer, Ordered a green mountain barrel blank found a nice walnut stock someone made ages ago an started building. I had a old smith teach me how to thread and chamber and than profiled the barrel myself, Had a local guy do some cerakoting and got her all put together! Ive been casting my own bullets and been having great accuracy and results so far, My load of choice right now is Brand new winchester brass with a cci 34 primer, 44grs of win 748 and the Lee 338 cast bullet, Which when lubed and gas checked comes out to 223grs. In one of the pictures you can see the bullet after passing thru a 2x6 with a 5gal bucket filled with wet newpaper and the bullet was stuck in the rear 2x6 with 119.3 grs of lead left intact and a nice mushroom. The recoil on this rifle is extremely managable think 308 winchester in a Fal. Hope you folks enjoy what ive done.

 

[DougW]

Nice rifle. The P14 receiver and bolt are brute strong, so you could get close to magnum performance if you wanted to. I like the idea of not getting kicked all the time.

 

[Garrobo]

I would call that

a wild "kitten".

 

[Gunnerboy]

Well no need to get magnum performance, Shot placement and bullets do all the work here, Plus the brass wouldnt be able to handle too much.

 

[Pilot]

Very interesting. I like it, but I am a fan of the .303.

 

[Jim Watson]

Reminds me of the article where Ken Waters rebored a shot-out .318 W.R. to .338.

 

[Gunnerboy]

a wild "kitten".

One kitten i wouldnt wanna be messing with haha, It left quite the interesting wound cavity and damage to the bucket, I cant get the newspaper out without damaging it so this is the best pic i can get of the exit side.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I think it's a cool idea and a nice looking rifle.
That should handle most game in the lower 48 real well.

 

[goon]

Even the .303 with 215 grain bullets has worked on large animals in the North. Depending on what kind of bullets you can get to work well in it, it might be as good of a close-range thumper as a .45-70 Marlin.


Interesting rifle though.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Well come bear season i will hopefully find out how good of a rifle it is!

 

[StrawHat]

I like it and the idea of the larger caliber. I myself, prefer them to start with at least a .4 and have found the 405 WCF to be a good one.

In you 338, you might consider cast bullets. By tailoring the alloy, you can build a bullet that can mushroom in a bunny rabbit or plow through a buffalo. Two different alloys of course.

Kevin

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've got several "something's" very similar.
Two Marlin.338ME and a .338/06.
I use a cast load very similar in .338ME, same Lee bullet over 40.0gr RL15 for 2,000 fps.I hollow point them for hunting use. Kill a nice buck with it last fall. Indistinguishable performance from FTX bullet.
Case capacity of .303 and .338ME is close.
It'll do whatever you need. You'll like the 200gr Speer, as well as the 200FTX. Likewise the 250 gr Hornady's, round nose and spitzer.

 

[Gunnerboy]

In you 338, you might consider cast bullets. By tailoring the alloy, you can build a bullet that can mushroom in a bunny rabbit or plow through a buffalo. Two different alloys of course.

Read the end of the post and look at the 3rd picture, Thats my Brute Bear hunting bullet.

 

[StrawHat]

Mea culpa, I did read, but the old memory did not keep up!

Kevin

 

[tahoe2]

338-303

Sounds and looks pretty freakin "Cool", I like it. Congrats on the build, loads of fun ! Pun intended !

 

[sage5907]

Looks like a wild hog rifle to me. Would make a good house gun in case you had a would be intruder!

 

[Swampman]

SWEET!
Do you mind me asking what alloy and lube you used?
Any leading issues?

Looks like almost perfect bullet performance to me, I'd love to see one recovered from game.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Its wheelweight lead that i quench hardened and put a hornady gascheck on, Used alox for bullet lube. And Right at the muzzle a little leading collects after 8-10 shots.. But i figure that isnt bad being its probably traveling a little over 2300fps.

 

[Werndl]

Like every good man should be, im a tinkerer at heart and love what youve done!! Great idea and keep up the good work.
Nathan

 

[Gunnerboy]

Thanks!