More new calibers?!!??!?! 300 and 338 RCM

[priv8ter]

While cruising around Hornady's website, trying to figure out why someone would need a .257 Roberts or 7mm-08, or .25-06 Light Magnum load, I found another 'NEW for 2008' article.

Ruger and Hornady are taking the case they use for the Ruger .375, and jimmying it up to make two new COMPACT MAGNUM rounds, in .300 and .338.

I looked at the ballistics, and I guess they look like nice calibers on paper, but, as someone who is okay throwing a 225gr bullet at a paltry 2600fps out of my .35 Whelen, I just don't get it. Sure that .338 RCM gets an extra 150-175FPS, but it's in a gun that weighs over a pound less than my Remington 700. How much range time is someone going to want to put in with that?

http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=761

And, haven't been hearing that Winchester and Remington are both already starting to thin out their lines of Short Magnum cartridges?

Sigh.

Maybe if I had more disposable income, I would understand all this.

greg

 

[jaholder1971]

Bottom line: There are too many shooters who need to take the $$$ they'd spend on one of these super-pooper go fast mini magnums, spend it on ammo, go to the range and learn to shoot what they already own accurately.

 

[redneck2]

There are certain laws of physics that cannot be overcome, no matter what the head stamp says or the shape of the case.

There was a real good article in Handloader some time back that pretty much dispelled the myth of the super short, super long, super fat, etc. rounds.

I guess the marketing departments have to come out with something different to get a buyer to part with his money.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

Afraid I have to disagree. I believe the 338 RCM, in particular, is here to stay. So do a lot of other people who have bagged a ton of big game with it. Simply arguing about the ballistics misses the point. It's not just about achieving numbers that look good on paper. It's about achieving 338 Win Mag performance out of a lighter, handier rifle WITH A 20 INCH BARREL. That's the entire design philosophy. You mentioned that the Ruger weighs a pound less than your 700 as though that's a bad thing. If you hunt big, toothy critters that can bite back, in thick, close cover, the advantages of such a rifle are immediately apparent -- that's partly why we're seeing such a trend toward lighter, handier rifles. I for one applaud Ruger and Hornady for this development. It's how the industry innovates, and if everyone took the hidebound view that all new cartridges are somehow competitive, as opposed to additive, Roy Weatherby's ideas would never have escaped his garage. As one who has hunted with the 338 RCM, I'm very fond of the cartridge/rifle combo and will happily promote it. In fact, I just returned from bagging a huge black bear on Vancouver Island with the 338 RCM. Used the 225 grain SST, one shot at 180 yards, double lung, through and through. The bear, which squared just shy of 7 feet, was DRT. And after 5 days of toting that rifle around some very tough terrain, I really came to appreciate its light weight and fast-handling characteristics.

 

[jbech123]

The 338 rcm does attempt to bring something new, and in a certain niche it does. the 300 rcm is just redundancy of the wsm and saum.