KW, Question?
How did you dig up this three month old thread on your very first post on THR. Are you searching out negative comments on the .338 RCM to defend them for professional reasons? It's pretty unusual to to hit on a thread that is twenty or more pages back by accident.
As far as my being "flippant" about Towsley's article I'd say jaded is more appropriate than "flippant". Gun writers are paid to write rave reviews about guns from the manufacturer that pay them to write rave reviews about that rifle/caliber. This is also known as marketing. Have you ever seen anything negative about a featured gun in a major gun publication? Of course not, gun writers for the most part have become nothing more than free lance add men for the product they are paid and or bribed with a hunt to write about. I've learned to read between the lines and Bryce's article had some red flags in it. One of the major red flags is that you never see any 250 gr bullet data in the RCM ads. I darn well know why and I'm sure you do to. The case is simply capacity limited and a .338 win is going to eat it's lunch with heavier projectiles. Once again if they would have gone standard length we would have had a far more useful round. If you find that insulting or inflammatory I'd say that you are pretty closely emotionally and or financially associated with the article and the RCM. Suggesting that one read a paid add for a product which is what Towsley's article is, as a testament to the product is kind silly wouldn't you say? I gather my information from people I trust who have no financial interests in the product in question.
The problem for a professional writer on a public forum is that you are dealing with people who have no financial or other ties to the product in question. Therefore you aren't going to always get the "yes man" glowing reviews that you expect from industry shills.
I have nothing against gun writers I am friends with several of them and I also understand how they make a living. Therefore a grain of salt is required when reading about any anything in a gun mag. Anybody with one half of one eye open and at least three brain cells firing should be able to figure that out pretty darn quick.
I have spoken with some of the smart folks at Ruger when I was guiding some of them on a hunt last year and I complimented them on the .375 Ruger and the at the time the not yet publicly known .416 Ruger. I am also very impressed with the much needed improvements of the Hawkeye platform. Namely the trigger. Ruger and the M-77 has had the worst trigger in the shooting industry for years which they finally fixed in the Hawkeye. The other thing that I love about Ruger rifles is their selection of calibers which I find to be outstanding.
The RCM's however have left me cold. By the way another round that made no sense to me was the .480 Ruger which was highly touted by various big name gun writers in the "know" as the greatest thing since sliced bread. How has that round worked out?
Sorry if I've offended you that wasn't my intention this is simply the truth as I see it. And by the way you might hit some other sites and read what other hunters/shooters are saying about the RCM offerings. I wouldn't say that there is exactly a plethora of enthusiasm for them in general.
Once again I apologize for striking a nerve. And I do wish you the best of luck on your upcoming bear hunt. I have no doubt that the .338RCM and the Hawkeye rifle will perform wonderfully.
