Thinking hard....are the hyper 338s really worth the extra money??

[LogicGS]

Well, I don't own a Hodgdon manual, but I have the Sierra book on the desk next to me.

Since I shoot Sierra bullets, I take their word for the loads that ought to propel them.

I don't have anything in .338 Win Mag, so I can't say how close their numbers are, but the .338 LM loads I've tested are pretty much spot on out of a 28" barrel (I use a chrony, no guessing here). Though, as I said before, I've never tried those hottest loads, so the results may not track as closely as the velocity goes up the scale. Could just be luck that my rifle replicates their results in the velocity range I use.

I'm quite happy to live down around 2,600 FPS. The thing beats on you bad enough at those velocities, using the lighter 250 grn bullets, I'm not sure I want to try the faster and/or heavier loads.

I start messing with those heavier loads, and my shoulder may up and go on strike on me. lol

 

[saturno_v]

CB900F and Logic GS


I agree, every gun is different and, obviously you cannot expect to replicate the exact published numbers of the load in your rifle..... sometimes you will go lower sometimes you will be over...and temperature has a big impact too...50-100 fps variance or even more is not unheard of....


I was talking about comparison of published numbers......in that regard both Hodgdon and Lapua VihtaVuori put the 338 WM and the 338 LM within 230 fps of difference from each other using the 300 gr. Sierra Match King bullets, not 350....

Furthermore, the 338 Lapua, in the published numbers, has a longer barrel (26" for the Hodgdon and 27" for the Lapua VihtaVuori) Vs. 24" for the 338 Win Mag

I don't know about VihtaVuori but I did speak with a Hodgdon technician and he confirmed the their numbers are not computed values but averaged numbers of actual firearm shooting...Sierra make the bullets but Hodgdon make the powders that propel these bullets....

Your rifle, with a 28" barrel, may be well go over the published values because of the extra pipe length....