Curious About Building 338 AR

[BigRick]

I'm lucky enough to have a friend that has a DRD in 338 and it's fun to shoot and very accurate. It's hell on brass. I've tried to reload his brass and long story short it ain't happening. If you want a 338 Lapua in AR platform and don't care to reload it's a great rifle. If you want to reload your 3 dollar plus for each piece of brass get a bolt gun. I have 2 a sako trg 42 and savage 110 in 338. Both are good rifles the Sako is a much better rifle but is 4 times the cost.

 

[brianns]

That would be built in the ar10 platform right?


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Either AR10 or DPMS pattern AR308. You need to know for the gas tube length. I think there are some 30-06 ARs but those probably have a different magazine. But I think the .338Federal is supposed to work in the 308 magazine.

 

[4g64loser]

The 338 Lapua is a super magnum cartridge. I witnessed a woman get the ole scope ring eye shooting one of them. I spoke to her just recently and you can still see that “perfect” ring around her eye.
I cannot imagine how tough a 338 semi auto Lapua Magnum could be on the shell casing. How much will one stretch?

Stretch is a headspace issue. More frequently I see ejector swipe, damage from the barrel extension, etc on cases shot in gasguns.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Stretch is a headspace issue. More frequently I see ejector swipe, damage from the barrel extension, etc on cases shot in gasguns.

How many times would you think the 338 Lapua Magnum would have in a semi-auto?

 

[Biggfoot44]

But I think the .338Federal is supposed to work in the 308 magazine.

Same case and same COL as .308 . ( And likewise .358 Win )

 

[4g64loser]

How many times would you think the 338 Lapua Magnum would have in a semi-auto?

Highly variable depending on how the headspace is controlled (that's on the MFG) and how well the timing is controlled. I've reloaded the 300wm that comes put of my friends Noreen. Biggest issue there is damage from the extraction/ejection. Case necks get dinged. Sometimes the shoulders too. The 338LM case had a significantly thicker head design than conventional magnums. I would guess that damage from most semis would be to the neck and.shoulder area.

My friend was an early Grendel adopter. He was not able to reload his cases. A LOT of work later (new rifle after a lot of wasted time trying to fix the old one) he now.gets five to ten load.cycles, depending on what load he is running. His 123s use a slower burning powder and even with the adjustable gas system, carrier weights, and buffer.system it is still a bit much. His 90 and 100gr nosler loads, the cases last much longer as his powder choice is more appropriate to the AR system.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Highly variable depending on how the headspace is controlled (that's on the MFG) and how well the timing is controlled. I've reloaded the 300wm that comes put of my friends Noreen. Biggest issue there is damage from the extraction/ejection. Case necks get dinged. Sometimes the shoulders too. The 338LM case had a significantly thicker head design than conventional magnums. I would guess that damage from most semis would be to the neck and.shoulder area.

My friend was an early Grendel adopter. He was not able to reload his cases. A LOT of work later (new rifle after a lot of wasted time trying to fix the old one) he now.gets five to ten load.cycles, depending on what load he is running. His 123s use a slower burning powder and even with the adjustable gas system, carrier weights, and buffer.system it is still a bit much. His 90 and 100gr nosler loads, the cases last much longer as his powder choice is more appropriate to the AR system.

So it would be better to reload the 338 Lapua magnum for a bolt gun.

 

[4g64loser]

So it would be better to reload the 338 Lapua magnum for a bolt gun.

It's better to load pretty much anything in a bolt gun. You can avoid sizing the body at all (neck only or, my preference, a.bushing neck bump die) and achieve exceptional case life with minimal trimming over life.cycle. If you use an ejectorless or mechanical ejector design action, you can also eliminate the "neck ding" that plunger guns give when the case.mouth impacts the action under the force of the ejector spring as the case clears the chamber.

The nonstandard case head/web design of the 338LM does resist case growth better than many of its peers, in any action type. Lapua scaled this design down to the 6.5x47mm case with similar success.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Thats good to know.

 

[Rocinante]

Is it possible to build a .338 Lapua ar? I’m curious as I’m almost done with my 300blackout build and needed something else to try my hand at. Send links to parts if you know any.


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You'd have to go with either a proprietary design for the round to accommodate the magwell, such as a Noreen Bad News, or mate a bolt action upper to a standard lower such as a UPR-15/10.

Otherwise, 8.6 blackout is your answer.

 

[Rondeezy]

You'd have to go with either a proprietary design for the round to accommodate the magwell, such as a Noreen Bad News, or mate a bolt action upper to a standard lower such as a UPR-15/10.

Otherwise, 8.6 blackout is your answer.

Yea I did a lot more searching and looks like if I want to do the ar platform I can go with this 6500$ Bad News form Noreen , but building one semi auto is dead in the water. Looks like I’m gonna go with the Ruger precision 338 for a 1/3 of that.

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[4g64loser]

Yea I did a lot more searching and looks like if I want to do the ar platform I can go with this 6500$ Bad News form Noreen , but building one semi auto is dead in the water. Looks like I’m gonna go with the Ruger precision 338 for a 1/3 of that.

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The Noreen is semi auto. I've shot them.

 

[Rondeezy]

The Noreen is semi auto. I've shot them.

Yea it’s one of the few I found & will result in being divorced if my wife notices I paid 6500$ for an ar


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[4g64loser]

Yea it’s one of the few I found & will result in being divorced if my wife notices I paid 6500$ for an ar


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Don't tell her?

In all seriousness, I am a bolt gun snob and would definitely be building myself a sweet rig if I was regularly (more than every quarter) able to shoot past 1000yds. As it stands, 1k is my functional max unless I drive 4 to 6 hours. Thus I stick to cases with less than 60gr of powder capacity. Currently, my heaviest charge is 45.6gr in my 308. If my shooting situation changes, I'll build a 375 chey tac like the one a buddy has. Was at black bear and 2k is literally not a challenge.

 

[Allen65]

Yea I did a lot more searching and looks like if I want to do the ar platform I can go with this 6500$ Bad News form Noreen , but building one semi auto is dead in the water. Looks like I’m gonna go with the Ruger precision 338 for a 1/3 of that.


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These guys are advertising a 338LM AR for "only" $5,450:
https://www.fddefense.com/rifles/fd338/

I've never seen one in person, though.

I had a BN-36 for a while, but ended up selling it. Just too much of a novelty item. Most of the parts other than the stock and trigger group were AR-ish, but proprietary so there was only one source for spares and magazines. And if they went belly-up, the rifle would eventually be a paperweight unless I machined my own replacements..

 

[Rondeezy]

These guys are advertising a 338LM AR for "only" $5,450:
https://www.fddefense.com/rifles/fd338/

I've never seen one in person, though.

Yea I saw them, the Ruger in 338 is only 2100 so I’ll go that route or just get a bolt action. Ain’t payin 5500 for a rifle unless it’s a M82 lol


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