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Rem 700 Long Action for 338 Lapua

I guess it depends what caliber you are starting with. The Lapua uses a .587" bolt face and is 3.68" long. See this Wikipedia page on the .338 Lapua for more details. I personally would not use an action that was not set up expressly for this cartridge.
 
The good folks at Remington seem to think so as they offer it as a standard R700 rifle configuration.

I don't mean to be contrary but I think you are mistaken. Remington mentions nothing of ever cambering anything in .338 Lapua. And as a voting member of SAAMI I doubt that they would chamber anything for a non-SAAMI round without a LONG history in other firearms... Unless it were for a military contract. I know the .338 Lapua is up for SAAMI approval but they still list it as "Pending". They do not list a non-current-SAAMI chambering in any model I can find.

Also take note that the spec. for the .338 Lapua Mag puts the chamber pressure at a little over 60,00psi where most SAAMI rounds top out at 55,000PSI or less. With a larger head diameter AND greater pressure the .338 Lapua Mag delivers more bolt thrust than any current SAMMI cartridge. Will a 700 hold a .338 Lapua??? PROBABLY. Would the safety margins of the action be eroded??? There is LITTLE doubt!!
 
I don't mean to be contrary but I think you are mistaken. Remington mentions nothing of ever cambering anything in .338 Lapua. And as a voting member of SAAMI I doubt that they would chamber anything for a non-SAAMI round without a LONG history in other firearms... Unless it were for a military contract. I know the .338 Lapua is up for SAAMI approval but they still list it as "Pending". They do not list a non-current-SAAMI chambering in any model I can find.

Also take note that the spec. for the .338 Lapua Mag puts the chamber pressure at a little over 60,00psi where most SAAMI rounds top out at 55,000PSI or less. With a larger head diameter AND greater pressure the .338 Lapua Mag delivers more bolt thrust than any current SAMMI cartridge. Will a 700 hold a .338 Lapua??? PROBABLY. Would the safety margins of the action be eroded??? There is LITTLE doubt!!

yes, they certainly do have 338 lapua 700s out there that came directly from remington.
 
yes, they certainly do have 338 lapua 700s out there that came directly from remington.

Memory can be fickle, but I seem to recall the conventional wisdom when the 338 lapua first got "famous" was the standard rem 700 barrel shank was on the small side for the cartridge...then later on rem decided to build rifles in the caliber ?? At the minor dia of the threads the shank ends up around .200" per side ?

Bill
 
Curious that Remington does not show the .338 Lapua as a current OR prior offering on there civilian, military or LE sites... I trust that it has happened but it obviously was not for civilian consumption. The case will fit and the action will hold it with a margin of safety. However, I think there would be more better suited actions available.

I certainly agree there are better action choices. There a bunch of these rifles in the hands of civilians right now though. I don't think the 700 5r "milspec" is listed on Remington's site either but there are a ton of them out there.
 
It would seem that Remington's interest in the Lapua waned with the introduction of the .338 Ultramag, which is ballistically nearly identical but shares the standard bolt face and feed lip configuration of the UM family. If one was a Remington 700 fan, that route would be advisable, especially since brass is more readily available and about half the cost.
 
I have never understood WHY even someone like Remington, would put a cartridge like the 338 Lapua in a 24" barrel - it makes absolutely no sense....

DAVID
 
We got a couple of these rifles for a film we did last year, now I have one of them ready to test next time I go to the range. Looking at the bolt, it is clear that this caliber is pushing the limits of the 700 action, the three rings of steel surrounding your cartridge are down to about 2 1/2 when you realize how thin the bolt's has become.image.jpgimage.jpg

I'll play with the rifle because I have free access to it, but if I was to pay for a .338 Lapua, I would certainly choose an action that is more suited to the caliber.

P.
 
I have never understood WHY even someone like Remington, would put a cartridge like the 338 Lapua in a 24" barrel - it makes absolutely no sense....

DAVID

I asked the same question when I was visiting the Remington custom shop some years back. We were looking at the M24 SWS and I made a rather rude comment regarding barrel length. What I learned was a bit of an eye opener. I think if you do some checking you will find that the M24-A3 has a real kooky barrel length of less than 20 inch's in 338 Lapua. The whole issue has to do with dimensional protocols. Even with a full size suppressor they can keep the fool things under 50 inches for whatever type of urban assault they seem to have in mind and still keep a 250 grain slug supersonic at ranges closing 1000 yards. Very handy if you want to shoot car engines one day and guys on roof tops the next. Governments have strange people working for them and strange people make strange requests. So of course they build strange things.
The customer is always right, even if he is really really really really really WRONG !


There is just no way that looks logical, or even right.
5-M24A3AI_sniper_PG.jpg
 
Be careful quoting MiBill about anything...... he will chop up your post into a bunch of little pieces and prove you wrong like this-
So, I looked....

ooh, don't look it up, just take the experts word for it. He is a VOTING member of SAAMI, you know.

Cartridge Pressure Standards
:confused: Wrong 'SAAMI'?)

Well, actually, I think that's the one that we use.........

Deltaenterprises, I'd like to think that anyone who can afford .338LM brass could spring for a MarkV action. (Show 'em you palm ...:D)

Don't argue, he is WAAAAAYYYY smarter than you. Maybe what he meant is that in 1952, when he was up-to-date, most cartridges WERE at or below 55,000 psi. Yeah, THAT's it;)
 
I asked the same question when I was visiting the Remington custom shop some years back. We were looking at the M24 SWS and I made a rather rude comment regarding barrel length. What I learned was a bit of an eye opener. I think if you do some checking you will find that the M24-A3 has a real kooky barrel length of less than 20 inch's in 338 Lapua. The whole issue has to do with dimensional protocols. Even with a full size suppressor they can keep the fool things under 50 inches for whatever type of urban assault they seem to have in mind and still keep a 250 grain slug supersonic at ranges closing 1000 yards. Very handy if you want to shoot car engines one day and guys on roof tops the next. Governments have strange people working for them and strange people make strange requests. So of course they build strange things.
The customer is always right, even if he is really really really really really WRONG !


There is just no way that looks logical, or even right.
View attachment 79909

specing a tool for the intended use makes a customer wrong?
 
It would seem that Remington's interest in the Lapua waned with the introduction of the .338 Ultramag, which is ballistically nearly identical but shares the standard bolt face and feed lip configuration of the UM family. If one was a Remington 700 fan, that route would be advisable, especially since brass is more readily available and about half the cost.
Back when I was looking at 338 Lapua, and even bought a few cases from Sinclair (live in person at Sinclair) Norma had 338 lapua brass for 1/2 what Lapua sold for.

Bill
 








 
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