Is the .338 RUM Dead?

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

If I had a nickel for every time the 35 whelen were mentioned on these forums...

@Saul
You wouldn't be very rich mate, you might be able to get a burger and a small Starbucks coffee with how many times the Whelen is mentioned.
Bob

 

[Saul]

@Saul
You wouldn't be very rich mate, you might be able to get a burger and a small Starbucks coffee with how many times the Whelen is mentioned.
Bob

Not if I count every time you post.

 

[spike.t]

@Saul
You wouldn't be very rich mate, you might be able to get a burger and a small Starbucks coffee with how many times the Whelen is mentioned.
Bob

Unlike the far superior 9.3x62...with the mentions off that I am not sure whether it's a new Aston or lambo.....

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Unlike the far superior 9.3x62...with the mentions off that I am not sure whether it's a new Aston or lambo.....

@spike.t,
Mate someone has to brag about the 9.3x62. The Whelen on the other hand doesn't need all the hype and bragging it just quietly gets the job done no fuss or bother.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Not if I count every time you post.

@Saul
Just trying to inform the unfortunate people that have yet to discover the Whelens brilliant characteristics and capabilities.
Bob.

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t,
Mate someone has to brag about the 9.3x62. The Whelen on the other hand doesn't need all the hype and bragging it just quietly gets the job done no fuss or bother.
Bob

Yeah....am sure it exists...but it's a mythical beast to me ..unlike the great 9.3x62.... ....never seen one and never heard of it till a certain @35bore started going on about it years ago....and still dont believe him either...

 

[35bore]

Yeah....am sure it exists...but it's a mythical beast to me ..unlike the great 9.3x62.... ....never seen one and never heard of it till a certain @35bore started going on about it years ago....and still dont believe him either...

Goof... Knowing you, you researched the crap out of it. 9.3 x whatever, will always be better in your eyes. I don't hold it against you boss. Love ya for it. They're both great calibers.

 

[meigsbucks]

Meigsbuck, if you need I can bring you in contact with a supplier of the RUM brass and virgin brass to fire form for your RUM

Sorry I missed this Gert. I’m good, but thanks.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Yeah....am sure it exists...but it's a mythical beast to me ..unlike the great 9.3x62.... ....never seen one and never heard of it till a certain @35bore started going on about it years ago....and still dont believe him either...

@spike.t
I suppose you think the Whelen is like a unicorn. But a he'll of a lot of people must believe in the Whelen for it to still be alive and well.
Bob

 

[Philip Glass]

It seems there is a bit of a cult following for the .338’s. I know it has been considered a good choice for Alaska. As a dedicated African Hunter I can’t see a use for them. Why not just move up to the .375? As we all know it’s an all around, go to gun. From my experience the .375 kicks less.
regards
Philip

 

[Quaticman]

I can't honestly say whether the .338 RUM is going the way of the Dodo bird or not. What I can say is that my gunsmith is currently in the process of building me a .338 RUM as we speak. He is using an older Remington 700 magnum action which was chambered in 7 Rem Mag along with a 28" Krieger MTU contour barrel, Pacific Tool & Gauge bottom metal and a Bell & Carlson M40 tactical stock. It will be a single feed rifle set up to fire the Berger 250 grain Hybrid as fast as possible. Should be fun to shoot!

 

[Alaska]

I have had the 338 Rum / 340 WBy / 338 Lapua
of the 3 the only one left is the 338 RUM a Rem 700 SPS I prefer RL 22 and 200 ETip and 225 A Frames . My game is ALaska Moose !

 

[rdog]

I would like also to vote the 340 Weatherby mag great cartridge but a fair bit of sharp recoil in a light rifle, you could not hunt with a 338 Lapua in a sporting weight rifle unless
you were a muscle man who likes pain. i owned a mk5 340 until i got to the point of being scared of it . got a Weatherby eye brow i still have the scar.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Good dy to all members of the .338 cal. Clan..here is an interesting caliber in the .338 range. The originator, Chris van Niekerk in South Africa designed a range of calibers based on a 8x68S and 404 brass.

The interesting .338 Umfezi(8x68S brass casing) is my favorite..I do have a barrel as well as re-loading dies, I just need a proper Long range action to build the rifle. Here are some loading data I received from Chris Van Niekerk. Any positive comments will be much appreciated..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Members, while on the subject of the .338 caliber, I am contemplating finding a 8mm Remminton Magnum rifle with a shot out barrel and use the action for this .338 Umfezi, it is a 8x68S case.

Please be so kind as to let me know if there are a Remminton 700 large /long action available for me to purchase?? It will be much appreciated, I really want to get this .338 Umfezi shooting..

I am still looking for a suitable action to build the .338 Imperial Magnum

 

[Alaska]

The 338 Rem Ultra Mag is alive and well in Alaska. My Custom Rem 700 XCR2 will accompany me this week on another moose hunting adventure here in Alaska. Again I will be using my favorite bullet the 225gr Swift A Frame and 91.0 of RL 22.

 

[HWL]

The name of my ".338" is 8x68S.

It easily takes every plains game you can encounter.... and it is plain fun to shoot.

For everything bigger, you need a real DG rifle/cartridge...

And btw.... 338 RUM is dead.....

HWL

 

[rookhawk]

As a fan of big .338s, I really want a new rifle in .338 RUM but it seems that no one is making it in this cartridge anymore. If the RUM is dead, I might as well just get a .338 Lapua, as everyone seems to be chambering it now. Thoughts on the life of the RUM?

I don't see it in the stores very often. This is one reason I like to live in a timewarp. I don't own a gun where the caliber hasn't been around for 50 years and for which it has a substantial portion of the marketshare.

338 caliber guns that have "stood the test of time" include 338 Winchester, 318 Westley Richards to a far lesser extent, and that's about it.

If you want to see the road to utter sadness, look at high-dollar guns in the classifieds that can't sell because someone wanted it in any of the new-fangled variants rather than the standard version. 416Rem guns sell for peanuts (if they sell) whereas an identical high grade gun in 416 Rigby sells quickly. Same for 375/416 ruger versus traditional. Same for anything ending in Weatherby.

*Usually* (As in 99% of the time) a marketing team gets together to push a new amazing cartridge and explains in their literature how its .000001% better than the original and the public buys-in. The whole point of the exercise was to take an original long or magnum cartridge and make a copy (mockery) of it that fits into a mass-produced $200 action.

I'll get off my soapbox, but yeah, the 338 RUM is like a wildcat in my mind when it comes to finding ammo.

 

[Ray B]

The 338 RUM, and all RUM cases for that matter are fine in regard to performance. The problem as noted several times above is ammo availability. the primary cause of this issue is the manufacturing process. Ammo makers benefit from economies of scale and simplification. Standardization of base diameter is highly desired as a means of reducing cost and increasing production. There have been several "winners" over the years but presently there are three diameters utilized by the preponderance of present day cartridges. The diameters are .376; ,473; .532". the families of cartridges the correlate to the diameters are .223 rem(5.56mm); .30-06; & .375 H&H mag. There are exceptions of cartridges such as the 6.5x54; 6.5x55; 404 J, 416 Rigby, but even these are not as commonly available as cartridges utilizing the common head diameters.
Cartridges of recent design such as the RUM line have neither historical significance nor manufacturing advantage, so they are destined to obsolescence within a few years- it doesn't mean that they aren't entirely adequate for some situation, it's just that the user must be aware of the availability limitations and plan accordingly.

 

[meigsbucks]

For those have or are contemplating a .338 RUM, my loads of choice are a 225gr Swift backed by RL25 @ 3080fps and a Barnes 250gr LRX (b.c.: .602) backed by RL19 or RL22 @ ~2930 (both give almost identical accuracy and velocity).
For some reason my rifle does not like the 250gr Swift. Wasted a lot of bullets and powder trying to that to shoot well.