4 Years Later

Four years and 600 rounds after having this rifle built, I converted it to a hunting rifle configuration and stock with a 25 inch barrel, and a 1-10 illuminated scope for both eyes open aiming.

It performed fairly well as an ELR rifle, but was hamstrung by a poor choice of barrel twist.

I ordered the barrel in a 14 twist. That limits the choice of monolithics for ELR to the lighter weights, and prevents the cartridge being used to it's full capability at ELR ranges.

It needs a 12 twist to stabilise 340 grain monolithics with a G1 of 0.7, which are the heaviest available to me, but over time I've realised even the 0.7 G1 is a poor choice for ELR.

My 30" barrel was a bit short. A 32" barrel with the heavier bullet would have given me closer to 100% case fill and 100% powder burn, which is key to consistency at long range.

The stock was not correct. There was a drop of comb, which you don't want in ELR, and the bottom of the stock at the rear was not level with the bore axis, which I believe is important to have.

I've taken these lessons learned, and applied them to a 338 Edge build.

Reloading 375 RUM for Long Range   Why   Ballistics   Platform Components   The Load   Pressure Comparison   Results   4 Years Later