I’m preparing for a major vole hunt this afternoon. I believe we all know that anything can happen when in the pursuit of dangerous game, so I thought it best to complete this assignment before hand. I’ve written about the Remington Model 700 XCR II and other Ultra Mags previously, but not about the 338 Ultra Mag. I don’t know why, as I am a big fan of 0.338″ cartridges. They represent an excellent balance of big and dangerous game killing power and non-pulverizing recoil. Pulverizing… Haven’t used that word for a while.
The term “Big and Dangerous Game” does smack of category ambiguity so I’ll put it this way. I can speak from experience for North American big game when I say there is nothing, not restrained in a zoo, that could not be handled by the 338 Remington Ultra Mag. I can not speak for African game, as they may already have a union rep and I have no relevant experience,. However, I would submit that Barnes Number 4 reloading manual lists the 338 Remington Ultra Mag, with appropriate bullets, as suitable for hunting everything from antelope to cape buffalo. Yes, I know, message board participants would bristle over this suggestion as everyone participating on message boards owns a proper 577 British double to use… whenever they have a break between classes and want to Nintendo the hell out of M’bogo.
Remington Model 700 XCR II
ManufacturerRemington Arms Company, Inc.ModelModel 700 XCR IICaliber338 Remington Ultra MagMagazine Capacity3StockOvermolded Grip Areas – SyntheticHardwareTriNyte® Coated Stainless SteelBarrel Length26″Twist Rate1:9¼”Weight*6 lbs 13 oz.Overall Length*46 1/2″Pull*13 1/4″Drop at comb*5/8″Drop at heel*7/8“Non-optical sightsNoneTrigger TypeX-Mark Pro AdjustableTrigger Pull As Received*4 lbs. 4 oz.Trigger Pull As Tested3 lbs. 8 oz.MSRP$1005RealGuns StoreRetail $872 Member’s Price $850
* Actual weights and measures
The XCR II is one of the new generation of real hunting rifles that can be used to hunt, stoke a fire or chop down a tree without marring the gun’s finish. It is light, fast pointing and accurate as hell. Brand name quality and reliability, without the logo premiums associated with a .338-378 Weatherby or a pretentiously overpriced Lapua Magnum.
The bottom metal is aluminum, including the hinged floorplate. The follower and follower spring are steel for longevity and smooth feed. The stock’s olive and black coloration are good neutral colors for the woods and muted enough to pass for organic material even when there is snow on the ground. The barrel floats right up to the pressure pad at the end of the forearm. This seems to work well at controlling barrel harmonics as every version of this gun I’ve tried has been capable of sub MOA performance. I like the stippled grip areas. Where the stock is a hard synthetic, the grip areas contain an overmolded, softer, non slip material. The TriNyte® finished all stainless barrel and receiver is a uniform matte, but without the sprayed on flat black look that is so common these days and the bonded finish is very durable.
The Model 700’s action cycles smoothly, partially because of the Remington Model 700 action’s design, partially because the Remington Ultra mag doesn’t have a belt to drag over a magazine follower. The stocks geometry is nearly straight line with only a minor vertical offset from the bore centerline. Subsequently, recoil is distributed using the larger mass of the shooter rather and there is little muzzle climb to make a second fast follow up shot more difficult. No, I am not suggesting the 338 Remington Ultra Mag has 22-250 Remington like recoil, but it won’t beat the shooter profusely around the head and ears either. The Remington XCR II is what it claims to be, a non-fussy, all climate hunting rifle with a high degree of reliability and accuracy. Experience with 7mm Remington Ultra Mag, 300 Remington Ultra Mag, and 375 Remington Ultra Mag exhibited very similar characteristics.
Comparatively… writing
I am not suggesting the 338 Remington Ultra Mag is a singularly powerful 0.338″ magnum. In fact, there is no cartridge I could affix that description of any bore or capacity. But on careful assessment of the combination of rifle and cartridge the Model 700 XCR II is an exceptional firearm.
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338 Magnum Comparisons |
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Specifications |
338-378 Weatherby | 338 Remington Ultra Mag | 338 Lapua Magnum |
340 Weatherby Magnum | 338 Winchester Magnum |
| * Rated MV FPS 225 grain | 3180 | 3020 | 3025 | 3001 | 2940 |
| * Rated ME Ft/Lbs 225 Grain | 4983 | 4556 | 4571 | 4499 | 4318 |
| *Max MV FPS 225 Grain – Max PSI | 3198 | 3060 | 3069 | 2950 | 2895 |
| *Max ME Ft/Lbs 225 Grain – Max PSI | 5110 | 4679 | 4705 | 4347 | 4188 |
| Overall Length” | 3.750 | 3.600 | 3.681 | 3.675 | 3.340 |
| Case Length” | 2.910 | 2.760 | 2.724 | 2.825 | 2.500 |
| Case Capacity – Grains | 137.00 | 110.00 | 108.00 | 100.00 | 86.00 |
| Case Head Diameter” | 0.582 | 0.550 | 0.587 | 0.512 | 0.513 |
| Shoulder Diameter” | 0.561 | 0.526 | 0.544 | 0.492 | 0.491 |
| Maximum PSI | 63,817 | 63,817 | 60,916 | 63,817 | 62,366 |
| Belted Case | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cost – New Brass / 20 | $75 | $28 | $46 | $37 | $17 |
| Cost – Ammunition / 20 | $112-$160 | $68 – $93 | $52 – $150 | $68 – $110 | $39 – $96 |
| Representative Rifle MSRP | $1,699 | $1,005 | $2,270 | $1,699 | $850 |
| * “Rated” reflects factory ammunition ballistics. “Max” reflects highest achieved velocity at RealGuns with instrument verification maximum pressure was within SAAMI spec. | |||||
It’s interesting that four of the five cartridge represented are of U.S. origin although, as a nation, we tend to… appreciate magnum cartridges. The sole departure in origin is the Lapua Magnum, a product of Finland. The 338-378 Weatherby and the 338 Lapua Magnum are mechanically similar in that both approximate 416 Rigby case dimensions; 0.582″ body at the big end for the Weatherby, 0.587″ for the Lapua Magnum and 0.589″ for the Rigby. The Lapua Magnum is approximately 0.200″ shorter than the Rigby or Weatherby which results in the Lapua Magnum having 29 grains less capacity than the Weatherby and the Weatherby has 0.020″ less body taper than the Rigby, which gives the Weatherby 10 grains greater capacity than the Rigby.
The 340 Weatherby and 338 Winchester Magnum share a common parent, the 375 H&H. The Weatherby is a full length version, while the 338 Winchester Magnum is shortened to 30-06 Springfield length for use in standard length actions. The Weatherby, with less taper and sharper shoulders than the .375 H&H, has 5 grains greater capacity than its parent case, while the shortened 338 Winchester has 9 grains less.
The 338 Remington Ultra Mag is dimensionally similar to the .404 Jeffery. The major case diameter is 0.550″ compared to the Jeffery’s 0.545″ body, however, the Ultra Mag rim is rebated to the standard 0.534″ size of an H&H rim rather than retaining the 0.543″ Jeffery rim diameter. The Ultra Magnum case length at 2.760″ is 0.115″ shorter than the 404 Jeffery but, at 3.600″, the Ultra Mag’s cartridge overall length is 0.070″ greater than the Jeffery.
Pictured, right: 338-378 Weatherby Magnum, 338 Remington Ultra Mag and the 338 Winchester Magnum. At 60% lower cost than the Weatherby products, less than half the price of rifles chambered for the Lapua Magnum, the Remington gives away nothing; not quality of manufacturing, not quality of materials and not accuracy. In fact, the Remington employs proprietary protective coating processes that are not available from the others and there is safety redundancy in the Remington design with its “three rings of steel” containment of chamber pressure. The 338 Winchester can be found in less expensive firearms, however, the 338 Winchester offers 150 FPS less muzzle velocity which, at these bullets weights, means more than 500 Ft/Lbs less muzzle energy.
The changes to cartridge geometry that went into the Ultra Mag design mean a lot. Chamber walls of the Ultra Mag are 0.050″ thicker than the equivalent 338-378 Weatherby and 0.039″ thicker than a Lapua Magnum. The Ultra Mag magazine capacity is 3+1, compared to the big Weatherby’s and Lapua’s 2+1 capacity. The smaller rim of the Ultra Mag allows for more room for a proper extractor, ejector and an overall more compact firearm, which means a lighter firearm.
338 Remington Ultra Mag factory ammunition and brass for handloaders are the least expensive of all of the full length magnums, included the belted 340 Weatherby. The cost associated with owning and shooting a Remington Model 700 XCR II chambered for the 338 Remington Ultra Mag is more akin to owning and shooting a 30-06 Springfield sporter than a big magnum, even though big magnum performance is delivered.
Thanks for the conjecture, Joe. Anything to back that up?
Sure. Above is the Model 700 XCR II 338 Remington Ultra Mag with scope mounted. With factory ammo, handload components and a set of dies on hand, I’m going to generate enough data to compare it to the handload and live fire data I have collected for the other noted .338″ cartridges. I fired a few rounds this morning with Federal Vital-Shok… no, I don’t know why it is fashionable to phonetically spell product names, and the 210 grain load clocked 3,221 FPS in comparison to the published 3030 FPS muzzle velocity when checked over two chronographs. So the round definitely isn’t a slacker. Maybe there are some handload surprises… the good kind, to report in Part II.
Remington’s Better Bigger Boomer Part I
Remington’s Better Bigger Boomer Part II
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