Newbie questions - 300 v. 338 Whisper

[florida308]

I am new to this, so excuse my ignorance, but I have a few questions.

I was thinking about a 300 whisper. After reading up, I am more attracted to the .338. My hypothetical project would be a bolt gun. I like am a huge fan of the Remington 700, however the threaded barrel installation of Savage is more attractive. I liked the 300 whisper because of its wide popularity, however I don't have much use for a .223. I would much rather have a 308, with an interchangeable 338 barrel.

So my question is, first of all, is all of the above based on correct info. Its best to double-verify what you glean from the internet, IMO. Second, would this only involve drop-in barrels? The 338 feeds through the 308 bolt mechanism, correct?

[Buckshot]

I would say, skip the Remington and get a SIG SHR.
This rifle has an easy to change barrel system.
Get both the .308 and the .223 bolts and get both systems if you like.

Just a hint

Originally Posted by florida308

I am new to this, so excuse my ignorance, but I have a few questions.

I was thinking about a 300 whisper. After reading up, I am more attracted to the .338. My hypothetical project would be a bolt gun. I like am a huge fan of the Remington 700, however the threaded barrel installation of Savage is more attractive. I liked the 300 whisper because of its wide popularity, however I don't have much use for a .223. I would much rather have a 308, with an interchangeable 338 barrel.

So my question is, first of all, is all of the above based on correct info. Its best to double-verify what you glean from the internet, IMO. Second, would this only involve drop-in barrels? The 338 feeds through the 308 bolt mechanism, correct?

[ShuckersFan]

I'm fairly certain the 308 uses the short action and the 338 uses the long action. That would make them not interchangeable. I think the biggest bang you can get out of a short action is the 300 remington saum(short action ultra magnum) or maybe the 7mm saum...

[m21black]

I have read that although the 338 Whisper theoretically makes larger holes in fact the 300 Whisper is more efficent and if the proper twist rate is in play actually is a better performer. I personally have no experiance with the 338 but have found the 300 Whisper with 240 HPBT's to outperform my expectations. I can hear you about the 308 VS 223, the 223 is a fine varmit cartridge but so is the 22 hornet. Check out pearcyengineering from down under besides SSK.

[HHI 812]

I had a SSK 338 Whisper for my T/C Contender. If you go with this one, it uses the 7BR cases necked open, and my barrel was a Shilen stainless 1:7 twist. IT liked the 300 grain Sierra MK. The short action should work perfectly. The 338 Whisper #2 uses the .221 FB, but is really specialized, and not as universal at the 338 Whisper #1 on the BR case, where it can also be used supersonic. There is also the .338 Spectre, that uses the 10mm Magnum case, but then it uses a different size bolt face. In the AR, the 6.8 bolt would work.

[m21black]

Does anyone have a loading data on either of the 338 Whispers? Better yet does anyone have any experiance with the performance of the 338 Whispers on game?

[HHI 812]

Call JD at SSK. I recall reading about him taking it to Australia when he first came up with the cartridge, and taking some big game there.

[Ranb]

I own/shoot the 300 W, 338W and the 510W. The 338W is based on a necked up 7mm BR. It is loaded to the same length as the 308 winchester and works well in any short action that also works with the 308.

As the 338W case is larger, it can be loaded to higher energies than any 300W. it also can be used with heavier (300 grain) bullets than the 300W. The 300W can be cheaper to reload as the brass is easy to make from old 5.56 nato brass. The 338W can be made from once fired 308 brass, but then requires neck turning. It is easy to form 338W from 7mm BR, but more expensive.

Both the 300W and 338W are sub moa in my guns. I used a savage 10 fcm for the 338W, but SSK put a barrel on it without using savage barrel nut. It is easy to take off and put back on as long as you have an action wrench and a barrel vise.

I am not a hunter, sorry.

Ranb

[shuter]

is finding a variety of cans to keep it quiet. I ordered a .338 last week from SSK, only to call back a few days later and change it to a .302 (.308 on 7BR case), after researching suppressors.

SSK can build a can, but I couldn't find another in .33 cal that wasn't built for the Lapua (read, HUGE!). Other option was an aluminum 9mm pistol can, which would be fine for subsonic, but not so much for firing of supersonic . . . especially if I wanted to use it on my .308 DPMS AP4!

I went with the Yankee Hill .308 Phantom, which has a quick change adapter system. This will allow me to use the same can on my Whisper, my DPMS .308, and even my .223 AR's. I'll just put the Yankee Hill flash hider/adapter on all 3 guns, and rock and roll.

Just some stuff to chew on.

see ya