700 Police / MLR 338 Lapua Mag

[KIWI]

Hi,

I have just purchased a 700P in 338 LM. I have heard some good and bad things with these rilfes.
Barrel and action issues. It does seem a big round for the action but so is the Rem Ultra mags, and that is their own round for their own gun.
I am sure if they were bad Remington would not make them.
I am not sure if some of the info online is true or not?
I have only read good reports form owners and bad ones from someone who heard a bad thing from a friend of a friend.
Does anyone have a produst review on one of these rifles or own one?
Thanks

[BadKarma]

I have a 700P in 338 LM. The only issue I have had was a weak ejector spring.
It spits out a pretty large piece of brass which obviously will not eject as far as
smaller brass. Mine was just kind of lobbing them over the side so to speak.
I replaced the spring when I had a tactical bolt knob installed and have
not gotten it back from my gunsmith yet so I don't know if it has improved the situation.
Other than that issue, if it turns out to have been an issue, I have been very pleased with mine.
It's pretty accurate way out there, about 3/4 minute at 600 yards so far. I'm still playing around with the best load combination for it but so far its worked very well. When I get my round worked up I will take it out to 1000 yards and see what it does. Even then a grand is really not pushing it's potential.
I don't really like the palm swell that the P stock has and will probably put it in another stock eventually but it has not been an issue with the rifles performance. I agree with you in that I don't think Remington would put it out there if it were not a good piece of equipment.
When I researched it prior to buying I ran into some of the reviews your talking about from the I don't know but I heard from someone crowd. According to the Google Fu network a 308 has a barrel life of 5000 rounds. The guy who taught me to shoot has a documented 24000 rounds on his 308 and it still shoots a grand accurately with no problem. It's really troublesome when your seeking valid information from someone that knows but yet have to wade thru the crap from that bunch. Good luck with it, it's a great gun and a really fun caliber that will set off car alarms. Let me know how it works for you.

[KIWI]

Hi, Thanks for the info and clearing things up.
What are the two holes for at the rear of the receiver? Someone said it was for backup iron sights but then there is no porvision for a fore sight.
What scope mount have you used? I thought about a steel one piece 20 MOA. Ken Farrell lists one for the larger screw holes where other manufauctures dont mention the larger screws. A gun smith could open them out but I would prefer it came ready to fit.
Farrell has a G Force type with an adjustable screw that contacts the front of the reciver which seems like a good idea but may not be necassary with the larger screws?

[dratt1957]

I,would love to have one of those rifle's,but I don't think I could afford to shoot one of them,
one of my distributors had one for around a grand wholesale,I ALMOST bought, but I could not
find even one round of ammo or one piece of brass at the time,I started figuring cost to shoot
and found it way out of my budget :( the 308 cost is enough for me to handle. maybe I could
get by with the 300 win mag :D it is our militarys choice as our primary sniper round (why?)
they too should have chosen the 338 lapua, they are currently retro fitting our m24 to 300
win mag. Maybe I will win the lottery :lol:

[Quick]

The 300WM is a good between round for 308 and 338LM. I like the 300WM. My mates building one and I may aswell. It will be a 0 - 1600m rig. My 308 is for 0 - 1200m.

[KIWI]

Yes they appear to be on the expensive side to shoot. I don't plan to use it a lot.
It will be a while before is use it by the time I get a scope mount, dies, brass etc.
I thought about the .300 Win Mag but I didn't think the gap between that and my .308 was big enough to warrant the purchase of another rifle. But to be honest I have never used a .300 Win Mag so could be wrong.
It would probably be the next rifle on my wish list.

[BadKarma]

Hey KIWI.
It's my understanding that the holes you mentioned were for a back up sight.
I used an EGW aluminum 20 moa base and a Wotac scope, both were items that I
had laying around. I did have to open the holes on the EGW just a touch for the larger
screws, I think they are like an 8-40 thread or something. So far I have not had any trouble with either the base mounting or the scope.
The Wotac is rated for a 50 bmg and again seems to be doing fine. I will put a better scope and base on
it later but right now things are GTG. Maybe Dratt will loan me the money for a Nightforce when he wins the lottery, LOL.
As far as expense it is a bit pricey to shoot. I obtained some brass from another guy who has one but does not reload. We are going to work up a load for his rifle at a later date so I will be giving him some loaded ammo back. Lapua brass is quite expensive but it's pretty much perfect out of the box and can be reloaded multiple times which helps off set the expense due to longevity. Keep in mind this is not something that one would make a day out of shooting in my opinion. I mentioned in a previous post that 20 prone position rounds were all I wanted in one sitting taking my time between shots letting the barrel cool. I did shoot a few more after a break but that's as far as I've gone on the rifle in one session.
I have been using the Hornady brass from Midway as well. It works fine but you need to FL size it and trim accordingly before you use it. At this point I have three reloads on the Hornady and it's still good.
It does burns a healthy dose of powder and the 338 cal bullets are kinda high. In light of all that it's a really good time shooting it. I don't know if it's the master the monster challenge or what but I get a kick, no pun intended, out of shooting it. It really seems to be gaining popularity which
has created some difficulty with ammo availability and components and has not helped the price of those items much. I obviously shoot my 223 and 308 more than the 338 but it does make it to the range much of the time.
I agree the 300 Win Mag is a good round and will reach out and touch it at long range. For some strange reason I have difficulty
shooting a 300. It's recoil impulse is more of a jolt compared to the 308 whereas the 338 is more of a solid push. I just have never been able to shoot the 300 very well but again I've never really spent much time working with one. I agree it's a good round. I have read that the belted case can cause accuracy problems but that's more of the Google Fu I spoke about earlier. I don't see the military going to it if it were not an accurate round.
I think you will have fun with it when you get started. I would strongly suggest reloading if your not doing so already. Good luck with it and let me know If I can be of help to you.

[dratt1957]

If, I win the lottery the nightforce is yours! :D and thats a promise.

[BadKarma]

Well I certainly wish you luck in winning it. I hope your luck is better than mine
when it comes to things like that. If I had one of the only two lottery tickets sold
the other guy would win it. Oh well.

[rifleman0714]

I know it a little late, but I just registered. My PSS is a rifle I wont get rid of. It is 8-40 screws for the bases, mine has a 20MOA warne base with warne rings. I have a M4 6.5-20 with the TMR reticle. The bolt knob is the TACOPS, which you can do yourself. Ichanged the ejector springs for the wolff spring. It used to just kinda dribble the brass out, now its more of a assertive dribble. I use the hornady brass and have been very happy with it. Can you tell I love this rifle! I used the 250 gr match king that I used to take a doe last year. Ive gone to the Lapua lock base bullet that I run over H4831sc, 90 grains get me to 2870 chronograghed. I use Fed 215M primers. Buy it, I havent been disappointed.