338 ARC thoughts?

Matt5266

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I guess I don't really see the point with other rounds like 300 blackout and 8.6 blackout.

What's your thoughts? Going to be useful or did it just get built because they can?
 

CorbLand

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The 300 Blackout works great for exactly what it was designed for. Shooting subsonic rounds with a suppressor and reliably cycling in semiautos.

My guess would be that this is similar.
 
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Sounds like a standardization of the 338 spectre.. 1050 fps is 1050 fps. The 8.6 or 338 arc or 338 spectre or 338 razorback are all the same diameter and energy when shooting 1050.
 

Bluefish

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Wish they had gone larger cal so it is hunting legal in IA. Since I already have a couple sub calibers that I can use for hunting, really doesn’t do anything I need.
 
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I think 300 blackout and the such is lame. Doesn’t do anything for me. Speed kills

300 BLK is a PERFECT east coast round if you you know you won't be taking shots over 100y. I've seen a lot of deer fall like a sack of taters off a tailgate with a sub sonic 30 cal bullet.
 

Bluefish

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lever action 357 or 44 mag. 357 suppresses fairly well. 180g hollow points. Might be able to stuff a 250g subX into a 357 case but never tried a bullet that big
I already have a 45-70 sub load and can as well as a 360bh. Problem with the buckhammer is twist is too slow to do much beyond 200g. 450 bm is also an option as hornady has a sub load. So I guess no excuse to order a new upper.
 
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I already have a 45-70 sub load and can as well as a 360bh. Problem with the buckhammer is twist is too slow to do much beyond 200g. 450 bm is also an option as hornady has a sub load. So I guess no excuse to order a new upper.

Sorry man.. I didn't mean to put you in that kind of financial bind... 🤣
 

khuber84

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Sounds like a standardization of the 338 spectre.. 1050 fps is 1050 fps. The 8.6 or 338 arc or 338 spectre or 338 razorback are all the same diameter and energy when shooting 1050.
The problem with 8.6blk is the case is too bih to get solid ea/sd with pistol powders and subs. The 338arc was designed to remedy this. Hornady and Alpha did a lot of testing, the 338 arc is gonna be legit shooting sub, if you want a combination of supers and subs, 8.6blk or 375 razorback would be my suggestion. I'll likely get a short 6tw barrel and some mdt 6arc mags and put something together on an origin with a swappable bolt head. A 300+ gr bullet, whisper quiet, would likely pack a very lethal punch out past 200y.
 

JRS3

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Sep 24, 2022
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Personally, I’m looking forward to the .338 ARC. I am interested to see what Aero Precision and Noveske offer. I have been underwhelmed with a SBR .300 AAC and hope the .338 ARC is a better mousetrap for hunting, suppressed. I have a 36M that’s needing a partner so this makes sense for me.
 

Robobiss

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Jan 3, 2024
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If I felt like peeing money away, or hit the powerball, I’d get into one.

I have .30 cal cans, I have zero rifles larger than .30 cal. Buying a .338 that is functionally useless without a suppressor (that I wouldn’t want to buy for this *one* application) would be a silly move when my 300blk SBR does 90% of what the 338 ARC does.

What stuff really needs to be shot with subs? Not a whole lot unless you’re culling animals as a job and want as many kills as possible per night, or something. In that application I could see springing for the bigger, heavier subs.

The stuff I am shooting with subs are the porcupines and skunks messing with my dog in the middle of the night or the raccoon or coyote trying to get into the chicken coop. I only use subs at night so my neighbor that’s 300 yards away doesn’t show up with a shovel at 3 AM thinking someone was siphoning diesel out of my truck (I keed I keed). That aside I would use supers anyways.

For my application, popping nuisance critters and not disturbing the peace in the neighborhood (logging road) in the middle of the night, the 300BLK does absolutely everything I need it to. Plus (and not like the 338 ARC wouldnt perform as well with similar projectiles) the 300 puts a whooping on deer with the 110 TAC-TX and 110 VMAX.

The above, as well as the fact that you can find 223 brass anywhere and make 300blk brass with a saw and a sizing die seals the deal for me. Not that the 338 wouldn’t be a super effective and fun cartridge for the right person.
 
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