NEW 338ARC, what say ye?

Bluefish

WKR
Joined
Jan 5, 2023
Messages
674
Not sure if it’s the same guy I’m thinking of but there’s a guy smoking deer with 570gr subs in a bolt gun at like 500 yards. It’s wild
I used 500g 45-70 subs last year. Other than drop they will easily get a deer out a long way. They just don’t slow down. G1 is .44 for the bullet I was using with a minimum opening speed of 800 fps.
 

Gstew1930

Lil-Rokslider
Classified Approved
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Messages
250
308 with trail boss is much quieter than a 300 BLK. Its a lot of fun to shoot
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
2,197
Location
VA
308 with trail boss is much quieter than a 300 BLK. Its a lot of fun to shoot

It is a pretty sick combo. Years ago i was walloping a huge stone at like 350 yards with 180g RN with i think it was 9g trailboss. I think it was 10 moa hold over. That was a great afternoon of shooting. First 2 shots were pure guesses 2nd shot gave me a dust impact so I gave it some kentucky windage and wammo it made impact
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2017
Messages
454
Location
AR
His claims are ridiculous.
He's got to hype the market somehow, Otherwise I don't believe 8.6blk would exist and 300blk certainly wouldn't be where it's at today.

I drank the 300blk koolaid for a bit and this forum helped me see the light. It just amazes me that so many people are buying into the 8.6 crap. It's not affordable to shoot and the fast twist barrels corners people into expensive projectiles (not that there's really any cheap 338 projos). AR10s have come a long way in numbers and cost but the overwhelming majority of them are still boat anchors.

I think if hornady can keep the loaded ammo costs down on the 338 arc and develop a SST or FTX projectile to operate a the lower velocities the cartridge will do pretty well. I like the idea of a 12.5" upper that can consistently shoot out to 200/300 with subs, my 300blk never seemed accurate enough to achieve that.
 

AZ_Hunter

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
May 1, 2024
Messages
368
"Why 338 ARC sucks"

Listening the Kevin cry and moan about this new release is the best part.

I think Q makes some innovative products, but his claims are a bit much.
100%. Hyperbolic to an extreme.

That said, I have no use for the 338 arc. 300blk w/subs is for giggles only for me. Unless the world goes to hell and I need a way to defend the home front in stealth mode with NODS…
 
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
671
Location
SE AZ
I think if hornady can keep the loaded ammo costs down on the 338 arc and develop a SST or FTX projectile to operate a the lower velocities the cartridge will do pretty well. I like the idea of a 12.5" upper that can consistently shoot out to 200/300 with subs, my 300blk never seemed accurate enough to achieve that.
If it does well I could see Berry's coming out with an inexpensive plated bullet like they have for the .300 Blk. The 300 Blk is all about cheap fun for me and the readily available brass and bullet diameter help out a lot there. Maybe the 338 ARC will get there too.
 

Unckebob

WKR
Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
1,050
Not gonna lie, there is a guy on YT that has a bolt action 458 socom and that thing packs a wallop. Awful tempting in my mind

This is what my 450 Bushmaster did at 100 yards. (I was not the shooter) There is no such thing as too dead, but there is such a thing called too much meat damage. It is a fun range toy, but I will never hunt with it unless Dragons are involved.

IMG_0119.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Unckebob

WKR
Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
1,050
He's got to hype the market somehow, Otherwise I don't believe 8.6blk would exist and 300blk certainly wouldn't be where it's at today.

I drank the 300blk koolaid for a bit and this forum helped me see the light. It just amazes me that so many people are buying into the 8.6 crap. It's not affordable to shoot and the fast twist barrels corners people into expensive projectiles (not that there's really any cheap 338 projos). AR10s have come a long way in numbers and cost but the overwhelming majority of them are still boat anchors.

I think if hornady can keep the loaded ammo costs down on the 338 arc and develop a SST or FTX projectile to operate a the lower velocities the cartridge will do pretty well. I like the idea of a 12.5" upper that can consistently shoot out to 200/300 with subs, my 300blk never seemed accurate enough to achieve that.

He admitted he designed the 8.6 for SBR's. Hornady went for the masses with carbine length barrels.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2017
Messages
454
Location
AR
He admitted he designed the 8.6 for SBR's. Hornady went for the masses with carbine length barrels.
That's the thing, there's not really such a thing as something designed for short barrels or not. This was commonly stated by the 300blk crowd, but longer barrels produce more velocity and most powders are burned in the first couple inches of barrel regardless of caliber/cartridge.

One of the issues for 8.6 blk is a large case capacity for subs. Not saying everything hornady says is right, but using a smaller case allows them to have a better load density to help keep SDs consistent.

If Hornady makes cheap factory ammo for this and it's widely available, it'll kill 8.6 commercially. People will probably get fast twist barrels in the 338 ARC to get on that hype train.
 

Bluefish

WKR
Joined
Jan 5, 2023
Messages
674
That's the thing, there's not really such a thing as something designed for short barrels or not. This was commonly stated by the 300blk crowd, but longer barrels produce more velocity and most powders are burned in the first couple inches of barrel regardless of caliber/cartridge.

One of the issues for 8.6 blk is a large case capacity for subs. Not saying everything hornady says is right, but using a smaller case allows them to have a better load density to help keep SDs consistent.

If Hornady makes cheap factory ammo for this and it's widely available, it'll kill 8.6 commercially. People will probably get fast twist barrels in the 338 ARC to get on that hype train.
I think just the ar-15 vs ar-10 will doom the 8.6.
 

Latest posts

Featured Video

Stats

Threads
349,357
Messages
3,679,884
Members
79,922
Latest member
Kaleb Monroe
Top