Thread: 338 DCM

I finally got my DCM dies back from the States yesterday.......custom dies & lots of patience go hand in hand....

I was going to use my 33.5" Lija 338 Norma barrel, but the new 36" Lija 1-10 showed up earlier than expected, makes a change

The 338 DCM is the little brother of the 375 DCM, it is an improved 408 Cheytac case designed by forum member Terminator

I formed up 50 Bertram cases this morning which hopefully should be enough for this barrel.

I haven't bothered to get the barrel fluted at this stage, mainly because of its apparently short life.

It is a pretty heavy 1.35" barrel at the action, and as such the whole thing weighs in at 22.5 lbs, 10.23kgs.

T3 Terminator Muzzle brake.
35" Lija 1-10 barrel.
Barnard P-Chey action.
XLR HD Evolution stock.
NF NSX 5.5-22x56 Scope.



Because of the current weather situation both of the local ranges I use are closed, so I had the find some where to shoot it.

Unfortunately I could only find about a 100 yards to shoot & it wasn't suitable for the 35P so I had to use my MS instead, last time I tested it against the Oehler it was very close.





I loaded up 15 rounds of the Berger 300 OTMs, with three different powders to see how it would go.

I tried Reloder 50 which is a little too fast, 2218 which is only a wee bit too fast & VV 20-N-29 which is a little too slow.

Some thing between 2218 & 20-N-29 would be ideal.

I'm not really interested in using US 869 for various reasons.

So after 15 rounds it looks like it will happily run around 3475 to 3500 fps

I have loaded up another 18 with 20-N-29 & 2218 to try tomorrow at a decent range hopefully, so I will have a better idea of where it will happily cruise.

When I have seen how the OTMs go for accuracy I will load the Elite Hunters to see if they can cope with the velocity.



So far I am very happy with the speed & looking at todays target it is going to shoot well

I'm really looking forward to shooting it against the 375 DCM to see the real difference in the field at extreme range.

3475-3500fps !!! Holy heck thats fast

Wow is all one can say to that.
Be interesting to see how it goes way out there

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

3475-3500fps !!! Holy heck thats fast

OMG !!!
+ 1


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So it will eat the 375 version balistic wise then.

Originally Posted by L.R

So it will eat the 375 version balistic wise then.

Not according to numbers I have at the moment, but there won't be much in, a side by side test will show it straight away.

Early days yet but what speed do you think it would run out of a 30 inch barrel?

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Early days yet but what speed do you think it would run out of a 30 inch barrel?

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Not sure but it would knock a bit of speed off probably 150 fps ??

Kirby gets 3350fps out of 33"

Loaded some more bullets with a conservative accurate load & shot them today at 620 yards along with the 375 DCM.

I loaded some of the Berger 300 grain Elite Hunters I've had lying around for a few months now.

It looks like they can cope with the massive launch speeds & pressure

Looking at the smashed up bullets I retrieved from the soft dirt bank they should work well on game



So far it is looking good, I took it out this afternoon & shot some rocks out to 1400ish yards in fairly average conditions & I'm happy with how it performed