.338 Imperial Mag
I bought a Ruger #1 a few weeks back and it is chambered in the .338 Imperial Mag. If anyone out there knows where I can get loaded ammo or brass and load data please get back to me at, (calhook@sbcglobal.net) thanks CAL...
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Well I'm not familiar with an "Imperial" Mag but it sounds like a custom job, if you got the gun cheap you can have a good "smith" look at it and see if he can "bob" the chamber end of the barrel a little and re-chamber to a standard .338 cartridge. Other option is to have someone do a casting of the chamber and measure it up to see what you got. Maybe it's something you'll want to shoot or maybe it's re-chamber time. Could have it punched up to a .338 Rem Ultra Mag if the Imperial is shorter.
Very interesting I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear about this Imperial.
[;)]0 -
Found this in an article about the 338 Remington Ultra Mags:
"Canadian gunmaker, Aubrey White, developed the "Imperial Magnum" cartridge series based on the .404 Jeffery case in the 1980s. Muzzle velocity of the .338 Imperial Magnum was nearly 3,000 fps with 250 gr. bullets. For whatever reason, the Imperial Magnums have faded away."
Ron0 -
The 338 imperial as well as the 300 version were the original Remington Ultra Mags (I think). I would not offer any advice as to wether case dimensions are however close, that I would need to have a shell in my hand to do. I beleive they are very close to the RUM's as both are built off the 404 jeffries platform.
If you can provide measurements as far as case head dia, dia of body at the base, dia of the body at the shoulder, length from casehead to shoulder, and neck length, I could measure one of my 338RUM cases and determine if the 338RUM dies could be used to load for it, or if the factory ammo might work. I would never attempt to prove this before measuring everything first.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
You have peaked my curiosity regaurding the 338 Imperial. In looking at a Cartriges of the World book they go into quite a bit of detail on the 338 Canadian and mention that it is very similar to the 338 Imperial but they don't list any detail about the Imperial. I will also be watching to see what you find.
MONEY TALKS mine says good-bye0 -
338 Imperial Mag, rebated bottleneck case, obsolete
SAMMI pressure 52975 PSI/3653 BAR
Trim to length 2.820"
Rim Diameter .5320
Base diameter .5440
Shoulder diameter .5300
Neck diameter .3690
Head to shoulder 2.3390
Head to neck 2.500
Min/Max case length 2.810/2.830
Dimentions from AccuLoad's database
Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.0 -
JustC has it, get a chamber cast made of your 338Imp and compare it to a 338RUM. If you are lucky you can blow out the RUM to your Imp chamber. If unlucky you may want to rechamber to the RUM. I think Brownells sells chamber cast kits. 0 -
Thanks tailgunner. It looks like you are in luck...
my 338RUM measures this (unfired and held by hand, so some small error may exist), also, these are unfired cases which will become longer by a slight bit.
rim .532-.533"
base dia .544"-.545"
shoulder dia .523"
nk dia (mine necks are turned for a bushing die) .365" at .001" nk tension before loading
head to shoulder 2.310" unfired!! not formed to chamber, I would guess this to grow a good bit.
head to nk ~2.455" before firing
I would say that 338RUM brass would easily blow out to form well in your chamber. Seat the bullet .010" INTO the lands, use a medium charge of a fast powder for the 338RUM, and fire them all. You will easily form the brass correctly, and the brass needed to grow the case will come from the neck and not the case-head making it thinner. Correct forming needs to be done with the bullet INTO the lands and the casehead pushed firmly back against the boltface. But it is well within the limits of fireforming.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
Heys guys, thanks for all the input. This is a lot more info than I had to start. I do have 4 dummy rounds that someone made up to reload with. Two of them are the 404 Jeffies and two are marked on the head stamo .338 Imperial Mag. So someone at some time made .338 IMP cases.Still need load data, ie: powder amounts bullets ect.Thanks CAL, aka chooker 0 -
Another way to form the brass would be to taper expand the 338Rum necks to .375 or .400 and than run them through the 338ImpMag dies, forming a "false shoulder" on the neck. Size them just enough that they will bairly chamber (the FS will be enough to maintain the headspace for fireforming). Combined with JustC's into the lands bullet seating you should have no trouble with fireforming.
Virgin 404Jefferies brass would be the easiest way to start, and form a perfect case without the need to fireform, but Jeff brass is expensive compaired to 1x fired Rum cases.
I can run some software simulations for powder types and charges, but that's all they will be is simulations not proven data (use at your own risk), with just the pressure limit (known, above), case capacity (I can calculate this from the known case dimentions), bullet choice (brand, style and weight) and barrel length. Any Sim data I provide will be via E-mail, I won't post it online.
Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.0 -
using tailgunners data, just keep in mind that with the help of a chronograph, as long as you don't exceed the 338RUM book velocities, with the imperials slightly increased capacity, that will mean you are not running your pressures too high.
also,...Natchez is now selling RWS brass!!!!!! This is superb quality and 404 jeffries virgin brass can be sized down to your caliber. But you will be looking at $1.50-$2 per case. You will however find that the going price from these websites that make you your caliber with correct headstamp to be in the same price range, and I would venture a bet that they will not use brass with the concentricity of RWS.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0
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