338 Imperial Magnum (338 Canadian)

[madcarpenter]

I recently acquired a 338 Imperial Magnum built by IMC. It is number 7 out of the 13 made. Extremely low round count and looks new.

I’m looking to see if anyone has one or has any experience with one?

I’m not sure if I should hang on to it or move it along.


-Mad

[Northwinds]

I had one a few years back,basically a .338 ultra.Brass is still available or was from the cartridge designer Aubrey White out of Nanimo BC.

[JD848]

Originally Posted by madcarpenter

I recently acquired a 338 Imperial Magnum built by IMC. It is number 7 out of the 13 made. Extremely low round count and looks new.

I’m looking to see if anyone has one or has any experience with one?

I’m not sure if I should hang on to it or move it along.


-Mad

Look up Remington JIM ,that guy has all kinda of good stuff .Might be wrong,but he most likely can find you some .

[eric2381]

I’ve always thought the Imperial magnums were just the coolest thing.

[catnthehat]

Elkhunter11 had one when they first came out, can't remember if it was a 300 or 338 though .
Cat

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Elkhunter11 had one when they first came out, can't remember if it was a 300 or 338 though .
Cat

I had a 7mm Imperial Mag. The brass was a bit soft, which limited loads, but it was accurate.

[aardvaark]

Bought it from Aubrey himself at a Calgary gun show, about 20 yrs ago. Shoots incredibly well, I’ve had 3 shot groups near half inch, all 3 holes touching. It’s a Sako, forget the model. Came with a brake, I shot a deer with it and my ears rang for 2 days after so I took the brake off and added some weight to the stock.

The ‘factory’ brass story goes like this and this is straight from Aubrey himself: he contracted someone to make a shipment of brass, and he didn’t get what he paid for - the stuff I have, the primer pockets are loose right from brand new. I have 3 boxes of new brass with the 338 Can Imp head stamp on it - basically useless.

What I did was get some Remington 375RUM brass (at Aubrey’s suggestion), neck it down to 338, and then you can shoot it. It’s almost identical, when it comes out theres a slight change where the taper starts to form the neck. Never tried any other brass, for the amount I shoot it, I just never bothered. It hasn’t come out of the safe for several years now, except to look at it.

Feel free to PM me if you want some load info, I still have the load data sheet from Imperial Magnum.

[Desert Eagle]

I’m intrigued by these units. Willing to share any pics?

[madcarpenter]

I was given 135 pieces of new brass stamped 338 Imperial and 119 pieces stamped 338 Canadian, as well as a piece of brass prepped for the Hornady OAL gauge. The previous owner fired 69 rounds and meticulously documented all of the shots and load data. This gun shot numerous 4 shot groups in the .249-.279”. He stated that the imperial is the soft brass for plinking and the Canadian was for full on stout loads.

This rifle has the McMillan stock and is on the Sako L691 action, all of which are in excellent shape.

[aardvaark]

Originally Posted by Desert Eagle

I’m intrigued by these units. Willing to share any pics?

First pic fr L to R: 375rum, 375 after resize and shorten neck approx .050” then fire formed into a 338Imp Mag

2nd pic is same but add a 300WM on R and a 270W on L, for comparison.

Just looked up some of my loading info fr Aubrey and he gave min &max load with 250gr bullet, imr4831 at 83 and 88gr, H4831 at 88 and 91gr. And they were moving along at 2924 for max imr load and 2951fps for the H max load. I was able to achieve those book specs with imr4831.

I always wanted to play with it a bit more with some RL 26 or33, and H1000. But just never got far, mostly bc I didn’t have any book specs for this cartridge and I’m too scared to experiment. If I knew someone with that Quick load then I would. I tried IMR7828 but I got pressure signs in the 2800 fps range.

[madcarpenter]

Looking through the load info I have for it it looks like 250gr Partitions over 90gr of RL22 shoot 1/4” groups at 3000fps without pressing signs.

Looks like I need to stock up on 250gr Partitions!

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by madcarpenter

Looking through the load info I have for it it looks like 250gr Partitions over 90gr of RL22 shoot 1/4” groups at 3000fps without pressing signs.

Looks like I need to stock up on 250gr Partitions!

They are non existent lol
230gr eldx’s are available

[madcarpenter]

Looks like I found a old fella with quite a stash of 250gr partitions!