The 338 Lapua Magnum Today

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The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge was developed to fill the gap between traditional 7.62x51mm sniper rifles and heavy .50 Browning Machine Gun anti-materiel rifles (AMR). For those of you unfamiliar with it, the origins of the .338 Lapua Magnum date back to the early 1980s when the US was having to deal with Russian aggression against a neighbor, in this case the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The CIA, which was waging a covert war against the Russian occupiers, saw the need for a new long range sniper cartridge due to the vast distances involved. They concluded that a cartridge with 1,500-yard capable exterior ballistics was desirable. However, it needed to have enough retained energy to still penetrate a Soviet flak jacket at this distance. The key component was the platform firing it needed to be lighter and much more portable than the .50 BMG rifles available at the time.

The CIA’s need led to the U.S. Navy issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for such a cartridge. A firm called Research Armament Prototypes Industries answered the call, and began development work on a suitable cartridge. Their first thought was to simply neck Roy Weatherby’s impressive .378 Weatherby Magnum down to .30 caliber. This was something Weatherby himself had done in 1959 at the request of the United States Army. Although capable of spectacular performance (3,500+ fps), as later proven when the .30-.378 Weatherby Magnum was released commercially in 1996, it was not the answer they were looking for. The belt on Roy’s case proved to be a problem for military use and barrel life was extremely short, so they moved on.

At this time, Jerry Haskins, James J. Bell, and Boots Obermeyer were all involved in the project. These three very well-respected men selected the .416 Basic case as a new starting point. They then redesigned the case’s interior before necking it down to 0.338 inch. It was loaded with a 250-grain .338-inch projectile designed by Hornady. At this time, the new cartridge was known both as the .338/.416 Sniper and the 8.58x71mm. However, the new cartridge was unable to meet the velocity requirement (250-grain bullet at 3,000 fps) due to a weak cartridge case design. A lack of funding led to work on it coming to an abrupt end in the United States.

The new cartridge offered too much potential to just become a footnote in some obscure military cartridge journal though. A joint venture between the well-respected firms of Accuracy International of England and Lapua of Finland gave new life to this concept. Lapua undertook to fully develop and finalize the new cartridge for military use. In doing so, their engineers redesigned the cartridge case. This included slightly shortening both the case and overall length. More importantly, they also reinforced the case head to withstand higher pressures than the original 8.58x71mm was intended for. The new cartridge was submitted to CIP in 1987 and officially approved in 1989 as the .338 Lapua Magnum.

The first bullet Lapua developed specifically for this project was their B408. First introduced in 1985, it was basically a scaled up version of their successful 1930s vintage D46 FMJ-BT design. However, following the new cartridge’s introduction, Lapua began work on a new and more modern FMJ-BT projectile design. The new bullet was based upon extensive testing, which showed protecting the lead core in the projectile’s base would improve accuracy. When finalized, the new design was dubbed the Lock Base and patented in 1990. The original D46 based B408 was then converted to the modern Lock Base design. In 1996 Lapua added a Scenar Open Tip Match bullet to their .338 Lapua Magnum line-up.

Due to its excellent exterior ballistics, accuracy and impressive terminal performance the .338 Lapua Magnum steadily grew in popularity among regular military and special operations units. When teamed with a quality rifle like an Accuracy International Super Magnum, or SAKO TRG-42, this Finnish magnum will easily out range any Combloc 7.62x54R sniper rifle or even an RPG-7. Hits have been made, in combat well past 2,000 meters. Plus, the sniper system is dramatically lighter than a .50 BMG rifle. The obvious down sides to the cartridge are greater muzzle blast and heavier recoil compared to a 7.62mm. Considering the difference in performance, this is to be expected.

What about today? Where does the .338 Lapua Magnum stand today for long range shooters and hunters? Is it still a viable cartridge, or have cartridges like the 6.5mm Creedmoor, 7mm PRC, 300 Win Mag, 300 PRC, .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum taken some of its following? Without a doubt, the .338 Lapua Magnum remains a great cartridge for very long-range use. In a good rifle, with an excellent marksman, it can have a surprisingly long reach. Plus, it still hits relatively hard at distance compared to smaller cartridges.

To demonstrate the accuracy potential of the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, I have included a chart with testing conducted using 10 factory loads at 500 yards. This was done by my friend Colonel Chris Pappas, US Army (retired) who was the primary author for TC31-32 Special Operations Sniper Training and Employment. Five-shot groups were shot prone using a Sako TRG42 rifle off the factory bipod with a rear bag. Conditions were not ideal with a 10–15 mph wind coming from 10–12 o-clock.

In my opinion, one of the biggest downsides to the .338 Lapua Magnum today is simply the cost of ammunition. Factory ammunition is shockingly expensive. Reloading this cartridge is not exactly cheap either. Reloading though will certainly help defray the cost of shooting this particular cartridge though. Today, there are a number of interesting alternatives to the .338 Lapua Magnum for long-range shooting and hunting. Even so, the .338 Lapua Magnum brings a lot to the table. It is very accurate, has very good exterior ballistics, and delivers a large diameter and heavy payload on target. It does exactly what it was designed to do and will remain an excellent option for years to come.

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