Hello,
I am a new member, long time shooter/hunter. I am interested in rebarreling a 338 weatherby vanguard in 338 Winchester magnum to a 338 remington Ultra Magnum. I am concerned that the 338 RUM will be too long for the Vanguard(actually Howa) action. The COL(cartridge overall length) for the WinMag is 3.340. The RUM is 3.600

I'm itching to try out the 338 RUM, but I need a gun at Vanguard prices or I'll have no money left for RUM. Decisions, Decisions!!
Thanks for any input,
Mike

Welcome to the forum Mike. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Boy you could run into trouble. The RUM's are built on Long magnum actions the same as the 375 H&H. The 338 Winnies are built on 30-06 length actions.

I'd see if there was a magazine block in your Vanguard and check if a 338 Rum cartridge will fit in the magazine. I'd think if you could trade it for a Vanguard chambered in 300 Weatherby you would have an action that would fit. That might be your best bet.

Considering the size and power of the 338 Ultra Mag, I would set the gun up as a single shot bolt action and not worry about stuffing extra rounds in a box magazine. Just a thought....

A

As well as Cartridge O.A.L. concerns, you will also be limited to the amount of smiths that have a lathe capable of cutting metric threads on a new barrel. The Vangaurds are a metric pattern rifle.

Cutting metric threads is as simple as changing out and replacing a couple of gears - simple as falling off the proverbial log...

Are you referring to the Weatherby "Vanguard"? I have rebarreled over a hundred of these in the past 10 years or so and have never seen one with metric threads....

A