This gun, made by Armalite, is chambered in 338 Lapua Magnum (Pronounced as 338 La-poo-A Mag-Num) and shoots a 160 to a 300 grain bullet, the second largest caliber gun a citizen can legally own.  A bullet’s weight is measured in grains.  The parent case is the 416 Rigby, another incredibly powerful caliber.  Parent cases are the new calibers made by older calibers.  At some point in the future the 338 Lapua Magnum will parent a different caliber because of how much this cartridge is used.  

The ballistics of this gun are crazy because out of the muzzle a 285 grain bullet is traveling around 3,040 feet per second with 4,618 pounds of force per square foot.  It is a bolt action rifle, it has a 26 inch barrel, the gun comes with a single stage trigger, the capacity is five plus one, it has an adjustable stock, and the weight is approximately 15 pounds.

The history of this gun is pretty cool because it was originally manufactured in Finland in 1989.  The service history is pretty recent, serving in the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war.  It is used by many police forces and militaries around the world.  The 338 Lapua Magnum also has the one of the longest confirmed kills in military history with a distance of about 2,707 yards, which is about 1.54 miles.

The ballistics of this cartridge are crazy because as I said above a 285 grain bullet is traveling around 3,040 feet per second with 4,618 pounds of force per square foot out of the muzzle.  A 285 grain bullet at 1,000 yards is still incredibly powerful with the bullet traveling at 1,736 feet per second and with 1,907 pounds of force per square foot.  These ballistics are a fancy way to say how the bullet will travel in the air.

This gun is a bolt action rifle.  A bolt action rifle is a rifle where you must manually eject and load a shell after each shot.  These types of guns are typically more accurate because it is one less part of the gun that will move, therefore less movement of the gun.  They also have a slower fire rate compared to other types of actions, also known as the bolt carrier group on AR’s or an extractor on shotguns.  Actions can be semi auto, which is as fast as you can pull the trigger is as fast as it will shoot.  Pump, which is where you have to pump after each shot in order to fire again.  Full auto which is where you keep the trigger pulled and it will constantly shoot until you release the trigger.  Three round burst, which is where every time the trigger is pulled it will shoot three times.  Bolt, which is where you would have to manually eject and load a shell into the chamber.

Barrel length means a lot when you are shooting because if you have a short barrel and a large caliber cartridge, you won’t burn up all the powder and your bullet will never reach maximum potential.  The barrel of 338 Lapua Magnums needs to be long because it is a huge cartridge with a maximum of 420.00 MPa, 60,916 psi.  The barrel twist is 1:10”, which pretty much means that every 10 inches the bullet will make one full revolution.  The smaller the second number, the faster it will spin.  1:7” will twist one time every seven inches and a 1:16” will twist one time every 16 inches.

On the end of the barrel is a muzzle break.  Muzzle breaks are a big deal when you are talking about a cartridge this size.  Almost nobody can shoot it without getting a sore shoulder.  With the muzzle break, it disperses a lot of the gases making it a more manageable cartridge.  It will reduce recoil by redirecting the gases to pull the gun forward instead of back, therefore reducing the recoil.  The bigger the muzzle break, the less recoil your gun will have because of how much more gas is being dispersed.  This gun requires a very large muzzle break to tame this crazy cartridge.  Without the muzzle break, the gun barrel will rise and you will have to deal with a lot of recoil.  The recoil will kind of be like taking a punch to the shoulder from Connor McGregor.

Triggers can be a complicated topic because you have a one stage and a two stage trigger.  This gun has a one stage trigger because a one stage trigger means less pull force for a shorter distance,  perfect for shooting long distances like this gun is made for.  The two stage trigger means that on the first stage you will have to pull somewhat harder and on the second stage you will have a lighter pull.  Two stage triggers are mostly made for close-mid range and competitive shooting.  The one stage trigger is mostly made for long range precision shooting.

The magazine, or mag, is how your shells are held in place in you are shooting.  This gun has a five round box mag and you can fit another shell in the chamber, the plus one.  You can buy bigger mags for the gun if you want, but a low capacity mag is just fine because it doesn’t take that long to switch mags.  In competitions you have to have high capacity mags because even a tenth of a second can differentiate winning and losing.

The stock is adjustable which means it can fit different shooting preferences.  The adjustable stocks are a great thing to have because you can get your eye closer to the scope if you want without moving your scope or losing the zero, which is what the gun is sighted in for.

The weight of this gun is approximately 15 pounds.  Weight doesn’t mean much, except for if you are carrying it a long distance, it can be quite a load.

The Armalite 301ABT338 AR30A1 rifle is an excellent gun because it has incredible ballistics, a bolt action with a 26 inch barrel, single stage trigger, the capacity is five plus one, it has an adjustable stock, and the gun weighs around 15 pounds. The 338 Lapua Magnum is the second largest caliber a citizen can legally own.  It retails around $3,000.00.  This is a very powerful cartridge specifically designed for long range precision shooting.