.338 Ruger Compact Magnum

The .338 Ruger Compact Magnum or .338 RCM is a rimless, short-length rifle cartridge based on the .375 Ruger case. Sturm Ruger and Hornady jointly developed the round, which was released in 2008 and chambered in various Ruger rifles. The goal of the project was to produce a .338 caliber cartridge with magnum level performance that would fit in a compact, short action rifle. The .338 RCM is conceptually similar to the WSM cartridge family, but is somewhat smaller dimensionally. This often allows for a higher magazine capacity than the WSM equivalent.^[2] Like the .338 caliber cartridges which predated it, the round is designed for hunting medium to large sized North American game.

.338 Ruger Compact Magnum
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	Sturm Ruger
Manufacturer	Hornady
Produced	2008
Specifications
Parent case	.375 Ruger
Case type	Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter	.338 in (8.6 mm)
Neck diameter	.370 in (9.4 mm)
Shoulder diameter	.515 in (13.1 mm)
Base diameter	.532 in (13.5 mm)
Rim diameter	.532 in (13.5 mm)
Rim thickness	.050 in (1.3 mm)
Case length	2.015 in (51.2 mm)
Overall length	2.840 in (72.1 mm)
Case capacity	72 gr H2O (4.7 cm3)
Primer type	Large rifle
Maximum pressure (CIP)	62,366 psi (430.00 MPa)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 200 gr (13 g) Hornady SST 2,950 ft/s (900 m/s) 3,864 ft⋅lbf (5,239 J) 225 gr (15 g) Hornady Interbond 2,750 ft/s (840 m/s) 3,778 ft⋅lbf (5,122 J)
Source(s): Hornady [1]

Design & Specifications

The .338 Ruger Compact Magnum is based on the .375 Ruger cartridge, which originated through the cooperation of Hornady and Ruger. The case is of rimless design, having a base and rim diameter of .532 in (13.5 mm), the same diameter as the belt on the .300 H&H Magnum, the .375 H&H Magnum, and their derivatives. This design offers greater case capacity than a belted magnum case of comparable length, such as the 350 Remington Magnum. As Ruger intended the cartridge to be chambered in short bolt-action rifles,^[3] they trimmed the .375 Ruger parent case to 2.015 in (51.2 mm) to ensure a comparable cartridge overall length to the .308 Winchester. Unlike the rebated Winchester Short Magnum cartridges, the Ruger Compact Magnums share the same diameter from case head to body. This allowed Ruger to chamber the cartridge without extensively redesigning their M77 rifle.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• .338 Lapua Magnum
• .338 Marlin express
• .338 Federal
• .338 Remington Ultra Magnum
• .338 Winchester Magnum
• Table of handgun and rifle cartridges

References

1. "338 RCM 200 gr SST Superformance". Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
2. "Hornady Ruger Compact Magnum Cartridge Review". Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
3. Anderson, Petter (23 January 2009), "300 Ruger – en värdig arvtagare?", Jakt & Jägare (in Swedish), archived from the original on 2012-04-04, retrieved 2014-05-01

• C.I.P. TDCC (Tables of Dimensions of Cartridges and Chambers) .338 RCM

External links

• Hornady Introduces .300 and .338 RCM (Ruger Compact Magnum) Hornady Press Release
• Short but Sweet RifleShooter Article
• 338 RCM: Big Power – Small Package
• Ruger's M77 Hawkeye Compact Magnum Part II: Handloading the .338 RCM Realguns.com