Another vote for the .338 Lapua Mag. I bought an Armalite AR-30 and love it. Only issue is having the trigger lightened up some. Mine was heavy. Maybe 7-8 #. I had an armorer with a PD take it down for me to about 2.5 and it is fantastic. As far as the downrange killing ability, it is really tough to beat. Take a look at the following info.

http://www.snipercentral.com/338.htm
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ballistics/338_lapua_mag.html

And some other info I had pasted about about 1 1/2 years agon on the caliber:

Mine, with scope, and rings, just over 14 lbs. I know, that is a bit heave to lug around, but still doable. And every bit worth it when it comes time to shoot. I have provided lots of info from OTHER SOURCES than just myself below. Seems there are a few people who have their doubts. I have one of these, and personally, I love it. Heavier than most hunting rifles, but that is something that I am willing to accept.








Here are the Specs from the Factory, right from their Web site.





MODEL:
AR-30M

CALIBER:
..300 WIN MAG, .308 WIN, .338 LAPUA

RECEIVER FORM:
MODIFIED OCTAGONAL FORM,


DRILLED AND SLOTTED FOR SCOPE RAIL

BOLT:
DUAL FRONT LOCKING LUG

BARREL:
26" CHROME MOLY, 6 GROOVE RH 1:10 INCH TWIST

MUZZLE DEVICE:
MULTIFLUTE RECOIL CHECK

STOCK:
3 SECTION: EXTRUDED FOREND, MACHINED GRIP


WITH VERTICAL GRIP, FORGED AND MACHINED


REMOVABLE BUTTSTOCK

FINISH:
MANGANESE PHOSPHATED STEEL,


HARD ANODIZED ALUMINUM

OVERALL LENGTH:
48 INCHES

WEIGHT:
12 POUNDS

COMPLETE WITH:
15 MINUTE SCOPE RAIL, BIPOD ADAPTOR,


OWNERS MANUAL, LIFETIME WARRANTY

Here are some other useful numbers for comparrison against a couplf of other popular calibers.


**the following info was borrowed from
by Jeff Quinn

July 15th, 2004
http://www.gunblast.com/ArmaLite_AR-30.htm

[align=left][/align][align=left]Chronographing the two factory loads at a distance of twelve feet from the muzzle proved that the available ammunition falls within the design parameters of the original military specifications. The Lapua 250 grain load clocked 2927 feet-per-second (fps), and the Black Hills 300 grain load averaged 2778 fps. With the very good ballistic coefficients of these bullets, the long range performance is excellent for dramatic terminal effect out to at least 1500 yards. Out to 1000 yards, the trajectories of the two bullets are pretty close, while the 300 grain Black Hills load has much greater energy at all ranges. Past 100 yards, the 300 grain bullet starts to really show its superiority, and is actually going faster than the 250 grain bullet at that point. Wind drift with the 300 grain bullet is also significantly less at all ranges past 400 yards. At 1500 yards, the 300 grain Match King has over 1230 foot-pounds of energy, while the 250 has only 776 foot-pounds of energy remaining. This is not to disparage the 250 grain load; it is still an awesome long range performer, but the 300 grain bullet is markedly superior out past 1000 yards. With recoil not being a factor in the AR-30, there is no advantage to using the lighter bullet. As can be seen in the following chart, the .308 Winchester and the .300 Winchester Magnum, which are two of the most popular precision long range rifle cartridges, are not even close in retained downrange energy.[/align][align=left]While the length and weight of the AR-30 does make for a large weapon, it carries very well, and the buttstock is easily removed for transport by pulling two retaining screws, if desired. The rifle is easy and comfortable to shoot from the bipod, a bench, or even standing offhand. It is really no heavier than some long range black powder rifles that I have fired.[/align][align=left]Functioning of the AR-30 was perfect. The big cartridges fed easily from the magazine, or just by dropping them singly into the ejection port while firing from the bench. Accuracy testing was done with two different loads; the 250 grain hollowpoint Scenar bullet load from Lapua, and the 300 grain Sierra Match King hollowpoint load from Black Hills. The Lapua ammo uses cases of that make, and the Black Hills ammo uses cases made by Norma of Sweden. Each is excellent brass. Both loads exhibited very good accuracy at 100 yards, shooting into less than five-eighths of an inch in a stout crosswind. No long range paper punching was tried, but I did shoot the rifle extensively at steel silhouettes of mule deer and black bear at distances of four hundred and six hundred yards. Hitting these life-size targets at this range was very easy using the rifle’s bipod.[/align][align=left][/align][align=left][/align][align=left][/align][align=left][/align][align=left]While the length and weight of the AR-30 does make for a large weapon, it carries very well, and the buttstock is easily removed for transport by pulling two retaining screws, if desired. The rifle is easy and comfortable to shoot from the bipod, a bench, or even standing offhand. It is really no heavier than some long range black powder rifles that I have fired.[/align][align=left]Functioning of the AR-30 was perfect. The big cartridges fed easily from the magazine, or just by dropping them singly into the ejection port while firing from the bench. Accuracy testing was done with two different loads; the 250 grain hollowpoint Scenar bullet load from Lapua, and the 300 grain Sierra Match King hollowpoint load from Black Hills. The Lapua ammo uses cases of that make, and the Black Hills ammo uses cases made by Norma of Sweden. Each is excellent brass. Both loads exhibited very good accuracy at 100 yards, shooting into less than five-eighths of an inch in a stout crosswind. No long range paper punching was tried, but I did shoot the rifle extensively at steel silhouettes of mule deer and black bear at distances of four hundred and six hundred yards. Hitting these life-size targets at this range was very easy using the rifle’s bipod.[/align]




Hopefully this will give you some of the info tha tyou are looking fo ron ths .338 Caliber. me personally, I am a huge fan of it. I won't say that there are not other great calibers out there or that there isn't something better, but IMO this is tough to beat. Get one, you will really enjoy it.



kdvollmer