Gun Rack: Jason Phelps' Custom Bear Rifle
Gun Rack: Jason Phelps' Custom Bear Rifle
Big country and big game sometimes require a big gun. When all my planning, effort, and hard work come down to one shot, I need to be confident in my weapon and trust my bullet to land exactly where I want it to. So, I reached out to my buddy Travis Redell with R Bros rifles to help me piece together a custom gun.
For this build, I started with ballistics. I wanted a round that was super accurate, bucked the wind, was easy to reload for, and had great terminal performance on game animals. These requirements pointed me to the 338 Edge. It’s a 300 Ultra Mag parent case necked up to accept 338 projectiles. People may ask why I didn’t just choose the 338 Ultra Mag. Well, for some strange reason, Remington decided to make the 338 brass about .010 in shorter, which doesn’t seem like much, but it results in about a 100 ft/s difference. They probably did it to allow for the cycling of the larger and longer bullets through the action. Another reason I went with the 338 Edge is that it’s extremely popular, and the brass should be around for the foreseeable future.
For the bullet, I liked the 300 gr Sierra Match King. When telling people about the bullet, the common responses are, “You must not like the meat,” “That is way too big to hunt deer with,” and “Think you have enough gun?” It all comes down to bullet construction, though. I’ve been able to “eat to the hole” on every single animal I've shot with the Edge, which is a lot more than I can say for some of the animals I took with my .243, .270, and 7RM, shooting quicker expanding bullets.
For optics, I went with a Mark 5HD 5-25X56 with an MOA reticle. This scope paired perfectly with the intentions of the rifle. Its lighter design didn’t add much weight to the build. Functionally, it’s repeatable. The glass is great, and it allows for excellent low-light visibility for early morning or last-light shots.
This gun may seem too good to be true, but there are some major drawbacks: its weight and size!!! The gun comes in at around 14.5 lbs with optics and measures a whopping 52 in long. It’s a far cry from being considered “packable” or “concealable.” This gun reminds you it’s with you every step of the way. A lot of the time, it’s weighing down one side of your pack, getting caught on brush, or making your arm tired from holding it, BUT it’s still worth packing around.
This R Bros Rogue 338 Edge has turned out to be an exceptional long-range gun, and it even does its fair share of work inside 300 yards. This is the gun I will always grab when I need to make the shot count.
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Jason Phelps (@phelpsgamecalls)
Hunter and Creator of Phelps Game Calls
SPEC LIST AND BUILD COST:
- Rifle: R Bros Rogue LR Hunter
- Chambering: 338 Edge
- Action: Defiance Rogue w/1pc fluted Bolt (single shot)
- Barrel: 30 in Broughton (fluted)
- Stock: Manners MCS-T2A
- Trigger: Jewell
- Muzzle Brake: 4 port slab brake
- Optic: Mark 5HD, 5-25X56 MOA
- Rings: Seekins Precision 35 mm Mid Height
- Accessories: Adjustable Cheek Piece, Leupold Neoprene Scope Cover
- Preferred Ammo: Reloads: Remington Brass, H1000 powder, CCI250 primer, 300 gr Sierra Match Kings
Build Total: $5950 for rifle, $2200 for optics, and $100 rings
