My cries of help to Kerry and Carol O’Day, of MG Arms fame, almost never go unanswered; they normally have multiple suggestions from their armory and workshop. My calls sometimes even illicit the construction of a brand-new firearm, like the .416 Taylor Ultralight I thought I’d use in Africa on a Cape Buffalo hunt…and then there was Covid.
So, when I realized at the last minute I needed a rifle for a Black bear hunt in remotest British Columbia, the SOS text message went out to Kerry. His immediate response was “Well, how about my personal rifle in .338 Federal.” I’ve written elsewhere that I answered Kerry with, “That would be fantastic!” And then I went to an article by Ron Spomer to find out what the heck the .338 Federal cartridge was. For those ignorant souls, like me, the parent cartridge is the .308 Winchester. Blown out for a .338 diameter bullet, the case allows a rifle built around the so-called short action. In the case of Kerry’s personal firearm sent to me, the short action, short barrel (21 inches) and skeletonization typical of the MG Arms Ultra-Light model resulted in a rifle weighing right at five pounds, sans scope. Physics works and the rifle’s light weight, and fast Federal ammunition meant a noticeable bump for the person pulling the trigger, but not enough to affect accuracy for this shooter. However, if recoil caused a problem for anyone, the MG Arms Super Eliminator TM muzzle brake would solve it.
As usual, Kerry also sent along some boxes of his handloads matching the rifle, thus producing the incredible accuracy for which MG Arms’ products are known. Stoked with 41.5 grains of RL-15 and topped with a 230-grain Combined Technology bullet, these handloads registered a mean muzzle velocity on my LabRadar of 2158 + 11 fps. This load really did kick less than a 30-06 – Ron Spomer’s wisdom, not mine. I planned on using Kerry’s ammunition for my hunt in British Columbia. Problem was, I had too much fun shooting the rifle and ran through Kerry’s handloads. Enter my next savior, J.J. Reich, Senior Media Relations Manager for Federal, who sent Federal 200-grain Fusion ammunition. The readings on my LabRadar went up quite a bit, reaching a mean of 2712 + 6 fps. The recoil from this cartridge felt a bit more like my 35 Whelen Improved; it bumped, but with the stock much better proportioned than my .35 (built for a smaller person than me!), it was very manageable on the range, and as usual, unfelt when hunting.
The specifications of the MG Arms Ultra-Light model indicates the custom-build afforded by Kerry and Carol’s vision of excellence in construction, and the design for those hunters pursuing game in difficult terrains. OK, let’s face it. The phrase ‘difficult terrains’ evolves throughout the lifetime of a hunter, and depends not only on age, but health. I’ll use me as an example. I turn 67 on December 25, 2024. That is not really old nowadays; ask my 67-year-old wife who can keep up with a 25-year-old co-ed any day of the week. In my case, oncologists gave me a year to live in 2017; Stage 4 cancer is the ‘B’ word. Nope, I did not die, but the immunotherapy that kept me alive knocked out a slew of organs – replaceable by meds, yay!!, but I have to really pace my hill-climbing etc., boo!! I think Kerry and Carol looked into their crystal ball and designed their Ultra-Light for me. Just sayin’. Anyway, if you want a really light, and incredibly accurate, rifle to hoick up mountains, order one of these. I’ve now used several on tough hunts and they’ve been a Godsend.
The specifications of the MG Arms Ultra-Light model, and the .338 sent to me were:
1) Barrel Length – 21”
2) Barrel Composition – #1 Tapered, Stainless Steel
3) Trigger – Jewell, 1¾ - 3-pound pull
4) Available Calibers – .17 Remington – .458 Lott
5) Weight (Short Action) – 5 lbs
6) Stock length of pull – Custom-made for client
7) Stock color – Custom-made for client
8) Magazine – Blind, 3+1
9) Muzzle Brake – MG Arms Super EliminatorTM
10) Metal finish – Any Cerakote® color
11) Price: $4295
The only modification from Kerry’s rifle, for those who order an Ultra-Light in the future, is that Jewell is no longer in business, so MG Arms now uses TriggerTech triggers on their Ultra-Light model.
For me, preparing for any hunt requires going through many boxes of ammunition at the range. Training for hunting a British Columbian Black bear involved firing ~8 boxes of ammunition, a mixture of Kerry’s handloads and Federal factory cartridges. This isn’t braggadocio, it’s the reverse. I doubt my ability with a new firearm, so I need tons of time at the range for developing muscle memory with a new firearm. With the MG Arms .338 Federal that meant the two boxes of Kerry O’Day’s reloads and six boxes of the Federal cartridges. I realize that for most shooters this may seem excessive in cost, but I think a humane, quick kill is the goal. I sometimes wound animals, and I hate that, but I don’t want to look back and conclude that I wounded something because I slacked off on practice due to cost of ammunition. One limitation for me came in the form of the scope provided. Specifically, my 66-year-old eyes can use a bit more than 1.5-4.5x magnification. Kerry warned me about the scope, but Michael Schneider, Owner/Operator of Driftwood Valley Outfitters assured me that I would not be firing at a bear outside of 200-yards. The Swarovski scope was incredibly clear, and I took Michael’s advice and practiced to a maximum distance of 200-yards.
I tested both ammunition types from the bench and my 4StableSticks, Ultimate Carbon shooting rest. Only one combination (MG Arms reloads fired from the Ultimate Carbon rest at 100-yards) gave a larger diameter group than 1xMOA. This is one of those cases where the shooter knew exactly what he did wrong to cause a larger group size. To use a passage from Robert Ruark’s Horn of the Hunter: “The black asparagus tip of the aiming post went to the ragged rosette, and a little inside voice said, Squeeze, don’t jerk, you jerk, because Selby is looking, and you only get one shot at a–.” Yep, I jerked one of the three shots forming this group.
Only one other group approached 1xMOA, the first three shots fired during one of my practice sessions, after the collection of the accuracy data. The photo of the target shows the first (right-hand) and sixth (left-hand) three-shot group fired from the rifle. The effect of the well-oiled barrel on the first three shots versus the carbonized barrel on the sixth is clear (group diameter, not windage, which I adjusted between the two groups). I intended to use the Ultimate Carbon rest with the Federal ammunition on my hunt. That the 100-yard and 200-yard groups from this combination of ammunition and rest type were approximately ½ and ¾ inches in diameter, respectively, was very encouraging. Likewise, the trajectories at the 100 and 200-yard marks – +1 and -5.5 inches – meant no holdover would be necessary. Actually, with black bears, making certain the shot does not go too high, or too far forward is a necessity.
So, how did the 4StableSticks rest, MG Arms rifle, Federal ammunition, and shooter perform? A photo is worth a thousand words; the chocolate-colored beauty went only 20-yards before piling up. Having said that you want the shot lower, rather than higher, I could have held a bit further down, but still connected with both lungs; the short distance run by the bear indicates the effectiveness of the equipment. Needless to say, I won’t hesitate to give MG Arms and Federal a holler when my next emergency arises. I just hope Kerry, Carol and JJ won’t start ignoring my texts and emails!
Mike Arnold is a Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia and author of the 2022 book, BRINGING BACK THE LIONS: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique. Mike's book is available for purchase now at bringingbackthelions.com.