Reloading suggestions for .338 Lapua

[SidecarFlip]

Don't balme it on the smith, like you said, the gun shakes... and recoils. IMO I don't think mine is that bad compared to my Ruger No1 in 300 WBY Magnum. That gun is a shoulder breaker.

Back in the day when I rode triumph's, I had to locktite every bolt and check them every week anyway.

Keep in mind, when the barrel heats up, so does the action and the top of the receiver and then it cools and contracts, expansion and contraction loosens things plus the inertia of the recoil and barrel harmonics to a certain extent....

Rule of thumb for me at least on my match pistols and rifles is I pull the optics and check the mounts (if railed) after every league ends, plus I check the rail to receiver torque. Many times, even after careful torquing and threadlocker, they have loosened up.

I actually had a front sight come off a match pistol. I use optics and never checked the front sight as It's unused. I'm shooting and it fell right off..... a little embarassing.

 

[SidecarFlip]

...Back to brass....

How much do the cases grow or do they grow at all, with a FL resize and is there any growth with a neck size only?

The reason I ask that is my 5.56 cases exhibit no growrh with neck sizing but exhibit growrh if I FL resize.

 

[orch]

Hey Texas...

I was just re-reading your previous posts and think I know what is causing your brass to stick....

Hornady 338 Lapua brass + savage chambers = stuck cases
Don't know why some have speculated its cause hornady brass is softer expands a little easier and grips the chamber wall... Read lots of guys talking about it when the 110ba first hit the streets and guys were starting to load for them....
I have loaded some hornady brass but I FL size so that may be the ticket over neck sizing only
Or... Get some Lapua brass.... Guys who had problems with the hornady switched to Lapua and problem solved....
I use mostly Lapua and the stuff is tuff! Think I'm on 12 reloads with some of it now and it's holding up awesome....

I've noticed the same as sidecarflip, I don't notice much case length growth neck sizing compaired to when I FL length size...

Orch

 

[Texas Republic]

Hey Texas...

I was just re-reading your previous posts and think I know what is causing your brass to stick....

Hornady 338 Lapua brass + savage chambers = stuck cases
Don't know why some have speculated its cause hornady brass is softer expands a little easier and grips the chamber wall... Read lots of guys talking about it when the 110ba first hit the streets and guys were starting to load for them....
I have loaded some hornady brass but I FL size so that may be the ticket over neck sizing only
Or... Get some Lapua brass.... Guys who had problems with the hornady switched to Lapua and problem solved....
I use mostly Lapua and the stuff is tuff! Think I'm on 12 reloads with some of it now and it's holding up awesome....

I've noticed the same as sidecarflip, I don't notice much case length growth neck sizing compaired to when I FL length size...

Orch

I am sure youre right. It has to be the difference in neck sizing it because its the only variable that changed from the last load that didnt stick. I still had to trim a little I believe, but not as much as FL resizing. Looks like I am going to FL resize them all now. I need to bite the bullet and buy some Lapua, but man that's gonna hurt.

I performed the seating depth test listed in the Nosler manual which involves coloring a loosely seated bullet and chambering it while noting the OAL once its ejected. My case came out measuring 3.645 OAL. Sound right? So should I subtract some off of that, or run with it?

I take my Smith criticism back. Turns out the base wasnt touched by him. Came straight from Savage that way. Well its about to get some lock tite and elbow grease pretty soon here.

I am going to switch modes to 308 for a little while, but will report back in when I can lay my hands on some 300 gr SMK and retumbo.

 

[SidecarFlip]

When I picked up my 11-111 from the dealer, the first thing I checked was the securement of the rail and it was 35 inch pounds on the 2 rearmost screws and the front screw was loose., so loose that I'm suprised that it didn't fall out in transit....

I removed it (rail) anyway and checked the rail to receiver surfaces for compatibility ( making sure they matched without any high spots). I also miked each end because at that time there was a thread on here about whether Savage shipped with a 0 MOA rail or a cant rail...according to the Savage website thr 11-111 series only comes with a cant EGW rail and it is canted BTW), plus I applied threadlocker to the mounting screws and reset them all to 35 inch pounds before ever mounting rings (Warne Maxima Steel).

Keep in mind, when torquing the mount screws, the protrusion of the screw(s) as they relate to the bolt itself. You may have to grind off a bit of the body of the screw so it's not proud of the top underside surface of the receiver when torqued.

IMO, while the firearms are a great value for the price, component assembly is a bit cobbly at times. I reworked the adjustable cheekpiece mounting. The attachment screws, when the knobs were tight, stuck out over 1/4", waiting to snag something. They got cut off and the clunky knobs replaced with knurled aluminum knobs.

 

[green 788]

see if you can slip a bullet into the case mouth of the Hornady fired case... I'll bet you can't.

 

[jlamb]

Sidecar,

I have to full lenth size about every 3 to 4 reloads on Lapua brass. I have witnessed a brass growth issue on my custom 6.5-06 which has a very tight chamber. This also requires me to turn the outides of the case neck to .014. Think about it this way - upon firing, your neck expands to touch the throat and then shrinks. If your case necks are too thick (.015+) they might not be shrinking enough.

Just a thought.

...Back to brass....

How much do the cases grow or do they grow at all, with a FL resize and is there any growth with a neck size only?

The reason I ask that is my 5.56 cases exhibit no growrh with neck sizing but exhibit growrh if I FL resize.

 

[SidecarFlip]

The other varible in the equation is the relationship of the neck diameter as it relates to workhardening,

I've seen no mention of case neck annealing in this thread...yet. Jeff regularly anneals his .338 cases. Brass, much like aluminum, looses it's elasticity when worked.

Thought I haven't begun to reload .338 brass yet, I will at some point, so annealing will be part of that regimen. The only question is how often. I'm pretty sure that Jeff has a benchmark on frequency of annealing as it relates to case neck tension and cracking.

Just collecting once fired cases now...

 

[bigry26]

Here is a group from yesterday 90.5 g retumbo with 300 g bergers 3.740 oal lapua brass.

 

[SidecarFlip]

............Thats nice. What distance?

 

[bigry26]

thats at 100 yards. went back out today and was getting a little over 6" 5 shot groups at 1000. I also took my longest shot today at 1330 Ryan

 

[orch]

Nice group bigry!.....

Sidecarflip... I have found I need to anneal about every fourth reload cycle on my Lapua brass.... I full length size with a FL redding bushing die bumping the shoulder about 2 thou so I'm working the brass minimally each resize... If you neck size only you may be able to stretch out that interval a little longer... But you may find after 4 to 5 loadings your brass may start to chamber a little harder indicating a fl resize is needed at which time I would anneal the cases before you fl resize...

Orch

 

[LayinItDown]

Think I'm gonna settle on a load, since the bear hunt is a week away. I pulled the 285 Hornady out to 3.72 and pressure signs really showed up. Sticky bolt and a click at the top. I ran back to the house and pushed them in to 3.712 and they shot pretty good. 87.5 of RL-25 was tight at 300 yards with one shot about an 1" off. I can work with that.

Could the sticky bolt be due to the norma brass? I'm frustrated I went with Norma, but I've got um so I'm using them for now.

I also picked up some Retumbo to try after the hunt. Thanks for all the info everyone. This ended up being a great thread.

 

[orch]

Think I'm gonna settle on a load, since the bear hunt is a week away. I pulled the 285 Hornady out to 3.72 and pressure signs really showed up. Sticky bolt and a click at the top. I ran back to the house and pushed them in to 3.712 and they shot pretty good. 87.5 of RL-25 was tight at 300 yards with one shot about an 1" off. I can work with that.

Could the sticky bolt be due to the norma brass? I'm frustrated I went with Norma, but I've got um so I'm using them for now.

I also picked up some Retumbo to try after the hunt. Thanks for all the info everyone. This ended up being a great thread.

well if they were sticking when you had pressure signs from seating into the lands causing a pressure spike.. i would say that lapua brass probably would have done the same thing... overpressure is overpressure no matter what case you run with.... were they still sticking after you backed the oal off? if not then i'd say you were at the ragged edge of you pressure max with 87.5grs and seating them out closer or into the lands is pushing your pressure over max... if they are still sticking no matter if you are at your low powder charge end or at the top end then i would look more at the brass or maybe your resizing technique or dies as the problem....

orch