Savage 11/111 338 lapua case sticking problems

[jcraft1]

Yeah I think I will eliminate that headache before it starts and just work on Getting some Lapua Brass. Very pleased though with the Federal stuff though three making a nice tight little cloverleaf. Thanks for the input... any is appreciated!! I am new to the Lapua club after shooting a lot of 338 RUM.

 

[green 788]

Bolt seems fine after firing bolt lifts but pulls over brass , I have had 3 different lots of hornady factory 1-2 from each box stuck. New lapua brass 1 got stuck after reloding case 3 times others were fine using h 1000 and re 25 ,re22

been there done that... you gotta knock 'em out with a dewey rod... lookin' like a frontiersman loading his musket out there... embarrassing, sort of.

You said Hornady was wanting to help... they need to measure the case head diameter of their brass. It's about .002" TOO SMALL, and the Savage extractor can miss the rim at times. You can put the same spent shell back in the chamber and it'll still not extract (but tilt the muzzle up and the case falls out)...

Savage can send you a new extractor. If you adequately describe your problem to them they'll understand what's going on (if you get the right tech) and you'll get a new extractor, spring and ball in the mail.

Compare the Lapua brand rims to the Hornady rims and you'll see the .002" difference. Small amount of difference, yes, but enough to cause the Savage extractor to miss the rim sometimes.

I have never had a Lapua brand case do this in my rifle, for what it's worth. Savage did send me a new extractor, but I have not installed it since switching to Lapua brass fixed my issue.

Dan

 

[green 788]

A second issue with the Hornady brass is it is often TOO LONG. They need to increase their case head diameter, and DECREASE their "trim to" length.

The cases that literally stick in the chamber (a separate issue from just the extractor missing the rim and the bolt coming back empty handed)...

...anyway, these cases that tend to stick are probably too long, if you measure them they'll be as long as 2.745" in some cases, fully .030" longer than they should be, at around 2.715" for the Savage chamber. A case that is too long can "bottom out" in the chamber and crimp the bullet like a vise--driving up pressure greatly, and yes, sticking the case in the chamber as often happens with over-pressure loads.

The Savage chamber is very tight, and that's a good thing... once you have brass that works in it, and of course the Lapua brass does work.

Dan

 

[WEATHERBY460]

brass needs to be trimmed to 2.710"...not 2.714"...that will fix this issue

 

[jcraft1]

So would that hold true for the Hornady Match Ammo as well? The brass still being too long. I 'll try trimming them back and hopefully as was said earlier it will solve the problem.. But I have Lapua Brass on the way!!gun)

 

[sunsetpalms]

Good Info. wish i would have read this before I fired Hornady factory ammo in my 111 today. Same story. Case stuck on the first shot but came out easly with a tap of a rod. Have some Lapua Brass coming so I guess the Hornady is going on Gunbrokerlightbulb

 

[Texas Republic]

I had the same trouble with my 111 and hornady brass. Ordered 50 rounds of lapua brass and no problems with the first firing. I neck sized them the second load and they extracted fine, but the bolt was pretty stiff in extracting them. Fairly certain its not too hot of a load because it did it all the way through the powder ladder I went through with Retumbo. Is anyone neck sizing the second load, or is FL sizing best each and every time?

I havent had very much luck with Retumbo and 300 gr SMK. I went from 88gr - 92gr. Loads 88.5-90 did decent, but nothing close to what it should be doing at 100 yards. Anyone use R25 or H1000?

 

[sunsetpalms]

Good Info Texas. Thanks I loaded some Nossler and some Lapua brass. Fired about 5 each with no problems. Seems to one consistant variable in this problem.

 

[jcraft1]

I know that I am ready to either scrap the 338 Lapua or just shoot factory ammo and sell off the brass once fired. Shouldn't be this hard when reloading in my opinion.. very frustrating to spend all the $$$$ working up loads and have to tap them out with a cleaning rod after almost every shot!

My 338 RUM is no where near this finicky for loads and my 308's are even cheaper!!

 

[barnesuser28]

are you using Lapua brass? If not it should solve all your problems.

 

[jcraft1]

No Barnes, I unfortunately bought up a bunch of hornady and HSM brass because no Lapua was available at the time. my rant is surely out of frustration as you can tell and I am going to try some Lapua brass before I throw in the towel. I do have some once fired out of my own rifle as the Federal match stuff is made with the Lapua brass, so I'l neck size that and see how it goes.. Thanks for the comment!!gun)Plus can anyone put to rest for me the statement of how long(distance) does it take for that 300 grain bullet to start to stabilize. I hear conflicting opinions on this.

 

[barnesuser28]

The Lapua brass should solve your problems. If you havent decided what bullet to shoot yet i would highly reccomend the 280 grain Barnes Lrx, it gave me great accuracy in a savage 110 fcp hs 338 Lapua http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/savage-110-fcp-hs-338-lapua-accuracy-92213/. As far as how long it takes a 300 grain bullet to stabalize, the holes on my 100 yards targets are not perfectly round so that suggests that the bullets are fishtailing a little so with that said i would say 150-200 yards to fully stabalize.

 

[Texas Republic]

No Barnes, I unfortunately bought up a bunch of hornady and HSM brass because no Lapua was available at the time. my rant is surely out of frustration as you can tell and I am going to try some Lapua brass before I throw in the towel. I do have some once fired out of my own rifle as the Federal match stuff is made with the Lapua brass, so I'l neck size that and see how it goes.. Thanks for the comment!!gun)Plus can anyone put to rest for me the statement of how long(distance) does it take for that 300 grain bullet to start to stabilize. I hear conflicting opinions on this.

I feel your pain. I went through the same issues you are. I switched to Lapua brass and everything is fine so far on my third reloading of them. I would FL size them every time though. I neck sized the second time and the bolt was stiff on every charge I tried. I forgot where I ordered them, but the website allows you to purchase lapua brass individually if you want. No idea why someone would want to purchase one brass casing. Maybe someone here knows where I am talking about. Ill go find my receipt if no one else knows. I only purchased 50 to test out. I didnt want to purchase 100 rounds and find out that wasnt the problem, so I went with a lower number and COST.

I am not sure about the stabilization of the 300gr. SMK I assume? I have seen both types of holes at 100 yards. I think it may depend on my load. Some were nice and circular, while other holes are jagged. I am not an expert, but just what I saw.

I FINALLY got a good group out with my rifle (savage 111 LRH) at 100 yards. (some circular..some jagged) See my post below on that thread with pics. I had trouble with Retumbo grouping well, so I switched to H1000 and it seems to work so far. Keeping my fingers crossed.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/reloading-suggestions-338-lapua-90602/index14.html

And as far as your Hornady brass is concerned.....I did the exact same thing. I have 60 rounds of it reloaded twice I think. I ordered a neck turner to see if I can get them in working order. I am fairly certain that the problem with them is that the neck has grown too thick and gets stuck in the chamber upon firing. Neck turning (trimming) them should bring them back for a couple rounds hopefully. I may just use them with my 225gr loads. I cant just throw them away. I think the neck turner and pilot cost me around $60. I assume the Lapua brass will require the same thing eventually (from what I have been told). I am 4 months into reloading, so I am by no means an expert.

 

[WEATHERBY460]

TTT...ANY OTHER IDEAS on how to stop this issue?