28 Nosler Pressure Signs from Factory Ammo

[Kaptoe]

Figured this was best under reloading. Situation:

My gunsmith swapped my 338 WinMag barrell on a Savage 116 with a Shilen savage prefit Ratched rifled barrel in 28 Nosler. He has swapped savage barrels for me before and uses go/no go gauges. I shot factory Nosler ammo this am and had heavy bolt lift, and mild cratering on the primers. Most cases had no shiny swipe marks but the bolt lift was disconcerting. I have a message in to my smith of course and will likely call Nosler with the lot #'s and see what they say.

Rounds chambered fine and were not tight. Any thoughts on where to start? Disconcerting given the size of the powder column. Rifle shot very accurately

 

[Dmagna]

That's pretty typical with nosler brass

 

[Dean2]

Have you checked to see if there is there any case rim expansion, checked loose primer pockets, measured expansion at the head and compared it to the SAAMI cartridge and chamber drawing for the 28 Nosler. etc. To me the primers and case head don't look out of the ordinary, some primer cratering can easily be caused by too large a firing pin hole, you see this a lot on Rem and Savage rifles, The stiff bolt lift could be casued by something besides pressure, depending on how tight your smith set the headspace..

 

[Kaptoe]

Thanks for the look over and I will measure out the fired brass.

I have pushed pressure before and they don't look bad compared to some I have seen over the years. The bolt lift is odd

 

[Dean2]

Thanks for the look over and I will measure out the fired brass.

I have pushed pressure before and they don't look bad compared to some I have seen over the years. The bolt lift is odd

Next time you shoot, let the brass sit for 30 seconds before you attempt to extract it. If it comes out easier you know it for sure isn't pressure. Does the fired case go back in the chamber and the bolt close easily on it. If it binds, magic marker up the case and see where exactly it is tight. That will give you a real good indication of the cause.