Savage recoil lug, and head spacing ? for 338edge

[Rugerdiggs]

I am fixing to order a stock and checking to see what thickness of recoil lug i should use. I have a savage 116 flat rear reciever with a 300win mag barrel in it for now and fixing to unscrew it and put a 30" mcgowen 338 edge barrel in its place. The recoil lug thats on action is 3/32" thick should i go with a 1/4"? What the thoughts on it and i have the brass and dies for it. Should i head space with a sized piece of brass or get a go gauge? Please let me know what you think?

 

[acloco]

1/4" will work fine.

I headspace all of my Savage builds with a piece of NEW brass. But, remove the ejector and extractor from the bolthead when headspacing.

 

[Rugerdiggs]

1/4" will work fine.

I headspace all of my Savage builds with a piece of NEW brass. But, remove the ejector and extractor from the bolthead when headspacing.

I have 100 pieces of new remington brand 300 remington ultra mag brass. Should i first resize to 338 edge before i use them for headspacing?

 

[acloco]

I would try both - 300 and the necked up version.

I don't know if there is any change in shoulder angle with the reamer used on your barrel.

 

[toddc]

1/4" will work fine.

I headspace all of my Savage builds with a piece of NEW brass. But, remove the ejector and extractor from the bolthead when headspacing.

Might try leaving the ejector out for good they shoot better.

 

[Rugerdiggs]

Might try leaving the ejector out for good they shoot better.

Please share, never heard of that but all ears for more accuracy

 

[MachV]

The idea is that the brass sits in the chamber without a side fource the ejector puts on it. Its more of a factor with a factory chamber than a custom....Usually.
I'm a big fan of useing a resized case for stting the headspace but if this is your first rodeo a guage might be better?
I would also get ahold of Shawn to get on his list for brass.....

 

[Rugerdiggs]

Not my first savage build but wasnt sure since you cant buy factory 338edge brass ( that i know of ), you have to neck up 300 rum brass that i should use factory new 300rum brass to head space or run the new brass throught the dies then use the new "sized brass" to head space with, or be better off getting a go gauge. I want to do it the best way to achieve the better quality, have spent alot of money in this project so far and not trying to skimp on a $35 component but if the brass is better im all in for it.

 

[geargrinder]

The Shawn that MachV was talking about is Shawn Carlock. He is getting a batch of 338 Edge headstamped Bertram brass.

I've had issues using new brass to set headspace. The new brass was so much smaller, that when fired the brass was still too small to be FL sized. I had to re-headspace out a bit to blow them out enough to get re-sized properly.

I prefer to use a piece that has been fired, annealed, then FL sized.

 

[kermodie]

I would recommend using the correct gauge. There are too many discrepencies in using new brass.

I ordered a Clymer 300 Ultra Go-Gauge from Brownells for $25.00 and had it in about 3-4 days. #184-100-306 9 (There are others but that's the one I used)

Remove the firing pin and ejector, then set the head space so the bolt just closes on the go gauge. Then place a piece of Scotch Tape on the end of the gauge and ensure the bolt does not close. You won't get it any better than that.

JMTC

 

[jcoop]

The Shawn that MachV was talking about is Shawn Carlock. He is getting a batch of 338 Edge headstamped Bertram brass.

I've had issues using new brass to set headspace. The new brass was so much smaller, that when fired the brass was still too small to be FL sized. I had to re-headspace out a bit to blow them out enough to get re-sized properly.

I prefer to use a piece that has been fired, annealed, then FL sized.

Exactly what I do. New brass is too undersized in my experience. I prefer to use once fired resized. I used once fired resized 300 rum brass to set my edge with no issues.

 

[Rugerdiggs]

Well i dont have any fired 338edge brass or fired 300rum brass all i have is new 300rum brass so i called Dave Manson and he is shipping out a go gauge. I did put the thing together last night, not headspaced but had to see what it looked like. Going to pull back apart and send the action up to Jim See to go ahead and true and blue it before i shoot it.

 

[MachV]

Looks good and it sounds like you got a good handle on it....Exept for one little thing that can be a big thing= The brake has holes in the bottom of itlightbulb
Got a nasty reminder yesterday of what shooting off the ground and muzzle blast can do, still trying to get the dang dirt out of my eyes and the 7mag doesnt even have a brake. I would have enjoyed shooting the 338 Edge with its side port brake but I forgot the ammo ;-(

 

[Rugerdiggs]

Yea that brake came with it, going to see just how bad it is and might end up with a 4 port muscle brake, they are awesome and i have test the one i currently have on a savage 12bvss 300wsm on back of a flatbed with a layer of loose hay and didnt get a single piece on me after 5 shots.