110BA .338 and Stuck Cases

[cavjock97]

I am a new member trying to understand why my 110BA sticks cases on relatively light powder charges( 87 to 93 grains of Retumbo). I have used 3 different 300 grain bullets and have had stuck cases with all of these combinations. Bolt lift is not very heavy and primers are still rounded.

This is my first and only Savage.

Has anybody else experienced this, and if so, was there a remedy?

This gun is exceptionally accurate and a joy to shoot, except that it is currently a single shot muzzle loader.

I tried my best to use the search function, but to no avail. I apologize if this has been discussed before, and would appreciate if someone could provide a link to a relevant discussion.

Thanks in advance,

Cavjock

[earl39]

Is this Nosler brass? if so do a search for " 338 Lapua not ejecting "

[sparky123321]

Switch to Lapua brass and you'll be fine. I started with Hornady brass and had to tap each one out with a cleaning rod. No problems with lapua brass, even with hotter loads.

[cavjock97]

I am shooting Lapua brass.

Thanks,

Cavjock

[bodywerks]

Tons of info on this. Long story short, you are not alone and the brass has nothing to do with it. Many have reset the headspace themselves and it had fixed their issue. People who aren't having the problem are not running the 300gr bullets. They probably aren't getting the pressure spikes that cause the tight brass. I don't know. All i know is i sold my 110ba because i was tired of effing with it.

[SHL540KB308]

Welcome to the forum!! Lets see if I can help, with a few answers from you.

1. New Lapua brass chambers, fires and ejects pretty good?

2. Resized Lapua chambers fine, fires, but does not eject?

3. I assume you resize the case and bump the shoulder back?

Later, Brad

[cavjock97]

bodywerks:

My smith reset the headspace because it failed the go-no-go gauges. Chamber was to tight. This seemed to help, but it has warmed up here and I stuck 5 cases in a row yesterday. I, too and getting tired and a lot poorer trying to get the old girl running right.

To answer SHL540KB308:

Yes, I don't remember having any issues with new Lapua brass.
I full length resize every time and bump the shoulder .003. Resized brass chambers and fires fine, but does not eject.

Cavjock

[SHL540KB308]

Excellent!!

1. Measure a new case (if you have any left) right at the base?

2. Measure a resized case right at the base?

Later, Brad

[cavjock97]

Brad, unfortunately I do not have any new brass. Resized brass measures .584.

Hornady manual states case dimension at the head is .587.

Thanks!

[SHL540KB308]

Good job!!

New brass will measure .582 to .583. .584 is not a bad number, but need to be less for this case to work, you are so close.

Here comes the hard part. You need to make this smaller, but your already bumping the shoulder back, .003 is plenty. You can't cut your die off or your shell holder, this will only bump the shoulder back more and you will gain nothing at the bottom. Small base dies are the best way to go, but are exspensive and take forever to get for a .338.

Only quick and easy fix is to buy a body die and cut the top off below the shoulder, trim the bottom until it will size the case another .001 smaller, go back and cut as much of the top off as you can. Run the body die down until it touches the shell holder. What you have now is a die that just sizes the base of the case. After this step you will have to run it through your regular die to bump the shoulder back. If you can size your case head just a little more it will work just fine.

Hope I explained this well enough for you to understand what you need to do, any questions just ask.

Later, Brad

[cavjock97]

Thanks, Brad! I will play around with this and see what I can come up with. I still don't understand why I would need to go smaller, if the round chambers easily and the case specs show larger than what I am measuring. I wonder if my smith or Savage could ream the chamber, if it is too tight?

-Cavjock

[sinman]

If it was me I would set the barrel back and cut the chamber to the proper depth. That should clean up the Savage chamber and set the headspace correctly. I am very surprised your smith didn't offer that right away. I have done this to 3 of my local customers and they haven't had a problem since. One of them blew 2 case heads off with light loads it was so bad.

[cavjock97]

The gun is at the smith's right now, and that may be the next step. How far back would he have to set the barrel? I don't want to lose too much velocity.

Thanks, sinman

-Cavjock

[SHL540KB308]

I guess that is a choice you'll have to make. Do I cut the chamber to work with my resized brass or do I work with my brass to fit the chamber I now have? Velocity will not change. sinman might be able to inform you on how much set back you can actually do on the stock barrel.

Later, Brad (off to work)

[sinman]

you should cut it back between .050-.100" but that is all depending on what the chamber looks like. I would have to have it in front of me to determine what I had to do.

[cavjock97]

Thanks, Brad and sinman. I believe I will talk to my smith about cutting the chamber. That sounds like the easiest and cheapest fix at this point. I will try to keep everybody informed as to my progress.

Thanks,

Cavjock

[bodywerks]

I'd look real, real hard at just getting a new prefit barrel before i paid a Smith to fix a factory barrel. Is to short already and not to many savage 338lm owners are punching ragged one hole groups with them.
I'd look for a criterion or Shilen prefit in a 28-30"length.

[cavjock97]

I'd look real, real hard at just getting a new prefit barrel before i paid a Smith to fix a factory barrel. Is to short already and not to many savage 338lm owners are punching ragged one hole groups with them.
I'd look for a criterion or Shilen prefit in a 28-30"length.

Herein lies one of the issues. This barrel happens to be very accurate, and it seems to be faster than most factory barrels as well. I will certainly look in to one of the pre-fit barrels and weigh that against cutting the chamber.

Thanks for your input, bodywerks.

Cavjock

[wihillbilly]

A buddy of mine had the same issue and sent the rifle back to savage and they reamed the chamber or polished it I don't remember but no problems at all after that and it didn't cost him anything.

[cavjock97]

A buddy of mine had the same issue and sent the rifle back to savage and they reamed the chamber or polished it I don't remember but no problems at all after that and it didn't cost him anything.

Do you think since my smith adjusted the head space on this rifle Savage will balk at fixing it?