338 excalibar on new lapua 110 action

[bbguns]

i have been thinking of building a custom 338 excalibar for awhile now and with the new lapua 110 action i was wondering if it could handle this cartridge or if it would be to much.
It should have the right bolt face and the lapua shows 61000 psi (down graded from 68000 ) and the excalibar shows 63800 psi. Also does anyone know what the barrel tenion
thickness is on the lapua actions? I would really like to do this on a savage but if will be to much i guess i will have fork out the money for the lawton.

[J.Baker]

I'd say no for a couple of reasons.

First, there's nothing special about the action Savage is using for the 338 Lapua other than the magazine/ejection ports and the bolt assembly in that they made the lugs on the bolt head thicker front to back (which in turn requires unique lengths on the other bolt components). I and several others much, much smarter than I in these matters don't feel the Savage action is adequate for the pressures being produced.

Second, there are already examples of Savage rifles in 338 Lapua showing up with reported lug setback issues, which basically reinforces my opinion on the first reason above. The Savage lugs just don't have enough surface area to handle the 338 Lapua.

What Savage should have done was increase the size of the lugs, not in depth, but in the surface area for increased bearing surface so the pressure is being distributed over a larger area.

[bbguns]

thanks for the info that is what i was looking for.

[khuff]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but.....

MrFurious

I am in the process of assembling everything for a 338 Edge build on the LS 300RUM action, the Edge is only ~1to2% different than the 338Lapua in volume. Your information on possible problems with the Lapua gives me pause for the "unreinforced" RUM action.

I'd like to know what you think of the 338 Edge build?

[tyler.woodard04]

its a case head area issue. the rum applies less bolt thrust due to a smaller case head.

[efm77]

The Lapua action also undergoes a different tempering/heat treatment process to make the steel harder/stronger too aside from just having thicker lugs and lug recesses and longer magazine. I too have also heard of the lug setback stories but have yet to see any proof. I'm no expert either but also think the action is marginal for such a large cartridge. The other think I question too though is Remington has also made quite a few Lapuas on 700's and it doesn't appear that they did anything any different either other than maybe different heat treatment process and I haven't heard of any problems with them. In my experience I've always thought the Savage action was at least as strong as the 700 and in a lot of ways even safer (gas venting/baffles).