Quote Originally Posted by bearcatrp View Post
Thanks for replying. Your right about Lapua brass. Seems to take pressure better than other brass. Bought 100 for my 308 for load development, then use hornady match brass for the loads. Seems I cannot do the same thing with this 338LM as most folks say they have issues with all brass except lapua brass. I got 100 pieces with the rifle and bought 100 new so 200 should last me awhile. Have to get off my ass and anneal as this brass for 338 is friggin expensive. The cheapest I found was $269 at midway. From what I have read, some folks are up to 93.0 gr of retumbo. I'll stay with what I reloaded until I fire and see how it does. Seems the 285 ELD-M are doing well from posts I have read. I like Hornady ELD series. My 308 loves them.
I have used SMKs and later Bergers for 30 yrs on game. I had to buy some ELD-M to get Creed brass when it first came out. Boy am I glad I did. Easier to tune for jump and BETTER on game. I have had ELD-X expand at 1400 FPS. That is usually pencil time with a Berger or SMK.
I have 4k 300 gr SMKs left lol so I guess I will either shoot them or sell some because the 285 appears to be a great bullet.
I have switched to ELD from Berger and SMK on everything else. As a hunting solution they are going to be hard to beat as the primary issue of penciling is GONE. I killed from 20 yds to 1400 this year with the ELD M&X both and was very impressed.