revamped 110 in 338 Lapua

**tobnpr** · 10-22-2019, 03:21 PM

Little bit of a different animal, as Mauser receivers were case-hardened and not through-hardened.
Thickness/depth of the hardening was often inconsistent (particularly wartime K98k's) as were the alloys. Heavy round count, grit could wear through thin case hardening and from that point setback of the soft "core" would rapidly progress.

For me, even as a riflesmith, I couldn't justify 3 grand to build a .338 LM that would only rarely be shot (no place beyond 600 yards available currently) and rather than barrel-up an M700 action with basically the same "issues", I bought a Savage BA Tactical; the Savage does at least have the larger lugs. I'm confident their engineers haven't ditched the usual safety factors, as a catastrophic failure would be devastating and I've yet to hear of one blowing up. An entire rifle, for the cost of an oversize Defiance receiver. Don't misunderstand, apples and oranges- but I was curious how this rig would perform in a field where they typically cost 3x as much.

Time will tell...

Barrel's the worst one I've ever seen through a borescope, but shoots honest 3/4 minute with about 100 rounds down the tube with H1000 and 300 SMK's.
I'm going to pull the barrel at 200 rounds and inspect the lug abutments to see how they're holding up. If there's no evidence of accelerated wear, and the promised JTAC Ranch in FL ever opens, I'll probably spin up a shouldered Bartlein for it. If it shows evidence of setback, I'll face off the lugs and abutments, turn it into a .300 PRC and build another off a Defiance.

**efm77** · 10-30-2019, 06:33 AM

I have the very same model that the OP has as well as a 112 Magnum Target. So far they've both been great but only have 40-50 rounds through them. I've heard of the lug set back problems with regular receivers but thought the Lapua specific receivers were beefed enough to not be an issue. Now reading these posts over the last few days is giving me pause. I'm wondering if you have lug set back, if you can adjust your headspace to match it and keep shooting safely or not? Or will it continue to compress deeper in to the abutments? As much as it pains me, this is making me think of switching to the RPR in this caliber.

**thermaler** · 01-15-2020, 02:59 AM

Sorry I've been gone for a while, I wasn't ignoring these useful posts. I've got maybe a couple hundred shots through mine but haven't thought to check for any setback--in fact I wasn't really aware it's a thing with this model so I appreciate the head's up.

**efm77** · 01-15-2020, 06:42 AM

Thermaler if you get a chance to check your headspace, let us know what you find.

**thermaler** · 01-15-2020, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by efm77

Thermaler if you get a chance to check your headspace, let us know what you find.

Will do. I did take a quick look at the bolt--I do have some minor pitting on the bolt face outer circumference, but saw no other signs of wear or deformation. It's camming action to the receiver is pretty stiff--so I wouldn't notice any difference after firing unless it was really bad--which so far I haven't. Recent ballistic studies I've read have shown that the 285/295 gr area are optimal for the 338 LM--so I haven't loaded any 300+ gr full-power anti-submarine level loads yet.

**thermaler** · 01-15-2020, 11:19 AM

I called savage this morning and asked for details about what "over-pressure fail factor" their system is tested to, the guy who I talked to said he didn't know or could reveal that. He also said that he wasn't aware of any bolt set-back issues involved with this model nor that they had been notified by any gunsmiths of any. He also said I was free to send the gun to them for an inspection if I wanted to.

**efm77** · 01-16-2020, 09:53 AM

Thanks for that update. I haven't heard of any issues of it either but am curious to find out more about it. The only place I've heard of it being a problem was on this forum from Sharpshooter and a couple others. He said he's seen it on Lapua models, as well as RUM's and WSM's. I've asked a couple times on Facebook pages dedicated to Savages as well as 338 LM's and no one on either of those pages reported having any issues. One guy claims to have over 15k rounds through one (I'm sure he's changed barrels in that time, but was referring to the action itself) with no issues, and about 3k through another with no issues. I've got a set of 338 Lapua headspace gauges that I will monitor mine with to keep an eye on it as well. As to the camming action of the action itself, yes it is inherently stiff anyway so would be hard to tell. Like you though, I haven't had any issues yet.