Remington 700 .338 Ejection issues

[MarshallX]

Having ejection issues with my remington 700 in 338LM. Extraction happens without issue, but the ejection doesn't happen. Pulling back slowly or fast as fck boy makes no difference, the brass will either stay attached to the bolt face by the extractor, or it will drop down ontop of the mag/next round. Looking closer, it seem the tip of the neck, after it clears the chamber, will make contact with the spuhr mount attached to the rail. The ejector spring is plenty strong, feels about identical to that in my 308 R700, only difference between the bolts (other than length obv) is the 338lm uses the sako style extractor. So it seems the tiny contact with the mount is causing this issue on this rifle. The same issue doesnt occur on my 308, with the exact same mount. Is there anything that can be done to correct this besides replacing the mount, perhaps a way to change the angle of ejection? Attached some pics for context. The obv stuff like cleaning the bolt and proper lubrication is already done.

 

[emerson]

Sako 85 has a long history of poor ejection. A Sako ejector is not always a good thing. Maybe Google that.

 

[dan belisle]

Sako 85 has a long history of poor ejection. A Sako ejector is not always a good thing. Maybe Google that.

That's the extractor, which seems to be working fine. Ejector is standard Remington fare. In any case, were it mine, i would look at modifying that mount slightly in the center on the RH side for more clearance and try that. - dan

 

[Harwood]

Perhaps a higher scope rail would give you the clearance you need?

MDT makes an elevated one: https://mdttac.ca/mdt-high-scope-base/

 

[MarshallX]

Perhaps a higher scope rail would give you the clearance you need?

MDT makes an elevated one: https://mdttac.ca/mdt-high-scope-base/

This is the path I've started to go down today. On a closer look, the spuhr rail on the 308 is higher base than the steel rail on the 338lm, so thats why the round ejects and the other doesnt. Contacted Spuhr, but they dont make a long action magnum rail with 8-40 screws. So I've been hunting for someone that does, was referred to Ken Ferrell by the rep at Spuhr, but he's in the states, and nobody seems to have his rails up here.

That MDT rail seems to be what I'm looking for, really didnt want to get rid of this mount. I appreciate the suggestion, going to give them a call.

 

[DANS40X]

OP,
Remove the scope & mount from the receiver.
Remove the Bbl'd action from the stock.
Remove the mag box follower & spring.
Invert/flip the receiver up side down.
Pull the bolt back until the bolt lug touches the bolt stop.

There is a half football shape cut in the fwd corner of the rear bridge/ejection port.
The outer edge is close to the upper bolt lug raceway,the inner edge may need to be blended/laid back w/a rotary burr & cratex wheel so it does not hit the brass at the 200 datum line nocking the case off the extractor allowing it to fall back into the receiver.

If more case clearance is required,cut the fwd face of the rear bridge/aft end of the ejection port....aka 40X single shot.

Your bolt has a SAKO extractor or a pinned mini 16 type extractor?
The ejector is correct @0900 for the SAKO or 16 type ejector.

 

[MarshallX]

OP,
Remove the scope & mount from the receiver.
Remove the Bbl'd action from the stock.
Remove the mag box follower & spring.
Invert/flip the receiver up side down.
Pull the bolt back until the bolt lug touches the bolt stop.

There is a half football shape cut in the fwd corner of the rear bridge/ejection port.
The outer edge is close to the upper bolt lug raceway,the inner edge may need to be blended/laid back w/a rotary burr & cratex wheel so it does not hit the brass at the 200 datum line nocking the case off the extractor allowing it to fall back into the receiver.

If more case clearance is required,cut the fwd face of the rear bridge/aft end of the ejection port....aka 40X single shot.

Your bolt has a SAKO extractor or a pinned mini 16 type extractor?
The ejector is correct @0900 for the SAKO or 16 type ejector.

From what Ive read its a sako style extractor used on the 338's from the factory.

If I'm understanding the area you're referencing, the area in the attached pic with the brass scape on it, is the area needing polishing?



I also picked up a 20MOA raid at lunch and tried the cycling (hence the brass scrapes) and have found ejection is now happening 50% of the time, but marks still show on the base of the scope mount, so that high MDT rail (which is ofcourse out of stock) or similar might be required.

 

[CanXB]

This is what I use on my 338LM with the 8-40 screws. I also feel it is slightly higher than most rails.

https://www.leupold.com/backcountry-cross-slot-base-remington-700-la-8-40

https://www.leupold.com/backcountry-cross-slot-base-remington-700-la-8-40-20-moa

 

[DANS40X]

From what Ive read its a sako style extractor used on the 338's from the factory.

If I'm understanding the area you're referencing, the area in the attached pic with the brass scape on it, is the area needing polishing?

View attachment 686950

I also picked up a 20MOA raid at lunch and tried the cycling (hence the brass scrapes) and have found ejection is now happening 50% of the time, but marks still show on the base of the scope mount, so that high MDT rail (which is ofcourse out of stock) or similar might be required.

As per your pic/instructions-

Removal of the bottom metal will provide you the big picture.

The 1/2 football shape scallop inboard of the bolt rails is the cause of the brass marks that you witness.

Look at any piece of ejected brass & it will have a ding(football scallop)& scrape(bolt rail) that has caused your ejection issues.

700 338Lapua Mag bolt noses have a pinned mini 16 extractor installed from the factory.

A SAKO extractor will have a spring loaded plunger to apply tension & to keep it captive in the bolt nose.

 

[Twan]

The real issue is the length of the ejection port, relative to where the neck of the case clears the ejection port. When the case neck clears the leading edge of the ejection port, the rear of the case has a significant portion now being blocked by the receiver aft of the rear portion of the ejection port.

As DANS40X said above, the scalloped cut on the upper right interior of the action, where it sits above the right bolt lug raceway (when viewed from the rear/top of the action) could also be contributing.

Have you by chance tested ejection with the SPUHR mount/optic removed? If not, give that a go, and then also try ejection with the rail removed to isloate those two factors. It's possible you could see ejection issue go away, or it may still persist even with the bare action, which would indicate the likely cause is more along the lines of both my initial note above or DANS40X comments.

 

[MarshallX]

The real issue is the length of the ejection port, relative to where the neck of the case clears the ejection port. When the case neck clears the leading edge of the ejection port, the rear of the case has a significant portion now being blocked by the receiver aft of the rear portion of the ejection port.

As DANS40X said above, the scalloped cut on the upper right interior of the action, where it sits above the right bolt lug raceway (when viewed from the rear/top of the action) could also be contributing.

Have you by chance tested ejection with the SPUHR mount/optic removed? If not, give that a go, and then also try ejection with the rail removed to isloate those two factors. It's possible you could see ejection issue go away, or it may still persist even with the bare action, which would indicate the likely cause is more along the lines of both my initial note above or DANS40X comments.

Yeah I have tried that, its pretty much 100% ejection every time without the spuhr mount, the empty case is definitely hitting the bottom edge of the mount, can see it making contact in the first pics. The solution I guess is a higher mount, I've ordered the MDT high mount. My gripe I guess is, the exact setup on .308 ejects at horizontal (3 oclock ) to the side, but with this 338, its going up at more of a 45 / 1oclock. Didnt notice the difference until I swapped the rings for a one piece mount.

The EGW HD 20MOA mount added some height vs the generic steel 10MOA mount so its about 50% successful on ejection with the mount installed, I expect with the MDT rail whenever that shows up, will go back to being successful near 100% of the time. So I guess problem solved by using a higher rail, just sucks the angle it ejects at is so high.

 

[MarshallX]

High mount MDT rail showed up, mounted and that fixed the ejection issues. Just needed more vertical clearance to stop the spend case from hitting the bottom of the spuhr mount.