.338 LM ,, where to get it!

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bobdbldr

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My Savage .338 LM is on the way and while looking for ammo so far Hornady 20 rnd box at Tradeex is the best price, so does anyone else know where to pick up .338 LM, this will be for breaking in,, sighting in and long range shooting , plus reloading the brass!!? Any help is appreciated.
Cheers Bob
 
To reinforce Potasz's post; everyone I know with a Savage in 338 who tried Hornady factory ammo had stuck cases. The ammo didn't appear overpressure but the brass was just way too soft. Most guys had to use a soft mallet or handle of a screwdriver to tap their bolt open after shooting Hornady ammo.

Lapua brass is some of the most expensive but it's for good reason. Buying some Lapua brass and loading your own rounds even for break-in will most likely serve you best. For break-in many people use cheaper hunting bullets (rather than long range match bullets) designed for other 338 cartridges (338 Win, 340 Weatherby, etc.).
 
Ok, so far lapua has it hands down,, I figured it would, just thought maybe there was another great dark horse out there. So where is the best/ cheapest place to get lapua brass/ammo? Not much on the EE and usually is priced pretty high there anyway!
 
Hirsch Precision
Mystic Precision
Budget Shooter Supply

That's just off the top of my head as to who carries Lapua brass. They are all usually fairly close in price so whoever is closest can often ship for the cheapest and make or break for best price. Since you're in Nova Scotia it may be best to try Hirsch since they're on the East coast somewhere. Budget is great to deal with but shipping from the West to East coast could make it more expensive. I've never ordered from Mystic but I've only heard great things about them.
 
Yep, just checking around, Hirsch is the closest and their brass prices seem good,,, relatively speaking in .338LM terms! The ammo isn't to bad either. $300/100 pieces of Lapua brass. Just under $7 a round for their factory stuff,,, you can buy jewellery for less, but then again it's .338!!!
 
Potasz said:
Hornady brass not the greatest for savages ...go with lapua it's worth every penny
Click to expand...

A few years ago it was determined that Hornady .338 LM ammo would stick in the chamber on extraction on many Savage chambered rifles. Both companies claimed they were building their ammo/guns according to SAMMII specs. As there appeared to be no problem with Hornady ammo in any other guns a little further inspection determined two things. Hornady had intentionally made their brass in this caliber a little softer to prevent case splitting as they are also a component manufacturer and expected their brass to be reloaded considering the intense pressure they had seen this with other manufacturers. Hornady then wondered why only Savages were a problem and inspection of the chambers found rougher surfaces that allowed their softer brass to flow into these rough spots thus causing hard extraction. Savage was unwilling to polish their chambers or manufacturer procedures(apparently polishing the chamber after the fact removed this problem). Hornady then changed the formulation of their .338 LP brass to make it harder and has done so for the last couple of years thus limiting the extraction problem. Phil.
 
We carry .338 LM ammunition in Lapua, Sellier & Bellot, Hornady and Federal. Just found one case of new Hornady Primed .338 LM casings....150 casings for $300. Phil.
 
When I purchased my .338LM, I bought several boxes of S&B to sight in the scope and get used to shooting the rifle at several distances once sighted.

The best avenue to take when shooting the likes of .338LM, is to get into reloading. Good/Match factory ammo is just a bit too costly to really reach out for long range shooting. Reloading will provide excellent accuracy and will cost substantially less per round.

As mentioned above, I also read that Lapua brass is the best to use when reloading a .338LM. As I was shooting the rifle with S&B, I began to search for once fired .338LM Lapua brass. Over time I managed to get my hands on 160 once fired on the EE. 100 for $1.25 and 60 for $1.50, which is a very good deal if you check what a box of unfired .338LM Lapua brass sells for!

Two of my sons each bought me a box of 20 Federal Gold Match .338LM for my last birthday. I've almost finished it, so those 40 once fired will add to the brass collection.

However, I got really lucky a couple of years ago and found a guy on the EE that had 9 boxes of 10 = 90 rounds of factory .338LM Lapua match ammo! I ended up buying it from him for the same price I was paying for S&B factory!!!
I should be set up to reload for this coming summer.

I've still got the S&B brass, which is once fired and from what I understand is very good to reload. If you want what I have, you pay for shipping and they are yours.

Also, recently I noticed a member on here (DG Photography) had some excellent quality .338LM ammo for sale a while ago. You may want to send him a PM to see is he still has any left.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...mmo-10-round-sealed-boxes-same-lot-very-cheap!!

Cheers,

blackacres
 
I recently bought my 110ba 338. After blowing through 3 boxes of honady I reloaded the cases. All 60. The next trip out I shot 2 that had troubles ejecting, i then stopped using this gun. Cases were all fine, so i assume my problem is as listed above. My question is will it be safe to keep firing the remaining reloads? I will buy lapua brass eventually but I hate to see this wasted.
 
Is it a hard job to lightly polish the chamber? If a guy can do it himself, to fix this small problem, also, if properly done, would polishing the chamber hurt/help or not affect accuracy! I am thinking no effect!
 
Hey bobdbldr,

If you are the original owner of the Savage rifle, or if you decide to call Savage, give them the serial number on your rifle and tell them you are!

Savage stands behind every rifle they produce. If they feel there is a problem with the rifle, they will assist you.

Instead of you trying to clean up the chamber, with the chance of doing a 'bubba' job, or paying a gunsmith to clean up the chamber, if I were you, I would contact Savage directly.

Tell them that you are experiencing fail to extract empty brass even when shooting NA made quality ammo. Tell them the problem you are having "empty rounds sticking in the chamber", and "they are tough to eject". I'm betting that they will advise you to return the rifle and they will either correct the problem, or send you a new action/barrel, or perhaps a new gun!

Savage is one of the few remaining companies that provides this type of service.

You may be without your rifle for a bit of time, but IMHO, it's a wise way to proceed.

Start by calling Savage Canada, don't go the main Savage website/phone number.

Savage Canada - 1-705-652-8000. Ask to speak with the person in charge of rifle warranty issues for Canadian owners. Oh, and have the serial number for your rifle handy.

Good luck. From a 'die hard' Savage fan!
 
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