One of the tests the CF had Diemaco do on the Timberwolf was to put a 250gr projectile in the throat, and then fire another 250gr round behind it. The only damage to the rifle was the main spring and sear broke from the firing pin going waaay back and then forward. The firing pin spring was over compressed and damaged. They changed the trigger and spring and repeated the test 5 times IIRC. There was no penetration to the witness screens placed in the position of the shooter and spotter. We were told that this is the only firearm they have ever seen to survive this test, and the Twolf did it MULTIPLE times. There was no lug setback on the bolt, or receiver. This receiver is still in service as a test platform.
Lots of rifles started life as .308/.30-06 and HH belted magnums, and were forced into service for the .338 which is a FAT cartridge. There was a significant amount of strength given up by doing this, but it is way easier than making a platform specific to only one cartridge. When I designed the Twolf specifically for the .338, I made the thread .1" larger to accommodate the added girth, and provide a level of safety that other actions can only dream of delivering. Other manufacturers didn't want to put the time or money into doing it right. The spin off of this extra strength is the legendary accuracy of the Timberwolf/Coyote platform, these repeater actions have more cross sectional strength than a lot of single shots do.
So the Savage (1-1/16") , Remington (1-1/16"), AI (27mm) and I'm sure many others all suffer from the same reduction in strength due to putting a cartridge into them that they were not designed for. Of note is one particular action in .308 originally had 3 lugs. When it was converted to .338, the lugs were cut around the head basically turning it into 6 lugs. The funny thing is, the lug contact area was 'doubled' but the shear area was greatly reduced. I say 'doubled' because one of the lugs has the extractor in it so there were only 5 contact surfaces. The 'fifth' lug has next to no meat in it, I consider that action to be an asymmetrical 4 lug as it fails to provide a balanced sharing of the firing load.
Lots of rifles started life as .308/.30-06 and HH belted magnums, and were forced into service for the .338 which is a FAT cartridge. There was a significant amount of strength given up by doing this, but it is way easier than making a platform specific to only one cartridge. When I designed the Twolf specifically for the .338, I made the thread .1" larger to accommodate the added girth, and provide a level of safety that other actions can only dream of delivering. Other manufacturers didn't want to put the time or money into doing it right. The spin off of this extra strength is the legendary accuracy of the Timberwolf/Coyote platform, these repeater actions have more cross sectional strength than a lot of single shots do.
So the Savage (1-1/16") , Remington (1-1/16"), AI (27mm) and I'm sure many others all suffer from the same reduction in strength due to putting a cartridge into them that they were not designed for. Of note is one particular action in .308 originally had 3 lugs. When it was converted to .338, the lugs were cut around the head basically turning it into 6 lugs. The funny thing is, the lug contact area was 'doubled' but the shear area was greatly reduced. I say 'doubled' because one of the lugs has the extractor in it so there were only 5 contact surfaces. The 'fifth' lug has next to no meat in it, I consider that action to be an asymmetrical 4 lug as it fails to provide a balanced sharing of the firing load.
