Savage barrel thickness at chamber , is it an issue?

Kelly Timoffee

Kelly Timoffee

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What is the consensus and experience out there with the light material thickness around the chambers of Savage barrels and the aftermarket ones available.

I was informed that with some chamberings, this one being 338LM that the barrel can become deformed and chamber become out of round due to pressure.

I have been looking at barrel contours/dimensions, seems that they are only 1.060" compared to others that are up to 1.250"

Did I make a major error in getting a Savage and getting a new barrel?

I have a McGowen pre-fit ready to go on but now I am wondering if it was a waste if I wind up shooting anemic 250gr loads to keep it together.
 
Some people seem to think that it is an issue but these 338 LM rifles have been around for a few years now and there are no reports of them blowing up. If there was you would have heard about it for sure. I have had one for 3 years now and am not worried about it.
 
You're saying you have a 338LM chambered in a small shank Savage? There's likely a reason Savage went to a 1.12" shank with the big Lapua, the RUMs and the WSMs. I know I wouldn't be comfortable with toasy loads in it.
 
I'm not sure of the cause but a friends Salvage 338LM requires that you have a rod handy to knock out most fired cases. Hornady says it's the rifle and Salvage says it's the ammo. Chamber is not out of round though.
 
dead meat said:
I'm not sure of the cause but a friends Salvage 338LM requires that you have a rod handy to knock out most fired cases. Hornady says it's the rifle and Salvage says it's the ammo. Chamber is not out of round though.
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What do the cases look like? Chamber might just need a polishing.
 
I have asked few experts and most(except one ) said its fine as long as you are not pushing it over limits. Lapua runs at higher pressure as is so stay within limit and you should be fine. 200 thou is extra steel but how much strength does it actually add? Would you push rifle with that extra material over pressure limit with that extra material? I know I wouldn't.
 
Problems run into actions that were never designed for an oversized magnum and reloaders who feel going over published SAAMI/CIP loads are safe.

A Factory Savage 338LM should be a large shank action set up for the 338LM specifically. Savage has done a number of super sized chamberings in the past with success. The 338LM action is apparently modified to account for the increased loads.

The McGowen barrel has a barrel that is equal in diameter to the large shank so there is no step or taper in the chamber area. It offers more material around the chamber then even the factory barrel in some cases.

Seems to be working.

Jerry
 
Not all barrel steel is equal. In fact, I recall some experienced gunsmiths on another forum talking about just how surprised they were regarding some soft barrels. I can tell you that some are softer and some are a pain to chamber but I have not checked hardness. Savage barrels are not soft like this. I am not saying they are hard just that some aftermarket barrels are softer than expected. This adds to the confusion when trying to guess and it could be some have issues because of this factor.

I have commented on this topic before and do not prefer barrel nuts for a 338 Lapua. The chamber should NOT go out of round on any firearm. Chambers swell and return, normal but if they swell too much they grab the brass. Whatever ANYONE does, stop shooting ammo that is hard to extract.
 
dead meat said:
I'm not sure of the cause but a friends Salvage 338LM requires that you have a rod handy to knock out most fired cases. Hornady says it's the rifle and Salvage says it's the ammo. Chamber is not out of round though.
Click to expand...

I was having the odd sticking problem with my Lapua when just neck sizing my brass, then I set up my FL die to bump the shoulder back about 0.0015" and haven't had a problem since. The other thing could be the ####ty little extractor Savage uses, just my opinion on that guess.
 
I'm using Lapua brass with my savage 338 LM and have never had any extraction issues at all....everytime I read about problems it is always with hornady brass.
 
It's funny how people are worried about the 338 Lapua when the 338 RUM operates at higher pressure and it is not even thought about at all. I also have a Remington Sendero in 338 RUM.

This is what I found online:
.338 Lapua Magnum Maximum pressure 420.00 MPa (60,916 psi)
.338 Remington Ultra Magnum Maximum pressure 65,000 psi (450 MPa)
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Silverback said:
I use Lapua brass as well.
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When you say the odd sticking problem are you talking the brass did NOT extract or just the bolt was a bit tough to open? It seems that the hornady brass not extracting was a common occurrence a few years ago....not sure about now.
 
that's a issue with the brass and the extractor groove, most of my brass will not fit in to a rcbs shell holder without a tuning with a drill and a jewellers file..........
 
yodave said:
that's a issue with the brass and the extractor groove, most of my brass will not fit in to a rcbs shell holder without a tuning with a drill and a jewellers file..........
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I have no problems with sliding the brass in my shell holder and I haven't had a stuck case since I changed my resizing technique so I can't agree that the extractor groove in the brass is the problem, if it was I still would have the odd stuck case failing to extract. I haven't heard of any other 338 Lapua rifles having extraction problems with Lapua brass so it must be the extractor on the Savage bolt if anything causing problems.
 
I found this post in another forum, he did basically the same as I did to fix the problem.

...so as of now I have just a little over 1,000 rounds fired through the Savage and it still shoots just as good as new....The BA110 has become one of my favorite things......I do all my reloading on a Dillon 550 press with Redding comp dies.....and I too was having extraction problems until I started useing a full size body die and began to set the sholder back so that the round would chamber well and extract easily.....
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