DRD Kivaari 338 Lapua Magnum - Safe to Reload brass?

[DanielTikusis]

Hello everyone,

I am new to Sniper's Hide and have never owned a semi-auto rifle. I was thinking about purchasing the DRD Kivaari 338 Lapua Magnum and their M762. Can you safely reload the fired brass? Obviously, the manufacture says you should not reload the brass. I plan to only use Lapua brass. I assume their can be issues. I would like as many recommendations / advice as possible. Yes. No. How to do it safely. What precautions to take. Annealing, resizing etc.

Thank you Sniper's Hide Community
Daniel Tikusis

 

[Lowlight]

I would not saw two Semi 338s Blow up on the Owners, including one DRD at SHOT SHOW.

There is absolutely no reason to go that route,

Had a Bad News Noreen here in CO at my local indoor Range, the guy who bought it asked to use my Magnetospeed, 4 round later it blew up on him.

At Shot a guy I know asked me to shoot one prior to the Range Day, I told him no friggin way, the next day at Range Day the DRD blew up and sent him to the hospital

Dumb ideas

 

[DanielTikusis]

I would not saw two Semi 338s Blow up on the Owners, including one DRD at SHOT SHOW.

There is absolutely no reason to go that route,

Had a Bad News Noreen here in CO at my local indoor Range, the guy who bought it asked to use my Magnetospeed, 4 round later it blew up on him.

At Shot a guy I know asked me to shoot one prior to the Range Day, I told him no friggin way, the next day at Range Day the DRD blew up and sent him to the hospital

Dumb ideas

Wow !!! Thanks Lowlight !!! Where did the failure take place on the rifles? Did the failure have anything to do with the Quick change barrel nut?

 

[mdmp5]

The whole idea of a semi 338 is just not a great idea in general. Brass gets 1 firing, so you are looking at over $3 a round and that is if you load. If you want 338, get yourself a bolt gun

 

[DanielTikusis]

The whole idea of a semi 338 is just not a great idea in general. Brass gets 1 firing, so you are looking at over $3 a round and that is if you load. If you want 338, get yourself a bolt gun

Thank you Gunny Sergeant. I was originally planning on a bolt gun. The Kivaari was intriguing but obviously too many problems.
My plan is a Lone Peak Fuzion Ti LH action on a MDT ESS Folding LH Chassis, Christensen or bartlein barrel, Spuhr scope mount, Scope ???, Terminator muzzle break, Accuracy Solutions BipodEXT & Bipod.

 

[TommyC579]

Wow !!! Thanks Lowlight !!! Where did the failure take place on the rifles? Did the failure have anything to do with the Quick change barrel nut?

I cannot find any information on the Noreen Bad News failure, but I’ve seen a post stating that the DRD Kivaari’s failure was due to using ammo with softer brass, and having the case head detach, then the rifle jammed another round partway inside the spent casing, the free floating firing pin ignited it while out of battery. Basically DRD recommends a very small list of ammo manufactures and Lapua or Mil Spec Brass.

I’ve though about this rifle myself due to having a recoil sensitive wife wanting to shoot a high powered round, but after reading posts like this and having very strong recommendations against if from many people, I may just research some good muzzle brakes for a Bolt .338

 

[1moaoff]

if recoil sensitive 338 may not be the best route.

Take a look at all the 30 cal offerings.
Build it heavy.
Lots of ear protection. The blast and noise induces alot of the operator perceived recoil.

 

[TommyC579]

I’ll admit I’m a bit new myself to the world of Precision Rifle. I’m taking a Basic Precision Rifle course this year, and thought that I’d get her a rifle too after I take the course so she can come shooting with me once I learn what I’m doing (or have her take the course too). That’s why I originally had looked into the Semi Magnum AR’s, but obviously her safety is more important than having fun and after hearing all the input on these, I definitely don’t need a rifle blowing up on her.

I’ll start a new thread looking for recommendations for her after I get a few moments and can look around this site more.

 

[Lowlight]

You never want to start off with a Magnum of any kind

Taking them to a Rifle Course is not advised unless it's an ELR course

Magnums are flinching factories and it's really hard to learn on something hammering you constantly as a magnum does

The Bad New Noreen that blew up next to me, when the guy borrowed my MagnetoSpeed, well he was paid off to stay quiet. They bought his silence

There were two DRD that cratered, one was an MHSA customer as they had them briefly, the other was at Shot during range day and was my buddy who asked me the day before to shoot it.

 

[Coffee_and_Pipes]

@TommyC579 is your wife new to shooting? If so, I would start her on a .22. There’s no shame in starting small, learning good fundamentals, and adding larger calibers later.

My wife has only been to the range a couple times, and does pretty well on a 10/22. Since the recoil on a 5.56 AR is almost non-existent, I thought she could try it out. The recoil wasn’t a problem, but the muzzle blast out of an 18” barrel was too much for her. She put the rifle down, shook her head, and said she didn’t want to shoot it any more. That tells me that we probably need to spend more time on the .22 before moving on to something else, maybe a .223 bolt with 24” barrel.

My point is, start her on something small, manageable, and inexpensive. Let her ability to shoot and how much she enjoys/doesn’t mind muzzle blast inform you of when it’s time to move to a new caliber.

Happy shooting.