Savage 338 Lapua Issue?

[Dirty D]

I was talking to Jim Briggs from NSS last week while ordering a 260 barrel and I asked if Shilen or Criterion make a pre fit for the 110BA or 110FCP-HS 338 Lapua. Jim said that neither Shilen nor Criterion will make a pre fit for the 338 Lapua because the bolt thrust is too great and the Savage action is not engineered to withstand that amount of force, Jim went on to say that the amount of bolt thrust crushes and deforms the bolt lugs. The 110BA and 110FCP-HS have been out several years now with not a small number of people shooting them and this is the 1st I have heard of this issue.

If you own a Savage 110BA or 110FCP-HS in 338 Lapua please reply with your round count and a description of the condition of your bolt lugs. If you find any damage or deformation please post pics along with round count and description.

Please no Savage fanboys or bashers, there are shitloads of other threads for you to crap in so let's stay on topic to either confirm or rule out a possible safety issue.

Dirty D

 

[E. Bryant]

The concern is not what happens with normal use, but rather what can go wrong if something really bad happens... like a case head separation. In that particular situation, you have a much larger surface area upon which the chamber pressure can react, and since we can't rule out case head separations, the rifle should be designed to withstand them without injury to the operator and bystanders (priority #1) or damage to the firearm (priority #2).

Most modern firearms are way overdesigned for normal operating conditions, and it's precisely because they are expected to withstand abnormal conditions on occasion. Shit happens and people do silly stuff.

 

[Ryguy]

I own a Savage 110BA in 338 Lapua and I'm on my second barrel. The first one got 1147 rounds until it was over .75 MOA, too much for one mile plus shooting. The current barrel has 529 on it. The 110BA action is not a Savage long action but rather, the "magnum action." Surprisingly, these barrel makers think it is the standard long action which is incorrect. The shank is 1.125 in. Pac Nor made the barrel the gun currently has and it is .3 MOA accurate. The lugs look the same or near the same as when the gun was new. Even when I called Pac Nor for a new barrel they tried to convince me the shank was 1.055. I had them do it 1.125 and sure enough, fits perfect. You would think these barrel manufactures would be up to date on Savage products. There are pictures floating around of a guy that left the cleaning rod in his Savage 338 and touched a round off. Maybe there is a write up about what exactly happened to the gun, lugs included.

 

[mrbig]

I traded a Socom 16 for a Savage 110 FCP-HS in 338 LM,plus some cash,it came with 1 box of Hornady 285gr and 1 box of S&B 250 gr factory ammo,,there was 3 rounds of the Hornady and 5 rounds S&B gone and dude said it had only been fired those eight times,that it kicked too hard and wanted something else,,
I started with the 285 Hornady load and the first round locked the rifle up and had to beat it open with a hammer and drive case out with a cleaning rod,,same deal with the other ammo,,no warranty since it was bought used so I asked around and was told I had to use Lapua brass for the Savage to function,,and that was BS also,,I finally got it to going with 83 grs H1000 and the 300 Berger and it shot really good for about 600 rounds at the 83 gr load on the 7th cycle of the brass the primer pockets were getting loose and on the 8th cycle the first three rounds stuck the cases and I was not about to pay nearly 300$ for more brass to shoot in a rifle that would ruin brass and seize the action 10 grs below max load data,,I stripped the rifle of everything that was worth money and sold it off and recouped 500$ and trashed the barreled action,,

when I was researching the problem I was having it seemed like there was a lot of people having the same issue and coupled with the fact that none of the barrel makers I contacted would even discuss a 338LM barrel for the Savage action I am just happy no one around me got hurt while shooting that rifle,,

this aint nothing I read or heard about,,I wasted well over 1,000 dollars worth of components trying to make this work and I never could,,even backed off to 338 WM speeds it would not function

if you really want to shoot 338 on the Savage 110 action I think the smaller bolt face 338 RUM or 338 Edge will get you the same performance without the case being so fat that it eats all the support around the case head,,

 

[Dirty D]

mrbig, while the issue you had has been pretty well discussed and is the reason that I was looking into a quality aftermarket barrel for the action it is a separate issue. Savage chambered the 338's too tight causing the stuck case issues with the softer brass cases such as Hornady. I will try to find the write up I read a while back but basically a gunsmith pulled a factory 110BA barrel that had the stuck case issue and cleaned up the chamber with a Lapua reamer and the issue went away. Tight chambers and action design are 2 different issues. If you can find that barreled action that you trashed I will gladly buy it from you. Seriously find it and PM me.

 

[Tristian19]

If you own a Savage 110BA or 110FCP-HS in 338 Lapua please reply with your round count and a description of the condition of your bolt lugs. If you find any damage or deformation please post pics along with round count and description.
Dirty D

I purchased a brand new 110 BA just over 24 months ago. I have just over 800 rounds through her. I do not have any issues with bolt lugs. I did, however, have other issues with the rig so I had a custom .338 built and no longer shoot the 110 BA.

Simply put, No bolt lug issues on my end. Unless you want to consider uneven Rear Lug Surface wear an issue.

On a side note, a few weeks ago a guy came on the line and had a 110 BA that was 'finished' differently than mine. He purchased his from a friend and not brand new. I told him miy rig, though same, was still different. His stock was same but appeared to be finished differently. He stated he had none of the issues I had experienced with my rig and he was completely happy with his. I shot his 110 BA and if mine would have felt, looked and SHOT as his I would have never ordered/purchased another 338LM.

 

[Smcarroll]

I had a savage 111 LRH. It was pure shit. The barrel copper fouled in 40-50 rounds, the accutrigger was unreliable, the chamber was sticky and even after handloads and tuning I never broke into sub moa groups. It was my last salvage.

 

[sav338lapua]

my bolt is fine and i never had issues until i was on the fourth loading of lapua brass, load is 300 gr sierra, 92 grs h1000, 2750 fps, shot .6 groups at 100yds all day long,
brass was neck sized only. havent had time to look over the chamber with bore scope

 

[Tristian19]

my bolt is fine and i never had issues until i was on the fourth loading of lapua brass, load is 300 gr sierra, 92 grs h1000, 2750 fps, shot .6 groups at 100yds all day long,
brass was neck sized only. havent had time to look over the chamber with bore scope

Sounds as if you have a good Savage 338. I think my 110 338 was made by someone with a hangover or a mad while at work. My 110 would not allow me anywhere near 89 grains of H1000 without displaying some type of pressure signs. This was just one issue I had.

I no longer shoot her.

 

[Dirty D]

I had a savage 111 LRH. It was pure shit. The barrel copper fouled in 40-50 rounds, the accutrigger was unreliable, the chamber was sticky and even after handloads and tuning I never broke into sub moa groups. It was my last salvage.

But did you see any deformation on the bolt lugs?

 

[Smcarroll]

But did you see any deformation on the bolt lugs?

I cannot answer that question. You might ask the poor bastard that I sold it to.

 

[bas402]

The Savage 338LM action is fine it's there chamber jobs and their barrels that suck I bought one of the first 110BA's in 338LM in early 2010, never could get it to shoot consistent .6-.7 sometimes and others .7-1.0, which sucks, chamber was so loose it was like a mayonnaise jar and the barrel was a cooper mine every 30-40 rds. Finally give up after 400 rds and used the action as a donor took it to Mark Chanlynn and we started from scratch. He inspected the action and give it a thumbs up (no issues) spun me one of his 30" barrels, trued the action,put it in a T5-A with a rifle basics trigger and bingo .3 from the beginning and still does after 350rds. My advise to the op...if you really want a 338LM and can afford the habit buy an AI or build a custom! I only use the action because I had it and on Marks go ahead and I'm very happy with the results but it wouldn't be my choice when and if I build another.

 

[Dirty D]

The Savage 338LM action is fine it's there chamber jobs and their barrels that suck.

Pretty much the conclusion that I have come to, I want to build a 300 Norma and will probably do it off of a 110FCP-HS donor rifle.