Another reminder to be careful!! Savage 338 Lapua Kaboom

A

afrench

Member
every once in a while, it's good to have a little reminder that the things we do at the range can be very dangerous.

these pics were posted on another forum. Some savages of this model, mine included, have a problem with cases sticking in the chamber after being fired.

I've had to do the cleaning rod thing to get cases out. This guy just got sidetracked and forgot what he was doing.

That's about 90 grains of powder going off there. Don't know if you could see in the pics but the front of the action split. I'm most impressed by the bolt and lugs not failing.

amazingly, the shooter only had a minor cut on one of his forearms. no other injuries.

one thing i noticed a few years ago at a BR match in Midland, TX has stuck in my head. At the command to 'place bolts in rifles' Gene Beggs would dip his head down to visually check that his bore was clear before putting his bolt in. Every time.













 
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I've seen this happen before at our range, when people get in a hurry and not thinking about what they are doing. Usually the cleaning rod comes out and all bent up! As long as no one was injured, that mean the action was strong enough and done it job. Guns can be replaced!

Joe Salt
 
Looks like Manatee range to me? My savage team buddies bought new Savages and both were knockin out empties on the first day with there new rifles after the extractors failed. I know many love them but I cant. Could be me but I don't think so. I have 338 Lap Mag that I built on a Sako M885 super mag action. I would not build a 338 on a Remington Savage or Winchester or any other action that has the normal size bolt I think they are too small for the 338 lap. That said nothing can live when you stick a bullet and shot another.
 
I was an instructor at a Bench-rest school in Holton in, I believe 2001, and the one thing that I pushed was the fact that before you put the bolt in, "CHECK THE BORE" to make sure it is clean.
 
Used to have a Kimber (of Oregon) 84HB in 6 PPC. A lovely little rifle, but as "ebb" stated about standard size actions and the .338 Lapua, I think that that little Kimber action was too small for a case with a head diameter of the 6 PPC. I never loaded it hot because the bolt would stick with what would be considered ultra light BR loads with 70 gr bullets, 26-26.5 gr of H322. I have a little CZ 527 in .222 that has an action about the same size as the Kimber's, and load 1 to 1.5 gr over manual maximums with one finger bolt lift and primers that aren't flattened or cratered. I do believe that if the case head diameter is nearly the same as the bolt face diameter it's so close to the edge that disaster awaits.
 
John Kielly said:
afrench,

Are you saying that Savage markets a faulty rifle?
Click to expand...

Mr. Kielly,

it's no secret that they have had problems with cases sticking with some of their models. a simple google search for 'savage stuck case' yields about 6 million results.

i know that in my case, my 338L won't be fired again until i setback the barrel with a reamer designed for use with my FL die. of the four 338 Lapua Savage rifles that i and other buddies own, 3 of the 4 have this problem, with mine probably being the worst. it is disappointing to have this problem as i've had great results with other factory Savage rifles. all the 338s headspace correctly, so, i'm guessing that there must be a compatibility issue between my FL die and factory chamber.
 
Make this your policy.

Make yourself a mental policy that any time you insert a cleaning rod in the muzzle of a gun, any gun, rifle, shotgun, whatever, to never take your hand off the rod handle as long as it is in the bore!!
 
Good idea, that one.

There's a tale down here, now assuming legend status, of a shooter who tried to chronograph a cleaning rod.
 
A friend of mine laser boresighted a new Kreiger barrel on his AR 15, and the plastic doohickey came off in the bore from the laser. One shot later he had a bulged barrel. One shot barrel life!! Situational awareness at all times, y'all.
 
funny how easy and quick it was in our earlier days to get a bulged barrel. With age comes wisdom, and fewer such, um, incidents.
 
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