338 Lapua Magnum

The 338 Lapua Magnum offers good ballistics performances, very suitable for precision shooting.

The rifle: Model: 110 BA made by Savage Arms

Series: Law Enforcement AccuTrigger:Yes AccuStock:Yes Magazine: Detachable box Stock material: Aluminum Barrel material: Carbon Steel Stock finish: Matte Barrel finish: Matte Stock color: Black Barrel color: Black Sights: 20 MOA scope rail, #8-40 screws.

Overall construction implements the latest technologies for precision weapons: Heavy fluted barrel, accurate trigger, aluminum stock, muzzle break.. etc. Further, as I went through the accurizing process I find more goodies about the weapon system which I will address later.

Bill of materials:

https://sites.google.com/site/ionswebsite/home/hobbies/benchrest/338-lapua-magnum/Costs1.xlsx?attredirects=0&d=1

Accurizing Process

• 1. Fitting the action onto the stock

  2. I usually start with taking apart the rifle and inspecting all components. However, the actual first step I take is to make sure there is a perfect fit in between the receiver and the stock. 110 BA aluminum stock is a great solution since aluminum is less affected by pressure, temperature, humidity than a wood stock. On my 7mm RM Sendero I used lapping compound to lap the receiver into the aluminum insert for the Kevlar stock. 110 BA surprised me with two things:

  3. <>The receiver seats actually onto two rails on the aluminum stock

  4. <>Additional to the two mounting screws the receiver has a tang that fits into a slot on the stock. I have to give high marks to Savage about the accuracy this weapon is put together, the tang has absolutely no slack fitting into the slot. Here are some pictures below:

• • 1. Stock showing the 2 mounting rails and the slot for receiver tang

• 1. Rifle action showing the mounting holes and the tang (right about where the white arrow on the paper points to)

  2. Then next step is to mount the action into the stock using the two hex screws. I usually put a lot of attention to have a very snag fit. In the picture below I am using an English wrench to increase the leverage when tightening the two mounting screws.

• 1. Setting up the scope

  2. First step would be to determine the proper rings. Well, for this rifle I did changed the rings 3 times until I find the proper height. As an example below is the first set of rings, leaving quite some space below the front lens. By the way, the rings are only barely tight at this step to avoid stress on the scope due to rings surface misalignment prior to lapping process.

• • 1. and the final set of rings: After selecting the proper height rings I have to determine the position of the rings on the rail for the proper distance of the scope front lens to your eyes. It is a custom process to fit an individual scope and shooter dimensions.

    2. I am using a scope made by Barska, 6-24 X 60, 30 mm tube, since I think is a good choice; The most time consuming in the accurizing process I will spend tuning the ammo on the 300 yards range and 24 power gives me the ability to see the bullets holes on the target, so I don't need a spotting scope. It is also good enough acquiring the target at 1,000 yards.

    3. The key process when mounting the scope is lapping. It is quite difficult to guarantee that front and rear scope mounting rings surface is perfectly aligned. If is not the scope tube will be under stress, bending the tube eventually. Here below are two pictures showing the lapping tool, process and the misalignment prior to finishing the lapping process.

• • • 1. Lapping marks showing misalignment:

• • 1. The camera did not capture well the lapping marks because of the reflections. The half visible marks toward he viewer indicates a misalignment bending both end of the scope down. Practically the lapping process is completed as soon as there are no marks anymore. Well, the process has the be repeated every time you disassemble the bottom scope rings from the rail. If you have to repeat lapping it is a good idea to use some blackening process for the rings so the lapping process will clearly show where the misalignment is.

• 1. Precision ammo reloading process

  2. I bought 100 pcs Lapua brass cases to use for all processes leading to precision loads for this particular rifle. All steps are extremely important for getting the right results and it is always good to consider not being impatient, rushing through the processes and cutting any corner. I also keep in mind one of the recommendations from Mr. Walt Berger (you will know who he is if you are into bench rest shooting, see also Berger Bullets) which initially I did not understood: