If the OP figures out his issues are not with the factory ammo the rifle then should immediately go back to the Smith for it to be corrected the right way. My son-in-law had a similar issue with a 300WSM and some Winchester ammo. Winchester inspected the ammo and admitted they were very "hot loads". We discovered it using a Magnettospeed and the load was 200 FPS over published velocity, as well as the brass was getting beat up. Winchester offered replacement ammo or a refund, he took the cash. Personally I think your issues are with the tight custom chamber your Smith mentions he cut in your Bartlein barrel.
It doesn't sound like a primary extraction issue since your using a custom Stiller action and your issues are intermittent. I had a PE issue on a Remington Action with a ser# prefix RR I used on a 300 PRC build. The PE existed all the time and was not intermittent. With the help of a few well informed members here I was advised many of these RR actions have poor PE and to have a mod done by LRI to correct the PE. Issue resolved, but my original Smith should have checked this and offered the modification. I've since moved onto another Smith.
Eliminate the factory ammo issue, and if your issue still exists, then send it back to the smith to be corrected as your new custom rig shouldn't be doing this.
Following closely as I'm acquiring my components now to build my short barreled 300WSM. Just waiting for my stock to arrive and my action. Didn't mean to get off track. My apologies to the OP.
With respect, Joe
It doesn't sound like a primary extraction issue since your using a custom Stiller action and your issues are intermittent. I had a PE issue on a Remington Action with a ser# prefix RR I used on a 300 PRC build. The PE existed all the time and was not intermittent. With the help of a few well informed members here I was advised many of these RR actions have poor PE and to have a mod done by LRI to correct the PE. Issue resolved, but my original Smith should have checked this and offered the modification. I've since moved onto another Smith.
Eliminate the factory ammo issue, and if your issue still exists, then send it back to the smith to be corrected as your new custom rig shouldn't be doing this.
Following closely as I'm acquiring my components now to build my short barreled 300WSM. Just waiting for my stock to arrive and my action. Didn't mean to get off track. My apologies to the OP.
With respect, Joe
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