Hi there, has anyone had any major issues with the 338 Lapua Detachable magazine system from Seekins precision for the 338 edge?
My gunsmith ( who is a very well known and trusted gunsmith in New Zealand) had a hell of a time and i was wondering if it was normal because it is not the case it was designed for.
From my gunsmith:
The main issues I had with the magazine system largely stem from the fact it is really set-up for the Lapua type cases which are shorter and fatter than the ultra-mag cases.
When I inserted some of the .338 EDGE dummy rounds into the mag the feed-lips barely held the rounds in the mag, and caused excessive scratching on the sides of the case body. Due to this it was necessary to bend the feed lips inwards slightly to better retain the smaller diameter cases, and to minimise the scratching/scraping of cases.
However, this then meant a fair bit of trial and error on the feed lips to get the feeding of the long cases to a reasonable and acceptable consistency. With what I have done you can now have one in the chamber and 3 in the mag, and they should all cycle and feed fine. Any more than 3 in the mag now and the rounds will sag down at the rear and not self-correct. I had to build up the top engaging surface of the retaining latch to get the mag to sit up hard to the underside of the receiver, so that the bolt nose would then reliable catch and push the case head, rather than riding over the top of it.
From what I can determine, the main problems in relation to using this mag with the .338 EDGE (or .300 Ultra Mag) cases are:
The cutout/recess on the follower is too short. This needs to be longer for the ultra-mag cases.
The feed lips were too far apart, and are way too short. They need to extend further forward towards the shoulder of the cartridge case to minimise or prevent the 'rocking' effect of the cases as they currently sit in the mag (with the feed-lips only supporting about 2/3rds of the way up the case body).
The follower spring may need to be altered to give more upward pressure to the rear of the follower if the above suggestions are not sufficient to correct the issues for reliable feeding.
Thanks for any insight
Sam
My gunsmith ( who is a very well known and trusted gunsmith in New Zealand) had a hell of a time and i was wondering if it was normal because it is not the case it was designed for.
From my gunsmith:
The main issues I had with the magazine system largely stem from the fact it is really set-up for the Lapua type cases which are shorter and fatter than the ultra-mag cases.
When I inserted some of the .338 EDGE dummy rounds into the mag the feed-lips barely held the rounds in the mag, and caused excessive scratching on the sides of the case body. Due to this it was necessary to bend the feed lips inwards slightly to better retain the smaller diameter cases, and to minimise the scratching/scraping of cases.
However, this then meant a fair bit of trial and error on the feed lips to get the feeding of the long cases to a reasonable and acceptable consistency. With what I have done you can now have one in the chamber and 3 in the mag, and they should all cycle and feed fine. Any more than 3 in the mag now and the rounds will sag down at the rear and not self-correct. I had to build up the top engaging surface of the retaining latch to get the mag to sit up hard to the underside of the receiver, so that the bolt nose would then reliable catch and push the case head, rather than riding over the top of it.
From what I can determine, the main problems in relation to using this mag with the .338 EDGE (or .300 Ultra Mag) cases are:
The cutout/recess on the follower is too short. This needs to be longer for the ultra-mag cases.
The feed lips were too far apart, and are way too short. They need to extend further forward towards the shoulder of the cartridge case to minimise or prevent the 'rocking' effect of the cases as they currently sit in the mag (with the feed-lips only supporting about 2/3rds of the way up the case body).
The follower spring may need to be altered to give more upward pressure to the rear of the follower if the above suggestions are not sufficient to correct the issues for reliable feeding.
Thanks for any insight
Sam
