A ballpark figure to reload .338 Lapua

[RAGGED]

I reload for 338 LM, figure about $1 give or take, takes into account some brass life, I run around 92gr of Retumbo depending on the temp outside, @ $25/lb that’s 33 cents or so, you will want to just buy an 8lber right off the bat, it will shoot, no worries there, if it doesn't me and Sam will fight over who gets to but the jug for pennies on the dollar

I for one would never want a semi 338, it’s a long range ultra precision round, you can buy a factory rifle from Sako for $3k that may be capable of shooting 1" groups @ 400 yds.
If it were me I’d stick with a nice solid bolt gun and spend some money on really nice optics, like a Nightforce or Schmidt and Bender, but to each his own.

[Seismic Sam]

As far as the mocking is concerned, everything I said was in dead earnest. He wants to buy a semi-auto VERY expensive .338 Lapua without ANY evidence whatsoever that it will shoot even close as good as a bolt gun. Just some glossy publicity stuff on the internet, and who else has heard of this company before, or knows their reputation, and for that matter, how long have they been in business?

Assuming that there isn't much difference in particle size between big bore powders like RL-19 or RL-25, a 338 Lapua case can hold about 108 grains of RL-25, so 75 grains of a similar (and most importantly, a faster burning powder) like RL-19 is going to leave A LOT of empty space in the case. 75 grains may be the right load for that burn rate, but you're totally neglecting the empty space issue, which could cause a flashover and get all the powder ignited at once, which could blow the gun (and reloading manuals warn in detail about reduced loads in certain rifle calibers).

And lastly, there's the forever red flag of somebody who wants to buy an $8000 gun and says he wants to reload for it, but hasn't gotten around to getting a manual yet, and freely admits he does not know what he is getting himself into. This is not a 30-06 we're talking about here, people, this is a very high power cartridge that is getting into the Mount Everest level of reloading with all the little tricks you have to know, so there's no way in hell he can possibly get everything right as a rookie.

And yes, he DOES have a pretty bad case of gun lust in his heart if he wants to run out and spend $8k on this thing, and he REALLY does need to take a very big chill pill, and read up on the 338 Lapua in detail before he puts his money on the counter.

I didn't say he was stupid, I didn't say he was making a bad firearms choice, I didn't call him a n00b, and all I really pointed out that he was getting into some pretty serious deep water with reloading for a gun like this, and he didn't have his ducks even close to being in a row to make an informed purchasing decison. Considering the reaction from some of you, I'm sorry I even replied to this thread to begin with. Next time something like this comes up, I'll just keep my mouth shut and wait for the sound of something blowing up.

As far as providing all the necessary "mentoring" for a cartridge like this, it would take literally several days to pull everything together and type it all out, and I'm not going to take that much time to try and teach a complete novice about reloading at a level that has taken me decades to learn. That would be like me going to Steven Hawking and asking him to teach me everything he knows about black holes and 10-dimensional superstring theory.

[gyrfalcon]

As far as the mocking is concerned, everything I said was in dead earnest. He wants to buy a semi-auto VERY expensive .338 Lapua without ANY evidence whatsoever that it will shoot even close as good as a bolt gun...

Yeah but when you're in CQB, who wants a bolt gun?

[DeanC]

and I'm not going to take that much time to try and teach a complete novice about reloading at a level that has taken me decades to learn

Especially when he's not even sure he wants to do it.

[hammAR]

Yup, I said I was "THINKING" about it.

Sometimes really bad things start out with someone "THINKING" about having their buddy hold their beer.........

[Heffay]

Yup, I said I was "THINKING" about it.

Sometimes really bad things start out with someone "THINKING" about having their buddy hold their beer.........

However, the best stories always start off with "I/he/she/we/they were really drunk and..."

It's the oral version of "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

[Dave Pendleton]

I didn't say he was stupid, I didn't say he was making a bad firearms choice, I didn't call him a n00b, and all I really pointed out that he was getting into some pretty serious deep water with reloading for a gun like this, and he didn't have his ducks even close to being in a row to make an informed purchasing decison. Considering the reaction from some of you, I'm sorry I even replied to this thread to begin with. Next time something like this comes up, I'll just keep my mouth shut and wait for the sound of something blowing up.

You're exactly right, and it wasn't my intention to be rude, only to point out that you could have used a different tone perhaps.

From what I know of it, I have a great deal of respect for your reloading knowledge, and if I had asked the same questions I guess I would have liked the answers to be delivered a bit differently, that's all.

I'm not always tactful, or polite, but I try to be.

ETA: My original response had not a little to do with my experiences in Amateur Radio. There is a tradition in Ham radio of the older guys schooling the younger guys (called Elmering). When I first got into radio, I joined a local club and went to the meetings and field days. I was (and still am) a No-Code Ham (I didn't have to learn Morse to get my license).

Some of the older guys resented this, and acted accordingly. If they did help, it usually came with a small amount of derision. Some weren't interested at all. Others were more than happy to pass their knowledge along.

[Seismic Sam]

One other detail comes to mind about a semi-auto .338 Lapua, and the bottom line is that to a significant extent, it's probably a flawed and self-limiting design. As RAGGED has said, the .338 Lapua loves to eat about 90 - 100 grains of Retumbo with 300 and 250 grain Sierra Matchkings, and that is a fricking lot of powder, and when you burn that much powder you get a HUGE amount of HEAT. Assuming that this semi-auto is actually a 1200 yard capable weapon, you pull the trigger 5 times like an AR-15, and that barrel is going to heat up VERY rapidly, your zero will start shifting, and after 10 rounds you'll be lucky to have a 500 yard capable weapon. It's the same diffference between a Barrett M82 /Army M107 and a Ma Deuce. One is for precision at very long distances, and the other is for overwhelming firepower by sheer volume of lead being put down range.

Frankly, I'd reccomend that whoever this person is check out a 450 Bushmaster, or for even more boom-boom, a 458 SOCOM from Marty Ter Weeme. (teppojutsu.com)

[cobb]

Frankly, I'd reccomend that whoever this person is check out a 450 Bushmaster, or for even more boom-boom, a 458 SOCOM from Marty Ter Weeme. (teppojutsu.com)

I really like mine.

[mnmike59]

Hmmm, all interesting points. BUT, My money, and I don't have one tiny bit of reluctance to spend 4995.00 on this Rifle. It is just too damn tacticool! I have plenty other Big bore Rifles I shoot. I just don't have one in Semi auto.
My first comment was "Thinking about" reloading. Thats why I asked first. I'm a big boy, Been playing with these dangerous ( insert blow myself up )things for 40 years.
Jesus Why do I have to explain myself.
WORD.

[cobb]

Hmmm, all interesting points. BUT, My money, and I don't have one tiny bit of reluctance to spend 4995.00 on this Rifle. It is just too damn tacticool! I have plenty other Big bore Rifles I shoot. I just don't have one in Semi auto.
My first comment was "Thinking about" reloading. Thats why I asked first. I'm a big boy, Been playing with these dangerous ( insert blow myself up )things for 40 years.
Jesus Why do I have to explain myself.
WORD.

Yep, you are a big boy and you take responsibility for your actions.

Some good info here, just don't take it personal, they are all just trying to help.

[mnmike59]

Some good info here, just don't take it personal, they are all just trying to help.

100% correct. And I sincerely appreciate those that have put their constructive .02 worth into this thread!

[Seismic Sam]

Hmmm, all interesting points. BUT, My money, and I don't have one tiny bit of reluctance to spend 4995.00 on this Rifle. It is just too damn tacticool! I have plenty other Big bore Rifles I shoot. I just don't have one in Semi auto.
My first comment was "Thinking about" reloading. Thats why I asked first. I'm a big boy, Been playing with these dangerous ( insert blow myself up )things for 40 years.
Jesus Why do I have to explain myself.
WORD.

Maybe because you said you had no idea what you were getting yourself into with reloading a .338 Lapua. There's a hell of a big difference between shooting bigbore guns for 40 years, and having RELOADED ammo for ALL of those guns for 40 years, which is about 6 months shy of where I'm at right now. Never had a squib, never had a kaboom. Worst I've done is have two bulged pistol cases in that timeframe working up some very exotic loads.

And if you can afford a $5k gun THAT easily, why worry about reloading at all?? The competition sizing and seating dies, plus the neck turning equipment and runout gage are pretty pricey, and with a good press, scales, powder measure and other goodies, you're looking at the better part of a grand. That's 200 rounds of factory ammo, and you can sell the brass off for probably $1.50 a round.

[RLF2011]

I do not post much. I just read and learn, or rather obvserve. And, this is my take. Reloading can be made hard by some know it all types who really want to baffle people with BS under the cover of self-aggrandizing. A person does not need fancy dies, run out gages, headspace gages, or host of other doo dads to load quality ammo.
They are mostly for people who like to tinker.... But, a person can walk into a store buy a RCBS Kit with dies and shellholder, buy a trimmer, caliper and some components and turn out accurate ammo. The person who controls the quality is the person doing the loading. There is that saying it is a poor carpenter that blames his tools. As with most things in life you have to learn the basics. And, well most factory ammo is loaded to suit a number of applications with what I call magazine length seating. No need to chase the lands, and in the case of magazine fed semi auto...well unless the bbl is custom throated there is no need to have tools to assess distance to lands, at least till one gets a handle on things. For a Semi Auto there is no neck sizing, just fiull length sizing, and while with a headspace gage you could set of up the FL sizer to avoid over working the brass, but is not a necessity.

Does not matter if it is 308 Win, or 338 Lapua. The basics are all the same.

I think is a real disservice to the new reloader or one curious about reloading to get jumped on by some fellow with too much time on his hands and a keyboard!

[crbutler]

The cost of reloading this effectively is going to be high. The cost to just make noise is much less.

I don't think its worthwhile to use "standard" stuff for a long range rifle. You will probably need to get more than a few extras for reloading it. Oversize cartridges (ie longer than the standard magnum) do best with an oversize press for additional stiffness. You will also want to get good dies (as opposed to cheap hornady ones) to minimize your concentricity issues. So, if you want to do this you are probably looking at in addition to the press, which you need to make sure will take a rigby length case, a bullet run out (or cocentricity) gauge, which is a couple hundred bucks, a set of match grade dies (in this caliber, a couple hundred bucks) a bullet uniformer, and then you can start reloading it. Unfortunately, your brass will likely not have that good of life (maybe 5 firings at best) because you will have to full length resize the cases every time in a semi auto. You will also have to load to mag length, which is likely to be less than optimal. Also, as the ad says that its a piston rod action, it probably will have both accuracy issues and some degree of bolt wear (known issues with piston rod AR15 actions). Also, any scope worth using on it will cost at least 30% of what the gun does, and probably north of the 50% mark.

Also, a 13 pound unbreaked .338 lapua is not going to have "moderate recoil" no matter what the ad says. It will be MUCH worse than the Barrett light .50 due to the latter having a good break.

I don't think that the use of reloader 19 is going to be an issue for damaging the rifle in a published load. I use 3/4 full cases all the time in the .470 NE without problem, but if you are using a real slow powder, I know some guys (using stuff like RL25) who downloaded and were getting hangfires. Its just that the faster powders defeat the purpose of the .338 Lapua (getting high velocity with a high BC bullet).

If you are willing to shoot PRVI/Partizan brass (Graf's sells it) its about $1.20/ round Everyone else is more like $2.50 a round, and Lapua's is even more. Powder will run .35 a round (100 grains at $25/#) and a SMK 300 Grain will run you around .70 each. LRM primers are cheap, but match ones are not so much so. .05 each should be good. So at a minimum you are looking at $1.35/round going as cheap as you can (excluding tax or hazmat) without including your equipment costs, assuming you get 5 reloads out of your brass and you don't mangle any of it. Not too bad, but not that good either.