Go West Trading GWT 338LM Brass Test

[flyingtexan86]

The GWT 338 LM brass came in a few days ago. Here's my findings so far from the test bench on weights and measurements. I've started load dev so I'll update this post.

I was able to purchase GWT 338 LM brass direct from Go West Trading for $85 / 100pc brass delivered. The gentleman I spoke with offered $0.85 / per each when I mentioned I wanted to test their brass and review it online. He was confident I would find their GWT brass "as good or better" than their competitors and to "expect between 5-20 reloads" per case depending on how I treated the brass. 5-20 is a large gap so we'll see how primer pockets and necks hold up.
I'm currently working up a load of H1000 pushing HBN coated 300g Nosler CC. Goal is 2800fps and 92g+/- H1000 (This may not be safe in other rifles, so work up!), but pressure and accuracy will be the deciding factor.

Summery:

Sample size was 10 out of 100 cases, virgin brass.
Brass necks had to be chamfered and deburred.
Flash holes had little to no burs.
Brass came annealed and sized (a few out the 100pc required their necks to be resized with an expander ball).



H2O capacity is 114.5g from a fired case out of a Ruger RPR 338LM.

Details:

Case Weight

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES.....SD
320.62...318.30...322.70...4.40...1.517
318.3
318.9
319.3
320.3
320.3
320.5
321.3
322.3
322.3
322.7

Case Length (very consistent)

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES..........SD
2.712.....2.712.....2.7135....0.0015...0.0006
2.712
2.712
2.712
2.712
2.7125
2.7125
2.713
2.713
2.713
2.7135

Neck Thickness (Measurement was taken after hand deburring / chamfer but before tumbling in stainless steel media. Necks grew ave +0.002" after tumbling)

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES..........SD
0.0128...0.0120...0.0135...0.0015....0.0004
0.012
0.0125
0.0125
0.0125
0.0125
0.013
0.013
0.013
0.013
0.0135

Primer pocket depth (measuring was finicky with my 8" calipers as I got different measurements depending on how much pressure I applied, so take these measurements with a grain of salt)
AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES.........SD
0.1324...0.1280...0.1340...0.0060...0.0018
0.128
0.131
0.1315
0.133
0.133
0.133
0.1335
0.1335
0.1335
0.134

Primer pocket width

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES.........SD
0.2091...0.2085...0.2095...0.0010...0.0003
0.2085
0.209
0.209
0.209
0.209
0.209
0.209
0.209
0.2095
0.2095

 

[flyingtexan86]

*************************update 5/19/2019*************************
Loaded a small batch to sight in and get a few rounds downrange. Rang steel like a hammer @ 500yd. No accuracy test on paper due to getting rained out. Once-fired GWT brass lubed with Hornady One Shot glides through dies with ease.

Reached 2700fps with HBN coated Nosler 300g CC seated @ COL 3.681" (SAAMI max). No pressure signs. Definitely found a node in powder around 90g H1000.

87.5.....2546
88........2595
88.5.....2633
89........2660
89.5.....2700
90........2697
90.5.....2715


Next batch will be a ladder test @ 500yd to look for accuracy node. Also going to change COL for 0.010" jump.
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[flyingtexan86]

*************************update 5/20/2019*************************
Note: I'm loading COL +0.089" over SAAMI specs and using HBN coated bullets which gives lower pressure for a given powder charge in my rifle. These are custom loads for my rifle only. Don't duplicate them without proper workup as they probably aren't safe in your rifle.

Loaded up and shot several ladder test today. Loading for 0.010" jump made the rifle a single feed due to magazine restriction of aprx. 3.770", so ended up with [email protected]" and 0.035" jump. I would have liked less jump than 35 thou, but the barrel doesn't seem to be picky about the Nosler CC's have as I've tested them from 0.089" jump (SAAMI max) to 0.010" and found accuracy nodes without issue. My personal preference is to start with 10-15 thou jump and go from there.
Pictured below is a screenshot from my LabRadar with a 7-shot string of 92.7g H1000 pushing 300g Nosler CC, [email protected]". Looks promising.

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES.....SD
2746......2738......2759......21......7.2

Next picture is of a 5-shot group at 500y. These were 5 of the 7 shots tracked with the LabRadar in the photo above. Two sighters to get on target, then the 5-shot group. As always when shooting a ladder test, I did not hold for wind. There was a varying 6.5mph full-value wind (Kestrel 4500) which explains the horizontal dispersion. The two Ruger RPR's I own have been tack drivers and have not disappointed me yet.

5-shot group
3.2" group@500y = 0.6 MOA

I was able to push the 300g CC to 2845fps, but accuracy fell off about the same time primers started showing signs of pressure (primers were flat and just starting to crater around firing pin), so I backed down to the last node at 92.7g / 2746fps.

As of today I've loaded 55 rounds of 338LM in GWT brass. The consistency and quality of the brass is starting to show in the 5-shot groups at 500y. Next I'll test the brass to see how many reloads it takes before showing signs of case failure. At this point I'd bet a quarter it'll get to the teens, even with the stout loads I'm feeding the Ruger with.
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[flyingtexan86]

*************************update 5/21/2019*************************
Today (between rain showers) I did a reloading test of one GWT brass case to test the longevity of primer pockets, neck, shoulder and case web. I only annealed once and that was due to the brass work hardening and being difficult to run through the FL resizing die. Normally I would anneal every reload for match ammo.

Test started with virgin GWT brass that had been tumbled in stainless steel / water, then full length resized and loaded.

I purposely stress tested the brass by running it through a FL die that was set all the way down to the shellplate (don't throw rocks at me... I don't normally over work my brass!).

Neck tension was set at 0.363 with a Match Hornady FL bushing die.

I settled for a 92.7g load of H1000. While the charge is 2.7 grains more than the Nosler Reloading manual max of 90g, the COL of 3.770 and HBN coated bullets gave no signs of pressure other than nicely flattened primers.

92.7g H1000, COL 3.770, CCI250, HBN coated 300g Nosler CC

Below are the results:
First two shots didn't get picked up by LabRadar (the massive muzzle blast from the Ruger's brake kept knocking the chrono sideways which made it throw an error).

AVE.......LOW......HIGH.....ES.....SD
2743......2728......2755.......27......9


#.....fps.....brass length.....notes

1.....no chrono data, 2.712", Virgin brass
2.....no chrono data, 2.712"
3.....2746 fps, 2.717"
4.....2736 fps, 2.721" - Annealed brass as it was getting hard to run through FL resizing die.
Also trimmed, chamfered/deburred, uniformed primer pocket and cleaned flash hole.
5.....2728 fps, 2.713"
6.....2755 fps, 2.713"
7.....2755 fps, 2.714"
8.....2747 fps, 2.717
9.....2734 fps, 2.719"
10...2746 fps, 2.721"
11...2743 fps, 2.724" - stopped here due to getting rained out. Brass needs annealed and trimmed again. Primer pockets are still tight and measured 0.209" which is where they were when I started. Brass appears to be holding up fine.

I'll try to pick this back up later, but so far GWT brass has impressed.

Photos below are of brass measurements after 11 reloads.




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[joseywales76]

Even if you only get 5 reloads. .85cent delivered is a great price. Laupa 338 brass is over 2.00 each

 

[joseywales76]

What are your thoughts on ruger 338 rpr

 

[Howland]

The one thing that stands out is the neck thickness, but if you have annealing capability, I'm sure that won't make much difference. I've got Lapua, Peterson and Federal on hand. Lapua was .016" new but averaged .0155" once fired. That resulted in insufficient neck tension on my seating depth test and led to an emergency order of bushings. The Federal neck thickness was .017" once fired, but it only took that one firing and the primers practically slid right in. I won't be getting more. I haven't done any work yet with the Peterson brass, I only just bought 400 pieces.

It kind of makes me think I jumped the gun. If I had seen this three weeks ago, I would have definitely given them a try. It's also nice to see some affirmation that a good grip on the neck helps considerably with uniform ignition.

Nice write-up. Keep us posted with the progress.

 

[flyingtexan86]

Even if you only get 5 reloads. .85cent delivered is a great price. Laupa 338 brass is over 2.00 each

So far I've got 11 reloads and counting from a pc of GWT brass I'm testing. I'll continue testing until it starts showing signs of case failure. Most virgin Lapua brass I've seen is $2.50 - $3.00 delivered.

What are your thoughts on ruger 338 rpr

I've shot several RPR's and own two of them, 6.5 Creed and 338LM. Overall I like both of them. The 338LM RPR had me concerned out of the box due to the handguard set screws appearing to not be tapped straight (see photo below). I saw another post saying they had the same issue on their 338LM RPR. I'm planning on contacting Ruger about this as that's not acceptable.

So far I've got less than 100rds down the tube on the factory barrel so the jury is still out (round count goes up every day, so I'll report back on this). So far groups have been impressive. If it shoots anything like my 6.5 RPR it'll be a tac driver as I've shot it out to 1100y. Our ranges around here won't allow 338LM, so for the moment I'm stuck at < 600y at my personal range.

*****edit 5/23/2019*****
Check out my review of the 338LM RPR here:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ruger-338lm-rpr-first-impressions.851823/

 

[joseywales76]

Feel free to post bolt lug pics as round count progresses. Will be interesting to see how the smaller lugs hold up.


My goto powder in my 338lm's is reloader33. I get more speed with less or same pressure.

 

[Blue68f100]

So far I've got 11 reloads and counting from a pc of GWT brass I'm testing. I'll continue testing until it starts showing signs of case failure. Most virgin Lapua brass I've seen is $2.50 - $3.00 delivered.
View attachment 842730


I've shot several RPR's and own two of them, 6.5 Creed and 338LM. The 338LM RPR had me concerned out of the box due to the handguard set screws appearing to not be tapped straight (see photo below). I saw another post saying they had the same issue on their 338LM RPR. I'm planning on contacting Ruger about this as it's not acceptable.
View attachment 842729
So far I've got less than 100rds down the tube on the factory barrel so the jury is still out (round count goes up every day, so I'll report back on this). If it shoots anything like my 6.5 RPR it'll be a tac driver as I've shot it out to 1100y. Our ranges around here won't allow 338LM, so for the moment I'm stuck at < 600y at my personal range.

The screws may done on purpose that way to pull the guard tight. In any case they should be recessed a little better

 

[Howland]

What are your thoughts on ruger 338 rpr

I'm regularly shooting in the low 6s from 2-400 yards with mine. Note I did not say consistently. The best was .386 MOA at 300 but that could be an abberation as I normally do groups of five shots minimum. I was just gathering dope, tall target test and zeroing the reticle that session.

This weekend I'll have a chance to take it to 700 yards. Not only do I want to get dope at those ranges, I'm hoping to put an accomplished shooter behind it to see what it is truly capable of and how much of the group size is me. It will show me how much room for improvement there is.

 

[flyingtexan86]

My goto powder in my 338lm's is reloader33. I get more speed with less or same pressure.

How temp stable has Reloder 33 been for you? Being from North East Texas I shoot anywhere from teen's to triple digits, so temp stability is paramount. I've stuck with H1000 for my magnums for this reason. I am interested on how RL33 performs since it was designed for the Lapua.

 

[dredd]

I applaud you for all of the effort you have put into this.

Thank you!