Bolt Part Problem

[bower4311]

I don't know a lot of terms but the pictures show it all. The thin washer looking piece between the two parts looks to be bent. I never noticed it before, and there is a little give in that area. I was having trouble chambering my loads last time at the range. They needed quite an extra push forward to get the bolt to close. The rounds were loaded longer than before but using a brass rod I believed to have discovered that my mag is the limiting factor by quite a bit. Savage 11 trophy hunter xp in 260. The gun is only a few months old. I tried chambering an older dummy round and it seems fine. I'll have to try my newer dummy round tomorrow, but either way that piece looks bent and there is a springing action in that separation.

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y501/Bower4311/20130430010129152_zps49dfd4d0.jpg

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y501/Bower4311/20130430010212969_zps222112eb.jpg

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[Bossman]

The thin washer is supposed to be wavy or "bent" looking- it allows the floating bolt head system to work as designed and it acts as a thrust washer to keep the rattle or slop out of the bolt assembly. In other words, your bolt is fine.
As far as hard- to- chamber reloads are concerned, check to make sure the bullets are seated deep enough. You mentioned that they were longer than before. They may be too long, jamming into the rifling when you try to chamber one. That may cause excessive chamber pressure which is dangerous.
Try chambering an empty case you have resized and see if that chambers easier. That will give you a clue as to what the problem might be.

[hafejd30]

Do you neck size or full length size? If you neck size you'll get tight chambering rounds after a few reloads. How hot your loads are and the brand of brass used will usually determine how many times you can size before they get to this point.

[bower4311]

I full length. If that part is supposed to be like that then I must be seating too long. But it's hard to believe it because I measured with a brass rod and it came in short, maybe I was doing something wrong measuring.

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[jpdown]

From what you described, it sounds like your bullets are seated too long and jamming. Your FL die is not set properly to bump the case sholder back on fired brass. Your brass needs to be trimmed because it is at the maximum length for your chamber. Or you may just have a tight factory chamber. Compare chambering of new unfired brass (without bullet) verses brass that has been fired and FL sized with your die. If that is not the problem, check you bullet seating depth. Another crude method is to use a felt tip marker and color the bullet, case neck and sholder of a problem dummy or reloaded round. Chamber the round with the rifle pointed down range in a "safe" direction and see if the color is being rubbed off the bullet by the lands or off the case shoulder and/or neck. If you have access to go and no go headspace gages, I would verify for safety and peace of mind. Let us know what you discover.

[jpdown]

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[bower4311]

Does anyone have on hand a picture of what a bullet rubbed with the marker looks like that has contacted the lands?

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[bodywerks]

Depends on how much tension you have on the bullet with the brass and how quickly you chamber the round, but basically if you chamber a round and then extract it and there are ANY marks on the bullet it's because the bullet is contacting the lands of the rifling.
What is your current overall length of your loaded round?
On a stock savage, if its already too long to fit into their supplied magazine it is quite likely you are too long.

[bower4311]

Don't have the exact dimensions but it is below the magazine length.

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[Bossman]

I full length. If that part is supposed to be like that then I must be seating too long. But it's hard to believe it because I measured with a brass rod and it came in short, maybe I was doing something wrong measuring.

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Remember that sometimes, maximum cartridge length is not dictated by magazine length. It really depends on the chamber/ throat dimension.

[bower4311]

I know that it's not, I measured with a brass rod and seemed to find that it was a good amount longer than th magazine length. Maybe I jammed the bullet in while I was measuring.

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