Tight chamber?

[Texas Solo]

I just picked up a DSG 11VT, 308. It's my 3rd Savage rifle.
I'm having a slight issue with the action. The bolt is tough to close (as in both close and cam over) and even harder to lift. This is without even firing a round yet. Test ammo was 168 Federal GMM.
Here's the strange thing....same test with some cheap American Eagle 150gr and the action is smooth as butter, both ways. The OAL on the 150's is .100" shorter than the 168's. Although there are no rifling marks on the 168's after chambering them. I even blackened one out to be sure, no rifling marks.

OAL on the GMM is 2.800, standard 168gr measurement. The AE 150's are 2.700. CBTO measurement is also .100" difference. So what to conclude? My chamber measures 2.225 CBTO, and 2.800 OAL That's the exact dimensions of the Federal GMM.

I'm mostly concerned on how to reload for this thing. If I back off the lands 10 or 20/1000's, I can adjust the load to suit, but I think I may be missing something here. Just checking for safety's sake. Can my chamber coincidentally be the exact same as factory loaded Federal GM 168's, or is my chamber really tight?

[stangfish]

The headspace may be tight. The distance from the shoulder to the rim face is longer on the cartridge than it is in the chamber shoulder to bolt face.

[Steve Williams]

The headspace may be tight. The distance from the shoulder to the rim face is longer on the cartridge than it is in the chamber shoulder to bolt face.

I have the same issue with my FCP-SR.

My LC brass has a shoulder length .005-.007 longer than the Fed and Win brass.

Fed and Win cycle flawlessly, LC is a little snug closing and opening.

[Texas Solo]

That's what I'm thinking too. It's not an OAL issue, but a short headspace issue. I'm going to try sizing some brass with a SB die that will bump the shoulder back .002" If that doesn't work, I guess it has to go back to Savage to have the headspace corrected.

[stangfish]

No need to use a small base die. But you do need some way to measure your case shoulder(case headspace). If your die is not hitting the case holder then you can turn the die in in small increments till your shoulder gets bumped back a few thousandths. A full turn of the die is a touch over .071 so an eighth turn is .009. That means it only takes a small amount after you touch the shoulder to change the headspace. 1/16th turn is probably too much once the die shoulder has made contact with the case shoulder.

If new ammo does not fit you probably need to contact Savage. Knowing your case headspace length on the factory stuff would be good information to have when calling them.