Older Savage 110 with hard bolt lift

[1leadslinger]

I have an older savage 110 in 30-06. It doesn't have an accutrigger. It has a 22 inch barrel and since I have had it since new and after shooting about 3-4 rounds the shot brass will literally get stuck in the chamber. You have to smack the bolt to get it to get the brass out.
My first thought is it was an over pressure round. However this happens with both commercial ammo and reloads. And the first few rounds are fine. It is like once the barrel heats up the brass won't release from the chamber or something.
I have checked headspace and it closes on a go gauge and the bolt will go to about the 2 O'clock position then stop so headspace seems fine. The case will be slightly bulged at the web area when this happens. The first few rounds don't bulge.

The only thing I can think of is that the barrel/chamber has an issue or rough spot in it causing the problem. I'm about ready to just re-barrel it to a 338-06 or perhaps just keep it as a 30-06.
I have shot 125-180gr bullets (reloads and commercial) and it does it on all of them.
I have also used cast bullets ran slow and it will happen with them too but it just takes longer...perhaps 10-12 rounds.

Can anybody think of something I haven't tried or thougt of yet.

Thanks

[earl39]

Primary extraction

[1leadslinger]

more like secondary extraction. I can rotate the bolt but it won't open/slide to extract the round.

[BigBlueandGoldie]

Primary extraction

I agree.

[Robinhood]

more like secondary extraction. I can rotate the bolt but it won't open/slide to extract the round.

What is secondary extraction? Primary extraction is when the bolt is lifted a ramp near the rear of the bolt pulls the bolt rearward to break the cartridge to chamber seal.

This is left hand but you get the point.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzFdXF2wiA4

[Mozella]

I had that problem with a 6mm BR I built on a Savage Model 12 action. There is a cam on the bolt handle which rides on a matching cam on the small piece which fits between the rear of the action and the bolt handle. When you open the bolt, that cam is supposed to pull the spent case out of the chamber so that you can slid it aft when you slide the bolt open. However, in my Savage (and apparently on many other Savages), the middle piece is too thin. That means the two cam ramps don't work against one another as designed, the case isn't broken free from the chamber, and it remains stuck when you try to move the bolt aft.

There are countless complaints about this problem on the Internet. Most folks say things like, "Take it to a gunsmith", or "Buy a better rifle". Eventually I found a discussion about not only the cause but the cure.

The answer is to disassemble the bolt and remove that intermediate piece. Get a couple of 6-32 set screws; some people call them "grub screws". Drill and tap the forward face of that spacer piece with the holes as close to 180 degrees apart as possible. Do some careful looking to make sure you're positioning the screws correctly. Install the screws and leave them proud of the surface by ten or twenty thousands of an inch. Adjust this distance as necessary during testing and then use locktite to hold them permanently.

The screws will act like an adjustable shim and will reduce the distance between the aft face of the intermediate piece (where the cam is) and the forward face of the bolt handle (where the other cam ramp is). Now, when you raise the bolt handle, the cams will interact and rather than force the previously too-thin piece forward without doing the intended job of primary extraction, your new set screws will bear on the aft face of the action, the cams will engage properly because you've removed the excessive slop, and the case will be broken free allowing you to open the bolt and extract the case as designed.

You might want to test your rifle by temporarily inserting some sort of shim, even a screwdriver blade, in the space between the intermediate piece and aft face of the action to see if the problem with your rifle is as I just described. If the case extracts when you decrease the space ahead of the intermediate piece, then think seriously about doing the modification. A Google search failed to turn up the pictures I found several months ago, but you might have better luck. Actually, if your problem is what I think it is, you can figure out what you need to do just by looking very carefully at how the cams work (or don't work) when you raise bolt handle. I hope my rather long explanation helps.

[1leadslinger]

Thank you this helped a good deal I will test this out and see if there is improvement. The secondary extraction I previously mentioned is basically my term I use. So after a bolt unlocks and primary extraction is complete the next step as I call it is secondary extraction. Which would be the physical rearward movement of the cartridge out of the chamber and then ejection. This would seem to make sense that once the chamber and brass heats up there is more stress on primary extraction. Which puts more stress on cam surfaces. I will update my findings as time permits thanks.