Savage hump back 16 gage shotgun feeding issues

[MOguns]

Hello. I have a Savage 16 gage hump back shotgun that I purchased used. I can not find a model number on it anywhere, it just says Savage automatic. I have cleaned it, and checked the ring placements and they appear to be correct, but it has problems ejecting shells. Is anyone with a Savage 16 gage hump back shotgun having problems with it ejecting properly? Did Savage make shotguns without model numbers? Thanks

[Plain old Dave]

I understand the Savage selfloader to be a licensed Remington 11/A5 clone, and as such it should reasonably be expected to have the same finicky nature about ammo the A5/11 is known for. Where are you getting the ammo?

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[Pappy]

Some older shotguns had a 2-1/2 inch head spacing to the forcing cone not 2-3/4 Inch.
If that is the case it could be a really old shotgun.
Not sure if Savage made them with 2-1/2 head spacing.
Does anyone know if Savage made them with 2-1/2 inch head spacing?
If so and how old would the shotgun be?

[big honkin jeep]

I know my Browning humpbacks require a small line of white lithium grease down the length of the magazine tube under the forearm to function properly.
It's okay to just remove the forearm and put it over the spring in a thin line down the magazine tube.
I had been having cycling issues for a while and thought for sure something mechanical was screwed up, So I took it to my local old school gunsmith.
He got out his little lithium grease gun and put a thin line down the tube and wouldn't even charge me anything so I went out and picked up lunch for the guys at the shop.
From the problems I was having I was very doubtful it would fix my issues and was very skeptical, but now it runs.... like a a well greased Browning :)
I learned not to clean it so well that you take the grease off of the magazine tube. It's there for a reason.

[MOguns]

Thanks Pappy.
I took the shotgun to a gunsmith and he used a gauge to check the head spacing: he told me that it is 2-1/2 inches.
He said that he hasn’t work on many Savages but the Browing A5s with 2-1/2 inch head spacing are really old.
He said as far as he knows there are only 2 companies making 2-1/2 inch shells: RST and Fiocchi.
The gunsmith told me that he could modify the gun to shoot 2-3/4” shells: I told him I’d have to think about that.
It seems to me that having it take 2-3/4 inch shells is convenient, but that ruins the character of the gun.
Does anyone know how old this shotgun is?

[Mad Dog]

If it's a model 720 they were all chambered at 2 3/4", not sure how your smith got 2 1/2"?

[MOguns]

He used what he called a head space gage. It was a round piece of metal that had lines on it for 2-3/4 - 2-9/16 and 2-1/2. He placed it in the barrel and it it stopped on the 2-1/2 inch line. It look pretty straight forward and not to complicated to do.