Model 16 Magazine Malfunctions

[AirborneAllTheWay]

Help anyone?!?

A couple weeks ago I bought a Model 16 in 7mm-08. I love everything about the rifle and it is extremely accurate out of the box. My problem is chambering rounds. I can never get 4 for 4 feeding - sometimes 2 or 3 rounds (usually the middle rounds) will not chamber without backing off the bolt half an inch or so, then forward to chamber the round.

I contacted Savage and they send me two magazines and it did NOT fix the problem.

I've scoured the internet and found this is not a unique problem. Some take the magazine apart and stretch the spring, while others have sacrificed the 4th round (which I would gladly do) and installed two coil springs to replace the OEM "Z" spring.

Has anyone else had this problem? How did you resolve it? Is there an aftermarket supplier that makes a better magazine?

[wbm]

Has anyone else had this problem?

May be better to ask who has not, at one time or another, had this problem with Savage rifles and DBM magazines.

There are better aftermarket magazine setups but I don't have enough experience with any to recommend one.

[J.Baker]

Are you sure you're not short-striking the bolt?

[Stumpkiller]

I have a M11 in .260 Rem - pretty close. When I slowly cycle and feed looking for where yours may hang up I note two things:

The rim of the cartridge can be far enough back in the magazine that the rear end of the lips of the center feed mag can close on each side of the rim and require a very hard push to break it free.

Next, the feed ramp is steep and may grab the bullet nose a bit. Like J.Baker says: that sounds like you are not fully cycling the bolt. Maybe because something is in the way?

But I have never has the issue of a cycled boat failed to pick up the next round. Someyimes it is reluctant - but it always grabs it.

[Zero333]

When I cycle the bolt slowly it sucks. When I cycle it FAST, it works flawlessly.

What happens is the head of the brass gets kicked up too much once it leaves the feed lips. Cycling the bolt fast will not give the cartridge base enough time to jump up too far.