Bushbullet61
03-14-2020, 11:29 AM
Well, finally found the perfect load and mounted new Vortex Viper G2 on the 300WM. Perfect zero at 100 yards with .25 groups! Then....🤬!
When I moved to the 300 yard range, shot 1 shot bullseye. Happy hunter. While looking through scope, I touched the objective bell and noticed my reticle jump across the target, then back again. WTH??? Factory mounted scope rail was loose. (Yes, I checked that it was tight before mounting scope, ‘assuming’ that the factory mounted it correctly.). When I removed the scope, I found that the screw over the barrel nut was broken. I understand that this is not an isolated case, as my brother in laws Stealth did the same thing! Here’s what we found, and presume the reason why.
The magnum “long distance guns” come with a 20moa scope mount. After inspection of the mounting holes, they are not threaded all the way down to the chamber to prevent the 6x48x1/4” screws from hitting the bolt. This wouldn’t be, or isn’t an issue if you are not using a 20 or 30 MOA canted scope rail, but with the reduced thickness at the front of the scope rail, the factory uses the same screw length on the front as on the rear or thick end of the scope rail. Subsequently, when the factory mounts the 20 MOA rail, the screws do not fully tighten on the rail, and if torqued to the bottom of the threads, can compromise or break the screw. Even a bigger problem with a 30 MOA rail! Have seen this same issue on two guns I have access to and heard of this as a problem on an older forum. This should be addressed and hopefully fixed by the factory.
i was able to remove the broken screw using an Irwin EX-1 screw remover (With drill bit) for about $4. You’ll need a drill press and GO SLOW when drilling out the broken screw. The bit is small enough not to damage threads if you center your bit correctly. The remainder of the screw came out easily with the left handed screw remover.
The correct fix for this is to re-tap the holes to continue the threads all the way through. You will need to shorten the screws with a grinder or such and make sure they do not protrude all the way through. If you only shorten the screw, you will only have a few threads to hold the rail. May be ok, might not. Depends if you may want to get another case of turrets at the range again.
Hope this helps, but really hope Savage fixes this problem!
When I moved to the 300 yard range, shot 1 shot bullseye. Happy hunter. While looking through scope, I touched the objective bell and noticed my reticle jump across the target, then back again. WTH??? Factory mounted scope rail was loose. (Yes, I checked that it was tight before mounting scope, ‘assuming’ that the factory mounted it correctly.). When I removed the scope, I found that the screw over the barrel nut was broken. I understand that this is not an isolated case, as my brother in laws Stealth did the same thing! Here’s what we found, and presume the reason why.
The magnum “long distance guns” come with a 20moa scope mount. After inspection of the mounting holes, they are not threaded all the way down to the chamber to prevent the 6x48x1/4” screws from hitting the bolt. This wouldn’t be, or isn’t an issue if you are not using a 20 or 30 MOA canted scope rail, but with the reduced thickness at the front of the scope rail, the factory uses the same screw length on the front as on the rear or thick end of the scope rail. Subsequently, when the factory mounts the 20 MOA rail, the screws do not fully tighten on the rail, and if torqued to the bottom of the threads, can compromise or break the screw. Even a bigger problem with a 30 MOA rail! Have seen this same issue on two guns I have access to and heard of this as a problem on an older forum. This should be addressed and hopefully fixed by the factory.
i was able to remove the broken screw using an Irwin EX-1 screw remover (With drill bit) for about $4. You’ll need a drill press and GO SLOW when drilling out the broken screw. The bit is small enough not to damage threads if you center your bit correctly. The remainder of the screw came out easily with the left handed screw remover.
The correct fix for this is to re-tap the holes to continue the threads all the way through. You will need to shorten the screws with a grinder or such and make sure they do not protrude all the way through. If you only shorten the screw, you will only have a few threads to hold the rail. May be ok, might not. Depends if you may want to get another case of turrets at the range again.
Hope this helps, but really hope Savage fixes this problem!