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Today, I traded in my GSG-5 and bought a Mark II BV...the gun looked great, felt solid and I had read alot of good things about Savage. After doing further research today, Im reading that people are having extraction issues, as well as feeding issues with the 5 round mags. Are these problems widespread, and can I expect to experience them? I won't be shooting it till next week but Im getting a little nervous. Are the 10 rounders any more reliable and are they available? Thanks.
It's a very common problem. You may or may not experience it.
The magazines can have feeding issues but are easily fixed with a little tweaking with a needle screw driver to the feed lips. Both 5 and 10 rd mags can have this issue but most will work just fine. The magazines have nothing to do with the extraction issues.
I bought a very nice used Mark II BTV from a popular online gun auction service. It is a virtual match to my 17 HMR BTV. It was a fair price and the auction service was OK but the seller was a jerk.
Upon delivery, the rifle would not eject but that was quickly remedied by bending the ejector with pliers. Perfect now.
The rifle would not feed well either. Feed issues with my 5 or 10 round mags have been corrected by tightening the mag well so that the mag is held in the rifle with less wiggle/rattle. The mag well is a sheet-steel part that has an unfastened/unwelded center seam.
I tightened the mag well as follows: 1) Remove the action from the stock; 2) Fold some 100 grit sand-paper so that you have a strip of abrasive on each outside of the strip; 3) Spread the mag well enough so that the sand-paper can be slid back and forth along and in the seam thereby removing material equally on both sides of the mag well so that when pressed together the mag is held more securely in the mag-well; 4 Squeeze the two sides of the mag-well together with pliers; 5) Install action in the stock.
I can't TIG weld to hold the two sides together so I over-sanded and tolerated a little rebound on the two mag-well sides when bent together with pliers. It will take several tries to get the right amount of material removed from the center seam. Be careful not make the mag-well so tight that the mags stick. My 5- and 10-round mags all fit well now and the rifle feeds flawlessly. I never perceived a problem with any of my mags and never tweaked any of them.
The procedure is impossible to detect when the action is back in the stock and reasonable care and oiling will preclude any rust in the seam where the bluing has been sanded-away.
If this had been a new rifle, I would have sent it to Savage for warranty repair. These two procedures have the rifle working perfectly at no additional cost to me. This is a great rifle that is fun to shoot and accurate. Shooting this rifle, I was just a few points short of the best autoloader-scores last summer at my first Appleseed Project training.
A final note, I'd wager a modest lunch that most Mark II's could benefit from a tighter mag well if only to reduce the rattle.