111 300 Win Mag disaster

Need some help guys

A friend of mine (no kidding it isn't me) did a bad thing with his 111. While mounting a leupold scope mount base he broke a screw off in the receiver. He then decided to bore out the screw and re tap the hole. Probably would have worked except he drilled completely through the top of the receiver. He then took the rifle to the range with the scope mounted and fired a shot. As you might have figured the scope blew off of the rifle and flipped over his head. No one was injured. I have not seen the rifle but he said it still functioned properly, but obviously the scope mounts and that hole in the receiver are a problem. What do you think we can do to resurrect this rifle? I told him we could probably fix it for less than the price of a new one. If not he could just buy a new one and have spare parts on hand.

Thanks Much

I am going to guess that it was the front scope mount and he drilled not only through the receiver but the barrel also. What he needs is a new barrel and retap the holes. I would suggest that he have someone professional fix it so that he will have the chance to shoot it once more. Lucky he is still alive.

I agree with Sinman, it sounds like he drilled through the front scope base mounting hole and also through the barrel in the chamber area. He can replace the barrel and do away with the "Gas Port" he created. The front scope base hole may require some repair. He is very lucky that his scope base did not channel some of the hot gases back into his eyes.

Jim Briggs
NSS

Wow, your friend really "dodged the bullet" so to speak on this one. This is a prime example of why there are professional gunsmiths and why they get paid to do what they do. Your friend is exactly the person that gunsmiths, mechanics, plumbers, contractors etc, are there for.

I think there is more to this story than we have heard.

Thats all of the story that I know. Can he get a standard Savage barrel? Or will it have to some kind of aftermarket?

How do we know that it wasnt the recoil that threw the scope off. What did the brass look like after firing?
Im betting at the worst your friend did not have a way to secure the front of the scope after his mistake. I think the rifle need to go to someone with mechanical ability, like an experienced shooter, at the minimum for an inspection before you think about telling him to order a barrel. Thread repair/modification may do the trick.

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Originally Posted by stangfish

How do we know that it wasnt the recoil that threw the scope off.

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Because it flipped over his head - if it came loose due to recoil, it would drop.

You can find take offs pretty cheap but all in all the aftermarkets you can get from northland will do the trick and increase his accuracy providing he knows what he is doing with his reloading techniques. I would stay away from original savage barrels and go for the better choice such as criterion,shilen,mcgowen etc.

+1 on the after market barrel and take it to a gunsmith!

I believe I would go to the Gunsmith first, then order a barrel.

If it was the back screw hole in the front of the action, he would have hit the locking lugs. If it is the very front hole he should have hit the web area of the chamber and the brass would have flowed into the hole and locked the cartridge case in the chamber. Hard to understand how the scope would be blown off if all the screws were in the bases.

I still think there is more to this story.

All it needs is a new receiver an a new barrel, will fix that right up.

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Originally Posted by csam

All it needs is a new receiver an a new barrel, will fix that right up.

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Oh is that all....lol. I told him if it doesn't work out just to buy an exact duplicate and he would have some spare parts.

Do you have any pictures of the brass? Was there a hole blown through the fired case under the screw hole location? It's hard to believe he drilled that deep, all the way into the chamber, but I've seen people work pretty hard screwing things up before. I'm glad to hear nobody was hurt.

small chance it was tapped the wrong size and the screws stripped? case would show a rupture if it blow up through a hole drilled all the way through.

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Originally Posted by Eric in NC

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Originally Posted by stangfish

How do we know that it wasnt the recoil that threw the scope off.

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Because it flipped over his head - if it came loose due to recoil, it would drop.

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So there was a hole in the brass? Im thinking extraction broblems at this point. Hence "what did the brass look like". Just trying to get the man with the problem to do a little CSI. There was a plethora of information missing from his post. Enough for anyone to be incapable of drawing an accurate conclusion. At least based on my expeience in failure analysis. ;D

Just talked to him. He said a perfect hole was blown through the brass at the spot of the drilling. He said it still ejected without a problem. I originally asked about the brass but didn't recall him saying anything about the hole.

Ok, the hole already goes all the way through the receiver on a new gun, so that part should be ok, other then getting threads set up for a new screw. A new barrel should fix the rest. A 300 just showed up in the classified today.