Threaded barrel voiding the warranty problem

Hello everybody,
I have had my Savage now for a year and a half and have had a recurring problem with my gun. It's that the action screws get bound up and won't budge when trying to get them out so you will just strip the screws. They're tightened to 40 inch pounds everytime so I know it's not that. Savage has had to fix it twice already. So I got it back after the second time and I decided to thread the barrel. I'm an experienced machinist so it was no problem. Threaded it trued a muzzle brake on to match the contour and its good to go. I put it back together shot it and everything was fine. Well I took it coyote hunting the other day and it started pouring rain. I took it home and I was going to take the bolt out so I could clean the gun and noticed that the bolt won't come out. The bottom bolt release seems like it's not engaging anything. It takes a lot of force to move that release. The firearm works flawlessly but it won't release the bolt. Do you think Savage will take the gun back for fixing or am I SOL due to having the barrel threaded?

Couple of things to do, check receiver for straightness, if barrel was removed to install brake, depending on method used it may be twisted. & check stock, could be warped or bedding may be out of plum. Does action work out of stock ?

Did you engage the release when you put the trigger guard back on. If not it wont work. The reason I ask is the first time I reassembled a bottom release rifle mine wouldn't work either?

I thought I released it when putting it back together but I can't check because the front action screw is bound up again... I love this gun but this is getting outrageous. It's torqued to 40 inch pounds the way Savage said by doing ten pounds in the front first and going up in 10 pounds increments till 40.

Barrel was not removed from action. I turned 2 plastic holders. One put at a .75 degree taper for the barrel and the other one turned to the size of the inside of the spindle of the lathe holding onto the action.

It also has the accustock and I made sure that the recoil lug was as far back as possible

im pretty sure savage will not warranty the riffle now as its been modified but a phone call couldnt hurt...as far as the screw...try putting a couple of drops of PB blaster or other good penetrating oil on the screw from the inside of the action and let it sit for a few hours then put the rifle in your garage(or somewhere cold)for a few hours and then carefully try to remove the screw...if it dont move try tapping on the back of the driver(or allan wrench)as your trying to remove the screw...as a last resort i would use a C clamp and try to compress the barrel and the stock a little near the screw...im thinking the screw is bound up on the stock not in the action.

Whats that smell??

Santa sans Right Guard.

Are the action screws the same material as the action? Anti seize is your friend.

Well the rifle is in the garage and with the temp being 28 degrees this morning it should be pretty quick.

As far as the material type I think Savage makes there actions out of 4140. I'd assume the action screw is made out of some sort of plain carbon steel 1018/1020. So probably wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for the replies everyone as I would like to get this solved as quick as possible.

Merry Christmas!

Agree with LongRange, your Savage is now yours. The good news is, you have the skills to fix your rifle, even though we don't exactly know the cause of the problems, yet.

Does your Accustock have the wedge? It sounds like the action screw problem is common to the front and back screw? If so, and the wedge is still in your stock, it could be pushing the action back until it binds both screws? The pen oil soak in the cool garage is a good start, but I don't think it is going to be your solution?

Does your torque tool read in both directions? I haven't looked up the max torque on a 1/4"x28tpi common bolt, but I know it is way more than 40inch pounds. If it reads in both directions, I would try to remove the front bolt with the torque tool, and if you start going past the torque you set it at, your headed for failure. You may have to sacrifice at least the front action bolt to get it out, but I don't like breaking or stripping bolts or bits without knowing what is causing it. If the removal torque starts to go to a failure level, maybe 70inch#'s, you may want to consider drilling the head off the front bolt? If still bound perhaps repeat on the rear bolt? If still bound, you could alternately drive each bolt out with a drift punch, after you remove the scope, so as not to subject it to the shock.

In my past, I have owned rifles were the recoil lug was not touching anything, just floating in space. This could allow recoil to set the action back, binding the bolts?

This has gotten way more involved than I intended, but hopefully it includes something you find helpful :-). You can research and address the bolt removal situation once the BA is removed from the stock.

This should have been mentioned earlier, but it wasn't because you said your rifle shot well, and we assume, functioned well. The above assumes that you attempted to remove the front action screw with the bolt open, and the screw was not up so far the bolt was binding it? If that were the case, I'm sure you would have noticed it.

By your rifles second trip to Savage, both of your problems should have been solved. But since they weren't, you can rely on you brothers to help get to the bottom of it. Please let us know what the problems, and solutions were.

Good Luck-Good Shooting-Merry Christmas:-) Jim

Well I let it sit out in the garage and just tried getting it apart and the front action screw still will not budge. The back action screw comes out just fine. It always has. I do not have the wedge though.
I tried just normally taking the screw out but it wouldn't work so i had my wife tap on the back of the Allen wrench as i turned and it stripped out the Allen wrench...

I wish Savage was available right now but they are closed till January 4th. Obviously they can see that this problem has happened before i even threaded it so I feel like they should be at least willing to solve this problem.

My torque tool does not read in both directions.

if the barrel had been threaded by a smith you may have had a chance for warranty(and you may still)but since you threaded it savage is most likely going to say you caused the problem but im wrong more often than not LOL!

i think your going to end up having the drill the head off the screw as Jim said.

Ya I've come to the conclusion that I'll wait to see if Savage can fix it and if they can't I'll take it to work and drill it out.

at this point you may as well drill the head off the bolt so you can remove the stock. this should also relieve any stress on the bolt and a pair of vice grips should easily remove the bolt from the action. i don't torque my bolts over 35 inch pounds maximum. good luck and hope it works out for you.

Bruce

Where would I get a new action screw. Would I have to order it from Savage or can I get them off a different website?

Get a 1/4- 28 socket head cap screw from the local hardware store
The head is thicker than a factory bolt but it should fit into the front hole and still be recessed, is also better material
1 1/4" - 1/1/2" in length
It will be too long- cut off and grind or file to length
Jack

If Savage has fixed it twice already, they should fix it again. The barrel work had nothing to do with it the first 2 times. I would push them really hard if they balk.

I hope they fix it considering that but I'll have to wait and see.