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Just loaded up some rounds for my brand new model 14. Used three times fired brass, fl sized. About every 5th round won't eject. All unfired rounds, i was just seeing how they cycled. The bolt isn't picking up the round. Seems to pick up factory ammo fine, so i figure its something to do with fl sizing. However I'm familiar with reloading and never had this issue with any other rifle.
Thoughts?
If your FL die is set too short (a LOT too short ?) then it is possible that there may not be enough of the rebate available for the extractor to grip. The ejector will push the round into the chamber until it seats on the shoulder and if the OAL is too short than the extractor may not be able to grip it.
I assume you are chambering it and fully closing the bolt ?
If factory ammo works, then this suggests a very dangerous condition with the way the FL die is set up. Was it set up this way for a different rifle ? Perhaps another savage that was headspaced with a cartidge and not a "Go" gauge ?
I suggest you invest in the $30 for a go gauge and a piece of tape over the back of it for a "No Go" gauge to verify both rifles. Then adjust your reloading equipment accordingly, or be very careful to NEVER mix the brass between both rifles. You are setting yourself up for premature case head separation otherwise, since it sounds like the new rifle would have far too much headspace to be safe for the current fired brass. A "real" headspace gauge will quickly tell you what is going on.
If you had not done this "test" and the rounds had fired, the rearward stretch of the brass would have engaged the extractor and you would not have known (until the head split on a first or subsequent firing). Depending on the position of your off hand on the rifle, this kind of event can have serious consequences. Usually the magazine is blown out the action at the very least and a lot of hot gas expelled out the 2 holes in the sides of the action. Eye injury is not to be ruled out either.
Be very careful.
I set brass to factory headspace specs, using hornady gauge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Westcliffe01
This is brass from another rifle, not a savage. Does the headspace need to be set on a brand new savage rifle from the factory?
The headspace "should" not have to be set. With todays lack of QC, who knows... But this is a safety critical dimension, so one would "assume" it had been checked. OTOH, I have read of people who found that their bolt was headspacing on a 0.062" burr instead of on the reciever.. So anythings possible.
Did you compare cartridge length between factory and what you reloaded ? Something is obviously not the same. The new rifle could have a bad extractor, but if so how come the factory ammo is fine ? Too short a catridge seems the only answer. Are you sure the shoulder angle of both sets of brass is the same ? The fired brass will be formed to the chamber of the other rifle. The new brass will be undersized in the transition from the major diameter to the shoulder (since it is swaged down to neck it). So I would have expected factory brass to be looser in this area than fired brass.
But then who knows what the reamer looked like that cut each chamber ? The only way to positively know is to make a chamber cast of each and then all chenanigans will be revealed...
I will double check everything and get back with my findings. thanks
Try some new brass and see if it still does it. I have had it said by many others new barrel new brass.
Stang and missed: The guy has a brand new model 14. He has the same caliber rifle in a different brand which is where the fired brass came from. He also has factory ammo, which feeds and extracts fine. Thus in my simple mind, there is clearly a substantial difference between the fired and FL sized brass and the "factory" brass = NEW ammo. To exhibit a failure to extract, one imagines that the cartridge has to go so far forward that the extractor is unable to grip the groove of the case. Since the ammo did not get fired, it did not expand back against the bolt, in which case it would probably have extracted fine (if it was still in 1 piece).
Perhaps there could be a wierd extractor issue, but Savage has a fairly robust extractor, not like the little spring clip thingy I had in my Remington bolts...