22LR B Series bullet scratching/accuracy issues

I've read here and other places about the bullet scratching issues with the B series rifles. My B22 Precision was bought brand new a few months ago and it does scratch the bullets and has pretty bad accuracy which I feel is due to the scratched bullets. The gun shoots very erratically, can shoot a few perfect bullseyes then have the next few shots anywhere from a half inch to over an inch away. The "flyers" can be high, low, left or right away from the point of aim. I have tried many different brands of ammo from cheap bulk pack stuff to several different varieties of expensive Eley match grade and just about everything in between. They all basically shoot the same. I've also tried 3 different scopes including 2 that shot fine on the guns they came off of and 1 brand new just to make sure I am good there. In addition to many brands of ammo and the copes I have tried torquing the chassis bolts in 5 pound increments from the 20 inch/lb that the manual calls for all the way up to 45 inch/lbs. Did not make one bit of difference.

I called Savage yesterday and they want me to ship the gun to them. Said they will have their gunsmith's repair and test fire it before sending back which is great, but I would rather not be without the gun for a month or more. So I'm just wondering if anyone knows of a fix without sending it away. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Have you tried loading single-shots by hand, not thru the mag?
Try 10 or so like that after 5-10 'seasoning' shots with 'good' ammo like SK+ or CCI-SV. That'll give you an idea if that 'scraping' is the cause. To try to 'fix' the scraping, you need to take the bolt and 'break' the leading edge, rounding it and polishing the front and back a bit on the edges too. Here's a couple pics of my B22 FV bolt after polishing. If you polish the rest of the 'flats' it'll help the bolt run smoother, too. I used 1000g wet/dry paper to 'polish'.
Also, have you checked the trigger pull ? If it's breaking 'hard' it could throw off your shots in random directions, too.
And have you checked the chamber for Carbon Ring ? If you've shot a couple hundred rounds it could be building up and damaging the bullets?
Just a few guesses . . .
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/WbBDvM3Z/Sav-B2...mfered-END.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/5954nqTg/Sav-B2...nch-needed.jpg[/IMG]

fv - I forgot one other thing - Have you 'un-wound' the mag spring to lighten tension ? This may reduce how much pressure is holding the bullets 'up' against the bolt. That may help the scraping but definitely makes loading easier. Easy to take apart the mag, just be careful the parts don't fly away.
Finally found where I put it (took me 15+ min to find, I post too many places) - a doc I posted recently on RFC as an attachment (which I can't do here :rolleyes:). This describes the 'Un-wind' process. Post #33, its a pdf that will open when you clik on it..
http s://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/fixed-regarding-has-anyone-had-to-send-their-savage-b22-precision-back-to-the-manufacturer-for-failure-to-load-rounds.1251593/page-2

Fasteddie01,
Thanks for the info. Yes, I had tried single loading and still shot erratically, and yes, I ran enough shots of each ammo to season the barrel. Trigger is not a problem. it is extremely light and smooth and breaks like glass. By far the best trigger I ever used. This is the precision model with the trigger that goes down to 1.5 lbs. I don't have a trigger gauge but would be surprised if it's even that much. I did polish the edge of the bolt but nowhere near as much as yours. Have not touched the mags so that might help.

The guy I spoke to at Savage said it was very possible I had a bad barrel and he thought there was a good chance it will need to be replaced. I decided to send it back to Savage and hope they get it right. As of this morning it's on the way. It's a shame since I love the trigger, balance, rigidity, tight bolt lock up and looks of the gun. I hope they get it shooting and extracting properly since as much as I like the other things it would be useless without accuracy.

Just a little update. I had sent my rifle to savage on 6/23/22, a Thursday. They received it Monday 6/27/22. I had been told they would have it for 3 weeks or less. As of today, 7/27/22 they still have it. Not very happy with savage at this point. Hopefully they make me happy by sending back an accurate and properly ejecting rifle soon...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fv22

Just a little update. I had sent my rifle to savage on 6/23/22, a Thursday. They received it Monday 6/27/22. I had been told they would have it for 3 weeks or less. As of today, 7/27/22 they still have it. Not very happy with savage at this point. Hopefully they make me happy by sending back an accurate and properly ejecting rifle soon...

---

When I bought an Axis a few years ago one of the threaded holes for the scope base was only partially threaded so I sent it back. It too a good month to get it back and the couple of times I called I spoke to a young woman who was of little to no help the first time and said they have a record of getting it but that was all she could tell me and seemed annoyed.
I call again a couple of weeks later and got her again. This time she said it should ship out soon but couldn't tell me what they did. It just showed up at my doorstep a couple of days later. Very poos customer service.
Oh, they rethreaded the one hole and put a low budget two piece bases on it that looked like someone cast them in their basement. BTW it didn't have bases on it when I initially purchased it. I took them off and put on a set of Talley's.
I hope toy get it back soon.

Quick update. Yesterday was 5 weeks since they received it. I'll say 4 since they were closed for a week at 4th of July. Still the 3 people I've spoken to at savage said they would get it back in 3 weeks. I called last Friday and was told that it was with a gunsmith now but could not tell me anything more. I haven't heard anything else so either they have not been able to fix it yet or it's done and on its way back. I would think they should notify me with shipping info since it will require a signature for delivery. But after reading the post above by prdatr it seems like they just ship them out without any notice. I will call tomorrow to check status again...

After speaking to Savage again today it seems I will be without my rifle for even longer. A week ago they told me a gunsmith was working on it. I figured it would be repaired and back to me by now. Apparently the factory gunsmith said it is not repairable and they are going to send me a new one. That sounds good as long as the new one works better than the old one...

Also, since the B22 Precision is made in Canada they do not have one at the Massachusetts facility to send me. They could not tell me when it might get to them. This coming Monday will be 6 weeks since they received it, not very happy with Savage at this point.:mad:

Update on my ordeal with savage. Today is 10 weeks since I shipped it to them, still waiting...
My first savage and DEFINITELY my last.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fv22

Update on my ordeal with savage. Today is 10 weeks since I shipped it to them, still waiting...
My first savage and DEFINITELY my last.

---

FV22 did you ever receive your rifle back from Savage? If so, how does it function?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fasteddie01

Have you tried loading single-shots by hand, not thru the mag?
Try 10 or so like that after 5-10 'seasoning' shots with 'good' ammo like SK+ or CCI-SV. That'll give you an idea if that 'scraping' is the cause. To try to 'fix' the scraping, you need to take the bolt and 'break' the leading edge, rounding it and polishing the front and back a bit on the edges too. Here's a couple pics of my B22 FV bolt after polishing. If you polish the rest of the 'flats' it'll help the bolt run smoother, too. I used 1000g wet/dry paper to 'polish'.
Also, have you checked the trigger pull ? If it's breaking 'hard' it could throw off your shots in random directions, too.
And have you checked the chamber for Carbon Ring ? If you've shot a couple hundred rounds it could be building up and damaging the bullets?
Just a few guesses . . .
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/WbBDvM3Z/Sav-B2...mfered-END.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/5954nqTg/Sav-B2...nch-needed.jpg[/IMG]

---

fasteddie, did this smoothing elimate the bullet scratching in your rifle?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iowa Fox

fasteddie, did this smoothing eliminate the bullet scratching in your rifle?

---

H-IowaFox - Yes, I rarely find any scratches at all. I must caveat that My B22 didn't do it very 'deeply' to begin with, the bullets just looked like they were banged around in a 'bulk box' instead of being $20 Lapuas ( I usually only use SK+, HA! ) I've commed with others who have done this and found relief from that 'nasty scratchin' :rolleyes:
Just 'round' the front so it still can pick up the bullet case, and smooth everything else. I went back almost 2" and polished it with 1000g paper after a tiny bit of filing. Also, check inside the receiver while you're polishing . . . there are often snags and stuff that could drag on the bolt, too. I also polished the 'round side' of the bolt, shiney just makes me feel good. :cool: Might as well . . .
I also polished all the trigger parts w-1000g, and did the 'heat the T-spring' mod (heat ca. 'yellow-hot' and cool slowly). That was before a friend send me a couple V-springs from TX. One of those went in my A22, but the B22 had gone down to 1.25# w-heat so I left it alone. The A22 went down to 1.9# which was good for a semi with that cr*p trigger assy, and made a young guy Verry happy when he bought it.
Good luck with your rifle,
Ed

Thanks Ed

Yesterday was a crappy day here so I cleaned up my bolt using Ed'd pictures for reference. I used masking tape on the flat sided and a strip around the front of the bolt nose. With the bolt in my little rubber jaw vice I went to work with a 3/8 x 3/8 x 3/8 inch honing stone 6 inches long followed by a wyoming stone for the ultimate polish. I tried a half dozen different brands of loaded ammo I had handy. Happy to report Scratching is gone. Thanks a million for the pictures ed.

Leaves me wondering about the guys buying the B22 precision. Is Savage doing any polish work on those bolts or is Savage just letting them suffer?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iowa Fox

Leaves me wondering about the guys buying the B22 precision. Is Savage doing any polish work on those bolts or is Savage just letting them suffer?

---

I can all but guarantee you that Savage isn't giving any extra attention to the bolts in the B22 Precision rifles - same as they've never given any extra attention to their centerfire Precision Target actions.

Sorry I never got back on this thread to report but life sometimes gets in the way! After about 3 months I finally received the new B22 Precision from Savage. Seemed good the first time to the range but then again so did the original. I did not trust it so went a few times and it performed flawlessly every time. Every round ejects properly and with good ammo and if I do my part it puts them right in the 100 ring! I've now had the replacement rifle several months and have been to the range about 8 or 9 times and have done 3 benchrest competitions with it. Getting better every time I go to a match. Came in 4th last week out of 14 in the factory class. Since I've only been to 3 benchrest matches in my life I'm pretty happy with that, especially since the 10 behind me were all shooting CZ's of one kind or another, and most if not all had more competition experience than I do.

All in all I am now very happy with the rifle, can't ask for more out of the product than I'm seeing. However, I am still upset with the lousy customer service from Savage and the fact that I had to spend $71 to ship a brand new defective rifle back to the manufacturer. I do not see myself ever buying another Savage due to their terrible attitude towards the customer.

Do all the B22's have this problem? I think Tikka is gouging because of their latest price increase of $100. So, have been looking at the B22FUSR but don't want to go down the rabbit hole. How is the B22FVSR accuracy compared to the B22 Precision? I believe the Precesion has a "red" blade Acca-trigger and , maybe, a different barrel.

bsekf - see my post in the B22 Precision thread where you posted this question.

Fasteddie I did, I am writing on 2-3 different Boards and a half dozen threads. At my age, I should stick to one! Looks to me as if Savage should improve QC and R&D and listen to their customers. The Tikka keeps coming out on top.

Bill