Model 16 .204 Ruger magazine feed issues, and possible re-barrel

Good morning.

I have a Savage Model 16 in .204 Ruger that has a problem, where the last (bottom) round in the magazine usually does not feed, with the bolt passing over the top of the round in the magazine. Is this typical for the .223 / .204 in the Savage 16?

I like to reload (cheaper shooting, often much better accuracy than factory loads). But the magazine of this Model 16 is so short, that the bullets have to be seated deeply within the brass, in order to fit in the magazine. This results in the bullets being a long way from the rifling in the barrel, and this diminishes the accuracy potential. My best loads for this rifle are about 2.5" for 5 shots at 200 yards - not bad, but I think it's probably capable of better than this, if I could seat the bullets farther out.

Bottom line is, I'm thinking of re-chambering to a 20 caliber round based on the 222 Remington case, or the 221 Fireball case. Both of these would result in a much shorter over-all loaded round length, and should fit in the magazine, and have bullets that either touch or are close to the rifling for best accuracy potential. But - will these feed in the rifle's magazine, since they would be as much as half an inch or so shorter than the .204 Ruger round, for which the magazine was designed? Has anybody done such a conversion on the Model 16?

Thanks for the help. I'm open to any suggestions.

Bob65

You could always install a single shot follower such as SSS sells which would allow you to reload your ammo to the length you want without any issues.

Is this a centerfeed or stagger fed rifle?

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Originally Posted by jonbearman

Is this a centerfeed or stagger fed rifle?

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It's stagger fed.

My hope is to use this as a coyote calling rifle, consequently I would really like to have reliable feed from the magazine. I have a few centerfire rifles that are all single shot, as my main interest in shooting is long range accuracy (when I had a range available near my house, I often shot clay pigeons at 1000 yards - a LOT of fun.)

You could always have a good gunsmith cut a new chamber with a shorter throat to allow your bullets to get closer to the lands, expect to pay for the reamer, and you'd still have the feed issue with the last round. The 20 Vartarg would be a real nice alternative.