Sav-64 Mag Well, Mag release, charging handle mods & Mag Pouch !

Hi - I've completed the above this Winter, ready for the snow and rain to leave so I can get to the range. The mag well mods were a lot of filing, then polishing w-600g w/d paper. Opens up the area lots. Doing this took several hours of trial and error(s). But the final product looks pretty good for hand work. I also extended the mag release by drilling a small hole in the OEM and fit a piece of coat hanger into it, secured with JB:p. The JB makes it 'softer' too. And I extended the charger with a small nut and bolt. I threaded the inside of the OEM charge handle and screwed the bolt & nut in, then filed it 'sorta' smooth. the handle still spins OK. Both things work very well, and look really bubba :pirate: Finally, since the 'Hiljak' mag loading tool would cost me over $30 CDN, I made a similar item using a 35mm film can, a click pen body, a screw, and JB.
Just a good thing I'm retired and can fool with these things:rolleyes:. All these saved me about $100 or more total.

BTW, I found a mag pouch on amazon that holds 6 mags for only $10 CDN.:o The desc says for a 9mm/.45 but the 64 mags fit nicely. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://i.postimg.cc/R65WgQc0/Sav-64...ell-opened.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/svkCQ6y1/DSCN6131.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/r0mPYxcv/Sav-64...tal-opened.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/q6pzTJDV/Savage...rge-Knob-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/DmhWs6vj/Savage-64-mag-pouch.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/dZCnz9fS/Sav-64...ading-tool.jpg

Thanks for posting your mods. I recently bought a 62F and will be doing all of these mods. Did you do anything to the trigger?
Thanks.

Hey KLR - Welcome to the '64 club. You'll find it's a reliable gun. I've found that CCI-MM in both 36 & 40 g are good for inexpensive shooting, and if you go to better ammo $$ you can find some that are very accurate. I suggest that you Don't brush out the barrel a lot, some say that a bit of residue helps accuracy?
I had a lot of problems with feeding from the magazines, like many on this forum and rimfirecentral.com, too. I have some threads about that, I'll include the links to that and to other info. Also, I suggest you get a magazine loading tool from Hiljak if you plan to shoot a lot - they're from Ohio too. As am I - I'm from BG and my parents were from Wellston/Jackson.
Yes, for the trigger I recommend you contact MCarbo for a spring kit - about $15 or so. Then while you have the trigger assy apart, polish the sides of all the parts with 600 or 1000 grit wet/dry and lightly lube with synthetic grease, not oil. And when re-assembling I put in shims on the trigger pin to remove side-to-side play. I just used some heavy foil from a coffee can seal:p to make 'washers' for the shim. I got that idea from a Youtube vid but I've lost that link. It's from a guy selling 'shim kits' but wayyy more than you need for this gun.
I suggest you check Y-T for Savage 64 vids - there are lots with some good info, but be careful, some of these are not very good, either unsafe or useless - I've checked out most of them:( And read all the threads you can find, on lots of forums. There's lots of good info out there. For example, there's an archive of 64 threads on this forum, that I just discovered this winter - http://www.savageshooters.com/archiv...php/f-167.html

I guess this is enough for now.
Good luck with your 64 :adoration:

https://postimg.cc/TKbGt8Qr
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...t-and-accuracy
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum....php?t=1147493 - See Post #5

Thanks for the tips and links, Fasteddie01.

Today worked the trigger over. I smoothed everything, squeezed the housing together to eliminate side-to-side play, and replaced both springs. The small front coil spring I replaced with a lighter spring I had in my junk stash. The original spring is made of .028" wire and the replacement spring is .020". The other spring (the one on top that pushes the sear up) was also made from .028" wire so I made one from .025" piano wire. Results: 4lbs and smooth with just a hint of creep. I'll take it.

I extended the bolt handle by driving in a shortened piece of 38 Special brass. I used some green Loctite to bond it in place. Better than stock, but still not satisfied with it. Likely I'll just make something on my lathe.

I drilled and tapped the mag release for a 4-40 screw to make it easier to push. Much better.

I'll put it back together tomorrow.

I put it together and shot it this morning and it's a much better rifle with the mods.

I added a rew o-rings to the charging handle extension. I like it now.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-DjbnSzM-L.jpg



I used some JB weld hold a piece of .22 brass over the 4-40 screw I installed in the mag release. Much, much easier to use.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-h22Ln9D-L.jpg


I was getting inconsistent firing pin strikes and had a few misfires so I drilled and pinned the bolt and ground the firing pin down to fit under the pin with minimal clearance. Now the firing pin has to go straight forward instead of forward and up. It worked great. All my brass was indented firmly and equally.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-vX57bZg-L.jpg



https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-w3sfjBg-L.jpg



Original firing pin:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-TzcGCh9-L.jpg


Modified:


https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-QKPFqMw-L.jpg



Now it's a decent rifle - especially for $99.

Hey there - Thanks for the pics of your work. Looks really good. Especially the firing pin. I looked up my parts diagram and they show that the pin looks similar to what you ended up with. I'll take mine apart and see what one i have. I've had light strikes, but thought it was just the ammo quality - May be some grinding in my future . . . and the mag release looks more attractive than the bubba one I made, but I think I'll keep mine for a while. I've gotten used to it now.
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/r0CTypBR/Savage...loded-view.png[/IMG]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fasteddie01

I looked up my parts diagram and they show that the pin looks similar to what you ended up with. I'll take mine apart and see what one i have. I've had light strikes, but thought it was just the ammo quality - May be some grinding in my future . . .

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Interesting. I'm interested to see what you find. Maybe that's one difference between the 64 and Wal-Marts's 62F?

Weellll - I finally got a chance to break down the 64 . My firing pin is just like yours was - NO cut away as in the diagram I found. I've been having some FTFs but just put that to my cheap ammo After seeing your solution I looked closely at my Firing pin and chamber face. Notably the chamber face has quite an indentation from the 'non-functioning' side of the pin - Savage said that dry fires were OK per another thread a couple years ago, but this may be an issue. In any case I filed away the 'proud' area of the pin (only about 1-mm or less) not it's flush with the striking area. I'll see if that is an improvement. I'll wait before trying your fix - this was simpler. Also, I 'broke' the lip of the chamber to create a bit of a ramp - may help as I have some 'catching' on loading.
Pics of these changes :

[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/Tptj7Knr/Sav-Chamber-Ramp-3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]- https://i.postimg.cc/PPDhKwg7/Sav-Pin-New-Face-3.jpg [/IMG]