Originally Posted by
memilanuk
When we tested some of the very early pre-production 110BA rifles, they had some issues w/ extraction. The engineers had twiddled something (that didn't need fixed) on the rear baffle cam angle that resulted in the situation of the bolt being easy to lift, but since there was almost no primary extraction, the bolt was almost impossible to move to the rear w/o the aid of a small dead-blow hammer... swapping the rear baffle out for one from my 12 F/TR 'fixed' the problem, and AFAIK the factory changed things back the way they should have been. Very mild handloads didn't show the problem, but warmer hand loads and the fairly warm Hornady 250gn BTHP loads definitely did (at least the box I bought). From the sound of the first fix by the factory (polish the chamber and replace the rear baffle) that might have been what they thought might be happening. The second fix... sounds like easter-egging to me.
Other people continued to have the same issues after the production models came out, even with the bolt baffle fixed. Some did, some didn't. Those that did all had one thing in common, and so do you: Hornady brass. Their loads tend to be warm (at least in the .338LM), and their brass tends to be fairly soft - not a good combination. Almost every case I've heard or read of was 'fixed' by switching to harder Lapua brass. Yes, its expensive $tuff... but honestly if you've gone thru over 300rds of Hornady .338LM (the one box of 20 I had was nearly $100 out the door) I don't think it'd kill you to order a box or two of .338LM ammo loaded using Lapua brass to try and see if it helps your situation any. I think the problem is that as a factory action, the primary extraction on a Savage is a little on the weak side... and the .338LM is a big honkin' case, combined w/ warm loads and soft brass, makes for a scenario where the extraction on the Savage just ain't quite up to snuff. Harder tougher brass may be an easy fix.
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