Savage 110 Bold head retaining pin

**rosewood** · 12-28-2016, 02:24 PM

Recently picked up a savage 110E in .270 at a pawn shop for $189 with a Bushnell 3-9x50 Banner scope on it. Serial E93XXXX. Kind of rough looking, cleaned it up and reblued it. Someone had put a camo bell and carlson stock on it. The stock had some cracks in the action bolt areas so I pillar bedded it and bedded the stock. Shot at range and shot great group with some rounds I had loaded for another gun. Was taking the bolt out today and went to put back in and something fell in my hand. Went ahead and put in and bolt got stuck. Realized it was the bolt head retaining pin had broken in half. Took some doing, but finally got the piece still in the bolt in place so it would come out.

Has anyone ever had one of these things break? Savage is closed until January and everyone online says out of stock. One company says Savage no longer makes the one in my gun. It is a .150" hole retaining pin. Will I have to change to the new smaller firing pin? Is that as simple as installing the new smaller one in place of the old one in the same bolt with the new .100" retaining pin?

Would Savage warranty such a thing? Send me a new pin?

Thanks,

Rosewood

**olddav** · 12-28-2016, 03:14 PM

Yes they do break
You can buy a new model pin and bore it out to the required dia. or replace the firing pin, along with other required parts (I don't know what additional parts are required).

**rosewood** · 12-28-2016, 06:05 PM

Will probably go with drilling out before spending money on new firing pin assembly. I hope I can find the correct pin.

**RustyShackle** · 12-28-2016, 10:26 PM

Savage Arms #: 100099 is the large (.150 ) pin. Hope this helps

strkr300 · 12-28-2016, 10:48 PM

I have the same problem however mine is a savage striker pistol which is no longer made not sure what size my firing pin is but none of the 4 bolt retaining pins I bought fit and cant find one that does who has a 0.100 firing pin for a 516fsak striker pistol? Actually have 2 one in 308 the other in 300wsm so I may need two.

**rosewood** · 01-03-2017, 10:29 AM

I called savage to inquire about the part and they said they no longer carried it because my gun was older than 95. I asked what to do and all she suggested was to try a couple of companies that sold parts. Numrich is out of stock and I didn't call the other one. Midway list the larger bolt head retaining pin, but shows overdue.

Does anyone know if the parts on the larger firing pin will work on a smaller pin? I see the smaller firing pin is available for purchase on Midway for $5.99. The entire assembly is available for like 18.99. Can I just order the smaller firing pin and bolt head retaining pin and reuse the spring and other small parts from the larger firing pin?

Thanks,

Rosewood

**short round** · 01-03-2017, 10:45 AM

Parts are same, install parts, adjust firing pin.

**rosewood** · 01-03-2017, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by short round

Parts are same, install parts, adjust firing pin.

Thanks for the info. Will be ordering new firing pin and retaining pin soon.

I do question why Savage doesn't tell the customers that. They could have sold me a firing pin and retaining pin on the spot.

Rosewood

**RustyShackle** · 01-03-2017, 09:31 PM

I have read that it is fine to use a small firing pin with a large opening in the bolt head, however to me this seems slightly sketchy. If it was me personally I would probably swap out the bolt head also.

**rosewood** · 01-04-2017, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by RustyShackle

I have read that it is fine to use a small firing pin with a large opening in the bolt head, however to me this seems slightly sketchy. If it was me personally I would probably swap out the bolt head also.

I wondered about that also. However, that would only matter if the firing pin actually touches the sides of the opening as extra support, then you would get extra drag which could cause misfires I am guessing. There are numerous other gun firing pins that are completely free floated the last couple of inches by design.

Anyone on here performed this swap and has there been any issues?

Thanks,
Rosewood

**olddav** · 01-04-2017, 09:31 AM

You may see some primer cratering due to a lack of support around the firing pin. Will that lead to bigger problems? I have no personal experience with this but cratering primers just does not seem like a good thing regardless of the cause.

**rosewood** · 01-04-2017, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by olddav

You may see some primer cratering due to a lack of support around the firing pin. Will that lead to bigger problems? I have no personal experience with this but cratering primers just does not seem like a good thing regardless of the cause.

So you are saying the firing pin is guided by that hole? It drags on it when firing? Would not the firing pin hole in the face of the bolt head keep it straight?

Thanks,

Rosewood

**olddav** · 01-04-2017, 12:41 PM

I misread your post, I was thinking of the bolt head. Using a small firing pin in a bolt head designed for the larger one.

**rosewood** · 01-04-2017, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by olddav

I misread your post, I was thinking of the bolt head. Using a small firing pin in a bolt head designed for the larger one.

No, that would be the case. I have a large firing pin with the large retaining pin, the factory bolt head to match. If I replaced the larger diameter firing pin with a smaller one and the smaller retaining pin, then kept the original bolt head, the bolt head hole will still be for the larger firing pin. After all the reading I have done, I was thinking that would be a good upgrade to any large diameter firing pins just for durability, especially on heavier calibers. After all, the change was done by Savage because the bolt head retaining pins had been breaking. However, if a new bolt head is also required, that runs the cost up significantly.

I did read on one post that said you could use a small firing pin with a larger bolt head and could use a large firing pin with the small bolt head after drilling out without issue, but I am looking for additional opinions, maybe from someone that has actually done this. Did Savage reduce the hole in the bolt head to align the firing pin or just because the larger hole was no longer needed?

Thanks,

Rosewood

**olddav** · 01-04-2017, 03:12 PM

Then I resubmit my earlier post. My guess is Savage reduced the hole in the bolt head to match the the new firing pin. Why they redesigned the firing pin I can't tell you. If the hole in the bolt head is exisively large then primer cratering could be a problem.

**Robinhood** · 01-04-2017, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by olddav

Then I resubmit my earlier post. My guess is Savage reduced the hole in the bolt head to match the the new firing pin. Why they redesigned the firing pin I can't tell you. If the hole in the bolt head is exisively large then primer cratering could be a problem.

^this^. If you have any skills you could drill out the pin. I don't know how hard it is so it is possible you will need a cobalt or carbide drill bit.

**rosewood** · 01-04-2017, 07:23 PM

I see your point but i think we are not talking about the same thing. The hole in the face of the Bolt head is the same size on both firing pins. The difference is the thicker part of the firing pin. The tunnel to the Bolt face is different size.

Basically the tip of both firing pins is the same.

**olddav** · 01-04-2017, 08:44 PM

http://www.savageshooters.com/conten...ins-Bolt-Faces

Maybe some usefull info.

**243LPR** · 01-04-2017, 11:42 PM

I had this break on one of mine too. I was told excessive dry firing is hard on them. Get er fixed and use snap caps.

**rosewood** · 01-05-2017, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by 243LPR

I had this break on one of mine too. I was told excessive dry firing is hard on them. Get er fixed and use snap caps.

I can assure you, it wasn't me. I do have snap caps. I bought it used and have only had it to the range once. Can't recall ever dry firing it. I am trying to get er fixed, but need the parts at this point and I am trying to determine if upgrading to the newer style firing pin is a good idea or will require more parts than just the firing pin and retaining pin. There were other signs of excessive pressure on this gun. I suspect someone shot a high pressure load in it at one point and possibly caused the damage that I have seen in it.

**rosewood** · 01-13-2017, 07:37 AM

I did some measuring last night. Realized I had a short action post 99 rifle. Took the bolt apart and compared to the older long action bolt. The firing pin tips and bolt face firing pin hole are the same diameter. The body of the firing pin is narrower on the new one vs the old one. I also inspected the firing pin "tunnel" on the bolt head and the newer heads do have a smaller hole than the older ones. The "tunnel" is slightly larger than the firing pin so that it doesn't drag, but in my opinion, it is close enough to prevent the firing pin from flexing beyond its elastic limit and risk breaking when firing. It is now my opinion if I upgrade to the newer firing pin and bolt head retaining pin, then I should also upgrade the bolt head as someone else on here suggested. That does increase the upgrade cost by $25 or more.

It seems to me the new firing pin is a weaker design than the older one, however, the bolt head retaining pin is stronger. I guess they split the difference with the bolt head retaining pin to reduce failure of both parts.

Thanks for all the help.

Rosewood

**rosewood** · 01-26-2017, 07:52 AM

I found the large hole bolt retaining pin on Numrich and went ahead and ordered 2. Figured since I have 5 guns that use that part, a spare couldn't hurt since they are so hard to find. Midway still list them and they are cheaper than at Numrich but are out of stock. If they become available, I may order another one on my next order just for good measures. :)

Thanks for the help.

Rosewood