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Yosemite Steve · February 3, 2018, 07:05 PM

I figured it might be better to just make a thread in here called this. I know not the best was to organize all of the history of what has been said and done. I will just add to this as we go. I really feel like there is much to be learned by my dilemmas!

The gun being discussed is an 80's Savage 110CL series J 30-06

All of this began at Poochy Primershttps://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=592434.
The first symptom was that my primers were sticking out. After ruling out headspace, pressures and bad brass 243winxp suggested checking the bolt face for concavity and it was so. The center of the bolt face was last measured at .004576" deeper than the edge.

I ordered a new bolt head, firing pin, spring and retainer pin.

The bolt head did not come with an alignment slot as the original had so I took it to the gunsmith to have it machined. The gunsmith inspected the gun and told me it needed cleaning very badly. When I finally got it back he said that the new bolt head shortened my chamber such that it would not close on a go gauge. He said that I was lucky because it was only slightly short and I would be able to get more life out of my tighter brass and shoot more accurately. He suggested a small base die for resizing.

I asked him to run the barrel out to make the gun chamber the correct length and he did that, but said he hated to let it leave his shop with the sights off to the side and that, if it were his, he would try what he had suggested. So I went along. I noticd that the small bevels that were cut on the corners of the lugs on the old bolt head were not cut in the new one and he said they were not needed.

After doing some reading I decided to try taking some thickness off of my shell holder to shorten the brass without reducing the diameter like a SB die would do. It seemed like a simple enough fix. The gunsmith agreed that it should work and shell holders are cheaper than dies.

I loaded up some rounds .001" shorter than feel on the bolt handle with some IMR 4350 loaded to 53 grains behind 180 SST's just at the lands. The ammo was chrono'd at 2611 fps. The primer was super flat and the bolt handle was very stiff to lift and eject being the worst high pressure signs I have ever had. At first I suspected the powder and then the bullets being on the lands. Afyer doing some checking on Quickload my conclusion is that the pressure spike was due to the long deating depth to the lands and a reduced case and chamber volume.

I have dismantled the bolt only to find that the alignment slot was not adequately reamed and the bolt head was forced into the bolt leaving enough side pressure to keep one side of the lug from mating to it's surface. The bevels that were not cut out did not allow the bolt lugs to rest into their broken in surface on the receiver face. This was suspected and pointed out by HiBC. I machined the bevels into the lugs as they were on the old bolt and was able to chamber a factory round with almost no feel where before it would only close with a heavy push on the bolt.

I have decided to demand a refund for the fee for machining the bolt head and time for running the barrel out and back in again totaling $95. I hope that another gunsmith might be willing to ream it and put a clean face on my receiver and get it to spec for near that.

The name of the shop is Bass's Gun Rack. Don't take your gun to Bass!

Here is my latest:

I have decided to cut the face of my new bolt head down to correct the headspace. It was suggested before, but I thought it would leave too much slop in the extractor. It does not. Hats off to those who suggested it. What a simple fix.

February 3, 2018, 07:05 PM	#1
Yosemite Steve Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2017 Posts: 460	Yosemite Steve's Savage 110 Issues :P I figured it might be better to just make a thread in here called this. I know not the best was to organize all of the history of what has been said and done. I will just add to this as we go. I really feel like there is much to be learned by my dilemmas! The gun being discussed is an 80's Savage 110CL series J 30-06 All of this began at Poochy Primershttps://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=592434. The first symptom was that my primers were sticking out. After ruling out headspace, pressures and bad brass 243winxp suggested checking the bolt face for concavity and it was so. The center of the bolt face was last measured at .004576" deeper than the edge. I ordered a new bolt head, firing pin, spring and retainer pin. The bolt head did not come with an alignment slot as the original had so I took it to the gunsmith to have it machined. The gunsmith inspected the gun and told me it needed cleaning very badly. When I finally got it back he said that the new bolt head shortened my chamber such that it would not close on a go gauge. He said that I was lucky because it was only slightly short and I would be able to get more life out of my tighter brass and shoot more accurately. He suggested a small base die for resizing. I asked him to run the barrel out to make the gun chamber the correct length and he did that, but said he hated to let it leave his shop with the sights off to the side and that, if it were his, he would try what he had suggested. So I went along. I noticd that the small bevels that were cut on the corners of the lugs on the old bolt head were not cut in the new one and he said they were not needed. After doing some reading I decided to try taking some thickness off of my shell holder to shorten the brass without reducing the diameter like a SB die would do. It seemed like a simple enough fix. The gunsmith agreed that it should work and shell holders are cheaper than dies. I loaded up some rounds .001" shorter than feel on the bolt handle with some IMR 4350 loaded to 53 grains behind 180 SST's just at the lands. The ammo was chrono'd at 2611 fps. The primer was super flat and the bolt handle was very stiff to lift and eject being the worst high pressure signs I have ever had. At first I suspected the powder and then the bullets being on the lands. Afyer doing some checking on Quickload my conclusion is that the pressure spike was due to the long deating depth to the lands and a reduced case and chamber volume. I have dismantled the bolt only to find that the alignment slot was not adequately reamed and the bolt head was forced into the bolt leaving enough side pressure to keep one side of the lug from mating to it's surface. The bevels that were not cut out did not allow the bolt lugs to rest into their broken in surface on the receiver face. This was suspected and pointed out by HiBC. I machined the bevels into the lugs as they were on the old bolt and was able to chamber a factory round with almost no feel where before it would only close with a heavy push on the bolt. I have decided to demand a refund for the fee for machining the bolt head and time for running the barrel out and back in again totaling $95. I hope that another gunsmith might be willing to ream it and put a clean face on my receiver and get it to spec for near that. The name of the shop is Bass's Gun Rack. Don't take your gun to Bass! Here is my latest: I have decided to cut the face of my new bolt head down to correct the headspace. It was suggested before, but I thought it would leave too much slop in the extractor. It does not. Hats off to those who suggested it. What a simple fix. Last edited by Yosemite Steve; February 7, 2018 at 08:25 AM.