Savage 110 conversion to 500 Jeffery

[45flaco]

Hey guys. Got a Savage 110 receiver. Came off a 30-06, has bolt, no mag box, does have the Accutrigger.
Despite originally being a 30-06, can I fit a bolt from a Model 110 338 lapua bolt to it?
Then thread and chamber my barrel blank for 500 Jeffery?
I know that all savage long actions have the same screw spacing, I just don't know whether the bolts can be swapped.
The 500 Jeffery is similar bolt face to the 338 Lapua, which is why I want to use that bolt, rather than trying to open up a 30-06 bolt and modify the extractor.
Or, can I put a 338 bolt head on the 30-06 bolt body?
I've only done barrel swaps on these actions, used to building on mausers and mosins.

[hounddawg]

The Lapua has a slightly larger rim than the Jeffrey according to the drawings I found. As far as I know all Savage bolt heads can be swapped. You don't need the whole bolt, just the head. Savage bolts can be stripped and heads changes easily once you know the tricks it can be done in 5 minutes or less. They are really simple to work on, I stripped one for a guy in the middle of a match when he uncocked the bolt out of the rifle. You cannot get it back in the reciever unless it is cocked. I got it recocked and got him back on the line with time enough for him to finish his target. Google up a video Double check over at Savage Shooters to be sure though. The guys there are all Savage gurus

Savage Shooters Forums

[std7mag]

Hounddawg is right on the rim diameters.
The 338 LM is based off the 416 Rigby case.
While the 500 Jeffery has a slightly smaller rim diameter.

But....

The 500 Jeffery does essentially have the same case diameter of the Lazzeroni cartridges.
0.575" vs 0.575".
Lazzeroni did development work with Savage actions. ( the large shank)
And the Savage large shank, as far as i know, is the only action Lazzeroni reccomends, aside from their own, for their cartridges.

So i guess the question would be, does the 0.590" bolt face work with the 0.577" rim of the Jeffery case?

I'd like to know also, as i'm leaning towards a Lazzeroni cartridge for an ELR build.

[45flaco]

I'm betting that the difference between the 338 rim and the 500 Jeffery is not going to be an issue.
I built a 375 H&H on a Mosin action, and the difference in bolt face for those two is .567 vs .532, or about 3 times the difference between the 338 and 500 Jeffery rim diameters.
I do figure I'll make a new extractor for it, but that's not hard.
I appreciate the recommendation of the Savage forum, I'll join that.

[stagpanther]

The Lapua has a slightly larger rim than the Jeffrey according to the drawings I found. As far as I know all Savage bolt heads can be swapped. You don't need the whole bolt, just the head. Savage bolts can be stripped and heads changes easily once you know the tricks it can be done in 5 minutes or less. They are really simple to work on, I stripped one for a guy in the middle of a match when he uncocked the bolt out of the rifle. You cannot get it back in the reciever unless it is cocked. I got it recocked and got him back on the line with time enough for him to finish his target. Google up a video Double check over at Savage Shooters to be sure though. The guys there are all Savage gurus

It really depends on whether you have an old style long action bolt or the newer one, the 338 LM takes a magnum head so your firing pin depth and spring tension may need to be adjusted, especially if you need to change to the smaller diameter firing pin. I rebuilt an old 110 bolt recently to fire the 7mm STW which is based on the 375 H&H and had to do that. No big deal technically, but a bit of a pain since the spring is under a lot of tension and getting the slot in the dinky lock collar positioned definitely takes finesse. I went with a PTG magnum head.

[RC20]

I appreciate the recommendation of the Savage forum, I'll join that.

While there is some good information there, cross check here as there are several individuals that post some totally bogus stuff.

One thought the Sun Rose and Set on an operation called Apache Barrels (or some such). One guy was a super big cheerleader, another swore by them.

I got a barrel from his distribution partner at the time, it took weeks of hammering to get it broke free (all it needed was a cut to take excess inches off the barrel).

Many others complained they spent months trying to contact the guy (one man operation). He would take in far more work than he could turn out.

The barrel I got was the worst shooting one I have put on a Savage. 1 inch for a custom barrel in 308 is pretty poor (you should be able to get 1/2 MOA.

Another group was big into what they called Primary Extraction. Extraction is not an issue if the chamber is right. Parts made a a circle of self feeding to have people buy the fix (I have 4 Savage receivers and 5 barrels and its not an issue).

A lot of good tech information on triggers and barrel changes as well as mfg process and why some nuts are almost frozen in place (stuff left from cleaning in the threads).

[stagpanther]

why some nuts are almost frozen in place (stuff left from cleaning in the threads).

I've noticed that most of the new ones come with a sort of "micro beading" thread lock of some sort.

[std7mag]

Is that what you call it?

And here i was calling it poor quality control proceedures.

Looks just like the steel blast that we use at my work.
If the nut is already on, then blasted, i could see the shot getting in there.
It's amazing where blast will work it's way into!

[stagpanther]

110's are my "donors of choice" but I've noticed rem 700 receivers are trickling back into the market.

[hounddawg]

It's amazing where blast will work it's way into!

amen to that. I had a project once that involved sandblasting. That stuff can work it's way into a NASA spacesuit and still have enough force to sting you

[45flaco]

Hey guys, rifle feeds, fires, ejects!
Got 15 rounds through it so far.
10 rounds of Norma PH, and 5 reloads with cast bullets.
Had an issue early on with it dropping the magazine under recoil (using an Archangel stock and magazine), but I put in a heavier spring in the mag release (AK style lever), and that fixed the problem. Next issue is putting a better scope on it. In 15 rounds, it ruined a scope. Swapping to a 1-4 from primary arms, as their warranty is wonderful, and their scopes are incredibly durable, even if glass quality is somewhat disappointing.
Should have that on there for next weekend's test fire. Going to try 3 rounds from the bench for accuracy with the new scope.

[45flaco]

Some specs on the rifle:
25" barrel, a slightly thinned down Pac Nor #6 profile, 1:12 twist.
Archangel stock, 5 round magazine.
0.250" tapered single pin recoil lug from PTG. Required a bit of inletting.
Weight of rifle is 10 lbs 2 ounces. Felt excessive until I fired it. Kinda wish I'd gone a bit heavier lol.
Also going to swap the double base scope mounts out for a single base rail from EGW, but that has not arrived yet.

[stagpanther]

Have to ask--are you going to hunt with it?

[45flaco]

Eventually, hog hunting is the goal.
That's what I build most rifles for.
But for right now, it's just going to be a range rifle until I have 100% confidence in both the reliability and accuracy. Hate to be a poor sportsman and attempt a shot that I'm not prepared for.
Usually my rule is 200 rounds of practice before hunting, although with this being a 500 Jeffery, I may make an exception. It's got a better margin of error, and also hurts to shoot more than 5 rounds a day.

[stagpanther]

I imagine even a big hog is going to be reduced to bacon strips after being hit by a 500 Jefferies. LOL. The 110 isn't a heavy weight rifle--you must be having fun with the recoil. ; ) I congratulate you on an innovative build idea, it's going to be interesting to see how it holds up. Biggest I've shot is a 416 Weatherby magnum.

[Shadow9mm]

Super cool build, Congrats! Pics when you can please!

[std7mag]

@45flaco,

So, what exactly was involved with the conversion?
Simple bolt head swap?
Or more involved?
I ask because i want to do a 7.21 Tomahawk build.

[45flaco]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

Have to ask--are you going to hunt with it?

I am absolutely going to hunt with it. It's going to be mostly a truck rifle, it's a bit heavy to be running around the forest with, but I mostly shoot hogs from the truck anyways

[45flaco]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

I imagine even a big hog is going to be reduced to bacon strips after being hit by a 500 Jefferies. LOL. The 110 isn't a heavy weight rifle--you must be having fun with the recoil. ; ) I congratulate you on an innovative build idea, it's going to be interesting to see how it holds up. Biggest I've shot is a 416 Weatherby magnum.

I haven't managed to hit a hog with it yet (there's a disturbing lack of hogs in my area recently), but I did tag a coyote. Worked beautifully, but I kinda feel like it was overkill

[45flaco]

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

Super cool build, Congrats! Pics when you can please!

I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures here, when I click the picture option it says something about URL, and the picture is on my computer. Eventually I may just do a video and put it on youtube, and link to that

[45flaco]

Originally Posted by std7mag

@45flaco,

So, what exactly was involved with the conversion?
Simple bolt head swap?
Or more involved?
I ask because i want to do a 7.21 Tomahawk build.

Conversion was bolt head (338 lapua), a little bit of filing the feed ramp, barrel swap, and using an archangel stock.
The reason for the archangel stock is actually the magazine it uses. All of the steel magazines for the savage 110 have ribs that intrude into the magazine too far to allow the 500 Jeffery to be used (really fat case). The Archangel magazines worked with very little modification, just sanding the interior of the feed lips to allow the round to sit higher in the gun.
As far as the bolt head swap, that did require changing to the small diameter firing pin and retainer also.
Overall, nothing particularly terrible. This was barely harder than the 375 H&H mosin, and took a lot less time. 90% of my trouble was the stupid Savage extractor detent throwing itself into another dimension. Twice.

[oldbear1950]

Other than the siamese mauser, can any other bolt gun be successfully chambered to 45-70 and use the ruger/siamese mauser loads? Just curous

[45flaco]

Originally Posted by oldbear1950

Other than the siamese mauser, can any other bolt gun be successfully chambered to 45-70 and use the ruger/siamese mauser loads? Just curous

The Mosin is more than strong enough for 62,000 PSI 45-70 loads, and I wouldn't hesitate to load 458 Lott or 500 A-Square on it either if you're looking to build a hunting rifle.
I built a 375 H&H on a demilled T53, and it has been absolutely wonderful.

[45flaco]

Here's a picture of the rifle, had to reduce size to make it work.

[stagpanther]

Very nice--kinda surprised it's only 10 pounds with that hefty barrel, but that must help.