Questions about trueing up a savage action

CanuckR

CanuckR

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
36   0   0
Location
Ottawa, ish
I have basically 1 question about trueing a savage action. Yah yah it has a floating bolt head and what not, I get it.

My question is about having the action trued concentric to the existing barrel threads. Possible? Feasible? Already the standard?

I am not concerned necessarily about the bolt race ways as much as I am the lug abutments and the face of the action, throw a PTG bolt face in the mix and good to go? This will allow me to spin on pre fit barrels at a later date if I chose to.

I have a barrel that will be put on my savage action with a shoulder as opposed to the barrel nut (light palma) I don't mind spending a few buck to have the action straightened out, but would like to have the ability to put a pre fit back on it later if I chose to.

Thoughts? Ideas?
 
The bolt face and lugs are true to each other. We know this because of the process Savage had used; both operations were performed on the same machine.
The face however, was hand ground by manually setting the action in a v shaped jig and sliding the action into a large grinding wheel. The reason for this operation was to deburr the face and make it fairly square to the action threads.

New actions for the last several years [they have a digitized section under the tang] are made on CNC centers so are perfect before heat treating.

To true the face, chuck a piece of aluminum in your lathe, face it and thread it to fit your savage. Make sure this stub face contacts the action lugs.
If the action threads are very clean and lubed, the action will center on the stub threads. Taking .002 off the face usually cleans it up perfectly. Pretty darn close to true.
If you want to true it like a Rem 700, you are wasting your time unless you go with a solid bolt and Borden bumps.
 
You can true a Savage bolt head even easier. Why buy a new one unless a different style is needed?

GET A CUSTOM RECOIL LUG!!! The regular Savage recoil lugs are stamped steel and bent. I do not believe/have not verified the rumor regarding Palma rifles having trued barrel nuts and recoil lugs.
 
PEI rob

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize they were that close to true already. Mine has the bar code under the serial number.
The reason for a new bolt face is I ended up with a batch of those bad winchester primers that would pin hole and erode the bolt face. It works alright as is, but when I re barrel I might as well change it out.

Already have a good recoil lug.

Thanks for the info
 
Watch your protrusion as well.

When the firing pin hits the primer, it dents it in... drastically!
When the chamber reaches 60,000psi +, that pressure flows back through the flash hole in the web of the case and in turn applies a pile of pressure inside the primer cup.
This drives the dent back out and also drives the firing pin backwards.
Many believe the strike depth doesn't change but I like to call those people, wrong. LOL
Fire a primed case with no powder and see the difference.

Anyways, .040" is good protrusion.
A bolt lift kit can screw things up if certain "advise" is followed. Many lighten the spring to make it seem the bolt lift kit works wonders. A strong firing pin strike is a good thing. Primers that take hard hits are more consistent than those with light strikes. 20 lbs minimum IMO. Factory is very close to 24lbs and near perfect. Never cut coils.

Don't throw out that head. A top hat style insert can be used to repair it so long as the firing pin hole is tapered inside to allow for all that bolt body movement. It is more costly to repair than to replace but nonetheless, a fun project for a new smith.

Cheers
 
Thanks again

I have seen what you're talking about with the firing pin protrusion on just a primer vs a full load.
The primers would pin hole alone the edge of the cup as opposed to the center where the firing pin strikes. I chased all kinds of things, thinking I was way over pressure. Wasted a lot of components and time on that before I figured out there was a bad batch of primers.
 
VERY informative thread. This lurker wants to thank you for taking the time PEI Rob!!! I dont own a Savage (yet!) but I am constantly gaining new appreciation for their design and execution.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom