Savage Axis Firing Pin Problem

[james]

My brother is having an issue with a new Savage Axis rifle in 350 Legend caliber he purchased last fall. The problem is he is experiencing misfires - maybe in every 10 rounds 3 rounds will fail to fire. He is using factory ammo such as Hornady and all the primers are being impacted. I googled this and it seems to be a common problem with this model rifle. He would prefer not to have to ship the rifle back to Savage and wait 2 months for it to be returned. Looking for a simple fix to this if possible - firing pin problem?

Thanks much!

 

[243winxb]

Make sure the bolt is fully closed before firing. If open 1/8" , it may misfire.

Soak bolt in solvent to clean. Old oil, cold weather can slow the firing pin velocity, causing misfires.

The cartridge headspaces on the case mouth. Short brass may cause a misfire. But the extractor may stop forward movement of the cartridge when the firing pin strikes the primer?

Always load rounds from the magazine..

Firing pin protrusion should be in the .055" range.

The factory loaded rounds brass should not be shorter the 1.700"

 

[boltfluter]

Just pulled one apart recently for fluting. Just when I thought Savage could not lower the bar any more, by golly they managed to do it. What a total POS. Unbelievable, let's stack a spring on another spring, what could possibly go wrong! Lmao!

Paul

 

[wbm]

Unbelievable, let's stack a spring on another spring, what could possibly go wrong! Lmao!

Hey they put a "washer" between them...whatmoredoyawant for cryin out loud?

 

[243winxb]

To much oil may be compressed, slowing velocity? May act like a plunger?

 

[boltfluter]

Hey they put a "washer" between them...whatmoredoyawant for cryin out loud?

Lmao, the one I pulled apart had a split ring for a washer! Must have gotten a good buy on split rings! Wth!

Paul

 

[james]

Good video - bolt disassembly seems very easy. Wondering if it’s worthwhile to purchase a new firing pin and spring from Savage and install it to see if that solves the problem?

 

[wbm]

Savage will not sell you a firing pin or spring unless you have FFL.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Not just axis that have problems. My hunting buddies High country in 300wm failed to fire a couple times last fall on elk hunt. Factory ammo, below zero temps. We never had any issues during range sessions, he still got an elk. Just had to move and setup again after first ftf.

 

[james]

Does anyone know of a good Savage smith I could send the bolt to for upgrading?

Thanks

 

[mcnanysa]

Does anyone know of a good Savage smith I could send the bolt to for upgrading?

Thanks

James : did Savage tell you that it was going to take 2 months? I've sent two back to them for customers - one about six months ago, the other about 9 months ago - and they were both returned within 3 weeks. One had a misaligned barrel (10 FCP in .308), the other had the weak/short firing pin issue (Axis in .30-06). Since they were new-ish guns, I didn't putz with them beyond verifying what the customer claimed.
If Savage is saying two months, it's either that their QA/QC has gone downhill, or they're just hedging.

 

[marazzi59]

Just curious, what do you guys think a $300 rifles bolt should be made with for parts? Sorry to ask a question and not post an answer on your post. So my 2 cents, fully clean the bolt and measure firing pin protrusion and make sure the firing pin has 2 springs and a small washer between them.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

The high country is 3x the axis price, maybe that's just the cost of the fluting/coatings.

 

[james]

In regard to turn around time my brother informed me the Savage rep he talked said this. I think I'll try taking the bolt apart and see how it looks - video makes it seem pretty easy.

 

[DadWil]

In regard to turn around time my brother informed me the Savage rep he talked said this. I think I'll try taking the bolt apart and see how it looks - video makes it seem pretty easy.

I just finished reworking the bolt on my Savage Axis II (.223) I have been having the same issue your brother has with his. My first solution was a sleeve/bushing that I cut from a 1716 aluminum arrow shaft ~.55" this helped keep the 2 springs and split ring washer thingy lined up better and reduced my ftf to ~ 3 in 50 still not good but better. I have now reduce the length of the sleeve/bushing to ~.3" and have the split ring washer thingy crimped on it mid way. I stretched the main/larger spring (running the shaft of a screw driver between the coils). I also reduced the length of the end of the spring that holds the cocking pin in slightly (it was bottoming out in the hole for the cocking pin). I was able to successfully pop 5 ftf primers from my last range trip (which is something I was never able to do before. My next range trip should tell if I have this issue resolve or not.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Sounds like a job for Grimstod!

 

[can1010]

the newer savage don't have an adjustment for firing pin protrusion they just use the back of the bolthead as a stop and only have between .048-.052 protrusion. you can adjust by milling or filing the back of the bolthead to increase it to .058-.060 that has solved the problems.

 

[CharlieNC]

Sell it.

 

[james]

Update - I ended up using some Ballistol and sprayed (bathed) the bolt. After wiping down the bolt and ensuring the bolt handle was down all the way no more misfires. In fact my brother's wife used this rifle to harvest a 10 point, 230 pound whitetail buck in November of last year!

Thanks for the responses.

 

[MikeGhost]

I just finished reworking the bolt on my Savage Axis II (.223) I have been having the same issue your brother has with his. My first solution was a sleeve/bushing that I cut from a 1716 aluminum arrow shaft ~.55" this helped keep the 2 springs and split ring washer thingy lined up better and reduced my ftf to ~ 3 in 50 still not good but better. I have now reduce the length of the sleeve/bushing to ~.3" and have the split ring washer thingy crimped on it mid way. I stretched the main/larger spring (running the shaft of a screw driver between the coils). I also reduced the length of the end of the spring that holds the cocking pin in slightly (it was bottoming out in the hole for the cocking pin). I was able to successfully pop 5 ftf primers from my last range trip (which is something I was never able to do before. My next range trip should tell if I have this issue resolve or not.

I'm having the same issue with my Savage Axis II (.223) as my ftf is ~3 in 10 now (and getting worse). Did this solve your issue?

~ Mike