Finding Distance to Lands Savage Style

[Richard Jones]

After a bit of struggling with trying to use Mr. Wheelers' method in a Savage, I have stumbled upon one possible solution. Keep in mind that this is somewhat different as this relies on the bolt closing instead of opening to determine the 'touch' number.

1. Disassemble bolt. Remove ejector (in this pic, ejector has already been removed), front wave washer, rear baffle and cocking piece pin from bolt. Reassemble bolt with remaining parts.
2. Use a fully sized, deprimed case that offers zero resistance to bolt closure. The bolt should fall on its own with no pressure. Without this step, the process is useless.
3. Seat a bullet out long, chamber, keep seating further until bolt just falls on its own. This is your 'touch' number using whatever comparator means you have. Here I'm using a modified Hornady insert with a Wilson .237 (bore size) bushing.

I have always used the slit neck method for determining length so I was interested in what this had to offer. The difference in the two methods in a 6BR was .0005, so I guess I'm good.

Another benefit is that it's a great way to set up your FLS die. Zero influences from baffles, FP spring, ejector, or washer, so you get exactly what you see/feel.

This is not THE way, it's just one way.

Comments, thoughts, etc. encouraged.

 

[Cowtownup]

Thanks.. I'm going to try it and see what I get...

 

[Patch700]

That way will work however I do not need to remove the washer as the bolt will fall easily with it in place.. I would say that it is important if you are going to leave the extractor hook in place that you insert the case first into the bolt face so as not to feel the bolt coming onto the rim.

Btw , great idea you have with the neck bushing inside of a comparator body!

 

[Richard Jones]

That way will work however I do not need to remove the washer as the bolt will fall easily with it in place.. I would say that it is important if you are going to leave the extractor hook in place that you insert the case first into the bolt face so as not to feel the bolt coming onto the rim.

Btw , great idea you have with the neck bushing inside of a comparator body!

I have my washer in between the bolt head and the front baffle so all the grease doesn't get wiped off and the bolt will almost fall but not quite. If I put it at the rear, the bolt does fall easily.

Yes, this involves a lot of bolt removal so as not to get false readings.

And thanks for your kind words.

 

[Richard Jones]

And while my 6BR was very close to the number that I got with the slit case method, my .308 was off .015...... and I will admit that I believe this method (Wheeler) to be better.

 

[memilanuk]

Nice!

When I first tried following the video, without removing the rear baffle, things didn't work so well. After having an 'Ah-hah!' moment, I removed the rear baffle and the whole process worked a lot better. I haven't tried removing the wave washer; I may do that here just for comparison. I have had a little bit of frustration with still having a fuzz of interference - the bolt doesn't *quite* drop freely - almost, but not *quite*. So close one has to be watching very closely to tell the difference. Maybe this will do it.

One thing I have found - the hard way - is that if that toggle pin doesn't have *some* tension on it... it can slip out when you rotate the bolt closed and the pin goes vertical. Then things get interesting... A piece of scotch tape to hold it in place during testing might not be a bad precaution... in my case, it was from a wave washer that had somewhere north of 10k rds beating on it over the years - time to replace that sucker

 

[Rjsmith]

After a bit of struggling with trying to use Mr. Wheelers' method in a Savage, I have stumbled upon one possible solution. Keep in mind that this is somewhat different as this relies on the bolt closing instead of opening to determine the 'touch' number.

1. Disassemble bolt. Remove ejector (in this pic, ejector has already been removed), front wave washer, rear baffle and cocking piece pin from bolt. Reassemble bolt with remaining parts.View attachment 1000356
View attachment 10003572. Use a fully sized, deprimed case that offers zero resistance to bolt closure. The bolt should fall on its own with no pressure. Without this step, the process is useless.
3. Seat a bullet out long, chamber, keep seating further until bolt just falls on its own. This is your 'touch' number using whatever comparator means you have. Here I'm using a modified Hornady insert with a Wilson .237 (bore size) bushing. View attachment 1000358

I have always used the slit neck method for determining length so I was interested in what this had to offer. The difference in the two methods in a 6BR was .0005, so I guess I'm good.

Another benefit is that it's a great way to set up your FLS die. Zero influences from baffles, FP spring, ejector, or washer, so you get exactly what you see/feel.

This is not THE way, it's just one way.

Comments, thoughts, etc. encouraged.

The very best way I have ever tried to find touch, and I have tried several. Thank you sir!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

The very best way I have ever tried to find touch, and I have tried several. Thank you sir!

Is there a video as mentioned above?

 

[M-61]

Having a jar of extractor balls in stock would be a good idea.
I have many still flying around my reloading area that have yet land.
The plastic bag idea never worked for me.

 

[Richard Jones]

I'll see if I can write something up and post some pics. I do it a bit different now.....

 

[Fuj]

I do most bullets i plan on shooting before I screw on the barrel.
I think Speedy does it with the barrel off also......After that, I just
pull the bolt and go in with a simple rod. Some bullets I dust with
dry slide to keep them from sticking. i just like to keep life simple.
And yes, I shoot mainly Savage. But hey, whatever works.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

This https://www.brownells.com/reloading...lair-bullet-seating-depth-tool/?sku=749004650Sinclair tool has worked for me on the Savage’s well, but I would love or to learn how to do the method above.

 

[memilanuk]

Having a jar of extractor balls in stock would be a good idea.
I have many still flying around my reloading area that have yet land.
The plastic bag idea never worked for me.

Not sure what extractor balls have to do with this process. Not really any reason to touch the extractor for this.

 

[memilanuk]

Is there a video as mentioned above?

Videos | wheeleraccuracy

www.wheeleraccuracy.com

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Videos | wheeleraccuracy

www.wheeleraccuracy.com

I use his method all the time, but I don’t believe there’s one for a Savage bolt.

 

[memilanuk]

What exactly do you think would be different? Use @Richard Jones process as described in post #1 to prep the bolt, then proceed with what @Alex Wheeler shows in the video.

Do you really need someone to make a video of showing that?

 

[Kracken McGraw]

What exactly do you think would be different? Use @Richard Jones process as described in post #1 to prep the bolt, then proceed with what @Alex Wheeler shows in the video.

Do you really need someone to make a video of showing that?

Yes Sir, exactly what I need to do is learn the procedure of taking the Savage bolt apart. I just thought someone in the older thread said there was a video on the process.

 

[Richard Jones]

Rod is 5.360” total length (this is for a short action Savage.) I use a 7/64” dia. brass rod. The front part, about 1.150” or so, needs to be turned smaller, to about .107”, so that it goes through the rear of the bolt nose. The back end of the rod bears against the reinstalled bolt assembly screw. No fine machining necessary here, just chuck the rod in a drill and grind the front down to where it works. The purpose of the rod is so that the cross pin remains stationary while you’re obtaining your readings. Maybe there’s ‘a better way’, but this works, so I use it.

 

[memilanuk]

The purpose of the rod is so that the cross pin remains stationary while you’re obtaining your readings. Maybe there’s ‘a better way’, but this works, so I use it.

The 'better way' is to just reinstall the firing pin assembly, without the cocking sleeve. No extra pieces required.

 

[TTE]

I tried this. It has worked for me in a couple of rifles -