savage bolt slop

[queen_stick]

I have an old school model 10. The one that's between the the 'new' short and 'new' long action, in terms of length. I think it's older than I am.

Excuse my terminology if it's not correct....

Anyway, when operating the bolt during extraction, the lugs come out of the front of the action, then continue to rotate beyond where they should be. This creates a slight 'jam' between the bolt and the races. (The bolts gets cocked upwards and sticks in the races a little bit). The same condition occurs when sliding the bolt forward towards closure. The lugs are misaligned with the front race, and it hits the top of the race at about 1 o'clock before closing, which creates another 'jam.' This 'jam' is slight, and bolt cycling works ok, but it's rough, to say the least.

The bolt head does not have the 'little fin' that slides in the groove just below the port on the side of the action. The newer models have this, and I now understand why - it prevents over-rotating the bolt, in order to keep the bolt lined up within the races, especially in the front, for the lugs on the bolt head. How was this 'slop' prevented prior to Savage machining that 'little fin' on the bolt heads? What can I do to reduce the slop?

Out of curiosity, I measured the bolt on another savage I have, and it was very close to the same. (within a thou). That tells me that the action is worn, not the bolt. Am I correct? If so, can I compensate for a worn action by getting an 'oversized' PT&G bolt body?

Any assistance from anyone would be great.

RustyStud... please do....

 

[medicineman]

Your problem could be a number of things. It could be that your bolt handle is out of spec, or that the bolt body was machined slightly out of phase. Meaning that the hole for the cross pin is not square to the bolt handle tabs. There is also a good chance that your receiver is slightly warped due to heat treat.. This was not uncommon for those older actions.
The action length you have is the first generation short action 110, commonly and mistakenly called a series "J". I don't think Dave Kiff makes bolt bodies for them, but he might if you had a print.
The first thing I would do is change the bolt handle and see if it still persists, then check the cross pin hole. It should be perpendicular to the bolt handle tabs.

 

[queen_stick]

medicineman,

I think you fixed my problem! I took the bolt handle off my newer 110, and slapped it in on the old school 110. At first, I couldn't even get the bolt all the way forward, because the 'new' bolt handle was hitting the beginning of the race. I loosened the main screw a hair, allowing the handle to move slightly on the bolt. The bolt then closed, I tightened it up, and it seriously reduced the over-travel of the head.

After the bolt handle moves back past the ramp on the receiver the head still wants to over-rotate, but I think that's because that 'fin' isn't on the right side lug (looking at it from the back of the bolt, RH action), like they have on newer model actions. Is there a way to reduce that without having a slot machined on the inside of the receiver, and getting a new-style bolt head? I think the remaining issue is more due to a loose fit between the lugs and the race on the left side of the action (the side without the port), which allows the right side to lift up, and therefore over-rotate.

Any ideas on what to do about the remaining slop?