DirtySteve
Gold $$ Contributor
Just thinking out loud here. I wonder what would happen if you put the original spring back in?
Good point! I've never seen that much variance but good point! Most I've seen are around .125ish, so both of those are thicker than what I'd call normal. The good thing is that Savage requires less unsupported case than most other actions and that includes most customs. Most of which are closer to .150ish. That's part of the reason I like less bolt clearance than the "standard" .010. I have no idea where that number came from. Read years ago that the Rem 3 rings of steel design, which is VERY good if done right, was intended to have .003-.005 clearances at all areas other than headspace relating to chambering. That didn't last long because I don't think I've ever had a Remington in the shop that had those tolerances, though. Still, less is more here, generally speaking. I've seen it perform as designed and it flat worked. Meaning, the 3 rings. Even in a worst case...ppc case head on a 308 bolt face and a sako extractor. The extractor didn't fail and the brass failed at the ejector, not the extractor...fwiw. Good engineering Mike Walker!I have heard that Savage bolt headspace can vary from bolt to bolt.
That's lug length minus face depth.
Each bolt head must be headspaced to the rifle.
Here's 2 308 bolt heads.
what does yours measure?
View attachment 1536831
Removing metal from the barrel removes chamber length and exposes more of the case head.
I have heard that Savage bolt headspace can vary from bolt to bolt.
That's lug length minus face depth.
Each bolt head must be headspaced to the rifle.
A barrel change IS a new rifle.
Did the GunSmith chamber your barrel to the high end of the bolt head lug length spec or the middle?
Here's 2 308 bolt heads.
what does yours measure?
View attachment 1536831
Removing metal from the barrel removes chamber length and exposes more of the case head.
Oh Ok, so should I run the same test with a shell casing in the chamber to see if the bolt is still contacting the barrel when a round is chambered? I ran the test with an empty chamber, that’s when the bolt was contacting the barrel only after pulling the trigger and dropping the hammer on the empty chamber.Something else I just want to clarify, so there's no confusion.
It is perfectly normal for the bolt to contact the end of the bbl on most actions, WITH AN EMPTY CHAMBER. The case or hs gage should stop it from happening when chambered though. Proper headspacing sets this gap. So yes, if the bbl is chambered too deep, the bolt could contact the bbl with a loaded chamber. As others have said, this should be corrected by taking some material off of the bbl breech end but I'm very skeptical that's your problem at all. The only thing to keep the bolt from falling all the way out of the action, forwardly, is the bolt handle if the bbl were removed. Yes, a Savage is a bit different but the principle is still the same.