Savage Model 12 F/TR Difficulty Inserting a round w/o a little finger assistance

[Linko]

I occasionally have a little difficulty inserting a round in battery. I place the round in the action and use the bolt to move the round into battery. many times the bullet touches the chamber face and requires a little assist to get the round into the opening. I don't have a bullet cocked in the case or anything. Is the condition indicative of an action adjustment or something else? Odd question I think. (gun is completely stock)

 

[XTR]

outside chamfer the case mouth

 

[memilanuk]

Is it a .308, or a .223?

AFAIK, the receiver is the same, including the feed tray. A .223 Rem with a long bullet like an 80 or 90 sits enough lower relative to the chamber as compared to a .308 that it won't always go in without a little help to 'chase' it in there.

If its a .308 that won't feed... that would be very unusual, in my experience. I've ran pretty much every bullet weight from 150gn on up through multiple guns with no issues like that. Shorter bullets like a Speer 125gn TNT, with a relatively large hollow point, I could see maybe having some issues.

outside chamfer the case mouth

Not really going to help if the bullet is hitting the face of the barrel.

This is why many people that single feed use a coned boldface so that rounds feed better.

Typically that is more true with short/fat rounds like a BR case. I know I wish my .30BR had a coned bolt face!

There may be some type of a mag follower or feeding tray that would alleviate your problem.

For a solid bottom single shot receiver, not really.

I have seen people make an additional ramp... either thru the judicious use of a little bit of bondo (that was actually on a 40X, before someone gets smart-alecky about it) to adjust the bullet approach to the chamber. I've also seen where people got a thin piece of aluminum machined the way they wanted it and had it epoxied in - I assume they planned to be able to remove it later somehow.

 

[minnesotamulisha]

I've got the same rifle chambered in 308 and I have the same issue. It doesn't bother me much to push the round in with a finger, but I don't think it was designed to work this way.

I haven't paid any attention as to what part of the round is catching, but I will next time I hit the range.

 

[memilanuk]

Odd. I've got several of these rifles (5-6) and have gone thru probably 15 barrels on them (in various calibers, but mostly .308)... and a .308 not feeding would be something I would classify as 'unusual'.

I'd be very interested in tracking down what the issue may be.

 

[XTR]

Could it be long bullets seated way out causing the bullet to tip down when the bolt pushes on it?

 

[memilanuk]

It's possible... but I use 185s and 200s in my .308 12 F/TRs and have no problems with feeding. if anything, shorter is more of a problem than long.

With a similar case head size / body diameter, such as a 6mm BR or .30 BR, the round comes up out of the feed tray and then due to the short cartridge length, turns back down towards level and the bullet tip bumps into the face of the barrel just below the chamber. With the slightly longer body of a .308, by the time the round starts to pivot back down, the tip of the bullet is already in the back of the chamber.

Typically the chamber has a bit of a chamfer around the entrance... I suppose its possible, if that chamfer were insufficient (or not present) that a round could have problems getting all the way up and in - or that the edge of the case mouth might snag on it just a tad.

It'd be *very* helpful if the OP would check back in with us, otherwise we're just spittin' into the wind here... ???

 

[Linko]

I see the big buck rifles being loaded and chambered like butter. Plop the round in there and flip the bolt forward like knife in butter. I expect nothing like that in my savage target action but thought the round should just chamber buy closing the bolt. By the way this happens using factory loaded ammo. I was just curious if I had a problem. Sounds like this is somewhat NJ normal.

 

[memilanuk]

Linko,

Plop the round in there and flip the bolt forward like knife in butter.

That is the way my F/TR rifles in .308 chamber...

I don't think you ever did say... is yours a .308 or .223?

If its a .223, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. Some, depending on your comfort level, but not much.

If its a .308, it *should* feed smoothly. There may be some rough edges in a few spots that we can help you thru finding and smoothing out.

Monte

 

[jesilva]

It may have to do with where the shoulder of the round contacts the rise in the feed tray. If the bullet is to long it hits the breech face before the round is lifted to be in line with the chamber.

I had to modify single shot trays to fix this with short rounds, ie, 6BR in a repeater action with a single shot feed adapter.

 

[Toolbreaker]

Linko,

The picture here shows a Savage short action that I changed from 243 Win. to 223. The action's loading ramp was too close to the barrel breech to feed a 223 reliably, resulting in the same problem you're having. The red arrow shows the factory ramp, and how far forward it is in the action. I modified the loading tray by building up the front of it with JB Weld (blue arrow), then lowered the cartridge's resting area in the tray and moved the tray's ramp back with a ball end mill. It'll now reliably feed a 223 with an OAL of 2.440". The ramp is moved back far enough to engage the cartridge's shoulder and raise it to chamber centerline earlier in the bolt cycle. This doesn't necessarily apply to your target action, but it'll give you an idea of what mechanics are taking place with the cartridge in the bolt cycle.

 

[Linko]

My rifle is .223 by the way.

Thanks for the insight regarding the inner working of the chamber. I am going to look in there a lot closer to see what exactly is going on in there.