Savage Palma Won't Group -- Discovery

[Hpwrshooter]

Forum Boss: You can save yourself 2 pages of reading. The thread starter finally figured out the issue was a bent firing pin that was contacting the bolt head improperly:

So after months of off and on fiddling I think I have it licked After taking the barrel off and making sure the barrel nut was not loose i reinstalled and made sure headspace was good. Still shot terrible. I took the bolt completely apart and when I slid the firing pin out I noticed the pin had a distinct rub mark on it from the tip to about a an eighth inch down it. I chucked the pin up in a drill and sure enough it was bent. I looked at the bolt head with a magnifying glass and could see where the pin was rubbing it. I had another short action .308 so I put that bolt in the Palma rifle, set headspace and I'm shooting half to 3/4 minute with it. Thanks for all your thoughts. Gonna order a new firing pin and PTG bolt head.

I recently bought a used Savage Palma rifle. It was advertised as having a replacement Douglas barrel. The rifle will not shoot anything i put in it. It goes from 7 ring to 7 ring on a MR63 target at 300 yards. I tried many proven reloads and even a box of Federal Gold Medal match to no avail. Today i chronoed 45 gr of Varget with 155 gr Sierras and got avg 2956 with 3.4 Sd and still 7 ring to 7 ring. It will show signs of grouping the throw a high and low seven then an 8 then back to the center for one or 2 shots. Mostly vertical but every now and again a wide shot. I grabbed my Winchester Palma rifle and shot a 100-7x clean so it wasnt the conditions. I have probably put 300 rounds through this gun with zero success. I have borescoped the barrel and it looks good. I have tried every combo of torque on the action screws that I can think of. The action does not appear to be binding. Crown looks good all around. I was thinking maybe the first owner couldnt get it to shoot and put the Douglas on it. Then when that wouldnt shoot put in up for sale. I thought I got a real good deal but maybe this is why. So my question here is there anything with the action, bolt of firing pin that I could check before I send it out somewhere to get diagnosed? Is there anything else I should check? Thank you in advance.

 

[ruthless11]

I recently bought a used Savage Palma rifle. It was advertised as having a replacement Douglas barrel. The rifle will not shoot anything i put in it. It goes from 7 ring to 7 ring on a MR63 target at 300 yards. I tried many proven reloads and even a box of Federal Gold Medal match to no avail. Today i chronoed 45 gr of Varget with 155 gr Sierras and got avg 2956 with 3.4 Sd and still 7 ring to 7 ring. It will show signs of grouping the throw a high and low seven then an 8 then back to the center for one or 2 shots. Mostly vertical but every now and again a wide shot. I grabbed my Winchester Palma rifle and shot a 100-7x clean so it wasnt the conditions. I have probably put 300 rounds through this gun with zero success. I have borescoped the barrel and it looks good. I have tried every combo of torque on the action screws that I can think of. The action does not appear to be binding. Crown looks good all around. I was thinking maybe the first owner couldnt get it to shoot and put the Douglas on it. Then when that wouldnt shoot put in up for sale. I thought I got a real good deal but maybe this is why. So my question here is there anything with the action, bolt of firing pin that I could check before I send it out somewhere to get diagnosed? Is there anything else I should check? Thank you in advance.

scope?

 

[Kevin1990]

Not a competitor, or a gunsmith, but, you check the scope/rings or scope base, or switch scopes for that firearm?

 

[Bill Norris]

Have you checked it really close for anything touching that should not be ?

 

[DirtySteve]

Disassemble Johnny5 completely!! Clean each part (inspect), and reassemble. To include the rings and bases.. If the problem did not go away it maybe the scope...

 

[mattri]

Might also check torque on the action screws.

 

[gme]

not uncommon to buy a used rifle that should shoot but wont, it's just a machine and can be fixed, assuming your sights are in proper working order, I'd check to make sure the barrel is tight (sounds like it's shooting with a loose barrel), the ignition system (firing pin spring, binding, etc) the interface between the action and the stock (high spots, stress etc.)

 

[Twdmar]

If the bore and crown are good, and your sight is good, my first thought is the bedding. It's an easy enough procedure that I would re-bed it before wasting any more gas or ammunition.
Checking the barrel torque as mentioned above is easy enough to do. I would check the bolt head too to make sure that there is not something making it not go into battery consistently.

 

[K22]

Bedding is the first issue I would suspect, second would be the scope.

 

[Hpwrshooter]

I have been shooting iron sights and they are shared between another rifle that shoots lights out. Switched them to the other rifle just to make sure. How would you go about checking the bedding? I did use a carbide smoker to blacken the bottom of the action and seated it into the bedding. Looked like it was evenly seated. The barrel torque was something i did not check but will.

 

[std7mag]

"Tried many proven reloads".
But didn't do load work up for THAT rifle.
"Have tried every combination of torque on the action screws that I could think of".
But did you actually follow the procedure for Savage action screws tuning?

You are being redirected...

 

[Twdmar]

I have been shooting iron sights and they are shared between another rifle that shoots lights out. Switched them to the other rifle just to make sure. How would you go about checking the bedding? I did use a carbide smoker to blacken the bottom of the action and seated it into the bedding. Looked like it was evenly seated. The barrel torque was something i did not check but will.

Iron sights if good quality will have fewer issues than scopes but check that the sight mount is tight.
How is the savage palma bedded? Direct to the wood? If that's the case, after checking the barrel torque, I'd get to the store and pick up the stuff and glass bed it with pillars. If it is glass bedded already, I would probably grind the old stuff out and do it again.
One more thing, check that the rear tang of the action is floating a little too.

 

[Sandstorm]

Did you replace the firing pin spring.

 

[strut64]

Every barrel maker makes a stinker along the way. I started messing around with savage and their system about 10 years ago. I have had 8 different barrels. Only one of them was a bad barrel. A 204R that just would not shoot. When I want to really get accuracy,I get an after market premium such as Hart, shilen, criterion.

 

[Ed kof]

I had a factory Savage f class that wouldn’t shoot. That was because the factory had put the wrong twist barrel on. I got a factory barrel to replace it and it shot excellent. Twist rate? Edk

 

[urbanrifleman]

I'll make you a barrel.

 

[akajun]

If its a factory barrel, mine had a 13 twist which shot 168gr and the old 2155 Sierra bullet great. The new 2156 palma and berger hybrids would not group at all, like a shotgun.

 

[Ggmac]

check the twist on the barrel , make sure the barrel is tight , makesure the bolt handle isn’t touching the stock

 

[Pyscodog]

I built a 6 Creedmoor using a Douglas barrel. On a 1-10 scale I give it a 5. And I'm being generous.

 

[Acyr]

Did you replace the firing pin spring.

Target actions work really well with Wolff 32 lbs springs.