HI, I am new to the forum and I am in need of some help. I am far from an expert on gunsmithing.... very far so don't worry about insulting my intelligence. My gun (savage 110 bolt action 30-06) has a problem. I hunted one evening and the gun took a bump. Nothing more than a bump that happens to most hunting guns at one time or another. After the hunt I unloaded the 3 cartridges without any problem. That entailed running all the bullets into the chamber and back out to eject them. I set the gun in the corner and the next morning I was unable to close the bolt when trying to reload the gun! The bolt works perfectly without a bullet but if you put a bullet in the chamber the bolt goes forward easily but would not close and then extracting the bullet was very stiff as well. I eventually go a shell chambered with the bolt closed. I have cleaned the barrel/sprayed oil in it/run brush and patches through the barrel and that seems to have helped. I can now chamber rounds more easily but not sure if it is because I cleaned/oiled the gun or simply because I have cycled the bolt with a bullet a hundred times. Could a piece of trash be the problem considered after the small bump the gun unloaded all the bullets without difficulty? Thanks for your time!
It could be very possible. Drop the bolt out of the gun and clean the heckbout of the bolt channel and see if that helps.
I have pulled the bolt and cleaned it but it is still very tight. If working the action with a cartridge repeatedly is what is making it easier that kind of had me thinking it might be a piece of metal in there that I have crushed/bent/smoothed repeatedly to lighten up the resistance. Do you think it would be safe to shoot? If I shoot it and the gun is still sighted in does that stengthen this conclusion? Someone mentioned the barrel could be out of square or something. Does that also sound like a possibility? I can drop a bullet by hand down into the barrel and then rack the bolt in. The bullet goes all the way easily. Just for clarity: When chambering a round the bolt works freely as it moves forward but is stiff on the way down. Then when extracting the bullet the bolt is tight on the way up and on the way back when extracting the bullet. As the bullet is moved back it gets easier and easier as less and less of the cartridge up in the chamber.
Then clean the living hell out of the chamber w a slightly larger brass brush and mop. Sounds like ypu have accumulated junk in the chamber
OK, thanks. The more I work the bolt the easier it seems to get. Will try the brush some more thanks!
Thank you thank you thank you. I took the bolt out and ran a brush for a 20 guage I think up into the chamber. Pushed it in and pulled it out a couple of times. BAM. Whatever was in there causing the problem is fixed. I didn't see anything come out on the brush or the barrel but it very easily could have. Chambered a round and the bolt moves freely!!! Thanks you, the oversized wire brush worked like magic and you saved me a trip to the gunsmith.
I AM a gunsmith by trade and love of work your welcome amd ut doesn't take much to cause that problem
Omega make sure to check the bore of your rifle to make sure whatever might have been causing the problem didn't get pushed into the barrel since you didn't see it come out.
savages have extremely tight chambers very close to saami minimum if not right on the button for minimum spec. this is a great thing for accuracy. its one of the key reasons the current production saages are so accurate. the downside is that it doesnt take much fouling in the chamber to make what your experiencing happen. i would say the bump is just coincidence and caused you to notice it happening. savage chambers must be cleaned much more frequently than other makes.
