Savage mark II fail to fire and bulging cases

[cumminsnut76]

I have an older savage mark II that was a sweet shooter but I have had trouble with it failing to fire for years. When it did fire it would badly bulge the back of the cases. It has gotten to the point that it will not fire no matter what kind of ammo I put through it. I have cleaned and disassembled the bolt to check and all seems ok. What do you guys think

[Winger Ed.]

I'd get a gunsmith to check it out for headspace, firing pin travel, stuff like that.

[cumminsnut76]

I had figured that was where I would end up. Any recommendations on a god smith that won’t charge me more than the rifle is worth?

[Winger Ed.]

I'd give 'em a chance.

I have a 1902 Winchester that is more or less just worn out.
It made a bulge at the rim from the contact surfaces that held the bolt closed had worn down.
With nothing to loose, I welded a little bit of metal behind the bolt handle to close the gap
and push the bolt face farther forward on closing.

If your problem is as simple as mine was, it shouldn't cost much.
Closing the headspace gap will also trick it into effectively giving the firing pin a little bit more travel.

A quickie test that might tell you if that'll fix yours is to close the bolt, and try to push it forward & back.
If you can wiggle a noticeable gap front to back with a chambered round, that might be the problem.

[TNsailorman]

Why not talk to Savage. You should have contacted them when you had your first trouble.

[cumminsnut76]

Just never got around to talking to them.

[country gent]

What caliber is it? Im familiar with the savage bolt actions. Not ithe the mark 11 description.

I would put a layer of thin tape on the back of a cartridge and chamber if it does add another until its tight or wont close completely. peel the tape of and measure it this will give an idea of the head space. It may be the barrel or nut has loosened over time. Or heavy wear on the bolt face.

[243winxb]

Its a 2 pcs bolt. Put a washer/shim in the middle to correct the headspace? If it still doesnt fire, adjust the firing pin stop, so pin has more travel?

My guess.

[243winxb]

Found this with photo of shim.https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1162243

[Gtek]

If you are not real sure what your looking at I agree with above advice, call Savage. Probably most likely get it back better than when it went out the door the first time.

[303Guy]

I'm wondering whether the Savage bolt is anything like the Remington 500 series bolts. I have that had serious headspace issues (cases would rupture). All it needed was a shim to correct the headspace but for some reason, my gunsmith saw fit to weld up the locking lug face - one of them. I didn't have a lathe at the time or I would have made a shim. Anyway, the rifle shoots fine so apart from being reminded every time I take the bolt out, it's fine.

[Forrest r]

It's common to shim a 2 piece bolt to dial them in. Did a bunch of remington 513-t's decades ago. After that it was the 580 series remingtons. Still keep some shims around just in case, a mix of 4/6/12 1000th's shims. Took a lot of finger prints down using a piece of glass and 400 grit sandpaper getting the shims down to the final thickness.
https://i.imgur.com/FGIZwbX.jpg

[frkelly74]

I have learned something here. I will be checking over my 513 and 521 Remingtons that every once in a while rupture a case head.

[Forrest r]

FWIW:

Typically the cut in the bolt face should get checked for depth when you check your head space. More often the not on lower grade firearms they made an excessively deep cut in the bolt face, 43 1000th's to 47 1000th's isn't unheard of. I would set them to 41 1000th's (.041") and then make the headspace shim.

If you have to make a shim to correct your headspace, why not optimize the bolt face for rim thickness???