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Thread: I screwed up and I could use some help to prevent doing it again...

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold Holdmonkey's Avatar
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    I screwed up and I could use some help to prevent doing it again...

    Bought a brand new Savage 110. Got home, pulled the stock and cleaned all the manufacturing debris and crud off and out of it. When I put it back together, I was careful to be below torque specs on the action screws. Chambered a cartridge and it seemed like the bolt was hard to close the last bit. Then, I had to work to get it to lock down, unlocked it, locked it, it was fine. Tried to open the bolt. It will NOT open. It seems I loaded a cartridge that was fire-formed for my other .308. I understand why it felt "weird" when it loaded, but now what? I don't want to tear up a new gun. Should I fire the cartridge(incidentally creating a case fire-formed to this gun in the process)? Should I unlock the bolt and smack the unlocked bolt handle with a plastic mallet, trying to move it back to extract? Any safe suggestions would be appreciated, gentlemen.

  2. #2
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    I'm not a Savage guy, but other makes have different length screws that go into the receiver.
    If you mix & match them, what happed to you will happen to them.

    I'd pull out any of the action screws and try that.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master MarkP's Avatar
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    If you can safely fire it such as out your back door do that.


    Banging a bolt with a loaded round in the chamber would be scary and most bolt handles are soldered on not sure about the Savage

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I would unlock the bolt and tap it with a rubber or plastic mallet to open the bolt.
    Make sure the loaded rifle is pointed in a safe direction.
    After the chamber is clear , then try a New Factory Cartridge.
    I would also suggest that you have the headspace checked.
    On the 110's with the removable barrel.
    Sometimes the barrel gets screwed in too far , and is tight on the casings.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    If the cartridge is a reload, as you alluded to, and it was not full length resized, it is no doubt stuck to the chamber.
    You could tap on the bolt handle and hope it comes out without leaving a bullet stuck in the barrel.
    Or you could do this. Just fire it, assuming it is a safe load of course.
    If it is still stuck, then you could use a cleaning rod to help unstuck it.
    Another option is take it to a gunsmith and he will do the above.

  6. #6
    Boolit Mold Holdmonkey's Avatar
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    Winger Ed, I had heard of that happening and my screws are two different lengths, so I was careful in that regard...so far the consensus seems to be "fire it someplace safe pointed some other place safe." That was my first instinct, but I also didn't want to overlook some variable I had forgotten or was unaware of and create more problems. I wanna thank all y'all for taking the time to reply.

  7. #7
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    Rumor has it that Savage chambers are on the tighter side of specs.

    Lots of folks poo-poo on Savage because they don't win too many beauty contests.
    But the hole in the pipe is among the most accurate of factory rifles.

    Fire forming used to be the rage, and the common wisdom was that you'd be lucky to hit the ground if you didn't do it.
    In later years, a lot of the folks shooting competitively have moved away from it.
    Either it wasn't worth the trouble of keeping ammo separate if you had more than one gun in the cal.
    or it didn't make enough difference to matter.

    If you get reloads that it's happy with, they might be just fine for your other .308 too.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  8. #8
    Boolit Mold Holdmonkey's Avatar
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    An older shooter sold me on fire-forming when he asked me "why would you want a case that had slack to wiggle around in there (range brass) if this one wears your chamber like a glove?". Made sense, so I've been using cases fired through MY chamber ever since. Buying another rifle with the same caliber has proven to be the glitch in an otherwise perfect plan. But Winger Ed, you are right...every month it seems, there comes a new nugget of wisdom that shunts the old wisdoms aside. Now to find the ideal load for this rifle...And as an aside, a lot of the old Pennsylvania rifles from the lesser known makers were kinda butt ugly, and could shoot circles around rifles made today. Looks don't butcher the pig.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Very common repair for a gunsmith.......even if the round in the chamber is fired,the case will still be stuck ...there is no magic cure for this one...........However ,after the round is fired,it may be possible to release the stuck case by freezing the action to as cold as its possible for you to get it......not wood or plastic.
    Last edited by john.k; 06-17-2022 at 08:42 PM.

  10. #10
    Boolit Mold Holdmonkey's Avatar
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    I agree on the stuck case but that's not as scary as the whole stuck bolt thing. By that I just mean a stuck case is a stuck case, but the bolt could have been the result of more than one thing, none exactly a simple fix.

  11. #11
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    Use a piece of PVC pipe carefully for a cheater bar on the bolt handle. If it still won't lift, shoot it. It should open easily unless your reloads are too hot for a Savage 110- not likely!

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Unfortunately ,firing wont resize the case.......the biggest problem is to lift the bolt,something has gotta give.....either the extractor will tear out of the case rim,or the extractor will break....worst scenario would be the bolt handle breaks away from the bolt.........anyhoo,once the bolt is open,its an easy job to remove the stuck case......but be sure to use biggest steel rod that fits down the bore.

  13. #13
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    Minerat's Avatar
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    I will tell you from experience with a Savage 110 in 7mm Rem mag that having to hammer the bolt open and hammer the bolt out to get a case off the bolt face did not hurt it. I used a piece of pine limb about 4" around to do it. (A little excessive pressure ya think)

    What did it was shooting a 175gr barnes x bullet that was seated jammed into the lands that caused the over pressure. The bolt was hard to close too. It blew the primer and jammed the ejection pin in the bolt so it had to be drilled out and replaced. I found out later that you had to seat them deeper then 175 gr Sierra Game Kings. This was after shooting 10 rounds of the same load using the Sierra bullets. No double charge when you are loading the cases 80% full.

    After that experience I will not shoot any gun with a cartridge that is jammed into the chamber or the bolt was hard to close and the bullet will not extract.

    Sorry I don't have a solution but if it was me that decided to just shoot it, I'd tye a string to the trigger and hide behind the truck or try to get the bolt open by tapping the bolt handle.

    Lesson learned dump the barns bullets in the 7mm.
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  14. #14
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    So where are you at with this problem? Did you try just loosening the action screws and then opening the bolt? Did you fire the cartridge that was stuck in the chamber? If so, what happened then...did the fired cartridge extract easily--or not at all? It sounds to me very much like your chamber could benefit from being polished a bit once you have cleared it. You can do this yourself by placing the action in a padded vise, removing the bolt, getting a suitably small diameter wooden dowel from the hardware store or lumber yard, cutting a slot in one end, inserting a small piece of 400 or 600 grit W&D sandpaper (about 2 inches square folded in half and inserted in the slot like a cleaning patch), putting the other end of the dowel in a handheld electric drill, swabbing the chamber with kerosene, dipping the sandpaper in kerosene, and running the patch into the chamber and turning at medium speed for perhaps 20 seconds while moving the paper back and forth in the chamber. Try to stay off the shoulder. Dry out the chamber with a couple of dry cleaning patches, try inserting and extracting your fired cartridge case (fired in that rifle) for ease of operation. If not to your satisfaction repeat the operation.

    DG

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy

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    Savage 110 bolt handles are bolted on not soldered.

    View this topic that shows a disassembled Savage 110 bolt -
    https://www.savageshooters.com/conte...Assembly-Parts

  16. #16
    Boolit Master

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    Lots of ideas but it is scary to have someone come into the shop with a live round in the chamber and the bolt wont open.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Simple rule....never chamber a fired case from another rifle.(unless its been resized)....no two chambers are exactly the same ....so if cases are swapped between guns ,one case will be loose,one will be tight ......of course in some types of gun ,like Win 94s ,both cases will be tight and both may jam.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master Hannibal's Avatar
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    As others have said I would take the rifle to a safe location and fire it so that you are no longer dealing with a potentially deadly firearm first. Stand behind a tree, wrap your arms around said tree and discharge the rifle. I suggest this since it's a reloaded cartridge and all we know at this point is SOMETHING is apparently out of spec. Once the cartridge has been discharged then you're just dealing with a simple piece of machining. If the cartridge is oversized for the chamber then firing the rifle is not going to exaberate the situation. Hopefully you pay attention to and trim your neck length on your brass or things may get ugly.

    Also as others have stated the bolt handles on Savage rifles are a separate part fastened to the bolt by the means of a large screw. They are fairly robust and with a bit of luck you will be able to force the bolt open without damaging anything.

    Be careful.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master Harter66's Avatar
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    Been here .
    I've formed a lot of tight bolt brass that was freely extracted . It kind of depends on where it's tight . As long as it's not the neck it's good to go .
    The Savage bolt is in fact screwed on and fitted via the oval with flats key hole . The weak link is the extractor in them so I would say avoid hammering the round out . They aren't glass Christmas ball fragile but they aren't a K98 claw either and are intended to fail before the bolt metal gives .

    I would pull the trigger , lift the bolt , it will either come out or it won't . If it doesn't a 1/4 brass rod is cheap enough and you'll only need to drive the case and bolt a maximum of .3 in to clear the neck .

    I had free feeding with loaded ammo but it didn't like the LC Match even light loads stuck tight the second one resulted in a broken extractor and lost spring and detent ball . I don't think a 125 gr cast bullet and 8 gr of Unique were the cause .
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  20. #20
    Boolit Master

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    Putting the gun in the deep freeze can free a lot of stuck cases. Brass thermal expansion coefficient is about 19E-6/C whereas steel is 10.8E-6/C so in the freezer the brass shrinks about twice as much as the steel.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check