I was on the board last spring after a savage 7mm-08 went from two shoots at a hundred being in the same hole to shooting all over the paper in a high and right 4 - 5 inch area. I worked multiple time on bedding checking all the screws including sending the nikon scope back for evaluation to buying a new Leopold 3-9 scope and the old steel Leopold rings and bases to no avail.

I got the gun back from Savage and they had to put a new barrel on the rifle. rifle probably had 350 -400 rounds thru the rifle.

Shot great one trip, gun back in the safe and the next trip it had gone to sh--. WHY do you think this happened?

Did not drop it, throw it on rocks, probably wiped it down with oil and may have done a quick
barrel cleaning and oiling. No heavy duty barrel clean up.

Put it back together today but just trying to fig out what happened to it.

Not had this happen to a rifle before and still looking at why.

Ideas?

Jim,

I got a new Savage 7-08 last Christmas for my
granddaughter. It shoots great one shot at a
time but won't feed properly for successive shots. Problem seems to be between the feed
ramp and the barrel that extends to far into
the action and causes the neck of the cartridge
to stop from feeding. This happens with any brand of ammo and reloads. Tight crimping doesn't help much. I am reluctant to send back to Savage for fear they will mess it up more. Has a great trigger and shoots 3/8" five shot groups (one shot at a time) Any ideas welcome.. No current thoughts on your problem.

Tetonka
Willow City Texas DRSS
Gand of Bubbas & 45-70s

When you shoot a rifle for accuracy describe how you set up. Are you shooting from a bench, car hood, picnic table, etc.? Using bags, rest, Lead Sled? Free recoil or holding forend? Describe your placement of your head behind the scope. Same cheek weld each time or do you tend to hunt a point fore and aft? Is your eyepiece secured by the lock ring or loose?

You also might have another known good shooter to fire a couple of groups. That would pretty much confirm it is the equipment.

Bob

All my rifles shoot under an inch group,off a bench with bags and that is about as hot as I will load. Right now I found that Hornaday Whitetail hunter bullets in 139 gr for 2 different 7mm-08 and 7 mag rifles and 140 gr for two 270s does as good if not better for me and cheaper too. Only problem is the BC is not great so past 330 yards or so the bullet falls off vs Nosler BT's

I do my own bedding and gun smithing for most things since the 80's.

I had even bedded this Savage model 11. Never bed another one or reinforce the fore stock and the grip into the grips back with 1/4 inch all thread. I took the gun apart and checked and rechecked everything multiple times with the new scope and bases.

When I first got the rifle it had a bad barrel and had to go back to Savage because it would not hold paper or have a group to work with and for 4 years shot one hole groups till between one trip and the next it went to shit. I still cannot figure out why.

Hey T I would talk to their service and send it back after hunting season. I have their accutrigger so I have them set at about 2.0 pounds. By chance did you mark the shell with so you can see where the shell is hanging up to get an idea what the problem is? BTW which savage do you have?

I will try to shoot it in this weekend. Bolt is a little stiff as I shoot hogs and love that second shot. I have a friend that has several ranches ~15,000 acres and I can go shoot all the hogs I can shoot for free and take pictures of all the other animals on the different ranches.

Rifle is back shooting like it did before with touching holes.

The only thing I see is supposedly they fixed some small parts in the rifle plus the new barrel.

Little stiff or tight on the extraction. Any ideas on how to loosen this up? Hard to get that quick second shot the way it is now. Course I did not fire over 10 rounds on the new sight in.

Glad to hear it is back shooting well. For the extraction issue I would polish some brass cases really well. Fire the cases in your rifle and then look at the cases. Look for hazing, mottling, and scratches. If you are getting a significant amount of it a chamber polish is in order. Sometimes spinning a steel wool fob in the chamber will work. More often than not you will need to polish with 600 grit silicon carbide paper on a split dowel spun with an electric drill motor.

quote:

Originally posted by JimTx:
Rifle is back shooting like it did before with touching holes.

The only thing I see is supposedly they fixed some small parts in the rifle plus the new barrel.

Little stiff or tight on the extraction. Any ideas on how to loosen this up? Hard to get that quick second shot the way it is now. Course I did not fire over 10 rounds on the new sight in.

The Bolt is stiff on the up swing of the bolt with or with out a shell in the chamber. Just stiff enough to interfere with the quick reload action for a second shot.
Thanks, Jim

lap the bolt lugs.

In addition to what's been said -

1. Take a look at the back of the lugs on the bolt. Check the wear pattern there and for scratches. Scratches suggest grit on the lug raceways in the action. Flush with WD40, and after a ten minute soak, cover the end of the barrel tightly with your thumb & clear with compressed air and re-lube the lug contact faces with a speck of fine grease.
2. Look for wear on the outer portion of the lugs as well. There shouldn't be any or only minor contact wear there. Clearance both of them with the same number of strokes a little at a time with fine emery cloth. If there is no improvement, stop. Move on.
3. Less likely .. make certain the bolt handle clears the rear bridge as the bolt is closed. Any wear on the barrel side of the bolt handle base means it is in need of some polishing there.

The 'slow and methodical' approach should get you there.

The first thing to do is back off the action screw. Then if that does not help, do the rear scope base screw. I have seen both of these problems with Savages in the last few months. Lapping would be the last resort.

quote:

Originally posted by JimTx:
The Bolt is stiff on the up swing of the bolt with or with out a shell in the chamber. Just stiff enough to interfere with the quick reload action for a second shot.
Thanks, Jim

I have 3 Savages and they are all like that ! I feel that it may be due to the angle of the cocking piece (or whatever it is called) !

It shouldn't feel that way if the bolt is already cocked.

Hip

Savage rifles have semi-floating boltheads so I'm not quite sure about the lapping thing. You may remove the bolthead and measure the distance from the aft end to the lug faces to see if there is a significant difference. Hard to imagine that if that was the problem the rifle would have shot good before and then got bad? Since you didn't happen to mention previous that the uplift was heavy when empty then you need to look at the interface between the cocking cam ad cocking piece. I have good days and bad days at the bench and I shoot every week about 100 rds.

Just hope you can solve this mystery. I have had very good luck with Savage rifles when it comes to consistent accuracy -- but I was shooting their heavy-barrelled target rifles.

A lot of help.

I went in and cleaned/ oiled the bolt and inside the rifle and all the surfaces and the draging in the bolt handle with out a shell eased up quite a bit smother

With a fired cartridge the upward drag is still a problem for making a quick second shot with out having to bring the rifle down from the firing position. I am wondering with the new barrel which shoots great is just a little tight and could be adding to this problem the old barrel did not have?

I had worked on my old 700s back in the 80's and they are still really smooth for the second shot in shooting position. Both are still mounted on old Chet Brown original stocks from the early 80's that you had to finish and bed yourself.

Glad you're making some headway. How is the wear pattern on the lugs looking? Should be a nice smooth stripe of wear there on the back and no wear on the front.

I went in and used some cleaner / lubricant then worked the bolt for a while and it was working a lot better. Marking the bolt lugs showed a pretty evenly marked area.

NOW It is pretty smooth with out a shell but with a shell either fired or new the downward bolt pressure is tight to close and to open back up.

Bolt marks look pretty even now. Savage stated that they replaced some small parts of the rifle in addition to a new barrel.

I am wondering if the bolt head shell retaining spring is stiffer now and this is causing the stiffness when it engages the cartridge?

Gong back into reloading now that I have retired and about to get the prostrate cancer problem treatments completed.

Still group could be a little off with the Hornaday 139 whitetail hunter bullets with the 3 shot vertical group all touching but the bullet seat is short of the lans but for what I hunt now (hogs) it is not a big deal. Just wish they used the BT and not the solid base with a .392 BC. but it does make much of a difference till past 350yards.

Ideas why the bolt is still stiff when loading and unloading a round either new or a fired round from the same rifle?

Sure sounds like a tight headspace and chamber issue.
Working a lubed bolt probably will do little to help "wear in" the lugs. De-lubing the bolt lug area and working the bolt for at least a hundred times with a mild abrasive will make a difference.
Toothpaste is a mild abrasive that cleans up fairly easily with warm water and a bent Q-tip or bent plumbers acid brush. A dab on each lug just enough to keep the lug face wet with paste should do.
Taking the action out of the stock will make it less messy. A bench vice with a bit of leather on the jaws will keep it steady as you work the bolt.

Stop! Do not lap anything until you do these things: make sure you are using only factory ammo for the test; nothing is warranted for hand loads.
Remove the firing pin and see if it is still tight. If not, it is the cocking cam.
Check the chamber with a set of gauges.
And make sure the front guard screw is not hitting the lugs;
You can only trouble shoot one thing at a time and do not try to "fix" it until you determine what it was. That technique is for amateurs who often break as much as they fix. Not saying anyone is in either category.

Those "LEOPOLD" bases and scope must be a cheap knock off. Get the real thing LEUPOLD. Pronounced Loo Pold there is no LEO in the spelling nor pronunciation.

Take a shell or cartridge that is dragging your bolt, except a new one not one you previously tried and marker pen black the ENTIRE cartridge or case including the back end where the primer is and carefully place it in the chamber and then close your bolt. Just open and close the bolt a few times without moving it back any. Then carefully extract the case or cartridge and tell us where the rub marks on them. I'm thinking you're going to see rub marks on the case/cartrdige shoulder and the back end. Be careful when using a loaded cartridge. Don't do anything as Dpcd suggested until you figure out what the problem is.

I blacked two new rounds 1/2 way down and on both and they showed similar patterns.

There are shiny places on 3/5 of the top of the new cartridge. Most are on the out side edge right at the angle with a nother two small places near where the primer is seated.

Bolt is much easier to work now with out a round being chambered..

Ok, let's assume that your chamber is short for your brass, or vice versa; not saying that is it; you still need to gauge the chamber to check headspace, and if necessary, increase it to accommodate your particular bass.
Or size your brass to fit the chamber.
In any case, do not lap anything; Savages have adjustable headspace and can be done by anyone. With a wrench.

So you think when the new barrel was added the took a small it was tightened and I lost a very slight amount of chamber space or?

You need to gauge it with headspace gauges to see what is going on; otherwise just guessing. Savage barrels are infinitely adjustable for headspace.
Or you can make it fit a particular brand of brass. Realize that SAAMI tolerances on brass, ammo, and chambers, are huge.

If you had the headspace gauge you would know if the headspacing is tight. If you had the gauge and the barrel wrench you could loosen the barrel nut and barrel and reset it with the headspace gauge. I anchor the barrel when tightening the nuts so as the nut doesn't turn the barrel any. I believe in the 308 family of cartridges they fit more then one caliber. I'm not positive. dpcd would know for sure.

Just guessing since I do not have a head space guage the head space was set a hair too close and that is what appears to cause this tightness?

It reminds me of the old days when I would load a lot of rounds and then cycle them thru the rifle just to make sure they all cycled easily in the old 7 mag Remington. I would get a few that were tight in the rifle.

Is it worth going bk to Savage to get it opened up just a hair? (after the hunt. ) Thanks to all. Jim

VZ is right. 308 gauges fit everything in the family.
For the price of shipping it back and forth to Savage you can buy a wrench and make it fit your brass.
We don't know if your barrel was set too close or your brass was made too long. Likely it is a combination of tolerance stack up; minimum headspace and maximum brass length (head to shoulder) . Not "too close"; but probably minimum. I find that most Savages are set on the low side.
As I said, it is a miracle anything fits due to the allowable tolerances.
Also, another sizing die might make your brass fit. Another variable.

Savage may have set the headspace on the minimum side thinking after use and wear that it would open up a little. I built a 6.5x54 Mannlicher on an old 110 Savage action and set the headspace for my cases. You can buy a wrench at Midwayusa for example. I have a wrench with dual ends for two different styles of barrel nuts. I'm not sure if Midway sells the wrench for the new style Savage nut that just has the one hole in it, not the serrations. I'm thinking you are making a big fuss over something that isn't so much. Get the headspace gauge and see what you got.

Right.
They do set them on the low side; that is what most guys want. I would bet that it will close on a go gauge. If they set them on the max side they guys would complain about stretching brass. Except for most hunters who don't reload and don't know the difference anyway.
On the smooth nuts, I use a pipe wrench and either replace the nut, (hold it in blocks to tighten) or more often, fit the new barrel with a shoulder. I had an old model wrench but who knows where it is now.
It ain't rocket surgery.

If your brass is showing bright spots on 3/5 of the forward ends then your have a chamber roughness issue. Try a chamber polish before doing anything else. As I suggested in my second post previous.

quote:

Originally posted by JimTx:
I blacked two new rounds 1/2 way down and on both and they showed similar patterns.

There are shiny places on 3/5 of the top of the new cartridge. Most are on the out side edge right at the angle with a nother two small places near where the primer is seated.

Bolt is much easier to work now with out a round being chambered..

It is more on the bolt facing where the shell is dragging on the head where it fits in the bolt.
Could be a little sort on head space but I will check this area.

quote:

Originally posted by JimTx:
It is more on the bolt facing where the shell is dragging on the head where it fits in the bolt.
Could be a little sort on head space but I will check this area.

If it's on the head then it should show on the shoulder too. If you use a black marker pen it will be gloss black and although it may not rub a bright spot on the shoulder you will see where it is dulled. Like I said before open and close your bolt a bunch of time without trying to extract the case. Then extract carefully and that rub spot may show up on the shoulder too. If it does then you most definitely have tight headspace. Sometimes just shooting it a bunch may set thing in and the headspace will open up a wee bit. If it is tight headspace and it's just a little bit, camming over your press when resizing your cases should make them chamber easy. You can blacken your case you are going to resize only having to do the entire shoulder and if camming over the press pushes the should back a wee bit you will see the black is smudged. Give that a try.

You are right I marked the whole shell and found that and will ck some other loads but Hornaday WT bullets are from two batches one with the copper colored primer and others with the silver primer.

What marks more on the bullet if you remember back into the 80's when the RCBS reloading guides had you set the bullet long then press to place in the rifle and close the bolt and back off a hair from there. The other pressure mark is at the shoulder at the angle where the cartridge first breaks. Most are on the bullet right just before the 139 bullet goes into the case. The round I marked seated a little easier than the others.

I will just shoot it next week and worry about making that quick second shot after the first hog is down.

quote:

Originally posted by JimTx:
You are right I marked the whole shell and found that and will ck some other loads but Hornaday WT bullets are from two batches one with the copper colored primer and others with the silver primer.

What marks more on the bullet if you remember back into the 80's when the RCBS reloading guides had you set the bullet long then press to place in the rifle and close the bolt and back off a hair from there. The other pressure mark is at the shoulder at the angle where the cartridge first breaks. Most are on the bullet right just before the 139 bullet goes into the case. The round I marked seated a little easier than the others.

I will just shoot it next week and worry about making that quick second shot after the first hog is down.

Yeah sounds like you have tight minimum headspace. Yes shoot it some see what happens. I wouldn't want to shoot the loads where the bullet touches anything. Where you described that 139 grain bullet touching is either the bullet isn't concentric with the case (that is if the mark is only one side of the bullet where it enters the case or the bullet is loaded out too far. Hornady 139's have a cannelure on them and if the case mouth is crimped into it then the bullet shouldn't be touching. When reloading cam the press ram over when full length sizing the case and see if the case fits better.

Shot good last week. Lots of hogs did not know the head space may be a little tight.