My son bought a 10 FP-SR a few days ago, and yesterday when we went to sight it in the bolt wouldn't open easily, by that I mean the handle would rotate up but we couldn't get it to move rearward without pulling hard, one of us holding the gun, the other yanking on the bolt. We were shooting 150-165 gr factory Federal and Hornady ammo. No signs of high pressure evident on the cases. It's like something is out of alignment and after working the bolt up/down a few times it lines up and we're able to open it. Any idea what could be causing this? I called Savage customer service, they said to make sure the serial numbers on the bolt match those on the gun, haven't been able to get my son on the phone to check this yet. Is this a common problem? Is there an easy fix?

try loosening the trigger guard screws a bit. if i over tighten my screws the bolt will seize.

Not sure about Savages, but make sure the scope ring mount screws aren't hitting the bolt.

I'll tell my son about both of these possibilities. Thanks to each of you.

bolt opens easily?
either scope screws or action screws protruding.. or there could be a problem with the trigger..

likely if you take it out of the stock it will open

Is there any particular torque value the action screws should be tightened to? Do I torque the front one first? Thanks.