Space between bolt body and receiver

[penguinofsleep]

So with a Savage 10, I was looking at one today and noticed that with the bolt inserted and down on a right handed rifle, there was a lot of space between the left side of the bolt and the inside of the receiver. When I dropped the magazine while the bolt was still in, I could clearly see that it was about 2 mm of space (think credit cards) worth of space between the bolt body and receiver. About 1.5 on the right side (think between 1 and 2 credit cards) between the bolt body and the receiver. And that was just the space from the "top view", it probably would have been a little more if you put a tiny ruler inside and measured the distance from the inside receiver wall to the bolt body.

Would this be a problem in any way? I realize there has to be some space between the bolt and body so the bolt can move, but I've never seen a rifle with as much space as this one has.

If it is relevant, there was also a tiny bit of play when the bolt was down (in terms of lifting the bolt, not like lateral play in the body or like the bolt could rock back and forth to throw off head space), but that wasn't too bad overall.

Surprised at the above as the rest of the rifle was overall as a whole much nicer than I expected.

[thacker8394]

I only own one savage and it uses the Precision Target Action so it is a little different than the 10. However i have shot several model 10's and they all seem to fit the discription you stated. They all also shot sub MOA and one a model 10 FCP with Mcmillan stock shot 1/4 MOA with fine tuned reloads. I would not worry about it. The new Savages are shooters i was always a model 700 guy untill i shot the model 12 FTR. My home built $1800 target rifle using a Savage Precision Target Action with stock bolt, Shilen barrel and Manners composite stock will out shoot my $3000 custom built model 700. almost makes me sick as i have no use for the model 700 now as they were both built for long range target shooting.

[penguinofsleep]

Sounds good. The only other thing I can think of (for now) that may cause a problem is shooting in the rain/snow while it's really cold - water/snow gets in and freezes the bolt shut... But seeing as how I'm in southern ca and not Minnesota or Nebraska...

Don't think major dirt debris would be too much of a problem here either.

[thacker8394]

Sounds good. The only other thing I can think of (for now) that may cause a problem is shooting in the rain/snow while it's really cold - water/snow gets in and freezes the bolt shut... But seeing as how I'm in southern ca and not Minnesota or Nebraska...

Don't think major dirt debris would be too much of a problem here either.

I could see how water /snow could be a issue however i do shoot in the dry windy desert here in SoCal and have never had a issue with any gun i own let alone that one. I wont shoot my Savage unless it is nice outside as it is a long range target gun not hunting or tacticool gun. I have a LMT MWSF with Nightforce optics for those conditions and it is super tacticool.