Savage A17 magazine problem

[gunsandrockets]

Just picked up a Savage A17 a short time ago. I haven't had a chance to fire it yet, but I've already noticed a very odd problem.

The magazine seem to pop in cleanly, and release easily. But I've noticed when the magazine is seated, that if I apply pressure on the magazine towards the rear of the magazine, the front of the magazine pops out of engagement.

[gunsandrockets]

So after posting, I decided to take another look to see if there was anything I missed before, and I did find some other interesting factors.

The problem seems to come from the magazine catch barely engaging when using ordinary handling. I can mitigate the problem by deliberately forcing the catch into a more engaged position after the magazine is completely seated in the magazine well.

The magazine itself has some underwhelming cheap elements. Particularly surprising considering the high price Savage charges for the magazine.

The magazine catch is built into the magazine itself. This is certainly unusual, though by no means unique. The Swiss Schmidt-Rubin straight pull bolt action rifles and the French MAS semi-auto rifles also have detachable magazines with the catch built into the magazine instead of the rifle receiver.

The catch of the A17 magazine is a simple bent plastic lever, essentially a plastic leaf spring. And all the elasticity to power that lever into engagement with the locking surface in the stock comes from just that.

So we have a plastic magazine catch which is trying to engage with a plastic ledge in the plastic stock. No wonder some people have reported problems with the A17 magazine falling out of the rifle! This inadequate magazine is an opportunity which the aftermarket parts industry should be dashing to fill, if Savage refuses to remedy the problem.

The magazine catch seems intended to simply snap into engagement simultaneously with the seating of the magazine in the magazine well. But it barely hooks on. This is why I was able to dislodge the magazine with some pressure applied to the bottom. I've discovered that once the magazine is fully seated, you have to press the magazine latch forward towards the muzzle, which forces the catch more fully into engagement with the locking shelf in the stock.

Not good.

I hope that will work. But at best it is a bandaid temporary solution to a bigger problem.

After I escape from Commiefornia, I will try out the newer higher capacity magazines and replace the cheap factory stock with a nice Boyds wood stock, and maybe that will solve the problem.

[510rick]

pull the bolt back then insert mag or just use the gun a few times and you will get used to feeling and seeing the mag click into position . Theres kind of a trick to doing it right .

more then the mag issue the garbage plastic stock pisses me off . I love my A17 it shoots rediculously accurately .good luck

[gunsandrockets]

The problem is one of defective magazine design, not from handling.

I can easily and repeatedly 'click' the magazine into position, while the bolt is open or closed. The magazine latch itself lacks the appropriate force to adequately engage the shelf of the magazine well. After the magazine is completely seated into the magazine well, I have to force the magazine latch forward for full engagement.

[smupser]

You are not alone

When I picked up mine I noticed the same thing. Unlike my 10/22 which magazines lock in place and release flawlessly, the A17 mags do not. The other thing is it's not the easiest to load the mags, they have no type of feed ramp to facilitate effortless loading like the 10/22 mags. Bottom line, they are very poor quality and I really hope savage improves the design

[joe47]

Savage is known for its cheap mags. Best way to keep them in is duct tape.

[gunsandrockets]

Ayup

Savage is known for its cheap mags. Best way to keep them in is duct tape.

The thought had crossed my mind...

[gunsandrockets]

pull the bolt back then insert mag or just use the gun a few times and you will get used to feeling and seeing the mag click into position . Theres kind of a trick to doing it right .

more then the mag issue the garbage plastic stock pisses me off . I love my A17 it shoots rediculously accurately .good luck

I've been monkeying around with the A17, and I may have discovered the trick you are talking about.

After the magazine is fully seated and seemingly secured (but really not), I can get the magazine latch to fully snap into place by applying extra thumb pressure on the magazine near the magazine latch. That extra pressure lets the latch complete snapping into full lock. I notice that when the magazine is fully latched, the outline of the magazine is slightly inside the lines of the stock itself!

Now if I can only fix the weirdly heavy trigger pull...