Savage Mk 2 FTF and Extraction Failures

[JackEllis]

Here's the setup:

Savage Mark 2 bolt rifle in .22.lr It's four or five years old.
Aquila HV .22lr ammunition

I'm getting an unacceptable number of FTFs.

On a random basis, spent cases are not extracted. If I remove the magazine and cycle the bolt a second time, the case usually comes out.

I've removed the retaining clip and very carefully cleaned the business end of the bolt, the firing pin and the extraction claws, then put it all back together. I have not measured the firing pin or tried to mess with the firing pin spring. I also poured some mineral spirits over the bolt in hopes it would flush away any debris inside the bolt. I did some research and apparently there can be a headspace issue with this rifle.

I cleaned the bore right before the last shooting session.

The Aguila HS ammo works fine in a new Marlin 60.

I have a question into Savage support but I thought I'd ask around in case anyone else has run across these problems.

[blubullett]

Most of my FTF problems have been magazine related. And for extraction problems I would look at a possible dirty chamber. When was the last time you actually scrubbed the chamber with a brush? I'm lazy and almost always just use a bore snake.

[JackEllis]

When was the last time you actually scrubbed the chamber with a brush?

When I cleaned the bolt a few days ago. But it's worth another shot.

[FeuerFrei]

How does it do with any other brand of ammo?

My mk2 has gone thru every kind of ammo without issue. I did detail strip the bolt. There was a bu-tt load of storage grease and crap inside every crevas of the bolt.
I pre-flight all new to me firearms before I take my first shots.

Mk2's are great little rifles. Mine loves Aguila subsonic for precision work. I have found it to be reliable all around load.


Sent using a long string and 2 used soup cans

[sofbak]

For the extraction issues, some people remove the c-clip that holds the extractor in the bolt. They mash the ends together to provide more force on the extractor and carefully re-install to not "un-bend" the extra bend they put in it.

Others obtain an additional clip from Savage and just install it on top of the existing c-clip.

I just polished the chamber with a .22 bore mop and some Mother's Aluminum polish.

For FTF, do you mean fail to fire or fail to feed?

[JackEllis]

For FTF, do you mean fail to fire or fail to feed?

FTF = Fail to fire. No problem feeding.

Scrubbing the bolt face and around the bore solved the extraction failures but I'm getting 20% failures to fire and it looks like the firing pin isn't striking hard enough.

[sofbak]

Time to dismantle your bolt and see what's going on inside(?):

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78552

[G-forceJunkie]

Try wiggling the bolt forwards and rearwards with a round loaded. Is there slop? Try firing while pushing the bolt knob forward. Does it fire more reliability? Savages head space off the bolt knob. It or the receiver can wear, increasing head space so the firing pin is no longer hitting the case as deep.

[Dan_Eastvale]

I had some FTFs on my older Marlin 60. Firing pin was good. Replaced the hammer spring with a new a NOS one which fixed it. Springs can weaken.
But, of course, the Marlin 60 is extremely simple to completely tear down.

[mjmagee67]

FTF.....worst acronym in shooting sports.

Failure to fire....hammer/striker spring worn out. Firing pin worn or bent. Firing pin channel is all smuched up. Excessive headspace. Lastly..the rimfire gods hate you. Most of those problems are related to inexpensive wear items in the fire control group. I'd start replacing parts, starting with springs.

[JackEllis]

Weeellll...

I cleaned the bolt again and that's seemed to fix the extraction problem.

Tried several different types of ammunition including Aguila standard velocity and they all worked just fine.

The Aguila HV ammo works flawlessly in a Marlin 60.

I have an inquiry into Savage but I may not be able to do much about it for a couple of weeks.

Thinking about replacing the firing pin - any thoughts on where to buy one? a search wasn't helpful.

Thanks for all the suggestions. They were quite helpful even if the problem is not yet solved.

[FeuerFrei]

Fail to fire on Aguila hv ammo only? All others work?
If that's a yes then you found a bad/off spec lot of Aguila.
They'll take care of you.

Sent using a long string and 2 used soup cans

[JackEllis]

As Paul Harvey was fond of saying, "And now for the rest of the story".

Savage replaced the bolt. The rifle seems to fire all three brands of HV ammo I tried reliably. Accuracy is fine considered I did my tests from a tripod rather than a bench.

They did send back a report that, among other things, said headspace was fine, which suggests it was withing SAAMI specs.

I've been looking for a bolt rifle in .17 HMR and had settled on a CZ. Then I started reading over at RimfireCentral and discovered CZs have their own issues, as do the very expensive Anschutz rimfires.

Oh well, I'm retired and I have some time to mess with this stuff.

Thanks for all the suggestions.