Savage DBM feeding problems....

[pineywoods]

As stellar a reputation as Savage has developed for accuracy & innovation, I can't believe my 2015 model 11 is still plagued with the notorious feeding issue. This has been going on for years in my research. Mine fails to feed almost consistently. It appears, when feeding a round (observing with bore light) that when the shoulder of the round touches the feed ramp, it pops the round out of the bolt face & it ends up at some odd angle consequently binding. I've got 3 different magazines...they can't all be bad. I'm assuming I need to polish the feed ramp- any suggestions on doing that without removing the barrel ? I'm sure it needs to be polished parallel with bullet travel.

 

[Barrelnut]

What cartridge?

 

[pineywoods]

6.5 Creedmoor

 

[Barrelnut]

I have 2000 rounds thru a Model 12 6.5 Creedmoor and have never had a misfeed. I have 4 other DBM Savages and have never had to do anything to the feed ramp. So it is confusing. Have you tried tightening the feed lips a bit close to the front? Maybe they are spread out for some reason and the cartridges are popping out to soon at the front. Does it have the same issue with just one round in the DBM or does it only happen when there are three cartridges in the DBM? Get what I mean?

 

[pineywoods]

Tried it with 1 round & 3...no difference. I have 3 magazines & they all do the exact same thing. I can't imagine the lips need adjusting on all three but I will give it a shot. I took a video but not sure how to post it. I'll research that. It will feed 3/4 of the time if done quickly. But if you attempt to work the bolt slow it will fail EVERY TIME !

 

[pineywoods]

Over torquing the action screws showed a slight improvement. The mags are securing well with a discernible click when I secure the front portion. After torquing the action screws down hard, I cycled the action quickly on all 3 mags 3 times & the feeding was flawless. Going about it slowly is still an issue, but taking tension off the bolt briefly will allow the round to feed like normal. The bullet is entering the chamber at about a 20 deg angle. With the rounds binding slightly, should I be concerned about damaging soft bullet tips or worse...pushing an uncrimped bullet with 1 or 2 thou neck tension into the case?

 

[Dgd6mm]

I would tweak the feed lips and see if that will improve it.

 

[dwm]

In my experience Savages feed better if cycled quickly with some force. I have several center feed actions with detachable magazines and they all feed reliably if cycled quickly.

 

[pineywoods]

In my experience Savages feed better if cycled quickly with some force. I have several center feed actions with detachable magazines and they all feed reliably if cycled quickly.

I hear ya. The critters I hunt are generally inside 100 yds & most of them inside 60. A miss or second critter requires some stealth when working the action if you want the animal to stand around trying to course the original blast. A quickly worked bolt will alert said animal to my whereabouts. I'm a hunter first...shooter second.