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Ok, this rifle has never extracted or ejected brass very well but it shoots so darned good I can't get rid of it. It started life as a 12FV in .223 and the barrel was rechambered to .223AI and cut to 22". I have had the blade on replaced by Savage(they sent me the parts) that cured the extraction issue but now it will not eject. It started out ejecting ok then over time it started to barley puke the brass out, now it just releases the spent brass in the action. I have replaced the plunger and spring my self and taken this to three different gun smiths and they replaced the same parts with new and can't get it to function properly. I am now down to replacing the bolt head but can't find one anywhere, even from Savage. Any ideas on something I may have been overlooking or where to find a new bolt head?

In order for the case to eject, not only does there have to be sufficient spring tension on the ejector, but the extractor needs to have a firm grip on the case. I would double check the ejector assy, and then, turn my attention to the extractor, and it's spring and plunger assembly.

An easy test would be to remove the ejector assembly, insert an empty case into the chamber and see how firm of a grip the extractor has on the case when it emerges from the chamber. It should have a fairly good hold on the case. At the least, remove and inspect the extractor, it's grooves, the spring, the detent and the hole for anything that might interfere with it's ability to freely move forward to grip the case. I would start there before replacing the bolt head.

Thank you for the reply, I will check that out on Friday and see where we go from there.

If you have the brass looking extractor, order a new one. Most of these were out of spec. When you take it off, be very careful as there is a ball bearing under it. It is under spring pressure so it will go flying. Get a 1 gal plastic zip lock bag and take it apart while your hand is in the bag. That way when it goes flying it will hopefully stay in the bag. You can also replace the bearing with a larger one. It puts much more pressure on the extractor.

This fixed the same problem on my gun. I have about 200 spares so PM me if you want to try it.


Extractor Detent Ball Upgrade
Published on 07-10-2012 11:20 AM Number of Views: 534
1 Comment Comments
Originally posted by Sharpshooter

The standard procedure at Savage for handling customers complaining about ejection and extraction problems is to simply send replace parts until the problem disappears. Like I have explained before, the problems that arise with extraction and ejection are a direct result of a combination of parts with accumulating tolerances. Sometimes a different extractor will fix the problem as a tolerance of just a few thousandths difference might be all takes. The gun manufacturers cannot control the size of the ammo so the manufacturing tolerance in the bolt face diameter has to be accommodating for wide tolerance.

Now for the good news......

Since I have been receiving many calls with this problem, I began to study it closer. I have done many different things on various guns to remedy the problem, which included: making custom extractors, opening up smaller bolt faces to the correct diameter(.223 to .308) , making larger ejector pins,and I even bushed a bolt face to reduce the diameter to correct size. Then I tried something yesterday that made sense, and it is very simple. First let me explain...

The spring pocket diameter in the bolt head (under the extractor plate) measures .150". The extractor spring measures .145", but the detent ball only measures .125". When the detent ball is centered in the detent of the extractor by spring pressure, it has .025" clearance between it and the hole dia. This make for side to side slop that will not compress the detent ball and spring. When a cartridge is pressed in the bolt face, the extractor,ball and spring can be deflected approx. .0125" before the detent ball compresses the spring. The result is that amount of movement will not spring back to center, essentially leaving the extractor claw not grabbing that much of the case.

Is everyone following me on this? The fix is simple - use a bigger ball. I have some in stock, they measure .140", thus reducing the non-returning slop.
I have tried this on several here in the shop and had 100% success rate, although there may be a combination of factors out there on a rifle that it may not help, but it sure as heck won't hurt.

@DP4 PM sent, thank you.

I am on my third set of extractor parts from Savage and have not found a combination that is reliable yet. The rifle extracts shells much better but not 100% yet. As for ejection, the rifle either just pukes the brass out or it falls out on top of the rounds in the mag. This rifle shoots incredibly well and is the most accurate in my safe but with these issues from day one they have left a very bad taste in my mouth for Savage.

Is a scope mounted on the rifle when the extractor fails? The reason I ask is that on some rifles that appear to leave the case in the ejection port what is really happening is the ejected case is hitting the scope turret and falling back into the action. Trust me it happens so fast you cann't even see it occur. Try the rifle without a scope mounted and let us know if it solves the problem.

Thanks but the brass is not hitting the scope in any way.

How have you verified that?

I have had it worked on with and without the scope mounted by various gunsmiths. I also ran the rifle today for some long range playing and after each shot watched the brass, it would extract but not eject or just fall in on top of the other rounds. It is never leaving the chamber to hit anything as you suggested.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you had an issue ejecting the spent casing, but now you are saying that the case never leaves the chamber. If so you clearly have an extraction issue. My apology for making a inappropriate suggestion.

I was not clear in my description. I had initial issues with extraction, after several new parts the brass will now extract but the brass will still not eject properly. There were two issues, one seems to have been remedied. Thank you for the ideas, it is appreciated.

As I explained before, you will not be able to see if the empty shell casing is contacting the scope turret (it happens too fast to see on a rifle with a plunger ejector). So if you personally have not tried ejecting a empty case from your rifle with no scope attached please do so. I have seen a number of rifles that were leaving a empty case sitting in the ejection port cured by simply rotating the scope 90 degrees in the rings (of course your elevation knob will then adjust windage and vice-versa). Good luck.

Well, I decide to check the possibility of contact with the scope as described above and replace the rings with a 20moa base. I removed the scope and the rifle will not eject the brass as before. I replaced the rings with the rail and still will not eject. replaced the scope and still will not eject. Any other ideas?

Ok, one possibility ruled out. You might want to check the ejector and see if it's bound up or if the spring has adequate tension. Did you already check the extractor whether it's holding the case correctly as Malm suggested? Also, just out of curiosity have you tried more than one brand of brass and does it fail to eject with all brands? (Have you tried standard .223 cases as opposed to AI) Did the rifle start acting up after you had it rechambered or did it do this before?

Ok, I finally have had time to revisit this project. With some parts supplied by a fellow member the bolt head is extracting the spent brass perfectly but just before the end of the brass clears the chamber it drops the brass and still does not eject. I have had the plunger and spring replaced for the fourth time now to make sure that is not the issue. Any other thoughts? Anybody know where I can order a new bolt head?