I have an old savage mark ii my dad gave me years ago.

This summer I sighted in with new Winchester subsonic (1065fps) ammo before squirrel season. Trying to save some of the hearing I still have. Started having issues getting it to eject the spent brass. I looked the brass over for a potential burr in the chamber but found nothing. I watched some YouTube videos and disassembled the bolt. Mercy was it all due for a cleaning! After cleaning I was still having the same issues. Every other spent casing failed to be extracted with the subsonic ammo.

Today I shot 25 rounds of some new Winchester ammo (1280fps) and it worked flawlessly. This may make sense on a semi auto rifle. My question is why is this happening with a bolt action rifle?

For now I’m sticking with new ammo. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks!
Luke

First you say you are having problems getting it to eject then you say they won't extract.

So which problem are you have, ejection or extraction? They are 2 different things.

I haven’t shot my mark II for quite some time but remember having this problem several years ago. I disassembled the bolt and touched up the extractor. Do you remember if the point on the extractor is sharp or maybe a bit rounded? You may want to check and see if there is a difference in rim depth on each brand of ammo.

Forgive my ignorance but what’s the difference in ejection and extraction? It will leave the spent brass in the chamber. Doesn’t seem to have the issue when the cartridge hasn’t been fired.

I did look over the extractor when I had the bolt apart. It seemed sharp and pointed to me. I will double check it.

Thanks

Also make sure there is good spring tension on the extractor so it pulls the case from the chamber rather than slipping over the rim creating a failure to extract.

Extraction= Withdrawing a spent case or live cartridge by the reciprocating bolt/slide from the chamber by a mechanical extractor that is hooked to the rim of the case.

Ejection= The mechanical process of throwing said spent case or live round clear of the action.


The firing cycle:

Fire
Unlock
Extract
Eject
Feed
Lock

Ok, so it's an extraction issue.

Take a snug fitting brass bore brush and clean the chamber good, then use a good snug fitting patch to remove the residue from the chamber. It may be helpful to clean the barrel at the same time since from your text I have the impression that the rifle has not had a lot of preventative maintenance through the years.

drover

I have a rifle that just won't extract a particular brand of ammo. I haven't measured yet, but I suspect it's a rim thickness thing.

Fiddling with extractors is not easy. It doesn't take but one errant stroke of the file to spoil one. Ask me how I know!

If you haven't already, blast the extractor out with brake cleaner and re-lube. If it's gummy it won't work well. You might also try putting solid forward pressure on the bolt handle when unlocking the bolt. It fixed the problem (sort of) on my problem gun.

I had the same problem with my MK II in 22 mag. I took some doing but I was able to fix it. First I ordered a second clip extractor and fitted it over the first one to increase the tension on the extractor. Second, I found a burr on the back edge of the chamber edge, I used a Q-tip to find it. I also cleaned the chamber and was able to stop the issue. Oddly enough only the Hornady V- ammo was causing the problem. But V-max is the most accurate in that rifle.

Figure I’d give an update. Got out and shot it yesterday evening since it was a beautiful day! Cleaned it all up but didn’t sand any parts.

After some looking yesterday I think the magazine (original from 20 years ago) is riding up and causing the next live round to hold the spent case in the chamber. Looks like there’s some wear spots on the magazine so I’m going to replace it. When dropping a single round in the rifle it had no issues. Haven’t tried the subsonic ammo again yet but thinking it should be fine.

Thanks for the help guys