I have a customer who brought in a Savage 93R17 that was missing the bolt. I contacted Savage and they sent me a new bolt assembly. I received a go and no go gauge set from Brownell’s and found that the bolt will close on a no go gauge. I assume that we mill the top of the bolt to set headspace like a standard rimfire 22? If this is correct, what is the minimum headspace depth that I should mill the end of the bolt? I did remove the extractor’s and firing pin from the bolt before checking headspace.
I will test fire first. If the rifle has no misfires problem, I will leave the way it is.
If it misfires, or you want to make it absolutely kosher, you will need to tig weld the root of the bolt handle, where it locks onto the frame. Try wraps some layers of masking tape there to see whether you can get it to pass the no-go gauge. -TL
Answer
What TL said. 🙂
.22 LR ammunition is notorious for varied rim thickness and even two cartridges from the same box can result in different head space. Use the tape method to measure the actual space and see what it might need. Also, will it close on a Field gauge?
Personally, if the cartridges fire and show decent primer strikes, that’s good enough for these guns for me. But you might contact Savage again and tell them what’s going on, they might swap the bolt until you get one that fits. Jeff
Reply
OK, thanks for the advice. I will test fire the firearm and let you guys know what happened. I do not have a field gauge to test maximum headspace, I only purchased the go gauge and no go gauge. I agree that the ammunition variance is probably quite large and may be hard to set a proper headspace.
Answer
The .17HMRs don’t like excessive headspace, they like to bulge and rupture cases. Testfire the gun….if it works with no issues great. If it bulges or ruptures the cases you will want to correct headspace. Move the barrel back toward the bolt or move the bolt forward toward the barrel. Keep us appraised. Ken
