Savage 12LRPV
Winchester 34gr Lubalax factory ammo.
Few weeks ago i was doing some shooting, between round 10 and 15 i noticed that the round chambered a little tight "case on right". I fired it and all was fine, but when i removed it from the chamber I noticed something black on the shoulder. Without thinking i touched it and in the grass it went. Took a patch and ran it in the chamber and it wasn't really dirty.
The second round, on the left, was a few weeks later. This one chambered fine, but upon firing it felt "HOT". Shooting about 6" higher at 350 yards.
I compared the primers of the rest of my brass and they all look the same.
case on the right.
Is that a small dent in the shoulder?
Probably two unrelated coincedences. First round (right) probably had a small piece of debris in the chamber.
Second round a simple split neck probably caused by a small defect near the burn spot. Could have been hot but hey who knows.
Check more brass for more dents in that area. It is possible to get a piece of debris jammed in the chamber
Factory ammo is factory ammo. You pays your money and takes your chances
I've gotten several pieces of brass just like your left brass, wrinkled from the factory. I don't load them, and put them in the "cull" pile. Right side brass is probably factory defect too.
From the photos, at least to me, the primers look "cratered". Sounds like the rounds are hot. I shot some factory ammo, ran around 4150 fps thru my rifle, bolt was hard to lift, too hot for my liking. I load my ammo down to around 3850 fps for pd's, and try to make my bbl last longer.
Your loads are not too hot. The primer edges are still rounded and the primers show no signs of excessive pressure.
The "cratering" seen is the result of either a too large firing pin hole for the size of the firing pin or a too weak firing pin spring that allows the firing pin to be driven back by the force of the primer/cartridge hitting the bolt face at ignition. Its a fairly common occurance with factory rifles and small bore high intensity cartridges, and its a good reason why you need to use the tougher SR primers in those types of cartridges.
Even when you use primers like Rem 7 1/2 or CCI BR-4 primers, you may get the same "cratering" with a factory rifle with firing pin issues...... Many of them have the problem... Its just a result of poor machining tolerances being acceptable and fairly common in factory rifles.
Gotta admit the sloppy firing pin holes flew right over my head, did'nt really even look at those pics. Another sleepless night
Sad to see it on a new LRPV. If it was mine I'd be on the phone to Savage and seeing what kind of hoops I needed to jump through to get a better one. Yes they're becoming common and many just live with it but is there really any excuse for it. I don't think so. Besides on a Savage its a quick fix. Not like you need to refit an entire bolt, just slap on a new one.
Even though i didn't start shooting it till five months ago, the rifle was purchased over a year ago. Problems with the stock, now this. I had a savage before a few years ago, and this lrpv will be my last. Maybe i just got two lemons in a million, but it really leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
