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| Firing Pins & Bolt Faces |
| Over the last several years Savage has incorporated some design
changes that need to be addressed in order to acquire the correct parts
for your Savage rifle project. For the last several years, Savage has used a smaller diameter firing pin on their magnum caliber rifles. The reason behind this is the bolt head retaining pin can use a small diameter through hole which makes it stronger. The standard caliber firing pin measures .145" in the area it would pass through the cross pin, the magnum pins are .095" in that area. Because the firing pin diameter is smaller, the cross pin hole is smaller. So is the the diameter of the hole through the bolt head. Starting in 2001, Savage firing pin diameters were reduced on ALL models. Therefore, when ordering bolt heads it is important to know what diameter firing pin you have to work around. On the WSM and UltraMag calibers, Savage changed to a controlled round feed
bolt head in order to provide reliable feeding from the magazine. This bolt
head differs from the rest by having the bottom lip cut away from the bolt face
so that the cartridge rim can slide into the extractor instead of snapping over
the extractor. Instead of a spring loaded ejector in the bolt face, this bolt
head uses a standing ejector located at the rear of the receiver that pops up
through a slot on the bottom left side of the bolt head to tip the case out.
This is the only way to get the larger cases to feed from a magazine. |
| Receiver Changes |
| For 2003, Savage introduced their new ACCU-TRIGGER
models. Besides the trigger change, the receiver now has a round top in the
rear scope base area. It will utilize the same base in the rear as in the
front. The Weaver #46 base will fit both ends as well as the #402 extension
base if you have a need for mounting extremely long or short tube scopes. We have Farrel Scope Bases for this application, which are available for
both short and long actions. Zero (0) and minute tapers are also now available. |
| Barrel Shanks |
| In 2002 Savage offered rifles in the Winchester Short Magnum (WSM) and Remington Ultra Magnum (RUM) calibers. When these were finally
in the catalog, there was a change made to the barrel shank diameter. Standard
barrel shank diameter on standard calibers are 1.055" x 20tpi. On the new WSM,
RUM, and SAUM calibers it is 1.120" x 20tpi. The barrel nut is also bigger in
internal size, but is the same outer diameter and our barrel nut wrench will
still fit. Savage also used this size of shank on the first version of the
Model 10ML muzzleloader. However, there were a few WSM and RUM rifles made on the standard barrel shank in the first production run. The best way to tell is to measure the barrel shank right against the nut. The larger barrel shank will have a step down approximately 1/8" ahead of the barrel nut. If your rifle has a serial number with a "G" prefix, it is most probable it will have the larger shank.
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| Sharp Shooter Trigger Design Change |
| In 2003 Savage introduced their new ACCU-TRIGGER, and
made some other changes to accommodate it. One of these changes was a newly
designed safety assembly using a different detent spring. Because of this
revision, a modification must be made to the Sharp Shooter Competition Trigger
(see photo's below) to fit inside the trigger bracket and clear the new detent
spring. This modification is simply trimming the side plates with a grinder or
belt sander to a 45 degree angle so it will not interfere with the new detent
spring. All current production will have this revision. If you have a previous
production version, this modification will be required for use on the new ACCU-TRIGGER
models. It will also be necessary to adjust the over travel and safety
engagement screws out further to contact the new safety.
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| Trigger Bracket Change |
| In 2004, Savage made a change to their trigger bracket design
when they started offering the AccuTrigger on all their centerfire rifle
models. This new design will require a slight modification when installing our
Competition trigger. This modification, along with the differences in trigger
brackets is shown in the following images.
The bracket on the left is the old style bracket, while the one on the right is the new style. Notice how the old bracket (left) has a notch cut out of it. This is the modification that needs to be made to the newer style bracket.
The above image shows the dimensions needed to properly notch
the new style bracket. Remember that you are only notching the one side, not
both sides. |
| Savage Centerfire Action Lengths |
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Savage Centerfire Action Length Identification. To help determine what action you have, here are the action screw center-to-center measurements. Long Action: 5.062" (all years) Additional Notes: - The 1st Generation Short-Actions are today commonly referred to as "J-Series". This is incorrect as a "Series" designation simply refers to a slight design change. Rifles marked "Series J" can be either a 1st Gen. short-action or a long-action. - The 2nd. Generation Short-Actions comprise most of what you will run across. - The 3rd Generation Short-Actions are the newest production models and can be easily identified as they will have the new center-feed magazine system. The only exception is rifles originally built in .223 Remington or .204 Ruger as Savage has yet to release a center-feed magazine for these smaller diameter cartridges. **The best way to remove any doubt as to which generation of
short action you have is to measure the action screw spacing. |
