Bolt Action, hard to eject?

[Jack321]

Bought my 10yr old a Savage Axis 350 Legend compact rifle for deer season recently on a Black Friday deal.

Took it to the range to sight it in, and MAN does it require a lot of force to open the bolt face after firing a shot. Like HOLY COW I really have to use a lot of force to eject a shell.

Any suggestions on what could be causing it to be doing this?

For what its worth:
The gun is a left handed Axis.

I mounted the scope, put an M*Carbo spring in it for a lighter trigger pull and when its unloaded the bolt functions perfectly, slides nice and easy as it should. Trigger also functions as it should and the gun fires fine, just the bolt is tough to open after firing.

I'm also using factory Remington Core Loks for ammo becuse thats what grouped best.

I also know its an Axis and its not a $1k Tikka. Ive had a bunch of Axis' over the years as have a lot of my relatives, and none have ever been this tough to open to extract a shell.

I bought it for a low budget option for a youth/compact rifle for my kid to grow into and use until he can get a full size. In fact, I purposefully bought this one because I was able to take the butt pad off and take off the 1" stock spacer to make it a lefty, compact/youth gun and then when he gets bigger, add the 1" spacer to make it a full size stock. And because i live in a straight wall area its a 350L that wont kick my kid to hard (suppressors are also illegal in my state). So I was limited in my options for a youth, lefty, straight wall deer gun.

 

[207North]

Have you cleaned the rifle?

How many rounds fired since cleaning?

What ammunition is being used?

 

[wyosteve]

Most common would be overpressure loads or a chamber not cut/reamed correctly.

 

[LaHunter]

Bought my 10yr old a Savage Axis 350 Legend compact rifle for deer season recently on a Black Friday deal.

Took it to the range to sight it in, and MAN does it require a lot of force to open the bolt face after firing a shot. Like HOLY COW I really have to use a lot of force to eject a shell.

Any suggestions on what could be causing it to be doing this?

For what its worth:
The gun is a left handed Axis.

I mounted the scope, put an M*Carbo spring in it for a lighter trigger pull and when its unloaded the bolt functions perfectly, slides nice and easy as it should. Trigger also functions as it should and the gun fires fine, just the bolt is tough to open after firing.

I'm also using factory Remington Core Loks for ammo becuse thats what grouped best.

I also know its an Axis and its not a $1k Tikka. Ive had a bunch of Axis' over the years as have a lot of my relatives, and none have ever been this tough to open to extract a shell.

I bought it for a low budget option for a youth/compact rifle for my kid to grow into and use until he can get a full size. In fact, I purposefully bought this one because I was able to take the butt pad off and take off the 1" stock spacer to make it a lefty, compact/youth gun and then when he gets bigger, add the 1" spacer to make it a full size stock. And because i live in a straight wall area its a 350L that wont kick my kid to hard (suppressors are also illegal in my state). So I was limited in my options for a youth, lefty, straight wall deer gun.

“Open the bolt face”. Can you clarify? Hard to lift the bolt or hard to pull bolt back, or both?
When you chamber a round, does the bolt close easily or does it require force?
How does the bolt cycle when the gun is empty?

 

[207North]

Missed the remington ammunition part. Hornady had some that were way over pressure and caused a similar issue with my 350.

Note the velocity and loose primer in the action.

 

[Jack321]

Have you cleaned the rifle?

How many rounds fired since cleaning?

What ammunition is being used?

Remington Factory Core Lokts is what the gun liked when sighting it in.

But I was using Remington Core Lokts, Federal Blue Box, and Nosler Whitetail country

It was my first time sighting it in. Gun wasnt "cleaned" before using. Ive never had to clean em before sighting in, didnt notice anything off or wet or cosmoline when I pulled the stock to lighten the trigger pull so I left it as is.

 

[207North]

Remington Factory Core Lokts is what the gun liked when sighting it in.

But I was using Remington Core Lokts, Federal Blue Box, and Nosler Whitetail country

It was my first time sighting it in. Gun wasnt "cleaned" before using. Ive never had to clean em before sighting in, didnt notice anything off or wet or cosmoline when I pulled the stock to lighten the trigger pull so I left it as is.

One thing that I frequently see causing heavy bolt is oil or cleaning solution left in the chamber and bore. This is usually gone by 10 or so rounds and the rifle will act normal after.

Sounds like this is not the case for you either.

How does the fired brass look?

 

[Jack321]

“Open the bolt face”. Can you clarify? Hard to lift the bolt or hard to pull bolt back, or both?
When you chamber a round, does the bolt close easily or does it require force?
How does the bolt cycle when the gun is empty?

Hard to life the bolt after firing. Once lifted it comes back fine.

It loads fine, no excess pressure needed to load the gun, nor excess pressure needed unloading live rounds. Bolt cycles fine when empty.

 

[beerbucksducks]

If you can, post a pic of the head/primer of a couple fired cases. Sounds like a pressure issue and if it is you will probably see an ejector mark on the head of the case. If it happens with all of the different ammo you tried, it’s probably an issue with your chamber.


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[mtnbound]

Hard to life the bolt after firing. Once lifted it comes back fine.

It loads fine, no excess pressure needed to load the gun, nor excess pressure needed unloading live rounds. Bolt cycles fine when empty.

Sounds like you have some “hot” loads. I would try a different batch of ammo and see how they work.

 

[wind gypsy]

How heavy is the bolt lift when you dry fire it? Compare that to a fired round.

Did the other ammo you tried exhibit similarly stiff bolt lift?

 

[hereinaz]

Likely cause is that cases are gripping the wall so tight “primary extraction” is difficult.

• Could be over pressure rounds. If all ammo does it, then this is less likely.
• Could be oil in the chamber/on ammo causing over pressure. It does it after shooting many/cleaning, less likely.
• Could be a rough chamber making it hard to pull it out. Does brass walls have scratches on it? Will persist until fixed.
• Could be missized chamber. Will persist until fixed.

I would likely call Savage and send it back, they should pay for shipping.

I want to see clear pics of the brass to look for pressure signs and the walls for scratches.

If you can get a clear pic inside the chamber that would help too.

 

[RifleJunkie]

Any signs of pressure on the spent case? Flattened or cratered primer? Extractor mark on head?