Help: Bolt action feeding problem

[Seronac]

I have a bolt action .250 Savage rifle, that was my grandfather's, and that has a feeding problem.

(It's a sporterized Japanese Arisaka; with a Mauser-style action, 5-round magazine, and a sport stock from the original wood, based on a Winchester Featherweight type design. It doesn't look like much, but it's actually quite pleasant to shoot, except for this one problem.)

When I push the bolt forward, it feeds a cartridge from the magazine, but the head of the cartridge won't come out of the magazine on its own; the nose of the cartridge doesn't enter the chamber, and the cartridge just gets jammed diagonally in the receiver. I have to reach in and release the cartridge head from the magazine to get it to feed properly. This happens consistently on the first three cartridges from the magazine, the last two feed fine.

Any ideas, tips, helps? (Besides just loading two cartridges in the mag! Smart aleck! ) Or is this strictly a problem for a professional gunsmith? How much might it cost?

 

[Lycanthrope]

Since the last two chamber ok, it sounds like a magazine spring tension problem. If I had to guess, there is not enough tension to keep the nose of the round up with the weight of a full magazin. The ball end of the cartridge is pretty heavy and if you have the type of spring my rifles do....sort of the sideways "V" varirety verses the "slinky/spiral" shaped spring found in many handgun mags.......then the front end of the magazine can lose torque over time. I once had that happen to me with my 9mm when I installed the magazine spring upside down with the wider end up instead of down....somehow it changed things. I'd try stretching it out to gain some tension and see how it feeds then (if you get 3-4 to chamber then you'll know). If it works, get a new spring.

 

[James K]

Good thoughts. You might also check to be sure the follower is not rubbing on the sides of the magazine box; it should be free to move all the way up and down.

Another thought. Do you know if the rifle has ever worked properly? If not, I would look at the cartridge feed guides that are machined into the side rails of the receiver. These should not need much work if the rifle is a Type 99 (originally in 7.7mm), but if it is a Type 38 in 6.5mm, the guides will need to be worked on to feed the .22-250 properly.

Jim

 

[Seronac]

Thanks, I'll check on those.

The follower moves freely in the magazine. I'll play with the spring tension as well.

I don't know for sure if the rifle has ever worked properly. My grandfather died in 1982, before I got into hunting and firearms, so I never had the chance to talk to him about it.

From the indications, as far as I can tell, it was a Type 38.

Can you help me find those "cartridge feed guides"? There are some 'ledges' between the magazine and the receiver that the cartridge catches underneath. Other than that, I don't see anything that could serve as "cartridge feed guides".

BTW: It's .250 Savage, (a.k.a.: .250-3000) not .22-250. That's a difference of .03 of an inch!