Big Disappointment At The Range Today

[Glenn B]

I picked up a new Savage Model 93, in 22 WMR, back in August. I finally got around to shooting it for the first time today. While it's a beautiful rifle with a really nice stock, the shame is it does not function properly.



Damned thing kept having feed problems. That happened with the 5 round magazine that came with it and two other 10 round OEM Savage magazines made for this model. The bolt would not go more than a bit forward on many rounds but worked fine with no mag or empty mag. The rounds not feeding properly caused it to stop. While some rounds fed properly, I had to either jiggle the mag a few times or push it up further into mag well or pull t down a bit (or all three) to get many of the rounds to feed. I figure more than half failed to feed properly. The mags were all inserted properly but all three of them had an awful lot of play. I was using two different brands and types of rounds - so it was not the ammo.

I just sent a service request to Savage and hopefully they will cover it under warranty; I also sent a copy of my receipt as an attachment. I believe theirs is a one year warranty so it should be covered for whatever.

One other thing I learned when shooting it, I have to move the scope forward at least a couple of inches, it is set way too far back causing me to tilt my head back to be able to focus through it.

Oh well, I guess the Savage 93 is not coming upstate with me and my son this weekend. Maybe I will bring the Marlin 25MN for some plinking on Saturday and again on Sunday before the games. Should definitely be bringing my son's new Remington 870 and a few of my handguns.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[Chris1389]

Sorry to hear that Glenn. Have you tried cleaning the bolt an action? I always do when i get a new gun. You would be suprised how dry brand new guns are

 

[Glenn B]

The rifle was cleaned prior to shooting it. I am pretty sure that whatever holds the mags in place is not holding them properly, there was a lot of play in them.

 

[Phauxtoe]

That's horrible and should never happen
I would field strip it put it back together and try again
But I'm sure you did that

 

[Phauxtoe]

I had similar problem with a bolt action Marlin once and it turned out to be the extractor it would get in the way because it was bent funny

 

[Glenn B]

That's horrible and should never happen
I would field strip it put it back together and try again
But I'm sure you did that

I only took out the bolt to give it a once over, it looked okay. I will not strip it any further than that because this is quite probably a warranty issue. I'll let Savage worry about that. Funny thing I noticed this evening, there is no feed ramp. I am guessing this rifle would have a feed ramp - but who knows with the way they cut back on things today. In addition, the front end of the magazine is free floating and does not contact anything so it really has a lot of play; if I cant the rifle to the left or right the front of the magazine moves significantly. Something is not right with that; I think that movement has to be causing the feed problems.

 

[carpediem]

That sucks. Warranty.

 

[MoMan]

Is there a possibility that is a 17HMR, mis-marked and sent with a 22 mag, in an improperly marked box? Something doesn't seem right. IDK!

 

[Glenn B]

So here is the same problem I have been experiencing except this is on Savage 93 in 17 caliber. The guy in the following video thinks it due to the mag lips so he bent them in some and that 'solved' his problem.


Although the mag lips could be the problem, I find it difficult to believe that the mag lips on my three different mags would be faulty, especially since they were manufactured at different times and one is a 5 round mag and the other two are 10 round mags and that the same thing happened with the mags for the 17 caliber models. That has me wondering if the L-Bar, the piece of metal that the lips ride over to hold the mag in place, or the Magazine Retention Spring are faulty. You would think if it was the mags they would have been made to work by now - since the guy in the video had his problem in 2013. I don't know the year of manufacture on my Savage 93, so there could have been a problems with the rifle parts causing this that has been addressed by now but still possibly after mine hit the market. There is also another part in there, close to these, called the bolt guide. I am guessing if that is out of whack, it could have caused a misalignment that had the bolt hit the magazines and thus put enough pressure on them to bend those cheesy mag lips. I think the parts in the rifle that hold the mags may not be to spec but will await an answer from Savage before I try any fixes myself.

By the way, I guess my idea that there should be a feed ramp in there just went down the toilet. The one in 17 caliber does not have one either, as he explains in the video.

 

[Glenn B]

Besides finding that video, I checked Numrich Gun Parts Corp. to look at the Savage Model 93 schematic to see if all the parts appeared to be in mine. From what I can tell, without doing more than a field a strip, the parts are all in there although I did not look for the bolt guide. Anyway, here is a link to what Numrich had for this model:

93. SAV Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts

Ain't the Intercloudywebnet terrific!

 

[Phauxtoe]

Okay silly question...
It's not a 17 WSM
(Winchester Super Magnum?)

 

[dubleuhb]

Okay silly question...
It's not a 17 WSM
(Winchester Super Magnum?)

First post .22 wmr

 

[Suby]

huh, I just checked my 93 in .17hmr the Mag is quite lose but I've never experienced the issue but now I'm curious if I might run into similar problems down the road. Please keep us informed with your findings.

 

[The30oz]

Both me(used) & my friends(brand new) 93 17hmr has loose fitting oem mags as well. I think its just the way they pump 'em out. I bought mine used so kinda knew about the mag problem with 17hmr so bent the shit out of the mag once I got it- no problems since then.

 

[nortatoga]

Have you checked over at Rimfire Central if anyone there has had issues with this model?

 

[Glenn B]

Have you checked over at Rimfire Central if anyone there has had issues with this model?

Nope, all I needed to see was the YouTube video above. I will now leave it to Savage to remedy this. By the way, I am still waiting for a reply from them.

The difference between gun manufacturers and ho they treat their customers is pretty astounding. I sent Ruger an email two days ago about me having lost the windage spring in my Ruger Redhawk for which they had previously sent me a rear sight blade replacement that had broken. I guess the spring came out without me realizing it when I pulled the broken sight blade. Anyway, Ruger got back to me the next day, saying they had ordered the new spring for me and they apparently are not charging me for it because they did not mention anything about a price. Savage, on the other hand, has not yet bothered to reply to my inquiry from Monday about the problem with the Model 93. I am not saying that I do not expect Savage to get back in touch with me sooner or later, I am though quite amazed at how quickly Ruger responded!

 

[nortatoga]

Nope, all I needed to see was the YouTube video above. I will now leave it to Savage to remedy this. By the way, I am still waiting for a reply from them.

The difference between gun manufacturers and ho they treat their customers is pretty astounding. I sent Ruger an email two days ago about me having lost the windage spring in my Ruger Redhawk for which they had previously sent me a rear sight blade replacement that had broken. I guess the spring came out without me realizing it when I pulled the broken sight blade. Anyway, Ruger got back to me the next day, saying they had ordered the new spring for me and they apparently are not charging me for it because they did not mention anything about a price. Savage, on the other hand, has not yet bothered to reply to my inquiry from Monday about the problem with the Model 93. I am not saying that I do not expect Savage to get back in touch with me sooner or later, I am though quite amazed at how quickly Ruger responded!

Most of what I own are Rugers!

 

[Glenn B]

I guess even Ruger screws up now and again. I requested that rear sight windage spring from them on January 15th, they got back to me on the 17th saying it was ordered, I received a padded envelope from them two days or so ago and opened the package today. It contained a rear sight windage screw (not spring like I need). Oh well, trying to have them right that.

As for Savage, they have not gotten back to me about the problem I have been experiencing with my Savage Model 93. I guess I will have to try again, maybe give them a call on Monday. At least Ruger got right back to me and sent the part (albeit the wrong part) promptly; it is a sad case that Savage has not even bothered to reply to me.

 

[meketrefe]

The bad thing about the magazines is that they are stamped metal.
the good thing about this is that they are stamped metal.
This can be bad because they might have loose tolerances and it is not something one
can bring into a battlefield nor that is the intention but the good thing is since stamped is
pretty forgiving they can be easily conditioned to snap into position or adjust the lips.
The same thing with the AR aluminum and steel mags they lend themselves to correct
any issues pretty easily.
I had issues only with one of the savage mags but I corrected that with a pair of flat head
pliers in 1 minute. I put some duck tape on the head so will not put any blems but this is
more cosmetic than anything. mags get blems from regular use anyway.
IMHO you don' t need savage to fix this but you need to have just a bit of mechanical skills.

 

[Glenn B]

I am an unskilled semi-klutz; so, if Savage will handle it then they should do so. If not, then I will chance screwing things up trying to make the problem go away.

 

[Glenn B]

Sent my service request to Savage Arms, on January 16th, about the problem with the Model 93 not feeding properly. They finally got back to me today saying I will need to send them the rifle. They are supposedly going to send me a UPS shipping label. Took them awhile but at least they are willing to check and hopefully correct the issue. They have gone back up a notch in my estimation but if it takes another month plus a few days to get that UPS label, I will not be a happy camper; hopefully it will arrive soon.

All the best,
GB

 

[Glenn B]

This is turning into a really frustrating pain in the neck.

I got my Savage 93 back from Savage Arms two days ago and after they supposedly repaired it under warranty. They said they adjusted the L-Bar which is the rail that holds the mags in place. They did a couple of other things like polished the chamber.

In addition to the repairs they evidently also did some damage to my rifle. It now has these things it did not have when I sent it to them:

The shoulder portion of the stock is badly scratched, gouged or cracked. The more I look at it the more I am convinced it is a crack. The crack runs into the butt plate.

The is a scratch and marring in the wood under the rear scope mount.

The metal is scratched on the receiver immediately behind the ejection port.

The barrel is dinged between the receiver and stamping on left side.

The crown (? - raised portion of muzzle end) is gouged and dinged. The metal around the bore is scratched.

The bottom of the L-Bar is scraped.

The forward movememt of the safety is no longer smooth as it was but seems to grate on something internally. The rearward movement is still smooth.

There may be something else I am forgetting rigjt now.

While the mags now seem to fit snuggly, I did not test fire the rifle due to the issue with the safety.

I have reported it to Savage and sent them before and after photos. I noted that the return shipping boxes were not damaged so these were apparently done while at Savage for repairs. The rifle was almost pristine when I sent it to them, there was only a tiny ding in the wood in one spot. I am happy I took photos as I was preparing it for shipping (a good practice). Now, I am anxiously awaiting their reply to find out what they will do, if anything, to rectify the situation.

 

[Podmonkey]

Hoo boy! Annoying to say the least. You'd think warranty repairs would be carried out with the utmost care for PR and just plain common courtesy.

 

[Glenn B]

My guess is somebody droped it, maybe more than once. My photos, from when shipping, came out kind of crappy but good enough to see there was no damage at the time. I am fairly confident they will make good on it if only because I took pictures before shipping. Been doing that for a long time, I guess it comes from selling on GunBroker now and then and always posting pics - that and me being the worrisome type.

 

[Frankly]

It took them six months to do a warranty repair wrongly?

 

[MoMan]

Glenn, that sucks! Hopefully Savage makes it right. You've been put through the ringer with that rifle, and that is not fair.
Keep us posted as this progresses.

As a side-note; I have a couple of Savage rimfires, and haven't had any problems with them. I'm feeling lucky that I never had to deal with their CS.

 

[Criticalt]

A friend of mine is having a similar issue with his new Savage Trophy XP 308.
He talked to Savage 2x.
He got 2 different solutions but neither worked.
Hes sending it back.

 

[Podmonkey]

Does Savage have poor customer service in general?

 

[Deplorable Me]

How can you screw up a bolt gun?

 

[Glenn B]

Does Savage have poor customer service in general?

In general, that I do not know but as for me, I think they suck.