I've got an older Savage 93R17, and at the range I encountered a severe over-pressure situation. Not bothering to do into details, but I'm guessing it was a partially obstructed bore. The case rim separated, and the ass end of the case was smashed against the bolt and blew out down the extractor channel. Results were this:
After that, the POI shifted about 1/2 MOA down and the accuracy went to hell, groups 2x larger with the same shooter/ammo. I took it home and cleaned it and emailed Savage to see what I should do. They said STOP FIRING IT (you moron) and said it should be inspected immediately. They offered to do that.
I've been sitting on it for a while though, because I'm not sure what to do. I would like to find someone locally to check it out because shipping it around is going to cost a significant amount of the value of the rifle (it's old and beat up from field use). It's not a warranty thing, it wasn't Savage's fault so if they come back and say it's screwed up, what am I going to do? Just have them keep it vs. putting a new barrel on? That's probably half the cost of a new rifle, and the new rifle would be a significant upgrade, the new Savages are very nice.
I have a LOT of 17HMR ammo, otherwise I might just give up on the caliber since I'm not hunting rabbits in the desert anymore. Selling the ammo at a loss would suck, not really into doing that.
So... local smith who could check it out? Pendergraft I'm guessing.
Mostly I'm just sad I screwed up my rifle.
After that, the POI shifted about 1/2 MOA down and the accuracy went to hell, groups 2x larger with the same shooter/ammo. I took it home and cleaned it and emailed Savage to see what I should do. They said STOP FIRING IT (you moron) and said it should be inspected immediately. They offered to do that.
I've been sitting on it for a while though, because I'm not sure what to do. I would like to find someone locally to check it out because shipping it around is going to cost a significant amount of the value of the rifle (it's old and beat up from field use). It's not a warranty thing, it wasn't Savage's fault so if they come back and say it's screwed up, what am I going to do? Just have them keep it vs. putting a new barrel on? That's probably half the cost of a new rifle, and the new rifle would be a significant upgrade, the new Savages are very nice.
I have a LOT of 17HMR ammo, otherwise I might just give up on the caliber since I'm not hunting rabbits in the desert anymore. Selling the ammo at a loss would suck, not really into doing that.
So... local smith who could check it out? Pendergraft I'm guessing.
Mostly I'm just sad I screwed up my rifle.