View Full Version : Savage Model 10 tactical malfunction discharge
encorehunter
10-13-2016, 15:01
Yesterday, another member and I tried out some new handloadsfor a .223. The first round I chambered, I pushed the bolt handle down and rhe gun fired. It was in a safe direction, and NO, my finger was not even near the trigger. This rifle is stock and has a fairly light crisp trigger in the 2 lb. range. It only happened on the first round, but I was very tentative closing the bolt afterwards. The 20.4 grains of H4198 turned very nice groups with the 55gr soft points. Any ideas before it goes to the gunsmith? Thanks
So you dropped the bolt with a round in the chamber? As in it did not strip the round off the mag?
encorehunter
10-13-2016, 17:08
It took the round out of the magazine. I loaded one round in the magazine, but after that shot, I fully loaded the mag and had no problems. It has been a few years since I have shot this rifle. I'm going to give it a good cleaning tonight and I'll try to shoot it again tomorrow if I have time. On a side note, it is still very accurate. I was able to hit a 3/8" wide target at 100 yards with one shot, turning the gong facing back the correct direction.
Great-Kazoo
10-13-2016, 18:09
High primer.
encorehunter
10-14-2016, 18:56
I have found through manipulating the bolt roughly that the firing pin will fall. I'm not sure what is going on, and I haven't had a lot of time to play with it. It is going to have to sit in the safe until I have a chance to clean it and retest.
Grant H.
10-14-2016, 20:00
Accutrigger or not?
If accutrigger, I agree with GK, high primer. The accurtrigger, unless broken, prevents firing even if the trigger is set extremely light, unless the sear blade is depressed as well.
If not accutrigger, then I would start looking at how much travel you have on the trigger, especially at 2lbs.
Sounds like something in the trigger might be broken and allowing the firing pin fall on its own.
Grant H.
10-14-2016, 20:40
Sounds like something in the trigger might be broken and allowing the firing pin fall on its own.
Quite possibly.
For the OP:
If your gun is an accurtrigger these can be used for comparison (working 10FP with accutrigger).
Cocked, bolt closed, safety off
https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5346/30244021571_f17e6d3f41_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/N5yvVM)1014162031 (https://flic.kr/p/N5yvVM) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
No longer cocked, bolt closed, safety off, fired without pulling the sear blade. See how the sear blade is pushed up, and the sear is stopped?
FYI, this does NOT fire a round in any of my accutrigger rifles. They have all been checked after purchase for proper function.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5663/29699690134_70b50e8358_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MfsFa1)1014162032 (https://flic.kr/p/MfsFa1) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
No longer cocked, bolt closed, safety off, fired with pulling the sear blade. Notice how much further back the sear is.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8140/30244022171_cf3a45495d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/N5yw78)1014162032a (https://flic.kr/p/N5yw78) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
If yours isn't working like that, then something needs fixed.
If you have an accutrigger, and the second picture is resulting in fired rounds, then I would guess the top of the sear is completely worn out, allowing the pin to travel too far forward even with the sear blade catching it.
Great-Kazoo
10-14-2016, 21:51
Quite possibly.
For the OP:
If your gun is an accurtrigger these can be used for comparison (working 10FP with accutrigger).
Cocked, bolt closed, safety off
https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5346/30244021571_f17e6d3f41_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/N5yvVM)1014162031 (https://flic.kr/p/N5yvVM) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
No longer cocked, bolt closed, safety off, fired without pulling the sear blade. See how the sear blade is pushed up, and the sear is stopped?
FYI, this does NOT fire a round in any of my accutrigger rifles. They have all been checked after purchase for proper function.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5663/29699690134_70b50e8358_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MfsFa1)1014162032 (https://flic.kr/p/MfsFa1) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
No longer cocked, bolt closed, safety off, fired with pulling the sear blade. Notice how much further back the sear is.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8140/30244022171_cf3a45495d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/N5yw78)1014162032a (https://flic.kr/p/N5yw78) by ARNEWB (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61071044@N08/), on Flickr
If yours isn't working like that, then something needs fixed.
If you have an accutrigger, and the second picture is resulting in fired rounds, then I would guess the top of the sear is completely worn out, allowing the pin to travel too far forward even with the sear blade catching it.
OR adjusted too light .
Working as the Line RSO in 2014-2015 I saw this happen once with a Savage 110 Accu-Trigger new model chambered in .308 shooting Factory ammo. Guy had his fingers completely away from the trigger guard. Scared the crap out of me and him! Guy swore he hadn't disassembled or messed with his rifle since it's purchase aside from a basic ckeaning. I never found out the Gunsmith verdict. Please keep us updated and good luck.
Velocitas, Opprimere,
Violentia Operandi
Grant H.
10-14-2016, 22:57
OR adjusted too light .
You are right that adjusted too light can cause the sear to slip on bolt closing, however adjusted too light shouldn't fire, unless the sear blade is broken.
Grant H.
10-14-2016, 23:00
Working as the Line RSO in 2014-2015 I saw this happen once with a Savage 110 Accu-Trigger new model chambered in .308 shooting Factory ammo. Guy had his fingers completely away from the trigger guard. Scared the crap out of me and him! Guy swore he hadn't disassembled or messed with his rifle since it's purchase aside from a basic ckeaning. I never found out the Gunsmith verdict. Please keep us updated and good luck.
Velocitas, Opprimere,
Violentia Operandi
One of mine came out of the box set way too light, but the sear blade didn't allow it to fire. Just cycling the bolt cause it to slip off the notch in the trigger.
As GK guessed above though, when I first started reloading I had a round fire due to a high primer. Just closing the bolt apparently crushed the primer enough to set it off.
encorehunter
10-15-2016, 11:52
It is a pre accutrigger model. I've had this rifle for about 10 years now. This is the first malfunction I've had. I haven't messed with the trigger on this rifle. I have fired around 800 round out of it. I did purchase it used, with a low round count, probably still under 1k. There is not much travel in the trigger, so after cleaning and testing I will try and up thr trigger pull to see if that works.
I had an older Savage without the accutrigger. It would do the same thing if I tried to set the trigger too light. Fortunately for me I caught it playing around in the house unloaded. An extra half a turn on the adjustment screw and all was well.
Since then (especially if I make any trigger adjustments) I slam the bolt hard and also bang the butt of the rifle on a hard floor sharply and make sure the thing won't go off.
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