Savage Predator Hunter .204 feeding problem,,,

U

Unk

New member
I seem to recall a discussion of Predator Hunter feeding problems that had to do with the follower. Well, I've got them.. feeds 32 gr Sierra ballistic tip handloads and does not feed factory 40 gr Berger HP. The Bergers hit the barrel at the 6 o'clock position. This is a blind, staggered magazine w/plastic follower.

Inquired on another forum I visit and several others with similar problems bent, stretched or filed magazine lips or springs. I'm a mechanical kltuz and know it and this looks like it requires a little more than just breaking the chamber chamfer with with fine grit wet/dry sandpaper.

Talked to Savage who said send it in..well O/O warranty and too close to a planned WY PD trip for that to have much attraction if there is an option. I have a CZ 527 .204 so not critical on the trip.

I keep thinking the earlier feed discussion I remember was focused on blind staggered magazine and follower...ramp does not appear to be an issue. Interesting to me that the ramp was coated with the same camo coating as the rest of the rifle but not a factor here.

Thoughts, ideas appreciated.
 
For what it's worth,,, I bought 200 Winchester 34gr HPs and had the same problem in my Savage 16 and my custom .204 AR...

It will, however, feed the Berger 40gr HPs and since my most accurate loads involve the ballistic tipped (Hornady and Sierra) bullets, I haven't played with the feeding issue too much...I'll just pull the 34gr bullets and try a few 35gr Bergers...

If the problem still exists, then I'll start working on it..
 
I just sent my Pred 204 package to Savage. it would feed 1-2 & 3 rounds perfect but #4 would kick up and hit barrel a 11 oclock. I checked thursday and said what she knew so far was the techs adjust the magazine and follower. Then they were going to take it to the 110 yard range and test. I sent them a dummy round to use.
What really stinks is that I bought a 11 youth for Rhett and it had a feeding problem to but I got fixed. Hopefully my 204 will be back next week.

In Christ,

Song Dog
 
I had this exact same problem with a brand new Ruger Hawkeye in .204

I owned it for one day, ran two boxes of ammo through it to smooth it out, but 25% of the rounds would jam before entering the chamber. The bullets would get pushed back into the case, or the polymer tips would get busted off.

I sent the gun back for refund as it was never fired. The Winchester Hollow points were brutal, I have a full box of them with the bullets pushed back into the case. The Winchester Silver Moly tips were better, but still jammed and busted the tips off.

My guess is that it has to do with the bottle neck of the cartridge, a steep angle that causes the cartridge to flip or rise up the ramp quickly at a slightly odd angle.

I am also guessing that some of the .204 actions are simply a .222 design with no additional design modifications, not designed specifically for the .204 steep bottle neck.....

If you work the bolt slowly and handload rounds with a shorter overall length, you may get better results with feeding... another guess....
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top