For future reference, I milled out my old Savage 116 stagger feed action to fit the 3.715" AICS mags used in the Oryx long action chassis. In the photo above, I scribed a line on the bottom of the action where it met the mag well opening. Having zero information other than "that material needs to be removed", I milled it out. This allowed the mag to fit perfectly; almost! Applying pressure to the bottom of the mag allowed it rise up and would prevent forward movement of the bolt once retracted.
Modern problems require modern solutions!
A magazine stop was needed. The old adage "measure twice, cut once" was not applicable here as I had nothing to reference and a mag that was longer than the cutout in the action. Fortunately, I own a welder
, and since this a Savage action, what did I have to lose
? So, I loaded 1 round in the mag, inserted it and pushed the bolt partially forward, then retracted it and scribed a line with a dental pick along the back edge of the AICS mag / action interface. My measurement (with Mitutoyo digital calipers) showed .065" from the bottom of the action should stop the upward travel of the magazine, but material needed to be added. A couple of zaps with the welder (with 308L stainless wire, in this case)
and the protrusion was formed. A few light passes with the mill down .065", a little light cleaning and polishing, and Viola, a mag stop is born! [See pic below]
Feeds and functions great, or a good as a retro-fitted Savage can!
So, to anyone attempting this, be sure to leave a little (.100"+) forward of your scribed line, mill down .050" along your scribed line and do the final fitting from there.
Wrote this out because there was no other decent information (that I could find) about converting the Savage110 / 116 long action, stagger feed, flat back actions to fit the Oryx.
A wiser choice would be to not buy a Savage...........
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