Savage B22 - Lapua Center X FTE

[tinydane]

Anyone else run into issues ejecting Lapua Center X ammo from a B22? I have never had any issues with any other 22 ammo brand until I won 5 boxes of Center-X. I figured I'd try them out to see if they're as amazing as many claim. Sadly every single round won't eject. The rim flattens quite a bit where the firing pin strikes and there's no space at all between the chamber and case rim. I had to end up using a rod every time to pus them out. They're very tight in the chamber.

Just wondering if anyone has run into this. Maybe it's just too tight for the B22 chamber. I've cleaned the bolt and barrel, tried different mags and still had the same issue.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[billmeek]

When is the last time you cleaned the chamber? I had extraction issues with some ammo (especially CCI SV) in the B22 when I didn't clean it for a long while. It took quite a bit of time and effort cleaning to get it back working well again.

Pull the bolt and try dropping a round into the chamber with the barrel ponted straight down. Does it seat fully with only gravity? Lightly press the round into the chamber and then point the barrel straight up. Does the round fall out? Try this test with a couple of types of ammo.

 

[tinydane]

Hey Bill it's Paul from NRL22...small world. Anyways yea after the first bunch of jams i took the bolt out and cleaned up the chamber bolt and barrel. I tried your suggestion of trying to drop a case in the chamber and the lapuas dont just fall in. I have to push them in lightly. Even just gently pushing it in it won't then fall out when tipped up.

I also noticed the look center x has a pretty good amount of oily coating on each round, but i assume that's normal.

 

[billmeek]

Hey Paul!

It took a surprising amount of effort to get my chamber clean. But now every round I've dropped into the B22 has fully seated by gravity alone. I just got in some Wolf Match Extra that I need to try in the B22 and see if it does the same.

Given the number of people at the matches that have issues (including myself), I ordered a Hawkeye Boroscope for barrel and chamber inspections. The retailer has them on backorder and informed me it should be here in about 2 weeks. Maybe it'll be here in time for the next NRL22 match. If so, you're more than welcome to use it.

 

[justin amateur]

If you have a tight chamber, the carbon ring that forms over time
can cause problems with extraction with cartridges that use a softer brass.
When fired the case mouth flares and bites into the carbon ring.
Effectively creating a mechanical joint that the extractors are unable to deal with.
Removing the carbon ring requires a solvent and a brush applied to just the chamber.
My Lilja sporter has the EPS chamber, requires scrubbing about every 250 to 300 rounds.
I can tell because I start to get fte's.

 

[tinydane]

If you have a tight chamber, the carbon ring that forms over time
can cause problems with extraction with cartridges that use a softer brass.
When fired the case mouth flares and bites into the carbon ring.
Effectively creating a mechanical joint that the extractors are unable to deal with.
Removing the carbon ring requires a solvent and a brush applied to just the chamber.
My Lilja sporter has the EPS chamber, requires scrubbing about every 250 to 300 rounds.
I can tell because I start to get fte's.

Thanks. I guess since both of you suggest it being dirt related I'll take the bolt out again and scrub it down one more time and see what happens...thanks

 

[tinydane]

Hey Paul!

It took a surprising amount of effort to get my chamber clean. But now every round I've dropped into the B22 has fully seated by gravity alone. I just got in some Wolf Match Extra that I need to try in the B22 and see if it does the same.

Given the number of people at the matches that have issues (including myself), I ordered a Hawkeye Boroscope for barrel and chamber inspections. The retailer has them on backorder and informed me it should be here in about 2 weeks. Maybe it'll be here in time for the next NRL22 match. If so, you're more than welcome to use it.

You are the guy with all the cool toys Bill..can ya tell I'm jealous LOL. I'd love to take a look whenever you get the bore scope. In the meantime I'll go at the chamber again with more solvent and plan to just not shoot/use the Center X any time soon.

 

[billmeek]

Bring a box to the next match and you can try it out in several rifles. I can bring a few and I'm sure all the other guys would let you try the Center-X in theirs too.

 

[tinydane]

Bring a box to the next match and you can try it out in several rifles. I can bring a few and I'm sure all the other guys would let you try the Center-X in theirs too.

Well I know and trust that Center X will shoot fine in other rifles. It's more the issue i'm having it feed in this B22. I suspect it's this carbon ring issue that has shrunk up the chamber a tiny bit. I'll see about trying to do some scrubbing somehow. It's noticeable when I'm pushing a patch or a brush through the barrel that it is super tight the first inch or so then everything glides on through so really could just be a carbon ring.

 

[billmeek]

That's the same issue I eventually started having with the B22 and Mark II FV-SRs with CCI SV. The Aguila SV had issues too, just not as bad. Geko Match still cycled flawlessly. It took a lot of scrubbing on the B22 to get the chamber clean again. I'm still not sure that it's back to as good as factory. Once I get the boroscope in hand, then we'll be able to see what's going on in the chamber.