Polish Your Savage 93R17 Bolt!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Hey everyone!
Today Derek tries to make his Savage 93R17 feel a little less like a $260 rifle with a basic polish job!
No special tools other than a 5/16" wrench, 9/32" wrench, a Dremel, some polishing compound, and felt wheels!
Have you ever tried this before? Let us know in the comments!
I just bought my first HOWA and its a dream. The bolt is smooth as butter. No xtra needed.
I have the 93 F and have no problem with the bolt, if you keep slight upward pressure while you pull back it is quite smooth, right out of the box. Why any one would lift up then put down ward pressure while pulling back is beyond me.
I used Flitz for the polishing, works better and it doesn't take much at all.
When polishing any curved surface, move the polishing wheel in the radial direction (i.e. around the curve), not the axial direction (i.e. down the length of the bolt), otherwise you will end up polishing a series of flats and not polishing most of the surface.
Ahh thank you for the advice! That's a good point that it would be harder to move linearly down the long side than around the curve!
i got the 93 22 mag and it had no problems at all that might be a defect
My ruger rpr was worse that that from the factory , took what seemed like forever polishing stoning , got a lil bit better but not happy loaded on valve grinding compound ran the bolt for a while ,that made a major improvement, I’m now 2500 ish rounds into it and it’s now smooth as my cz nice rifle now
Wow! Shocking that your RPR would be worse than this! Both examples I've seen felt very nice.
Glad you hear you got it polished and smooth now though!
I would say, if you round the bottom of the bolt handle where it's attached to the bolt, it has a square edge and smooth out the bolt handle slot a little more, it would be improved greatly, the problem isn't the bolt, it's the bolt handle catching at the top of the handle slot.
The cocking ledge on the bolt handle , the point on the top of the cam over can be smoothed over also.
Thanks for the tip! This is the firs time I've done this, so I wanted to go cautiously on it. I wasn't sure if that was safe to hit since it has to hold it there.
@@poweredbyexplosions there's a few YT's showing the process. But you're right..., should you go too far an extremely dangerous situation is created.
You just want to remove the sharpness at the top.
Watch the YT'S, be cautious and you'll be fine.
Brownell's has a fine cutting paste that you put on metal mating surfaces to smooth out any binding...work the parts with the paste applied, and it will solve your problem...im not a gunsmith, but I know this much...to solve binding...guessing is not good. Then, remove the excess after it smooths out and apply oil.
Great video!! Thank you!
I have the same rifle and have no issues with the bolt mine super smooth with no hang up at all
Valve grinding compound works well too
You didn't accomplish anything. Taking the bolt apart was totally unnecessary. In order to do this properly, you should use dykem blue or the like, that will tell you where it is hitting hard and causing issues. You should also focus on polishing out the inside of the receiver. Also, as some have suggested, you can also use some polishing compound on the bolt body and work it for a while when watching a movie or something. After about 30 minutes or so, you'll have a very smooth operating bolt. Some are worse than others, and yours looks to be very bad, even after you worked on it.
That's a good suggestion (Dykem), I think I still have a bottle in the garage! Think I should clean everything, give it all a quick coat and try running it dry a few times to see where the highest wear areas are?
The inside of the receiver felt relatively smooth, but more would always be better! I think one area that could use some love on the receiver for sure is where the charging handle moves up and down - at the end notice it's catching on the edge there a bit, so if I can round that off I think it might get a bit easier.
Haha I will definitely have to make a follow up video or two for this! Hopefully not too boring if it's a timelapse of me cycling the charging handle 400 times and showing before/after!
Any suggestions on polishing compound? All I have on hand is some Meguiars automotive paint polishing compound.
It's still pretty rough compared to something like a Ruger Precision Rifle, but it does actually feel like a bigger improvement than it looks like!
Shot in the dark. Swing and a miss.
Felt tip markers will work as well or better than Dykem and he probably has those.
Nothing white lithium grease wouldn't fix.get some Q-tips and a rag.wipe the whole bolt down and wipe off.you just want a light film no excess.when then bolt is out.take a Q-tips and hit where the bolt slides in all around wipe off excess with rag or Q-tips if you can't reach with rag make sure you get all around where the bolt slides into the chamber and locks.wipe excess off make sure none gets left in the chamber just light film.work the bolt and apply periodically when ever required to make your bolt cycle smoother until it's worn in right.yhis is cause by cycling your bolt to fast and hard.For follow up shots.
Instead of that green compound you can use a 2 micron diamond paste it’s usually used as a stropping compound for knives.. stuff works great. I’ve been using it on 1911’s that I custom fit for years.. if you want something far less aggressive there’s JB bore paste but your only gonna use that to finish with. It gets metal SLICK..
Use super fine automotive paint polishing compound.
Remove bolt coat bearing surfaces...install...put on a l.p. or fav movie then rack the bolt while watching movie or listening to music.
Then remove & clean. Tooth paste works good too ...
Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try that!
I use JB bore paste.... works well on all my bolts.
Polished the bolt on my 110 tactical 308 last ,what a difference....
Weird, my 93 fvsr is chambered in 22lr and the boot is buttery smooth
Can you do a process of elimination by separating the action from the trigger group assembly and see what happens and reevaluate.
Ahh that's an interesting idea, thank you!
Why is it frustrating to use SAE?
That's a great question!
Because all of my vehicles are metric, I'm spoiled by having everything in millimeters where it's trivial to compare sizes at a glance without memorizing what is larger or smaller than what.
It'd be one thing if every SAE tool and fastener were listed in a common denominator (32nds? 64ths?), but with all of the fractions reduced it's frustrating to find the right tool in my SAE box (and I'm much less likely to have a correct or high quality tool since they're so incredibly rarely used in my world).
@@poweredbyexplosionsI just watched the video again...I have 2 savage rifles..an old 1969 model 24 410/22 and newer 6.5cr high country..the 24 is a break open type action, cant compare that one to yours but the high country is butter smooth out the box.
I must say...the rifle your showing I have no knowledge of, but looks like theres a malfunction going on with the cycling of that bolt...I find it hard to believe savage would have let that go out the door being like that.
Not really gonna comment about your spoiledness as I can just look at a bolt/nut and just know metric or standard..dont ask me how or why i know i just do....lol...what really messes you up is when a vehicle or whatever has both...I know this from my dodge truck over the years fixing it.
@@hardracer Oh nice! That Model 24 is a cool rifle! Do you still shoot it regularly?
Hmmm, I wonder if they just don't have as many finishing steps on the Model 93? Good to know that the higher end stuff feels like it should at the price point!
Yeah, it's definitely a rough feel - even after this first round of polishing and work, it was still stiff enough to be walking sideways when I was trying to do quick follow up shots. But this is also the cheapest variant of the 93R17 rifles, so might be different on something like a 93R17 BSEV.
Haha, I will admit I'm pretty spoiled - all my vehicles aside from the SeaDoos are Japanese, so all the common fasteners are very consistent with the JIS fastener sizes as well: 8/10/12/14/17/19mm, so it's strange when I need anything other than those.
Oh dang! That sounds like a PITA having to constantly switch between both for a single vehicle! I'd heard some Fords were like that but I didn't know Dodge did it as well.
Just picked mine up and it makes yours look like it’s on ball bearings
Uh oh! Pretty substantial effort required to work the action on it?
Which variant do you own? Mine is a 93R17 FV
Let me know if the bolt polish helps yours as well!
@@poweredbyexplosions mkii fvsr. The whole bolt is actually parkerized or some kind of rough black metal finish. Looks like it’s made of asphalt. I’ll get around to polishing it eventually
I do the same thing but use Arkansas hard and ceramic stones. Dremels are handy.
I love my Dremel! Never used the Hard Arkansas Stone, but it sounds like a solid (ha!) product!
The top corner in the slot is sharp, that is what's catching the bolt. Slight radius there and your problem is solved.
Mine made in Massachusetts has no problems. It may be quality control issues of the one's made in Canada
I found that a finger nail file/board was sufficient to remove the knife edges, a few strokes did it. don't force the spring clip. Re assembly will not be possible if that happens.
How many times do you have to open and close bolt before starting video.
The cone felt wheel could be used on the inside of the action where visble chaffing is evident to polish/burnish the surface.
I'll have to grab one of those and give it a try! Thank you!
I thought savage sent the wrong bolt with my 93R17. It barely fit and was nearly impossible to work. I first used scope ring compound and worked the bolt back and forth??? Times. I then used gun grease and sprinkled graphite on it and worked it back and forth??? times. Now it works very smooth. It'll never be as smooth as my much more expensive rifles but it's more than acceptable, considering the price of the rifle and other than removing the bolt to apply and clean, no disassembly required.
I had one these,,I had no problems with it at all..Very smooth action and very accurate,,But..17 cal..just not big enough..😢
You needed coarse compound, the kit came with fine compound. I would used a felt barrel not a felt disk. 😢
Thank you for the tips! The HF kit didn't really indicate what sort of compound it came with - probably made the work a bit slower starting off with fine
Yes it did. Stay away from HF if you can.
@@poweredbyexplosions He is correct. Green is for final high polish. Start with black for steel and switch to white then green.
KnifeMaker
Im late but never dry fire Savage rimfire....on this particular brand, the fire pin snap directly on the barrel face and damage the pin.
What scope bases is these?
omg...you have two left hands, no issues out there whit your gun.
Do you know how hard/ how to remove the bolt handle?
Hey! Sorry for the slow reply!
I haven't had a reason to pull the handle off, so I'm not sure, but I *suspect* that it simply unscrews from the bolt.
Same gun never had a problem silky smooth guess im lucky
To much oil .. can cause other issues.
Most of the time it is the inside of the receiver that's needs de honed that's where your getting your scratches on the bolt.
Most of what you internal was unnecessary .
But if you think it helps, go for it
It's great they use sae fasteners. And 5/16 is .003 thousands away from 8mm.. and 9/32 is .005 away from 7mm..
Very frustrating that an American company would use SAE. The nerve of them 😂
I don't know about this !
All that work for nothing. Mine had the same issue. Work the bolt with oil 500 times and shoot it a bunch. Repeatand it should be fine.
haha, well not quite nothing - it does feel like a bigger improvement than it looks like!
Thank you for the suggestion! I'm definitely planning a follow up video for this, and it'll feature some version of that technique!
Great video for using common garage tools. If I can offer some friendly advice, pick up brown and white 1/2" square ceramic stones to use on the flats, start with the brown to use on the flats of the bolt to keep them flat and just remove high spots. On the rounded parts I'd use a bench mounted buffer or even a grinder with hard felt wheels, your polishing media will be a lot easier to apply. If you want to take your process further pay attention to the inside of the receiver where the bolt rides
The bolt guide might need a little attention too. Mine had a little burr.
@@brintiff Thanks for the tips!
I'm definitely going to make a follow up video and it's great to have more options!
@@strangleholdoutdoors Ahh gotcha! I'll check it out!
I cleaned mine then oiled it and did 500 ratchet with the bolt , without dry firing
I had to borrow my next door neighbour's vice that was bolted to a sheet of wood, and clamp it to my work table to work on my Savage Mark II BTV. All I can say after the experience, is that this bolt design absolutely sucks. Disassemble and reassemble a CZ 455 bolt, and you'll realize just how stupid the Savage Mark II design is. Although this method for removing the firing pin spring, washer and C clip work well, it's still a terrible bolt design.
The CZ 455 seems more like a Mauser type of design, it's better steel, far better machined, and so much easier to deal with. Honestly though, how often should you strip down your Mark II bolt? Mine had probably never been detailed. There was so much black grease and particulate, black sludge on the spring and hammer pin, and inside the bolt assembly's channel.
I ended up soaking the hammer spring and bolt body in paint thinner, and twisting a bronze bore brush inside it. I rinsed everything with a spray bottle of 91% alcohol, and did the same with the inside of the bolt assembly.
I polished the hammer pin by hand using Wenol metal polish and blue shop towels, then a heavy cotton rag, and it's considerably smoother. But what a PITFA! The rifle is extremely accurate, nice cheek weld because of the bore-height comb, and shoots the cheapest ammo with great accuracy. But, I think I might sell it and find a used CZ 455 in 22LR. I have a CZ 455 in .17 HMR with a heavy barrel, and it's so much easier to detail the bolt.
It’s a $200 rifle bro
I would sell that rifle, and buy a CZ. Then you would be done.
Why not do the job right and use finer grit gunsmith stones?? I definitely would not let you work on my rifle!!
Either your not doing it correctly. Or you should send it back to savage and tell them the problem and I'm sure they would fix it. Just call them. 👍
That’s a good shooting rifle but their bolts suck bad. There’s no reason for that to be that hard. That’s bad craftsmanship.
CZ 457 would have been more costly to you, but it would have been the better choice overall.
Not worth watching! This problem is the stock screw is tensioned too tight and hitting the bolt.
You poor metrican. I'm glad Savage chose to use Real American sizes.
Any Real mechanic (or Gunsmith) will have both types of wrenches.
But nice rubber gloves though. Rubber gloves and an affinity to the metric system? Hmmm
You know just enough to be dangerous.
Looks like you just have a terrible bolt. I have a mk2 trr-sr. Slapped some bore butter for muzzle loaders on it years ago just to protect it from the elements and shockingly it smoothed the bolt up to the point it feels like it’s on ball bearing and oiled glass
Nice video, would have been much better if a person could hear what you were saying but thanks anyway.
It’s just as sticky 😂😂😂
Fussing about using SAE and wearing gloves for this. I’m assuming you bought a 17 cause you can’t handle anything more lol
All that and its still not fluid....😂😂😂😂😂
haha I should've put a clip from the before immediately before the after - it is noticeably better, but it's still miles away from the feel of a CZ or Ruger Precision! XD
Never had an issue with my 93r17 I must have gotten lucky because I've heard from others having the same issues as you... Good luck, keep sending em.....
@@boltpeak4070 Ahh nice? Your action runs smooth? To be clear, nothing was functionally wrong with it, but it just felt really clunky and unsatisfying to run the bolt.
@@poweredbyexplosions Yes sir.
Leave the gunsmithing to the professionals you didn’t accomplish anything it seems like you made the action worse
Well that was a waste of 26 minutes and 13 seconds. You didn't accomplish anything.
People DO NOT DO WHAT THIS GUY IS DOING TO HIS BOLT. unless you want to ruin your rifle. His bolt problem was self-inflicted by all the oild he put on his bolt and the carbon mixing with it created the problem.
Simple solution. Do not buy a rifle that you have to work on.
Haha that definitely is the easy solution if you're willing to spend the money up front!
@@poweredbyexplosions buy once, cry once.
🤦This was a complete shit show. That "polish" that comes in that kit is utter garbage. Mother's mag and aluminum is what you want.
Or better yet, any compound bought form a knife makers supply house. Gun and Knife finishing supplies is a very good source and they are made for hardened steel. Mothers is made for a very soft material. Alu., Not steel! It will work for very fine polishing, but painfully slow to get to the point it does anything.
KnifeMaker