Will a Savage Feed a Fireball?

[MikeMoore]

My kid is thinking about a Savage model 16 switch barrel in 223 and 17 Fireball but I'm not sure if it'll feed the little fireball case. Anyone know for sure?

[trotterlg]

I would say most likely it will not. I had to add a couple of parts to make my Savage 10 feed a 17 Remington. I think the round will be pushed out of the magazine before the bullet enters the chamber. Larry

[glennlasher]

Originally Posted by trotterlg

I would say most likely it will not. I had to add a couple of parts to make my Savage 10 feed a 17 Remington. I think the round will be pushed out of the magazine before the bullet enters the chamber. Larry

I concur. I built a 6BR on a long action once upon a time, it wouldn't feed for love nor money.

Howas in .223 will usually feed .221s okay, but I don't know about the .17 version, and it wouldn't be a switch barrel anyway.

[Eric A]

Most likely you have to use it as a single shot with a single shot magazine follower installed...I had to do that on a Savage varmint in .223 rebarreled to 17 mach 4..

Midway and Sharp Shooters Supply have single shot magazine followers...

[gristlehead]

My model 10 will feed pretty consistently from the magazine, the problem is ejection. Extraction is fine, but the case doesn't get kicked out due to its short length and the way the ejector is designed to work with the action.

[MikeMoore]

That's what I figured. Thanks for the replies. The idea was for a coyote / fox calling rifle so single shot is no good.

[Dean2]

I have a Lefty model 16 in 223, so I tried feeding some 17 FBs through it. As long as you feed gentle it feeds from the right rail, right stagger of the magazine, pretty well. Not quite so good off the left rail. (I assume a right hand version would feed well from the left rail and not so well from the right.)

I would say that putting a larger spacer in the rear of the mag well, you should be able to get it to feed pretty well.

[trotterlg]

The newer versions have a center feed magazine, so that may not be a problem. Extending the feed rails may also be an option. The ejection is a problem because the neck of the cartridge comes out of the chamber before the bolt is far enough back, this is just due to the short case. Playing with ejector spring tension may help. Let us know if you get it to work. Larry