Maybe someone with some gunsmithing experience can give me some advice...
I have 3 rifles that have extraction issues:
1. Vintage Weatherby Vanguard 25-06 (pristine condition).
2. Vintage Weatherby Vanguard 7mm Remington Magnum (absolute tack driver, cloverleafs at 100yd).
3. Sako Finnlight 25-06.
1a. The Vanguard 25-06 drops the shell (live or spent) back into the magazine area. It has been back to Weatherby and to a smith.
Weatherby said there is no issue. The smith didn't charge me, which tells me he either couldn't fix it, or didn't have any 25-06 rounds or brass on hand. It looks like he took some metal off the extractor face and the inside edge of the extractor pin.
2a. The 7mm Vanguard was my go to single rifle for everything for a long time.
3a. The Finnlight cost me a blacktail doe a few years back when I missed the first shot and the spent casing dropped into the magazine area as the doe came trotting at me. It is at the smith and ready for pickup. He said a common problem with the light Sako's is they throw the longer casings out high and it hits the scope turret. I have also seen videos of this on YouTube.
As you can imagine, all this is pissing me off and I swear I will never buy another rifle that isn't CRF (controlled round feed).
I compared the 2 Weatherby's side by side by pulling bullets slowly out of the chamber and a little light went off.
I can see the round comes out of the chamber too high on the 7mm and too low on the 25-06. In the case of the 7mm, the round was hitting the scope turret occasionally. With the 25-06 the round comes out way low. The casing/round drops into the bolt lug groove and either pops off the extractor prematurely or comes off the extractor low enough to hit the bottom of the extractor port and drops back into the magazine. All of this is intermittent and the last thing you need is a malfunction in bear country...which is everywhere up here.
What distresses me is these smiths have years, if not decades of experience and can't detect or fix a simple extraction issue.
I am at the point of taking matters into my own hands. I called Weatherby and they were very cool about everything and are sending me an extractor, extractor pin, spring and roll pin for free. I will probably order a second set.
My thought is...taking metal off the face of the extractor or extractor pin is not going to change the angle of ejection. I'm also guessing changing out the spring isn't going to change anything either.
My thinking is...I have to take some metal off the groove on the extractor to change the angle of ejection. I prefer to have a professional do the work, but I don't have a lot of faith in gunsmiths right now. Talked to Wild West Guns and they said to "bring 'em in", but things would go a lot faster if I order the parts before hand (hence, my call to Weatherby).
The other part of that is I'm afraid punching the roll pins in and out is going to thrash them. I may order a set of professional punches. Cheapies aren't cutting it.
Any input, suggestions, or gunsmith referrals would be appreciated.
Thanks for listening,
Hozer in Homer.
BTW.
I shouldn't say this, but aside from my ejection issues, these old Vanguards are hidden gems. The "made in Japan" label scares people off, but I have read on Weatherby forums the Japanese used superior steel to those made in Belgium or Germany.
With the MarkV's you're paying for wood and they only come in Weatherby chamberings.
The Sako-style actions are smooth, stocks are nice, the bluing is deep and the 24" barrels are extremely accurate. Of course they are not light.
I got the 25-06 in pristine condition on line for $600. The triggers are creepy and I either hone them or change them out. Hard to find that level of quality in a modern rifle at that price.
I have 3 rifles that have extraction issues:
1. Vintage Weatherby Vanguard 25-06 (pristine condition).
2. Vintage Weatherby Vanguard 7mm Remington Magnum (absolute tack driver, cloverleafs at 100yd).
3. Sako Finnlight 25-06.
1a. The Vanguard 25-06 drops the shell (live or spent) back into the magazine area. It has been back to Weatherby and to a smith.
Weatherby said there is no issue. The smith didn't charge me, which tells me he either couldn't fix it, or didn't have any 25-06 rounds or brass on hand. It looks like he took some metal off the extractor face and the inside edge of the extractor pin.
2a. The 7mm Vanguard was my go to single rifle for everything for a long time.
3a. The Finnlight cost me a blacktail doe a few years back when I missed the first shot and the spent casing dropped into the magazine area as the doe came trotting at me. It is at the smith and ready for pickup. He said a common problem with the light Sako's is they throw the longer casings out high and it hits the scope turret. I have also seen videos of this on YouTube.
As you can imagine, all this is pissing me off and I swear I will never buy another rifle that isn't CRF (controlled round feed).
I compared the 2 Weatherby's side by side by pulling bullets slowly out of the chamber and a little light went off.
I can see the round comes out of the chamber too high on the 7mm and too low on the 25-06. In the case of the 7mm, the round was hitting the scope turret occasionally. With the 25-06 the round comes out way low. The casing/round drops into the bolt lug groove and either pops off the extractor prematurely or comes off the extractor low enough to hit the bottom of the extractor port and drops back into the magazine. All of this is intermittent and the last thing you need is a malfunction in bear country...which is everywhere up here.
What distresses me is these smiths have years, if not decades of experience and can't detect or fix a simple extraction issue.
I am at the point of taking matters into my own hands. I called Weatherby and they were very cool about everything and are sending me an extractor, extractor pin, spring and roll pin for free. I will probably order a second set.
My thought is...taking metal off the face of the extractor or extractor pin is not going to change the angle of ejection. I'm also guessing changing out the spring isn't going to change anything either.
My thinking is...I have to take some metal off the groove on the extractor to change the angle of ejection. I prefer to have a professional do the work, but I don't have a lot of faith in gunsmiths right now. Talked to Wild West Guns and they said to "bring 'em in", but things would go a lot faster if I order the parts before hand (hence, my call to Weatherby).
The other part of that is I'm afraid punching the roll pins in and out is going to thrash them. I may order a set of professional punches. Cheapies aren't cutting it.
Any input, suggestions, or gunsmith referrals would be appreciated.
Thanks for listening,
Hozer in Homer.
BTW.
I shouldn't say this, but aside from my ejection issues, these old Vanguards are hidden gems. The "made in Japan" label scares people off, but I have read on Weatherby forums the Japanese used superior steel to those made in Belgium or Germany.
With the MarkV's you're paying for wood and they only come in Weatherby chamberings.
The Sako-style actions are smooth, stocks are nice, the bluing is deep and the 24" barrels are extremely accurate. Of course they are not light.
I got the 25-06 in pristine condition on line for $600. The triggers are creepy and I either hone them or change them out. Hard to find that level of quality in a modern rifle at that price.
