Disassembly/Reassembly of the Savage Series-93 Rimfire

What do I mean by a "working man’s rifle"? Think back to the first .22 you picked up because the price was so right, then toted it around for 20 or 30 years in pursuit of tin cans, small game, or varmints, and decided to keep forever. The Savage Model 93 in .17 HRM is that kind of gun. It’s simple. It’s reasonably priced. And it’s very well made.

This model is the accuracy equal of other Series-93 models costing far more, and unlike all other small bores (but like all Savage rimfires), it comes equipped with an owner-adjustable Accu Trigger (see the December 2004 issue). So while this particular Model 93 is plain, it sure ain’t vanilla. Another reason I happen to like the Savage is that, once you know how to takedown this Model 93, you can take down all other Model 93s regardless of their bells and whistles.

Frankly, I can’t foresee much going wrong with these guns. But owners have a curious talent for abusing or ignoring their guns (bless them), so knowing your way around these rimfires can be good for business. Field Stripping Open the bolt, check for an empty chamber, pull back on the magazine release (#53), and remove the magazine or allow it to drop into your hand. Move the safety into its readyto-fire position, pull back on the trigger, and slide the bolt (#57) out of the receiver.

There are two stock-assembly screws (#21). One runs through the magazine plate (#59); the other is located aft of the plate. Back both out to separate the stock from the action. Detailed Disassembly (Not According to the Schematic) Now that the action with trigger still attached is in your hand, you might notice that the trigger assembly (#16) isn’t the same as the one shown in the drawing. The Model 93 wears an Accu Trigger, and part #17 doesn’t even exist on Accu Trigger rimfires.

The schematic has yet to catch up with these facts. You can remove a Model 93 trigger as an assembly, however, by backing out the L-bar screws (#54) and stock-assembly stud (#10A). Do- The Savage’s trigger assembly is shown here still attached to a fieldstripped Series-93.

The former is easily adjustable; the latter is not. ing so also frees the L-bar (#52) and ejector (#51). Now hear this: You should never disassemble an Accu- Trigger. If it’s dirty, flush it out and lube it. If an internal part is broken’ a very rare occurrence’order anew assembly from the factory. Now we come to the bolt, which is not revealed in its entirety on the drawing. The front half contains the firing pin (#60), the extractor-spring clip (#9), and the extractors (#7 and 8).

Flip the bolt over so you’re looking at the flattened section on its front end. Insert a small-blade screwdriver between the clip and the base of the bolt body, and give the screwdriver enough of a twist to widen the gap between the clip and bolt. The clip can be removed by pushing it upward and For reassembly, you’re advised to install the extractors last by sliding their tapered ends under the retaining clip. Use of a plastic bag is highly recommended prior to liberating the mainspring. off the bolt.

Before and during this process, notice the notch toward the back end of the bolt head into which the clip fits. There’s no other way the extractor spring clip can fit in a Savage Model 93not if it’s still going to work, anyway. If the firing pin and extractors haven’t fallen out by now, remove them but keep track of which extractor is which. After the front end of the bolt has been disassembled, secure it between protected vise jaws.

You’re about to discover more of what’s not shown on Savage’s schematic’t he secrets of the back half of the bolt. Grasp the cocking knob and pull it toward you far enough to reveal a nut between the front and rear halves of the bolt. This nut shall remain unidentified (save to say that it retains the striker, the mainspring, and the striker) but must be unscrewed in order to totally disassemble the bolt. The aforementioned nut brings up a problem I discovered.

No 11/32inch wrench of normal thickness will fit in the gap between the bolt halves. Moreover, a wrench borrowed from the set of open-enders I use for trigger

1 Front Sight 2 Rear Sight 3 Universal Elevator 7 Extractor (RH) Extractor (LH) 9 Extractor Spring Clip 10 Front Stud work, though fitting both the gap and the nut, wasn’t strong enough to start it turning. While straightening out my bent mini-wrench, I mentally inventoried my stash of tools for a possible substitute that would work. The proverbial light bulb switched on when I recalled an auto-ignition toolkit hiding out in my garage. One of those thin, strong wrenches might fill the need perfectly. It did.

Pulling back on the cocking knob, I was able to slip the wrench on the nut. I turned the knob counter-clockwise to disengage it from the bolt notch, and rode it forward to trap the wrench neatly between the bolt halves. By pulling the back half of the bolt slightly to the rear, I could begin unscrewing the nut. (Actually, I was unscrewing the entire striker/mainspring assembly.) It required several turns with the wrench until finger power alone could complete the undoing of the assembly.

Then I with- 10A Stock Assembly Stud 11 Barrel Pin 16 Trigger Assembly 17 Rear Stud 19 Trigger Guard 20 Trigger Guard Plate Screw 21 Stock Assembly Screw drew it, nut still attached, from the bolt. The next problem with total takedown presented itself immediately in the form of a C-clip retaining the mainspring to the striker. There was no way I was going to pop off that clip without using a plastic bag.

That’s what I did, and thanks to the plasticbag trick I didn’t have to spend an hour in search of a lost C-clip, mainspring, or anything else. Getting the clip back on in reassembly isn’t apiece of cake either. The spring has to be compressed and remain so during reinstallation. Plastic bag again? You better believe it. And, of course, the same ignition wrench was used to reunite the bolt halves and recock the bolt. Recock, you ask? Absolutely. The bolt has to be cocked or it won’t go back in the receiver.

Yet to be reassembled is the front end of the bolt. I’ll tell you the easy way. Don’t put in the firing pin and Savage Model 93 Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle (Specifications subject to change without notice) 46 Stock 51 Ejector 52 L-Bar 53 Magazine Release 54 L-Bar Screw 55 Magazine Assembly 56 Barrel/Receiver Assembly* 57 Bolt Assembly* 58 Recoil Lug 58A Recoil Lug Screw 59 Magazine Plate 60 Firing Pin 150 Scope Base Screws *Factory installation only. the ejectors and then try and force the ejector clip back on.

Not that you can’t do it that way, but you might damage the clip. Instead, install the firing pin, give the open end of the clip a bit of a squeeze to assure a tight fit, and slide the clip into its bolt slot. One at a time, introduce an ejector into the bolt face until it engages the clip, then push both ejectors back into position. A distinct "click" will be heard as they snap into place. Reinstall the trigger assembly, slide the bolt back into the receiver, and check the extractor function with a dummy round.

You say you don’t have a .17 HRM dummy round? You can make one. Carefully pull the bullet from alive round, dump out the powder, drill a hole in the case, and press the slug back into it. If there’s a failure to extract, you’ve done something wrong. Like putting the extractors in upside down? Don’t snicker and don’t feel insulted. It happens. I