Go to Nurmrich Parts website and check out the part breakdown on your model. There are a set of spacers that go between the lifter. Looks like you are missing the left hand side according to the pic. The lifter just pivots up and down. That should not be the problem. Make sure the screws are all tight around the lifter. I have 2 and had to work on one of them when I purchased. The other ran fine. Good Luck!

 

It doesn't show well in the photo but both spacers are in place on both sides of the lifter. The lifter does just pivot up and down but the protrusion on the back of the lifter rides in a raceway in the bolt and hits a stop which pushes the lifter down. Mine just doesn't push it down far enough to reliably make room for the cartridge to fully exit the magazine. Either that protrusion on the lifter is too short/small or the stop in the bolt raceway is worn. The magazine tube is a replacement and the spring seems strong enough to push the round back. The lifter currently in the rifle is a replacement lifter from Gun Parts Inc.

I'm wondering if another lifter or another bolt would be best to move the lifter lower to better accept the round. See photo below of the bolt with the raceway for the lifter protrusion on the left, which is responsible for lowering the lifter.

 

I would add another washer/spacer to each side of the lifter to keep it from twisting.

 

The feeder tube may be the problem also. I believe I changed mine out. Found a used one on e-bay. I also cleaned up my bolt with 800 grit paper and polish with Flitz. Trying to make it like glass. .I also thought my lifter was bad but it was not. I had another rifle to check it with. I wish I had it here. I love tinkering with these types of rifles

 

Could the pin holding the lifer be worn?

 

Isn't the lifter suppose to be centered under the cartridge? Also the ears that support the lifter look bent or out of alignment.

 

Normally the lifter is centered. It scoots over to the side because it can't lift the round and the spring puts quite a force on it. So, it slides off the round partially emerged from the tube and locks everything up. To clear the jam I have to take the bolt and magazine tube out, remove the fired round from the chamber and then force the bent round back into the magazine where, luckily, it does slide out.

Working the bolt manually, I can see the jam develop where the round from the magazine gets hung up. When I gently pull the lifter lower (I have about a 1/16" play) the round pops into place and can be easily lifted into the receiver. It seems to me that what I need is for that lifter to lower far enough to reliably accept the round. That lifter is under quite a bit of pressure from the lifter spring that wants to lift it up, so, something has to force it all the way down, working against that spring tension. The way that lifter gets lowered is when the protrusion on the other side of the lifter rides up the raceway in the bolt and is forced downward when the bolt is retracted.

 

It's hard to see anything from your pictures. But that lifter should not be moving sideways. I would guess either something is missing or well worn.

Here is one of mine that works fine. See if these help any for comparison.

 

2500X, I think your idea of changing the lifter is the first thing to try, the picture of it jammed shows the cartridge not fully fed into the magazine guide. Compare your lifter with the action closed to the pictures Catt57 posted to see if the lifter is dropping far enough. Yours has an earlier magazine guide than Catt57's, the later guides have the front of the lifter riding in a notch, I thought that might be to keep it from moving to the side, but the one I have is tight enough It takes a lot of force to get it to touch the sides of that notch and when fully raised the front is above it.

I see the spacers in your picture, but I don't think something is tight enough, there shouldn't be as much side play as there appears to be in yours.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have ordered an original lifter and an original bolt. I will let you all know if that fixed it. If it doesn't I'm finished trying to get this thing to work. Again, the side play of the liflter is due to the jamming issue. It's not the cause. I'll tighten it up if I can correct the feeding issue from the magazine. The issue is the lifter not dropping down far enough. The question is what's the best way to fix it. I've probably spent 2X the worth of this rifle trying to get it working properly. I just spent another $100 on parts. Trying to get it to work has been a long-term project.

 

Before you do all of that. Take off the lifter assembly and make sure the ammo runs smoothly down the tube and and comes out without any problems

 

I checked that and they fall right thru.

ps Here's a picture I just took of the lifter when it's not jammed up. Normally the lifter is centered.

 

Try and pull back the bolt and watch what the lifter assembly does. Is it binding on any thing? Try polishing or sanding the lifter, polish and clean all parts that move back and forth including the spacers. You want it to be shinny and smooth. There may be a burr. Is the pin and lifter assembly working smoothly when out of the gun Still thinking of possible problems.

 

Does the bracket that holds the lifter have any front to back play when the screws are loose? I'm wondering if it can be moved changing the position of the lifter in relation to the bolt when it's to the rear and depressing the lifter. Maybe the action timing is off just enough. Just a guess. My 87D is like new and never had a problem. Couple others I had over the years ran good after a thorough cleaning. What are you using for lube in the action. I found most oils tend to varnish or gum up very quick and cause cycleing problems. I went to a dry teflon spray and it solved that. Good luck.

 

I like that answer. The screws can play a part in the action. There is some adjustment for that screw

 

I really appreciate all the brain storming and help. You all are "The Best!". The bracket that holds the lifter has no play when the screws are loose. Putting a round in the tube it usually pushes it all the way back and under the lifter. Sometimes when working the round thru by hand a round will get hung up and not fully emerge from the tube. Manually pulling down on the lifter to the end of it's travel (about 1/32") always frees up that hung-up round and it falls into place where it then can be lifted up into the receiver. Polishing everything is a good idea. I'll do that. Since I have a different bolt and lifter coming, I'll first install them and see if that makes the lifter go down far enough to reliably allow a round to fully emerge from the tube. If that still doesn't do it I can take one of the lifters and work on the top of the lifter and remove just a little more metal to allow the round to fully emerge all the time.

When I manually work the action without any rounds in the tube, everything is smooth and the lifter operates as it should. Why I think the solution lies with the bolt is I can use a flashlight and see how the back protrusion on the lifter engages the bolt raceway and if the back of that raceway had just a little more metal on it, it would push that follower farther down, which will allow the round from the tube to always fully emerge. It would also work if the protrusion at the back of the lifter were a little wider/longer it would contact the end of the raceway sooner and again push the follower down a little farther. Since I can't add metal to either of those parts, replacing them seems the most likely fix.

 

Picture of lifter in it's usual position.

Picture of lifter pulled a little further down, which allows a hung up round to fully emerge.

 

Picture of lifter in it's usual position.

Picture of lifter pulled a little further down, which allows a hung up round to fully emerge.

These last two pics show your extractor is further in when the lifter is jamming. I think that indicates the bolt is slightly less in battery. Possibly a weak recoil spring, too strong of extractor spring, crud in the extractor slot or on the breech face are things I'd look at.

 

That makes sense to me!. You may have found the problem. Are you getting a new bolt or used? That bolt would really have to been used a lot for it to wear down that much. Spring tension should not be an issue on the extractor. I do not know if taking some off the lifter will solve the problem.? A lot of gunsmiths will not work on these so we are on our own. I admire you for the effort you are putting into this. I had to work on one of mine like you are. That is why I know a small amount about this rifle. It will work!

 

I'm getting a used bolt (with extractors) from a vendor that has several of them. I did ask him to send me a bolt that looked to have less wear on the bottom raceways. I did clean out the extractors by hitting it with gun scrubber and while some dirt was flushed out, it didn't solve the problem. I pushed hard on the bolt handle to see if I could move the bolt further but it didn't. I'll get it figured out. I'll never get my $ back out of it, but that's not the point. I'd like to take an old garage sale POS into a nice shooter. Once I replace the bolt, I'd have literally have replaced every part except the barrel and the receiver. I fixed the full-auto problem and may have created this jamming issue by replacing the original lifter with a reproduction part; if that is what proves to be the problem.

 

The post about the screws could also play into this. I believe there is some adjustment that can be made on the 2 screws holding down the lifter assembly. If so move the assembly back as far as you can, tighten the screws and see if the lifter will come thru.

 

Loosen the screws and see if the assembly will move backward then tighten the screws back

 

I've checked that and it doesn't move back and the assembly is as far back as it goes. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Did you loosen the screws on the lifter assembly and try to push it back to see if you could get any clearance for the lifter?

 

Good you checked that. It popped into my mind looking at the pics. I don't think this is your problem because you said it works some and then jams. But just for your info. IIRC their was .22 short only models and the only difference was the bolt. Looked the same but I think it was lighter and machined a little different. Not saying thats the problem but I think that would mess things up with LR rounds. Just more info. These are real fun guns when they work and most do. Just some are a PITA. Good luck.

 

Mine clearly states that it's good for short, long and long rifle. The shorts and longs would only work using the bolt locking feature.

 

Ok thats the rifle barrel markings and it's probably the correct bolt.. Just adding more info IF..... the wrong bolt was ever put in that could cause a issue. I don't think the bolts had any special markings. I just wanted to add this.

 

Thanks, all input is welcome. It's a puzzle. There's a way to make this work. We'll figure it out. Stay tuned.

 

Oh we will. You could leave it under the tree with a copy of this thread for Santa. Maybe............ Just don't shoot your eye out. Good luck.

 

Having taken on the 'clack & back' challenge w/several iterations of them over the years, I'll mention that crud can become so compounded/compacted that it looks like metal in the breech area. A dental pick used very cautiously in the corners of the recesses around the breech might surprise you when a crud compaction is loosened. And another thot on those guns seldom mentioned is that the number of turns on the threaded cap on the rear of the action is critical. It is possible on some to have it screwed in the wrong number of turns & they will never function correctly, when assembled in that manner. Other things noted in their transition from the original Savage model 6 is that over time, parts dimensions changed as techniques were employed to make the parts less expensively, tho it remained the same basic action sold under a number of different names & iterations. Springfields had a number of suffix's & each was slightly dif. Not all of the parts are interchangeable & that has created a lot of confusion when one is missing because many folks end up w/the wrong part w/the correct name and generic part number rather than one suffix specific. I had a number of posts up back when I was knee deep in that swamp... and I did get them all running smoothly once again, but it took a while to get things figured out correctly. If all the parts are there and original, see my first two listed suspects.

 

Thank you Wookness for your thoughts. A significant # of parts on this rifle have been replaced, including the lifter. I've purchased and are awaiting a used original lifter. I've thoroughly cleaned and lubed (with Hornady One Shot) all action parts and I make sure the recoil spring cap is tightened all the way down. I'm pretty sure, at this point, that my issue is either the reproduction lifter is out of spec, or, the bolt raceway, that the rear protrusion rides in, is worn and no longer able to drop the lifter down far enough to reliably accept a round from the magazine. If that doesn't work, out comes the dremel tool to do a little surgery on the top of the reproduction lifter.

 

Did you ever get this fixed? I have a 6A doing the same thing.

 

Not saying to do this but I would be curious if you did dremel the lifter down would that solve the problem! You have a new one on the way so what would it matter? Just my thoughts! Since you have done everything else, I am now thinking that the bolt could be the problem?