Description
For a long time I have been toying with different bolt lift kits and I have tried just about every type out there. Then a customer showed me his idea and I like it. Made some improvements and the results so far have been very good. Some times bolt lift is improved by as much as 50% though most tend to be in the 20-30% range.
What makes it better and different? It is the only kit that works with Those savages that have the cocking indicator. This new kit I made uses a specially modified thrust bearing and a spacer for the BAS screw. One thing I noticed is that most other bolt lift kits compress the firing pin spring more which does the opposite of decreasing bolt lift. The spacing ring fixes this issue. Also the thrust bearing take friction down to near zero compared to all the other kits that still have friction.
Brian (verified owner) –
I just received my bolt lift kit for my savage axis 6.5 creedmor. The lift on the bolt was extremely stiff, requiring a full hand grip to lift it, or hitting it hard with your palm and then knocking the scope. A follow up shot with this gun on a deer would be unlikely. After testing it out today it works so much better. With a crude way of measuring the pull weight it previously read 10 or 11 lbs. (okay I shouldn’t have bought the dumb thing, but it was cheap). I don’t know what the weight is now but I would say it’s easy enough to use 3 fingers, now. I would think it’s near 7-8lbs now (only just acceptable.)
So if you made the mistake of going cheap and buying the axis 1.0 with a stiff bolt you most definately will see an improvement. This is the only thing that has helped.
Wyatt Rutledge (verified owner) –
Cheap upgrade easy to instal worth every penny. Very noticeable I just got a gun and it’s probably under 100 rounds but this still helped so much even without breaking it in
Scott H (verified owner) –
I got the universal kit for my Axis 308 because I honestly didn’t want to take the time to disassemble my bolt and figured $1 I might’ve saved wasn’t a big enough reason to do it either.
Ordered in 5/22/23 and received on 5/25/23 via USPS; that’s fast regardless of which option you select.
Took the bolt out and disassembled it to find that I have the 1 piece firing pin with the 2 piece spring. No big deal, a quick search on YT found a short and to the point video. Not wanting to cut or grind the spring (I’m infamous for losing that kind of stuff) I just put on the spacer to see what kind of difference it made. It’s an extremely different feel. You still get the sort of secondary stop the Axis has when you cock it but it’s nowhere near as pronounced and honestly; I’m happy with the improvement.
The only thing that would’ve made this whole experience better would be if Desh Indst. made bolt handles; guess I just have to wait on the one I want to be in stock on Glades. I’m always surprised to find the lack of aftermarket support for the Axis line. It’s a $350 rifle that with minimal time and effort you can make shoot like a rifle costing twice as much. I’ve gotten 0.7″ groups with the factory stock and 175gr match 308’s. Next up is the flat trigger from MCARBO and I’m definitely ordering the stainless bolt kit for my Axis II 6.5CM.
Maybe one day I’ll cut the spring. If I do I’ll try to remember to leave an updated review.
Andrew (verified owner) –
This bolt lift kit made a huge difference. It worked better than I thought it would and was easy to install. Now I can smoothly and easily operate the bolt with just my thumb and forefinger. Thanks!
Bill Elling (verified owner) –
Put this in a new Axis II XP 350, took an entire 10 mins or less. Nice improvement though I think a longer bolt handle will help as well.
Tucker (verified owner) –
Bought for Savage Axis 223. Shipped and delivered quick, very easily and painless install. Have not shot it yet but bolt is noticeably lighter. Still far from a light bolt lift but now I can stay on target and run the action. It used to be so heavy the rifle would rock on the bipod and staying on target between shots was impossible, so far I am very satisfied with the purchase.