Savage F/TR 308 barrel twist

[MVW]

Folks , I am looking at a Savage F/TR in 308 for 1,000 yard shooting. I notice that it has a 1/12" twist. My sense is that a heavier 175 grain bullet would be better for longer distances and are designed for a 1/11x twist. From what I see on forums, bullets up to 168 grain are better with the slower twist 1/12" twist

Does anyone have any thoughts on the f/tr for 1,000 yard shooting?

Thanks, M

 

[Steve Blair]

There have been many discussion threads on this topic. Try doing a search on ".308 barrel twist" and you should find some useful information.

That said: a 12" twist will stabilize up through 175 Bergers and your barrel might work fine with 185 Berger BT-LR and Sierra 190 Matchkings. Also, do not overlook Berger's new 168 Hyrbrid, which has a B.C. a little higher than the 175.

 

[Redhighpower]

Regarding the 1-12 barrel twist, My Winchester factory .308, shot 175's very well. First time at 600 it shot 200 14X . At 1000 yards first time 96 and a 98 I do not remember the X count. I have tried 1-10 in my M1A and the results are not even close. I think you will be well served with the savage 1-12 twist. Larry

 

[DennisH]

I always thought a 10 twist was the way to go with 308's!

But I accuired a 12 twist about a year ago and I shoot Berger 190's all day long with this gun! This gun is now my perfered 600yd gun! I would shoot it at 1k yds in a minute!

This is where I realized twist matters and figure out what your going to do, then get the gun that fits! It looks like when it's time to rebarrel the gun, a 12 twist is going back on!!!!!!!

Savage puts the 12 twist on for a reason! The Savage team is winning with them!

I personally feel you will be happy with the gun.

I have a friend I shoot with that has a Palma with a 13 twist! He is shooting 180 JLK's and doing great!

 

[DennisH]

PS: read the below article and then do a search on "Team Savage", this should answer all questions

http://www.savagearms.com/news/article/?id=2K5nTzegQ

But, once again, those expensive custom guns were no match for four skilled marksmen armed with stock Savage Model 12 rifles.

 

[MVW]

Thanks to everyone for the help. The Berger bullet web page also gives guidance consistent with what you have provided. Indeed I should realize that savage knows what they are doing.

M

 

[1000yardstare]

Quote
But, once again, those expensive custom guns were no match for four skilled marksmen armed with "stock" Savage Model 12 rifles.

Not wanting to start an arguement but my understanding is that the barrels in those M12 Savage rifles are carefully selected from premium lots of Savage barrels. They are not random factory inserts. Hardly "stock".

If someone wants to correct me on this I am all ears.

This is not meant to belittle the shooters behind these rifles. They are excellent marksmen and all-around great guys. I shot with some of them at the 2010 Canadian Championships.

Bill

 

[jonbearman]

I have a FT-R and it shoots real well.I am still tuning it but it shows great promise. I too believe they hand pick these barrels as mine is very smooth compared to a normal barrel from savage.

 

[memilanuk]

Not wanting to start an arguement but my understanding is that the barrels in those M12 Savage rifles are carefully selected from premium lots of Savage barrels. They are not random factory inserts. Hardly "stock".

I must have missed that part when we visited the factory in 2009.

I'm curious where you got your information from...?

 

[1000yardstare]

Conversations with Team U.S. at the 2010 Canadian Championships.
Bill

 

[scaxeman]

Conversations with Team U.S. at the 2010 Canadian Championships.
Bill

Hey Bill,

Which members of the US Team? I was there leading the Team, and shooting my stock Savage, and I sure wouldn't have thrown such a statement out there. Especially as I was one of the two Team guys that did the re-barreling on the rifles at the Savage factory a few years ago. When we were there, we simply picked new barrels for the Team rifles off of a pallet of hundreds of such barrels. It was about as random as it was possible to be.

Are the factory barrels produced now visibly better than those produced when we were starting to use them 6-odd years ago? Sure! Savage has been improving their processes in order to turn out a higher quality product, just as any other corporation would.

Hope this helps,

Darrell Buell

 

[Paddyd]

Regarding the 1-12 barrel twist, My Winchester factory .308, shot 175's very well. First time at 600 it shot 200 14X . At 1000 yards first time 96 and a 98 I do not remember the X count. I have tried 1-10 in my M1A and the results are not even close. I think you will be well served with the savage 1-12 twist. Larry

What is the barrel length on your rifle?

 

[Woofie]

I own two savage F/TR rifles, one .308 the other .223. The .223 is by far the superior rifle out to 1,000 yards but that's solely because it won the Savage barrel lottery. My shooting buddy bought a .308 F/Tr the same time I did.
The brief answer to your question is, the 1:12 twist stabilizes 175 and Horn 178 BTHP in my rifle, up to Jugs in my pal's. We move 'em out there though. I still don't understand why Savage puts 1:12 twists in their .308 F/TR, since they drop a 1:7 in the .223. I conclude they had barrels to use up.
I will re-barrel my .308 to a 1:10 twist when I've done fettling my .338 Savage target magnum which needs a barrel before the F/TR rifle does. I think if you buy any Savage rifle rifle for serious target use, you should plan on re-barreling it in short order. Why do I say that?
Savage barrel quality is a total dice roll IME. I returned my original .308 F/TR, which in addition to the most egregious Savage button marks also had voids, tears, etc. That rifle disappeared after arriving at Savage -- lost or stolen is my guess, although they, of course, blame COVID. After nearly six months they sent me a new rifle. Plan on *having* to shoot Tubb final finish bullets through any Savage barrel you buy. The internal finish can be terrible.
Now my Savage .338 Lapua barrel is a study. Rough as a bear's *ass internally, fouls terribly, but shoots 1/3 MOA. Go figure. If you like cleaning copper out of barrels it's the one for you. I guess Savage at least gets their barrels straight. I'm re-barrelling that as soon as I can get to it.

 

[PhilC]

What is the barrel length on your rifle?

Zombie thread, 2011, and redhighpower hasn't logged in since April 2016.