How much is my cheap Savage action limiting me—really?

[Fuj]

I've bought actions and barrels From NSS, Jim Briggs always
made it right for me. Since then another Jim has taken over
the business (maybe a son inlaw). Never dealt with the new
guy, but generally it the go to place for Savage barrels. They
keep Criterion and Shilen in stock. Keep Urbanrifleman in mind
when it comes to your barrels.

 

[Mark W]

I've bought actions and barrels From NSS, Jim Briggs always
made it right for me. Since then another Jim has taken over
the business (maybe a son inlaw). Never dealt with the new
guy, but generally it the go to place for Savage barrels. They
keep Criterion and Shilen in stock. Keep Urbanrifleman in mind
when it comes to your barrels.

I believe the new guy goes by James and he is Jim’s son. I noticed no change in service when Dad retired.

Agree on UR! If I was in need of a prefit barrel right now, I would certainly give him a try.

 

[JFrank]

I shot Savage actions a bit and even though I can’t say they held me back, I also cannot attribute any wins towards them either rather in spite of.

 

[mikeinct]

Hohn, you can build your own custom rifle/action & use some of your Savage parts. Shilen sells a "Stiller made" action under their Brand name DGV DGA something like that. Order the one that takes Savage barrel prefits . That rig will come w a very nice savage style floating bolt head. Pretty slick. You can fit any Rem. capable trigger to it. I put one together years ago Wish I had built it sooner. P/M me if you want more details. mikeincr

 

[Forum Boss]

Savage action with aftermarket trigger and PacNor 3-groove barrel. Shares my range record on our 600-yard steel course. Very solid, repeatable 1/4-MOA accuracy. The first measured group out of the gun (rounds 15,16,17,18 through barrel), was a witnessed 0.168" for four shots. That was 30.0 grains Varget .007" in lands. I later added 0.3 grains of Varget to get a lower ES/SD and a bit more velocity. But basically the gun shot like a hammer from the get go. It liked 105gr Scenars (old style) in the lands.




I think I paid about $350 for the Savage, the stock was about $150, added trigger ($80) and a bedding job ($120?). PacNor donated the pre-fit barrel. So, not counting scope I have about $700 in this rifle.

Story HERE: https://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/poormanshammer/

Multiple 3-shot groups at 100 yards:



Had this project not turned out so successfully, I would not have started 6mmBR.com and this Forum and AccurateShooter.com would not exist.

So... yes, with a new barrel and better trigger, a Savage can definitely shoot.

Footnoot: Yes that was a cheap Midway front rest, and a "loaner" rear bag. I put together this rig in 2004 when I was between jobs and every penny counted. This was originally built for a tactical style prone match shot from bipod, hence it's not a benchrest type stock. But it did shoot darn good from the bench, even with narrower fore-end. The original chambering was .260 Remington. I wasted a lot of time (and components) with that factory barrel. My advice -- if you have a Savage, pull the factory barrel immediately.

 

[Beiruty]

Buy couple extractors as spare parts, the extractor on Savage 16 Action (Custom 6.5 PRC) broke off

 

[Beiruty]

Rifle:

 

[ASbobcat]

Savage action with aftermarket trigger and PacNor 3-groove barrel. Shares my range record on our 600-yard steel course. Very solid, repeatable 1/4-MOA accuracy. The first measured group out of the gun (rounds 15,16,17,18 through barrel), was a witnessed 0.168" for four shots. That was 30.0 grains Varget .007" in lands. I later added 0.3 grains of Varget to get a lower ES/SD and a bit more velocity. But basically the gun shot like a hammer from the get go. It liked 105gr Scenars (old style) in the lands.

View attachment 1340339


I think I paid about $350 for the Savage, the stock was about $150, added trigger ($80) and a bedding job ($120?). PacNor donated the pre-fit barrel. So, not counting scope I have about $700 in this rifle.

Story HERE: https://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/poormanshammer/

Multiple 3-shot groups at 100 yards:

View attachment 1340338

Had this project not turned out so successfully, I would not have started 6mmBR.com and this Forum and AccurateShooter.com would not exist.

So... yes, with a new barrel and better trigger, a Savage can definitely shoot.

Footnoot: Yes that was a cheap Midway front rest, and a "loaner" rear bag. I put together this rig in 2004 when I was between jobs and every penny counted. This was originally built for a tactical style prone match shot from bipod, hence it's not a benchrest type stock. But it did shoot darn good from the bench, even with narrower fore-end. The original chambering was .260 Remington. I wasted a lot of time (and components) with that factory barrel. My advice -- if you have a Savage, pull the factory barrel immediately.

This has also been my experience, with many calibers over the years. With properly tuned loads, they are easily capable of 1/4moa consistently. IMHO the best bang for the buck in the industry.

 

[AckleymanII]

Some forget the JOY of taking a sow's ear and making a Silk Purse out of it! There can be a lot of head banging on the wall involved.

 

[Fuj]

Some forget the JOY of taking a sow's ear and making a Silk Purse out of it! There can be a lot of head banging on the wall involved.

I don't know about head banging, but I've thrown a wrench or two.
Current build is my 284-ELF wild cat. It's a 284 Winchester shortened
to around 6gt length. As I'm doing velocity builds, I have a node at
2930 with the 130 SMK. It's .250 MOA right on the nose. Jeff Gates
gave me tweaking advice to close it up. I'm waiting on the weather
to be more favorable. BR2 primer under 38.2 grs of AA-4064

Note that the barrel is a 30", 12 twist, 4 groove Douglas heavy varmint.
with only 80 rounds thru it.....That's 4 shots in the pic.

 

[drop_point]

Savage action with aftermarket trigger and PacNor 3-groove barrel. Shares my range record on our 600-yard steel course. Very solid, repeatable 1/4-MOA accuracy. The first measured group out of the gun (rounds 15,16,17,18 through barrel), was a witnessed 0.168" for four shots. That was 30.0 grains Varget .007" in lands. I later added 0.3 grains of Varget to get a lower ES/SD and a bit more velocity. But basically the gun shot like a hammer from the get go. It liked 105gr Scenars (old style) in the lands.

View attachment 1340339


I think I paid about $350 for the Savage, the stock was about $150, added trigger ($80) and a bedding job ($120?). PacNor donated the pre-fit barrel. So, not counting scope I have about $700 in this rifle.

Story HERE: https://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/poormanshammer/

Multiple 3-shot groups at 100 yards:

View attachment 1340338

Had this project not turned out so successfully, I would not have started 6mmBR.com and this Forum and AccurateShooter.com would not exist.

So... yes, with a new barrel and better trigger, a Savage can definitely shoot.

Footnoot: Yes that was a cheap Midway front rest, and a "loaner" rear bag. I put together this rig in 2004 when I was between jobs and every penny counted. This was originally built for a tactical style prone match shot from bipod, hence it's not a benchrest type stock. But it did shoot darn good from the bench, even with narrower fore-end. The original chambering was .260 Remington. I wasted a lot of time (and components) with that factory barrel. My advice -- if you have a Savage, pull the factory barrel immediately.

I had the same stock on my Howa action'ed 6.5-284 around the same time period. I was a poor college kid.

 

[std7mag]

I don't know about head banging, but I've thrown a wrench or two.
Current build is my 284-ELF wild cat. It's a 284 Winchester shortened
to around 6gt length. As I'm doing velocity builds, I have a node at
2930 with the 130 SMK. It's .250 MOA right on the nose. Jeff Gates
gave me tweaking advice to close it up. I'm waiting on the weather
to be more favorable. BR2 primer under 38.2 grs of AA-4064

Note that the barrel is a 30", 12 twist, 4 groove Douglas heavy varmint.
with only 80 rounds thru it.....That's 4 shots in the pic.

Fuj,
Have you messed with the action screw torque at all?

 

[M14AMU]

I bought a pair of 12FV Savages in spring 2018 as potential project rifles-a .223 and a 6.5. For those unfamiliar with this model, it’s a Cabela’s exclusive model: 26” varmint barrel, blind mag in a Tupperware stock. It’s a standard 4.41” space top bolt open top model 12 action.

My particular examples are worse than most savages. They give the impression they are slapped together from parts not good enough for “real” Savages.

One of the two (the 6.5) has been especially bad. The bolt is so sloppy it wore the finish off part of the tang. The chamber had awful tool marks so bad it wouldn’t extract, leaving the brass stippled with chamber marks.

I bought one upgraded stock (GRS) and the two barreled actions share joint custody.

I rebarreled the .223 with a Criterion 7tw for midrange stuff. It’s done as good as 190-5x @600 in ftr, though I shoot off a flimsy bipod with a squeeze bag, and more commonly I’m mid 180s. I need to work on some load development for this barrel.

Now I have a shiny new 6.5 Bartlein blank ready to go and I’m having second thoughts about putting a great barrel on a really sketchy action. Like I should wait until I can get a better action to get the barrel cut.

The plan was to cut it for the Savage and then move it to an action that takes the savage tenon (ARC, bighorn, etc). But I don’t want to burn half this barrel out or more fighting a crap action that will never deliver low SDs and consistent ignition.

How can I rule out action factor like inconsistent firing pin strike as a contributor to poor SD?

My budget is super tight, but I can hold out if it means a lot less frustration.

Another option is just burn this barrel as much as I want, learn from it, then get a custom action for the next barrel.

It was eye opening to me to get behind a buddy’s rifle and punch 16 consecutive Xs in a 200y sling target with a Acurracy Intl .308 shooting 40 year old m80 ball ammo from Malaysia. Crap ammo and the gun refused to shoot over 1 moa. Then I get behind my savage .223 and in the same target I’m struggling to shoot that well with hand loaded 80 ELDs.

This suggested to me that there’s some arrow here, not just Indian.

Is my cheap savage action holding me back to where im wasting time and money putting a premium barrel on?

Begs the question....why do folks buy cheap crap to begin with????????

 

[ebb]

If you haven't figured out that there is a big mental component to shooting and shooting well enough to win, then there is nothing I can say or do.

 

[Fuj]

Fuj,
Have you messed with the action screw torque at all?

Don't get me started .....LOL Since I use chassis stocks,
I bolt in a filler block for the mag well and transfer the
center screw on a 3 screw action. All 3 screws get 45 inch
lbs, starting from the front, then the front gets an additional
5 inch pounds. That's it. Any tuning is done at the loading
bench.

 

[std7mag]

Don't get me started .....LOL Since I use chassis stocks,
I bolt in a filler block for the mag well and transfer the
center screw on a 3 screw action. All 3 screws get 45 inch
lbs, starting from the front, then the front gets an additional
5 inch pounds. That's it. Any tuning is done at the loading
bench.

Yeahhhh.....
The Choate stock i have spec'd 50inlb.
Accuracy actually degraded.

 

[Ccrider]

If the new barrel is more accurate than the barrel on the gun, you should see improvement, assuming it is fitted properly and you can shoot the difference. I just sold a Savage that was capable of shooting 0s and 1s at 100. A lot of money was dumped into it to get it to that point. It still was not as smooth or tight as any of my custom actions even though the trigger was close. You can dress up a prostitute, put her in a conservative Sunday go to meeting dress and take her home to meet your mom. She may look good but still, all you got is a paid hooker. And mom will figure it out in short order.

I have not seen any Savages on top in any of the benchrest matches. If l were in your shoes, and I have been, I would hold off at this point, save up, and get a good custom action. You want be satisfied until you do. Not to say that you can’t have fun playing with the prostitute (Savage) until you realize that you can afford, have pretty much paid for and then get the custom action.

Btw, I have a savage in a chassis that will shoot .25 moa or better all day that I will sale you cheap if you want another one.

 

[22vartarg]

I have two Savage Target Actions that I built and have Shilen barrels on both. One in 224 Valkyrie and the other in 221 Fireball. Both will shoot .1-.2 groups and are very accurate. The red shoe triggers are able to get to a 1 lbs or slightly less. Not doing benchrest, just target shooting or varmint.

 

[ttfreestyle]

Sell the savages, buy a used custom and never look back

 

[mike a]

Lack of practice is the main thing that holds a shooter back. Shoot enough matches and you’ll be able to answer you owe question.