Converting Savage from 223 Rem to 6.5 Creedmoor.

[J.d. Popkes]

At that point, it's honestly not worth it. Spend that money on something like a Kelbly Atlas, Stiller Tac 30, ARC, etc.

Lots of good options out there for less than 1000 bucks... which is what you'll have into the savage by the time you're happy with it... and then you'll be frustrated with the trigger.

This is correct

Been there done it have the tee shirt.

Do what you want, it’s a free country, kinda.

But you’ll have more money invested in an inferior flawed receiver than what you can get a better one for. And if your shooting hobby continues you will probably get a better action anyway. You can get prefits for anything.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Buy a new 308 bolt head. Send the old bolt & new bolt head to Grimstod who is a member here and he can do his magic to your bolt. You will be glad you did.

 

[One Eye Pete]

Don’t overthink it. Meloniting the action blueprinting it and pinning the rail aren’t going to significantly improve accuracy. If you are going to upgrade a Savage put your money into the barrel, trigger and stock bedding. Take a look at a Shilen match or select match stainless steel barrel from Northland shooter supply. Preferably a 30in bull barrel if you want to shoot long range and weight isn’t an issue. They are a bargain and are about the best thing you can do to improve a savage. The Achilles heel of a savage is the trigger. The best trigger for a Savage is a matter of opinion. Personally I like the red blade Savage target trigger which you can get down to about 6 to 8 oz. but they aren’t sold separately unless you find one in the classifieds. Rifle Basics, Jard and ELF make aftermarket savage triggers. As far as a stock again it’s all a matter of preference as long as the bedding is good and it fits you that is what matters.
Long story short, a Savage 12 with a Shilen barrel, decent trigger and a well bedded stock will shoot as well as anything you can buy off the shelf in a gun shop. Is it going to shoot as well as a gun custom built around a custom action? Probably not. Having said that I have seen guys shooting guns with Savage actions kick the but of guys shooting custom action guns at long range club matches. It’s not always how much you spend on a gun, the shooter and reloader have an awful lot to do with it too.

 

[Bill K]

You really do not have to spend money for a blue

I would like to build it myself, but I want to have the action and barrel melonited, and have the 20moa rail pinned and have the action blueprinted, I do not have the tools to do this,

print of the savage action. That floating bolt head cures 98 % of the normal issued with actions.
DIY is easy with a action wrench and barrel vise and a couple head space gauges.

 

[Mark611]

Ok, guy's, here's what I did on my last build, I used a Savage model11 308win, it was a light weight sporter, the only parts that were used off that rifle were the receiver and bolt, I used a Brux M40 contour barrel blank, it was cut back to 25'' then threaded on both ends, and cut with match reamers, the action was trued up how much I don't know, I know the lugs on the bolt were lapped and the bolt was tuned up, I had the action and barrel Melonited, I used a stock from Kevin at Stockade Gun stocks that uses AICS mags, it has a tuned up rifle basics trigger in it, This rifle loves 175gn SMK's with my hand loads! at 100yds I can 4 out of 5 shots thru the same hole, here's a pix just over 200yds! this group is .5''

 

[Mark611]

Seeing's how nobody else has anything to say? I will add all of the things I want to do to my new build were done to the 308win rifle that I shot the group with; I don't have tons of pix of the groups my 308 shoots because they all pretty much look like that 1! and IMO I don't think spending 1k on an action would shoot any better than the Savage action shoots! The guys at Walnut Armory NC. did all the work on this rifle and they put together a fine shooter for me, JD is a friend of mine, JD and Dean build competition rifles, I bought all the parts and sent them to them, and the accuracy shows what I got back! well worth my money!