First five shot groups with Savage LRPV 6mm BR

[Gary C]

Today was 40 Deg and a light breeze so I had to get out to the range and get some groups on paper with my new Savage.
I was hoping for a good starting point with the new rifle and was not disapointed at all.
I started with a safe load of 28 grains of IMR 4895 and a Berger 108 seated .020 into the lands.
I didn't have the CCI BR primers yet when I loaded these and used Fed Match primers.
I will bump the shoulders .002 and try increasing the charge by .2, .4, .6 and see how they shoot and see if any pressure signs show up.
Thanks for all the help!
More fun to come!

 

[JFrank]

Nicely Done..

 

[NZ_Fclass]

Nice - that's going to be a shooter.

 

[Gary C]

NZ
I was very pleased and a little supprised at the size of these groups.
Truth be told I didn't really know what to expect.
I don't know anybody with a Savage and went by what I had read online about the rifle and selected the caliber after reading comments and reviews here on this site.
I'm very glade to have found the site and selected the rifle and the scope also.
It is so far ahead of anything I has ever seen.
I had to work on the placement of the rifle on the bags more than I would like
to have it sitting in a somewhat free state so recoil would be free of any pressure from me.
This seemed to me to be proper.
I do need to get a front rest and think I will be purchasing a Bald Eagle.

 

[Dub]

Yes a good front rest will make your testing more meaningful. Looks like you are doing great though as is.

 

[Bill Norris]

NZ
I was very pleased and a little supprised at the size of these groups.
Truth be told I didn't really know what to expect.
I don't know anybody with a Savage and went by what I had read online about the rifle and selected the caliber after reading comments and reviews here on this site.
I'm very glade to have found the site and selected the rifle and the scope also.
It is so far ahead of anything I has ever seen.
I had to work on the placement of the rifle on the bags more than I would like
to have it sitting in a somewhat free state so recoil would be free of any pressure from me.
This seemed to me to be proper.
I do need to get a front rest and think I will be purchasing a Bald Eagle.

The B E will definitely help with the rifle being solid. If you get the windage adjustable top u can delete the cable very easily.

 

[perazziguy]

NZ
I was very pleased and a little supprised at the size of these groups.
Truth be told I didn't really know what to expect.
I don't know anybody with a Savage and went by what I had read online about the rifle and selected the caliber after reading comments and reviews here on this site.
I'm very glade to have found the site and selected the rifle and the scope also.
It is so far ahead of anything I has ever seen.
I had to work on the placement of the rifle on the bags more than I would like
to have it sitting in a somewhat free state so recoil would be free of any pressure from me.
This seemed to me to be proper.
I do need to get a front rest and think I will be purchasing a Bald Eagle.

If you go with the Bald Eagle rest, contact @carlsbad for a thrust bearing. I just put one on mine and it is a marked improvement!
Jonathan Taylor

 

[Bill Norris]

If you go with the Bald Eagle rest, contact @carlsbad for a thrust bearing. I just put one on mine and it is a marked improvement!
Jonathan Taylor

+ 1

 

[Texas10]

Somebody here sells a very nice benchrest adapter to fit under the forearm of the stock giving it nice flat surface to ride the bag. Fits a Savage BVSS stock perfectly, not sure what stock you have on yours. It does raise the forearm about an inch so you may need a shim under the rear bag to better utilize your Bald Eagle rest.

Here, found the page...https://theurbanriflemanstore.com/savage-110-112-12-bvss-stock-3-flat-benchrest-bag-adapter-parallel-to-bore/

 

[Comandante]

Gary C, you have a PM

 

[moorepower]

Looks like it will be fun to see what some tuning will do to those sub .4 groups, and a few more rounds down the pipe. Not many Savage haters on the thread yet.

 

[Gary C]

Moorepower,
No haters at all.
I feel the people who run a full race gun or guns may have started where i am now at some point and understand that it's a process.
Some may have jumped in with both feet after being introduced to the sport by an active competitor .
Thats not the case here.

 

[moorepower]

For the money, they are very hard to beat. Mine is a 1-12, and I also have one in .204.

 

[Gary C]

I bought a Remington Varmint special 25-06 back in 1971 for $148.
There was a used Redfield 3200 target scope at the shop and I put
it on the 25-06.
I shot a lot of wood chucks with that rig and some paper too.
It was good for a 3/4 inch group@ 100 yards and a chucks head at 250 yards using 75 GR hollow points and 4064 loaded near the max.
That was the last rifle I shot for groups and it was 50+ years ago.
I'm not sure what a Remington would give me out of the box but was very pleased with the Savage groups.
I considered Tikka, Bergarra, and others. I knew that I didn't want a chassis or magazine so that put me on to the Savage.
I gave learned a LOT about precision reloading on this site and am sure that comtrbuted a lot to the great groups I got too.

 

[WyleWD]

If you go with the Bald Eagle rest, contact @carlsbad for a thrust bearing. I just put one on mine and it is a marked improvement!
Jonathan Taylor

This recommendation for a thrust bearing is interesting. Can you elaborate as to: Where does it go, do you have a picture and or part number?? Thanks in advance. WD

 

[perazziguy]

This recommendation for a thrust bearing is interesting. Can you elaborate as to: Where does it go, do you have a picture and or part number?? Thanks in advance. WD

The thrust bearing goes under the mariners wheel. I'm at "work" right now but if you search this site for "thrust bearing" you should find more info. The fella's handle is @carlsbad on here. He is most helpful if you have any questions.
Jonathan Taylor

 

[RegionRat]

I had to work on the placement of the rifle on the bags more than I would like
to have it sitting in a somewhat free state so recoil would be free of any pressure from me.
This seemed to me to be proper.
I do need to get a front rest and think I will be purchasing a Bald Eagle.

Gary, you are right that we all start somewhere, or re-start in your case. Don’t worry about your Savage not being custom or state of the art, it is a good starting point and you will learn as you go and you can upgrade when the time comes.

You will want to learn the differences in the bags and supports as time goes on. I agree with the advice to look into the bag rider and tweaks to the BE rests.

More importantly, now is the time to learn the effects of free recoil versus more support. The weight, inertia, balance, bags, friction, etc., are all very important once you start getting interested in group size, not to mention wind. ETA: Get wind flags early and visit some matches to get other experience by osmosis.

You are going to have many days of bad and good groups, but you will enjoy the process regardless. Congrats on a great start and Best Wishes for 2022!

 

[Gary C]

Rat,
I used free recoil to get the groups shown.
I used a tall front bag that I got back in the 70's that can be seen in the pics.
I had to do a lot of manipulating to get the rifle on target with the cant bubble level and then
let the rifle go with no pressure to make the shot.
I have a Protektor windage rest with hopfully the correct front bag I bought off of E-Bay on th eway and that will make the shot process a lot easier and more consistant.
My club's range is out to 300 and there is a plan being formed to bring in a large dozer and rework the whole range with improved level grade and better berms.
Who knows? We may choose to run some shoots with the reworked range and fill a void for some bench rest competetion in MA.

 

[Comandante]

You have a PM