SAVAGE ACCURACY PROBLEM/.308

[jonbearman]

It is a savage package gun. It consists of a medium heavy fluted carbon steel barrrel with accutrigger,bushnell4200 8-32x40 scope,burris signature mounts on weaver blocks. It was broke in correctly and gets cleaned real well with the usual solvents and brushing techniques. The bore looks ok using a magnifier looking into the muzzle. It doesnt copper real bad,I would say about normal for a factory barrel.It sits in an HS Precision stock , torqued to 65 inch pounds. It doesnt seem to shift in the stock,but that doesnt mean during firing strings it might be moving.We have tried reloder 15,varget,h335, with 155 palma bullets, 175 mk's etc. We ran each powder in steps looking for the node to work on. So far havent found anything promising. Today it shot the worst at around 1-2 inchs with a couple fair 5/8th's groups ,then back to spraying all over the map. I cant figure it out as the crown looks real sweet. The brass comes out looking perfect with no real signs of overpressure. I am puzzled as to why all this terrible accuracy is happening as it shot real tight for the first 60 rounds.He has now shot an additional 60 rounds and these are the worst. Any ideas would be appreciated to solve the mystery. And he knows how to clean the bore and is a pretty fair shooter. I shot the gun and I am an experienced shooter and got lousy results. HELP!! The gun is brand new and so is the glass.

 

[queen_stick]

Can't provide any help, but a friend of mine had the exact same problem. He bought a standard hunting rifle from Savage with the accutrigger and the accustock. He's not into reloading, but none of the factory ammo he tried would work (2" groups, or more, at 100yards). We used his brass from the factory ammo and I tried a bunch of hand load combo's. Got it to shoot 1" at 100 yards... that's all it will do. My friend is happy with 1 MOA (it's a deer rifle), so he's happy with the gun now. I personally wouldn't have been happy at all, and I'm a Savage guy!

 

[Martin S]

Isn't 65 inch pounds a little much?
Martin
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/

 

[fdshuster]

65 inch pounds is the recommended setting from HS Precision stocks. jon: You may have a build up of carbon in the bore, and it would be quickly verified (or not) with a borescope. Patches coming out clean/white does not mean the bore is carbon free. A borescope tells it like it is.

 

[jonbearman]

I gotta make friends with someone who has a borescope as I cant afford one right now.I am going to start saving for one in the near future.Looks like I will have to clean it rigorously for him so to speak. Thanks Frank.

 

[carrollshooter]

I have a Model 12 LP DBM in 243 that does about the same thing. I can have 5 shot groups at .4 MOA and the next time out it may be 1MOA. The odd thing is that the first and usually second shots are high from a clean or dirty barrel then as the gun is shot it starts grouping better as it gets hot. But then again it might shift POI during a string and end up with 1.5 MOA. I am about to give up on it. I also have the same gun in 308 that is very consistent.

 

[nfhjr62]

I will concur on this use this web site http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/

 

[Keith Glasscock]

It could very well be the barrel, but before I changed it I'd take some JB bore paste and go at the throat (in the absence of a borescope) for say, 10 strokes. If the patch comes out with flakes of black stuff or dark black stuff on the patch(carbon can be a little difficult to tell from polishing remnants of the steel, but they do look different), then you have carbon in the throat.

Remember to do a full cleaning after using JB - just to get everything out, and see if it uncovered any more powder residue or copper.


I have read that switching powders without cleaning can lead to mysterious buildups in a very few rounds. Specifically, I have a friend that claims that changing from ball powders to extruded really does build up carbon in a hurry. I have no direct evidence of this, but he is the one that owns the borescope.

If it isn't a buildup in the throat, at least he has a very clean, inaccurate barrel.

I am having a new 308 barrel replaced after 100 rounds. Did the same nonsense: 5/8" once out of 5 groups, then 3"

Best of luck, keep us informed...

 

[artbosco]

It is a savage package gun. Today it shot the worst at around 1-2 inchs with a couple fair 5/8th's groups ,then back to spraying all over the map. I cant figure it out as the crown looks real sweet. I shot the gun and I am an experienced shooter and got lousy results. HELP!

What did your WIND FLAGS and their TAILS tell you that was taking place down range?

What did your WIND PROBE tell you on the angle?

Was the wind gusting, steady, or switching?

What was the speed?

What kind of condition were you trying to shoot in?

Were you being consistent with condition selection prior to pulling the trigger?

Had you scoped out the predominant condition you were trying to shoot in before you started looking for consistently small groups?

It's not always the rifle that's in error. There's a host of things that have an affect on bullet impact.

The ONE most overlooked by the average shooter is "Mariah" [the wind].

And, we haven't even discussed MIRAGE yet!

 

[BoydAllen]

Where are you with seating depth? Also, I would not go directly to 65 in. lbs. without testing in 5 in. lb increments, starting at 45 and working up loosening and re tightening for each step. I understand that the military does this with bolt action sniper rifles. Being able to use 65 in. lbs. is not just about the stock. The bottom metal needs to be up to the load, some is not. Another thing to check is the bedding, with a dial indicator and a mag. base. Just because it has a bedding block, does not mean that the bedding is correct. What sort of bench, rest, and bag setup are yo using?

 

[bozo699]

Jon,
Frank might be right on the carbon, however there are a couple of other things to check also, a new unknown scope means nothing, try a proven one. check all screws, sometimes savage rifles can be picky on the torque of the action screws, back them off to 35 lbs and work back up,

I will concur on this use this web site http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/

also make sure none of the action screws are touching the bolt, make sure bolt isn't touching the stock as well as the trigger. let us know how it turns out Jon
Wayne.