Savage barrel info

[favload]

I am looking for some information about the factory Savage SS bull barrels they use on their LRPV and F-class rifles. I would like to know if they are made in house and by what process and if the company does anything special to them,or how they fit them to the action) compared to their usual models. Seeing how mine is performing so well I would like to know if this is an anomoly or average. Currently my 6BR is shooting in the 2's to 4's consistantly. I'm not sure I would do any better with an aftermarket barrel. The gun will out shoot or keep up with any gun I have shot against,any factory Remington and even my brother's custom Rock barreled/BAT action 308) at 150yds. Past that it starts to go down hill fast,1-12tw, 80 or 68gr Berger bullets). Not sure why this is but to 150yds its awesome.
thanks

 

[chino1969]

I don't know about their current barrel situation but there was an article in a past issue of Precision Shooting about Savage that went into their barrel production and straightening techniques. The situation you describe is not uncommon with Savage's reputation for uncanny out of the box accuracy.

Here's an interesting phenomenon I've discovered recently with barrels. I have Kreigers, Harts, Pac Nors, & Douglas barrels set up on switch barrel receivers. One of the receivers is a Savage single shot worked by Fred Moreo, and the other two are Remington 40X receivers trued and blued. I also own a Hawkeye borescope which I examine all my barrels with in detail. I look at a barrel when it is brand new, monitor break in, throat erosion, firecracking, cleaning technique, etc. Examining the bore of a benchrest match grade barrel, with a borescope, shows the extreme precision these barrels are made to. The barrels are lapped to a fine finish with no visible imperfections; they truly are a work of precision. Douglas makes a very good barrel but they do not lap their barrels. Looking at a Douglas barrel will show the tooling marks that are removed by the lapping process with the match grade benchrest barrels. The Douglas barrels I have owned have been every bit as accurate as some of my benchrest barrels. This has led me to assume that accuracy is primarily dependent on tight tolerance control with respect to bore dimensional tolerance, linearity, and end to end consistency. Lapping a bore removes the jacket tearing microscopic ridges and imperfections which is an enhancement to accuracy and ease of cleaning, but secondary.

I just bought an Adams & Bennett Savage pre-fit in .22-250 in chrome moly as an experiment. The bore is rough, the lands are jagged in places, and the price was right,$129.00). I thoroughly cleaned the bore and lapped it with 320 grit compound. This smoothed over many of the rough edges and it looks pretty good. I'm going to shoot the barrel, no break in at all and do a detailed study to satisfy my own curiosity. I know the good barrels will shoot but I want to see what a low priced barrel will do.

Lou Baccino
Chino69

 

[flatlander]

Lou,
I'd like to hear your results when you get the A&B barrel up-and-shooting. Were there any obvious loose spots in the bore while you were lapping it?

There are times when I'd like to have a relatively inexpensive barrel of decent quality - like when I want to experiment with a new cartridge before making the commitment to use a Bartlein or Krieger blank.