Savage MK 2 FVT as a first 22lr prone rifle?

[Kenny474]

I got my little brother into shooting about 2 years ago, and he has been really getting interested in trying prone shooting with irons. I have poor eyesight and have never really had a ton of interest in trying it and don't have a clue as to what would be a good place to start.

He is only 15 and wants to purchase the rifle himself, and is willing to spend about $350-400. (refuses to let my father buy it) The rifle he has been looking at is the Savage Mark 2 FVT, as it has a peep rear and an aperture front sight from the factory.

My question is this: will this rifle and sight set-up be a good starting point for him to try prone shooting? I am unsure if he wants to try and compete, but I would like him to be reasonably well set up anyway. Though I don't want to see him spend a ton either. I don't know if it matters, but he is pushing 6 feet tall(real close if not), so it has to fit him as well.

If anyone has input on this I would really appreciate it. My Dad asked me to get some info on the rifle, and as it's for my brother I don't want to steer him wrong.

Thanks
Kenny

 

[JLM]

I think a 22 is a great rifle to have for anyone and the MKII FVT is no exception.

There is a build thread on Snipers Hide regarding the MKII FV. There was also some talk of the FVT. I couldn't determine if the stock is solid wood or laminate or composite. The FVT is a huge mark up from the FV. If it's a solid wood stock then it's too much mark up - my opinion.

I am very close to getting an MKII FV and putting a Sharp Shooters laminated stock on it. I know that's a good stock. Ohh I also need to call Stockade and see if they'll inlet their praire dog special for the MKII FV. That would be hot. I have a 6br in the praire dog special. For me it would be an excellent practice rig.

Good luck,
Jeff

 

[watercam]

Tweak the trigger, glass bed the action and start finding ammo it likes. I have one that shoots .5"/50 yd. groups (I did add a second action screw however). If there is not a hand-stop rail they are about $50 installed and you are good to go!
You might consider lapping the bore a bit (I believe Superior Shooting Systems has a rimfire version of their lapping ammunition).
One other alternative you might consider is one of the Russian match rifles that MT Guns imports. They are about $500 ready to compete. www.mtguns.com
Have fun, Mike T.

 

[Kenny474]

Those are some nice looking rifles at MT. I will have to run it by my brother and see what he thinks, as he is the buying it. But I think it will serve him much better for not a lot more money. Either way, as long as he end up with something that shoots well.

Thanks

 

[Kenny474]

My brother ended up with the Savage. I had showed him the rifles at MT, but he still went with the Savage.

His reasoning is that if he doesn't like prone shooting, the Savage is a little more general purpose so he can still use it for other things like small game. If he likes it he will probably get something nicer, but he's only 15 so what he likes today may be different tomorrow.

I think he just wants to try something he will be better at than me. I have bad eyes and I don't do so well without optics. And he's sick of me kickin his butt with my pellet gun!

 

[RonAKA]

Kenny, I think this is a good gun. I guess it is too late now, but I believe in the US there is a Civil Marksmanship Program or something like that, that offers this specific gun to youth at a good price.

I have a BTVS, and in testing quite a few different types of ammo, I found that you have to spend a few bucks to get the best accuracy -- to hit the magic 1/4" at 50 yards for 5 shots. Remington Subsonic and CCI Standard Velocity were a couple that were not too bad, for a lower cost. Here are my test results:

 

[Kenny474]

Thanks for the info Ron, and it's never too late to get good info on ammo. I bought my brother a brick of Eley Match and he has been doing quite well with it. I know it's not the best, but he is only practicing in my Dad's back yard and it was far better than the high velocity stuff he was using.

He's had quite a few groups under 1/2"@50yds, though most are 3/4"-1", but he's getting better by the day. That kid will shoot for hours on end if he can, usually until he gets a neck cramp and has to stop. He's got a 75yd range I set up for him in my dad's back yard, so he doesn't have to go far to shoot. Now to get him to a match at the club to see how he does.

 

[RonAKA]

For sure you want to stay subsonic to get the best accuracy out of a .22LR. You can see in my list that you have to go all the way down to the discontinued Lapua HP to hit a supersonic load, and then a further number down to get to Lapua Speed Ace.

The Eley ammo is excellent and their 10X is probably the best in the world. However my gun does not like the EPS shaped bullet. I feed my rounds out of a magazine for convenience and I suspect the bullet is getting shaved by the chamber entrance, and that puts a hit on accuracy. One of these days I'm going to have to do a single shot test of the ammo. A guy at the range gave me 10 of the round nose 10X to test as well as another 10 of the CCI Green Tag. I normally base my accuracy tests on a minimum of 24 two shot groups, so 5 groups were not a real test. However based on that number, 10X round nose is the most accurate load I have tested. CCI Green Tag was also right up there, almost as good as Lapua Midas. Both are hard to get around here so I have never tested a full box.

For now I would guess that ammo is not the limiting factor in your brothers gun. And for me with peep sights, and practice target ammo, it never would be!!