Scored on a Savage MK1 Rifle

[dksac2]

The Penn State shooting team bought a bunch of the Savage MK1 target rifles with the peep sights, single shot, they thought they were too light, so they sold them all and bought some other type of rifles, I'm not sure what they bought.

I love shooting Peep sights, to me, they offer far more challange than a scope and the groups you can shoot are just as small out to 50 yds with practice. If you are not shooting peeps, you are missing out.

Anyway, they were selling them for $225.00. Some had minor surface rust and were test fired. I contacted the seller right after the ad was placed and asked him if he would hand pick a good one for me.

I got a brand new one, never fired, bolt never even put in the rifle, zero surface rust, $250.00 shipped, it was mine. They retail $417.00 and cost almost as much on the street. The cheak riser has not been installed yet.

It even came with a sling, can't wait for some good weather to break it in and put it through it's paces. Future plans include a wood target stock, my gunsmith is experimenting with threading a custom 1" barrel and the receiver. He getting actions from Savage with no pin holes drilled in them, then he's going to make sure everthing is perfectly in line. It should be a tac driver. I want to wait to see what kind of results he gets first.
Mean while I want to see what it will do stock, accurize it and then go for the full custom.
I think they had 10 rifles, they were gone in 8 hours. I'm just sorry I didn't buy 5 of them for re sale.

Here are some pics. The first pic is of my BRJ that I added peep sights to.

My Best, John

My shooting range just a little snow to deal with. The backstop will be against the shed, I can't get all the way back to the bench, it's butt deep in snow. I'm lucky, being in the county and living in Idaho, you can shoot in the county as long as it's safe.

 

[cb1229]

Those are good shooters just keep an eye on the screws on the rear sight for the detente they like to fall out after awhile and you cant find them and then your waiting to get them from Williams

 

[dksac2]

Thanks for the info on the sight. I was wodering if anyone else had this model. I don't know if I got a very good one or if Savage makes sure they put their best barrels on these target rifles. Also, the trigger is so light compared to others, I was wondering if anyone knew if maybe they used a lighter spring in it. It had just a sligh bit of roughness whic is getting better as I shoot it.
Once I have worked the trigger, it should be excellent.

Too bad they didn't put them in a nice target style stock.

Thanks, John K

 

[JoeM57]

The MK I is a very good rifle. If your's came with the Accu-trigger - you can adjust the pull poundage to fit your needs. I have the MKII FVT and have been very happy with it even its factory stock.

 

[cb1229]

I think every thing is stock unless they ordered them from savage to particular spec. I have had several savages and been around a bunch of them I found that wolf or sk and eley black works good in those rifles I had one i put in a sharp shooter supply stock brought the wieght up to 8.5 pounds bedded it and floated it shoots under 1inch at 100m buddy wanted a gun to shoot 3p his first year he average was 265 out of 300 next is put a rail in it and a but hook.

 

[dksac2]

The cheap stock is one of the worst features of the rifle.

I shot it when new, groups were not great as these need at least 500 through the tube to break them in.
Yesterday I had about 150 rounds through it and fired about 50 rounds into targets at 25 yds. I had a front sight that was too small for the target used, but was getting around 3/8" groups consistantly, very few fliers, I was shoot SK and then some Blazer, wich shot almost as good as the SK.

I'm looking forward to getting the barrel broken in. Right now the trigger weight is 2.4 lbs, I am going to do a trigger job, lighten it some more and get rid of the creep, that alone will help.

I want to see how well I can get it to shoot in the synthetic before changing to a wood stock.

The othere issue is the crown, there is an uneven amount of burnt carbon around it, so it will be re cut.

In the end, I don't expect an Annie, but I'd like it to shoot some very respectable and consistant groups.

I love experimenting and making a rifle the best it can be with stock barrel etc, just modifying different things for slight improvements. I guess that's because a retired gunsmith is a bored shooter unles he can improve his firearms. I have other plans, much more involved for this rifle in the future. A fellow smith and myself are working on some things that have not been done to the Savage MKII's yet, I'm waiting to see the results, a fair amount of machine work, very precise is involved.

Of course this is only on new rifles, my old ones stay stock, too many gems being molested.

My Best, John

 

[BKfromPA]

Wow! Where did you see the ad for these?? I wonder if they still have any left. I live 30 minutes from State College and would like to pick one up if any are still available. Can you provide me any information on how to obtain one. Thanks Brian

edit: Darn,, just read you first message closer. I'm SOL again!

 

[dksac2]

They had at least 10, were advertised on anothe site, they were all gone in about 6 hours, some went to a kids shooting club, good place and rifle for kids to learn with.

Mine is coming along nicely, groups are getting better as I approach the 500 rd mark with less leading.

It's still stock, but not for long, it will be getting an accurizing package in a week or so and some work on the stock also, one side is touching the barrel.

I want to see how it shoots stock once broken in, then I'll start with the modifications.

I fired about 150 rounds today, just a 3/4" hole in the target. It cleaned up a whole lot easier, the barrel looks very nice for a production one.

My best, John

 

[BRKHornet]

John,
Good grab on this one, you always seem to be at the right place at the right time. Any way you can utilize the factory stock? Perhaps re-enforcing things with Devcon or something similar? that would allow you the Sleeper effect.....
Keeps us posted, I know where I can pick one up although not sure of the potential.

BRKHornet

 

[dksac2]

I'm in the right place sometimes.

I think the rifle has a lot of potential for a Savage, I like the fact it's a single shot, stiffer action, no cut out for a magazine, the sights are decent, Williams are not top shelf, but adjust and work great.

I think with some work, more rounds to break in the barrel more, she will be a decent shooter.

I like the cheek rest, a little extra weight in the buttstock balances it better, it's light, but front heavy.

The right side of the stock is touchng the barrel, I can't center it in the barrel channel, so I need to do some work there, it's free floated till you grab the forend. It also came with a military sling, always a good thing to have when not on the bench, but I'm worried about too much flex and I don't really want to add the weight stiffining the forend, I'll just have to see how it does.

Trigger job, re crown and bed the action, at least the little bit you can with a Savage synthetic stock, it will be a fun project.

I love shooting with peep sights, wanted the MK1 for a while, I just didn't want to pay the price (about $320.00 wholesale plus shipping), so finding a NIB at a good price made it worth while. I didn't want the MKII, it's faster on the bench to just load one at a time, it has a good design, puts the round in the chamber with ease evey tme.

If anyone else has one or gets one, I'd love to compare notes. It's drilled for a scope, so sooner or later I'll scope it to see just how small I can get it to consistantly shoot.

Bottom line, it will be a good platform to build on.

It might just be fun to leave the synthetic stock on it, I can get it streightened out, it would make a good sleeper.

It might be fun to set the barrel back about 3/4" and re chamber to an EPS chamber, that can be good for as much as a couple tenths sometimes with the right ammo.

After today, I'm near 500 rounds through it, I've cleaned the barrel well after every shooting session and it's leading far less every time, it was not all that bad to clean today. I did soft lap it when it was new.

I have not scoped the barrel, but looking down it with good light, it looks pretty darn smooth, I think it's going to come in pretty nice by the time I have another 500 rounds through it. Time will tell, but it's a darn good barrel from what I can see for a stock Savage barrel.

My Best, John