that barrel will need at least 100 rounds to break in. such it is with factory barrels. Savage uses good barrels--they are button rifled--but they still need some break in, as they're not hand lapped or anything like that.
My 110BA began to really shoot great, consistently, at around the 150 round count.
Lots of guys will get new rifles and try one powder and bullet combo, and come to the wrong conclusion that "my rifle hates H1000", or "my rifle hates the Sierra 250 grain Matchkings..." when in fact, they were simply shooting those rounds during barrel break in and if they'd just go back and try those bullets and that powder that their rifle "hates" then they'd likely find it doesn't hate 'em so much after all.
You don't mention what brass you're using... I'll assume Lapua.
The 89 to 89.5 grain area with Retumbo and 300's should work well. I'm shooting 89.3 grains of Retumbo behind Sierra's scarce as hen's teeth 300 grain Matchkings (awaiting more to be made, the distributors say)... :( ...and that load shoots really great, running 2700 fps so it's not killing the brass and the throat.
My barrel quit coppering up at around 100 to 150 rounds. Up to that point, there was a fair bit of copper coming out after only 20 to 30 shots. It runs pretty clean now, just crossed over the 200 round count last week.
So I'd say give it a little more time. The 250 grain Matchkings should shoot well, but I don't know what powder charge to suggest. Somewhere upwards of 94 grains of Retumbo, most likely.
The Savages have really tight chambers... you will probably find that you can barely--if at all--slip a new bullet into the case neck of a fired case. So pressures will run higher then they will with other .338LM guns on the market. For that reason, I wouldn't advise working too close toward Hodgdon's max charges... probably try between 94 and 95.5 grains of Retumbo with the 250's and see how things look. That is in Lapua brass, by the way. Bump those charges up a grain for Hornady brass...
Dan
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