several Savage questions

[ohnomrbillk]

I have been planning to build a new long range varmint rifle, and received a Savage Target action (RBLP 308 boltface) as a gift today. You guys have been awful helpful on my previous questions, and was hoping for a few points in the right direction.

1. I was planning on a 22/6mm on my original build. Is this single shot action going to be about right for this cartridge, or will I be better of with a 22/243 because of action length? I want to use a 8 or 9 twist, and shoot the 75 or 80gr amax. cartridge overall length with the 22/6mm could be as long as 3.100 inches.

2. This gun will be shot off a bench, and off a bipod. Heavy is fine. I was thinking of using the same contour as a precision varmint gun savage makes. I believe it is untapered and 1" in diameter (outside of the threading, of course). Am I on the right lines for contour, or can I go fatter? These are large shank actions, and have 3 pillars, if it makes a difference.

3. I was thinking of a 3 groove or polygonal from pacnor, or a ratchet rifled from shilen. Staying within this price range, is there someplace else I should be looking?

4. I like the looks of the laminated varmint tactical stock from sharp shooter supply. I would opt for the adjustable comb and butthook. Has anyone tried stocks out from these guys? What was the quality? Is the accessory rail a good investment for the bipod?

5. Originally, I was going to use a luppy 6.5 - 20 leupold. You guys don't seem to like them. I can't afford a nightforce. If I stayed in the luppy price range, what scopes did you have in mind? I want better image than a Supersniper(nothing against them...I own one). I kind of like the IOR MP8 reticle, but have never seen an IOR scope in person, and am a little curious on quality. My tactical shooting guys aren't fans, but my benchrest guys are. Any thoughts?

I can smith most things on my own...I build custom mausers for friends and family. They are all sporter or varmint style guns. Not new to assembly, machining, etc....just don't know much about what works on a savage. I hope this helps with answers. I really appreciate the help.
wk

 

[James Jones]

The action you have is a great base for an accurate build , as for the chambering , well since its a single shot it realy doesen't matter how long the round is , you can make it a 300 RUM if you want. I actualy know of a 300RUM built on a Rem 700 short action , the bolt has to be pulled to remove a live round but other than that it works great.

1) yep the action is fine for that round. Why that round though?

2) you can make it a full 1.35" barrel if you like , in fact I would recomend
that you set the barrel up with a shoulder like the Rem does rather
than with the barrel nut system

3) Three groove barrels work great for hotter rounds as they tend to last
a little longer due to the larger land size but this extra land size is very
hard on the thin jacket LR bullet and will tend to make them blow up
I have never seen or heard of anybody that was happy with a Pac-nor
Poly rifled barrel , I would look else where. The shilen Ratchet is said
to be good but I personaly don't care for either of these barrel makers
as their barrels tend to be soft. I would look at Lilja , Broughton ,
Rock Creek or Kreiger.

4) have never delt with Fred's laminated stocks but everything else he
deals with is of decient quality , if you like a laminated I'd call Joel Russo
he is a member here and make an A-5 clone out of many differant
colors of laminates , his customer service is top notch as his stocks

5) theirs nothing wrong with the Lupy your looking at it will serve you well
But if you can swing the price of the IOR they are better scopes , most
Guys here like the scopes with larger "tactical" style adjustment dials
as they are a bit faster to adjust when hunting big game where shots
are dialed in upon ranging , not realy needed on a dog town.

 

[HRstretch]

You might try posting this question on

Savage Shooters

A small fee of $12 a year gets you access to all parts of this site and there is a lot more than $12 worth of wisdom there.

I would keep the barrel nut, then you could get multiple barrels to switch out. There is an article there for members on this and many other subjects. I think you will like this action and the Savage is really user friendly for DIY guys.

Good luck on your project.

 

[mikebob]

the savage action would work great, I would do like hrstretch suggested about savage shooters and the barrel nut. They helped me a bunch. I built a 22-243 with 90gr bergers and love it but it will limit your range on deer size game to about 700 yrd max with perfect shot placement. I would go with something bigger if your wanting long range deer hunting like 7mm, 30 cal.

 

[chain]

Here is my $.02 my standard run of the mill savage will shoot less than 1/2 moa if I am good that day. It has been trued by a gunsmith but I do have a factory barrel. I was having a mauser action re-barreled to a 260 rem but decided to do it on a savage action instead, I love them. I also love my IOR scope, I have 200 or so rounds thru my 300 win since that scope has been on, I have clicked up and down and used the reticle for hold over (MP-8) everything works as it should, glass is excellent. This rifle is a hunting rifle so I don't have any target/benchrest data to give but I am relatively new to this and the scope/rifle combination is really working for me

 

[James H]

1. The Savage action you have should be great for your project, you may need to pull the bolt to eject a loaded round but that is only a minor issue and it may work fine without pulling the bolt.

2. I would go with a PacNor heavy palma contour and a standard 4 or 5 groove and lose the barrel nut. The only advantage the barrel nut has for a switch barrel gun is that you can have a pre-chambered barrel shipped to you and install it yourself, it sounds to me like you chamber your own barrels. Losing the nut allows a heavier shank which I like. The action you have will handle the heavy barrel fine. I have 4 groove PacNor 6mm 14tw barrel that has been just great, fouls very little and shoots great.

3. Answered in #2 but I'll add go with the super match grade.

4. I have no experience with SSS stocks so I'll leave that one alone.

5. I have been having very good luck with Sightron scopes I have always felt Leupold is overpriced for what you get.

I read your comment about benchrest guys, are you shooting benchrest and if so where at I am only about 100 miles from you and was just curious.
James

 

[ohnomrbillk]

1) yep the action is fine for that round. Why that round though?
.

Thanks for the response. Why this round.... destruction of prairie dogs comes to mind. Did you have a different caliber in mind for these purposes?
wk

 

[ohnomrbillk]

I read your comment about benchrest guys, are you shooting benchrest and if so where at I am only about 100 miles from you and was just curious.
James

Thanks for the response. My friends I spoke of live in the Denver metro area, and have several shoots there. I am hoping to go up for a shoot over the upcoming holidays, but time will tell. If you'd like to get in touch with them, let me know, and I'll be happy to arrange it. wk

 

[James Jones]

Shooting the standard 6mm Rem or the Improved , or the 243 Ai will give you longer barrel life and higher speeds with the same weight bullets.. I put a 243 Ai together for a buddy after he wanted a 22-243 Ai for the longest time just to shoot 50-55gr bullet up past 4000fps , I showed him that the 55gr Ballistic tip in .243 actualy has a higher BC than the 55gr Ballistic tip in .223 and it can be driven alot faster with les wear and less picknyness from the rifle and with a 1-10 twist you can also step up to the 75gr bullet and that will hit as had and blow better at long range than the heavy 22 cal bullets made from shooting paper.

My vote would be the 243 Ai with a 1-10 twist barrel , load up some 55gr Ballistic tips of 58gr V-max to as fast as the bullet will stand which should be around 4200fps , these are for shooting dogs out to 600yds then load up some 75gr pills for the longer dogs out to 1000yds.
With the 243 you can use Lapua brass and it will fit in the ejection port live.