.338 Elite Precision

[Hard Head]

I bought a Savage 110 Elite Precision in .338 Lapua with a EC Tuner and have gotten to the point ..............I'm losing my confidence in it. I have shot and reloaded sense I was 12 years old and that was almost 65 years ago. I have replaced the scope ,rings ready to take the ec tuner off, along with the magpul bi pod and shoot from a bag. I have played with it till ....I think I own part interest in all of the reloading components co. The only powder I have been able to get was LRT,it has worked very well,S.D. have been between 2-8 fps,velocities ran from 2700 to 2850 wit different charges and seating lengths. My last time out the very first shot was 2" low below the bull ,second shot was almost same hole , 3rd shot 2" above bull but dead in line next shot 3" to the left at 11 o'clock. Played with tuner and maybe was able to get 2 within 3/4 of an inch...................... I am really frustrated as next would be 2" away, I seen a vid on how to lighten the trigger on a accutrigger ,just finished it was the easiest trigger job I have ever don took less then 30 seconds and it sets at 12 Ounces now breaks like glass and no hang-ups. I took the bipod off thinking maybe I'm one of those who can not use a bipod, am even thinking of taking tuner off putting cap on it and trying again. After all it weighs about 17.5 pounds so it , So I think I will take the tuner off and see what happens..... I know that my bud's at the range will like me more, won't kill me, cause I had a 8 1/2 .458 Win that had full power loads and you new you were playing with power but it never hurt me. Pete

 

[jimbires]

I think I'd try sand bags first . next I think I'd pull it out of the chassis . make sure the barrel is tight , look at the recoil lug and the lug pocket , just give everything a good look . put it back in and torque the screws . look at the barrel crown . when you swapped the scope did you check to be sure the mounts were tight . if all this checks out , try it without the tuner . maybe take a look with a bore scope .

I shoot with a couple guys that shoot these , they shoot well . the guys were shooting 300 gr Berger's , now shooting 300 gr A-Tips . one guy is using H1000 powder , the other guy is RL33 . that's about all I know about what they're using . I put a rifle basic trigger in for the one guy , the other guy is still the factory trigger .

 

[QuietTexan]

I bought a Savage 110 Elite Precision in .338 Lapua with a EC Tuner

Sounds like it's just a bad factory barrel. I'd replace it.

To do it on the cheap you can get prefits from several different companies and can headspace with a fired case with some tape. This would most likely be cheaper than sending all the reloading components down the barrel to try to make what you have work.

I'm not typically a chassis guy, but I have several McRees that I've gotten to run well. Unless something is really wrong with the action install I'm still voting barrel.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Have you contacted Savage. If this is their premier rifle, it should shoot better. I've had good luck with Savages in the past, but everyone makes a bad one occasionally. Try the few things others have suggested to rule out anything simple, then contct the manufacturer. Also check out the Savage Shooters forum as these guys are all about Savage and are very helpful.

 

[blackburbot]

Barrel is done or just needs a super good cleaning. My smaller stuff in 6.5 and 7mm can go for ever without a good cleaning, just push loose stuff out with a dry patch. My 338s and 375 need a full on scrubbing after 40 rounds and when you are done cleaning, clean it again. If not accuracy and extraction problems start

 

[Hard Head]

It hardly copper fouls ,when I clean it it takes about 6 patches to get powder residue out, then one patch with copper remover ,sets for 3o seconds then sopper scrub with bore brush,followed with 5 wet patches dried then i patch with a piece of plastic wrap over jag then soaked patch, let sit 30 seconds and wipe with clean patch. The reason for plastic is you will never get a false reading of copper. Maybe it is the LRT I really do not know,it is a dirty powder ,but that is all that is around here. I have not seen my favorite R26 for over 2 years here , I do know that I have had a few rifles that hated Bi Pods,would take them off and everything would come back to normal. My favorite was a rem.700 long range ,cheaper one 30/06 used R26 with 208 Hornady,s. It put 5 shots into a circle the resembled 1, .357 hole, would put bi pod on and everything would go south. Maybe I can not use a bi pod. At almost 77 I have never seen a gun that puts 2 in the same hole then, Sh-t happens. 06 is gone wish it were back at R26 pushed those 208 at 2795 at 20 ft. from muzzle ,was cheap to shoot and was a heck of alot of fun too. R26 is 60 bucks a 3 if it were available here, bought my last 16 1#ers from Brownells for $16.95 each plus has mat,that was in 2019 and this is now. Pete

 

[moses42ak]

Out of curiosity, how often are you cleaning the barrel?

 

[Hard Head]

Every 20 rounds

 

[moses42ak]

Have you tried letting it dirty up and see if it settles in? My Norma as well as other calibers have shown an affinity for running dirty. And example would be a 338 Win that I have. After copper removal and deep cleaning it won't group again until after I have 15 rounds through it.

 

[9x23w]

Interesting, I have a 338LM Stealth about 5 years old and am having similar issues. Will put 2 together then a third one 2" off. I have switched the scope, mount, powder, and bullets and nothing has helped. Cannot detect any looseness in barrel or factory muzzle brake. Chassis gun so no issues with stock pressure. Gun shoots the same whether clean or dirty (dirty here means maybe 10-15 rounds fired). Spoke to Savage and they said to send it to them which I think is the next step unless someone has something else to try.

 

[Pointman]

I also have a BA Stealth that drove me to distraction. 3rounds are very close, then the next two right about an inch. I got fed up with "trigger resets with the acu-trigger and replaced it with a Timney. Now it does quite well, averaging around 3/4 inch. I had similar issues with other rifles with similar triggers, and they also settled down. I've also shot 10 round strings with the 338 LM, then put a chamber chiller in the open breech, then allowed the barrel to cool. INMO, the big Lapua heats up quickly, and perhaps that contributes to the wandering groups due to the "mirage" off of the hot barrel.

 

[DoneNOut]

Sorry to hear these woes with your rifle. It can be frustrating, but it can be fixed with enough analysis. I've gun plummed a lot of projects to success. Currently figuring one out as we speak.

In no particular order of importance:

1. I'd leave the muzzle break on. I have an EC tuner as well. It does a good job at reducing recoil, but I don't think there is enough weight on the tuner portion to make any differences.
2. Add more weight to the chassis either internally, or externally. MLOCK weights from MDT are available. My Elite 300 WM is 27lbs. I shot ELR for a while and it was a shooting dream! sub-MOA at the mile. Factory trigger too.
3. Cleaning every 20rnds for the first 60 rounds isn't a bad idea, but you need to see you are ridding all the copper out for it to be most effective. Then go every couple hundred rounds.
4. Bipod prone shooting isn't as easy as it's thought out to be to get the bullets into a small group consistently. I totally screwed up bipod loading and now use quasi F-Class technique with tremendous results.
5. If you are going to bag up a gun for groups, after you get it tight into the forward bag and rear bag, move yourself forward and backwards in a couple sharp moves to settle the bags. I used to not know this and it became an "AH HAH! epiphany moment.
6. Find the lands on the rifle and seat right at them. Trial & error, seat away from the lands by .020 at a time till they print. If they never print, you got a bullet/powder conflict. One of them needs to change and usually it's the powder type more times than not. RL33 is claimed to be a good 338 LM powder, made specifically for 338 LM.

I am a firm believer that bullet seating, DTL only make about a 20% (if that) difference. The barrel like a combo or it don't. My load development is quite short these days.

Seating - Start at the lands
Powder - run a 3-4powders and see which one prints best and running closest to velocity goal. Tweak that load by seating depth and charge weight by .3gr increments. If you can't get what you want, change bullets.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Wolf76]

If you're looking for things to try, try a different powder. H1000, rl33, n570. Sometimes it's the powder. I have no luck with accuracy using retumbo and Lil gun.

Also, IMO factory barrels shoot better dirty. Don't clean it until accuracy suffers.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

When was the last time you tried torque down the action screws? I ask because I have had two of the XLR Chassis (different from yours), but both would shoot the action screws loose. Something about them, just would not stay tight. 308 win and a 300 RUM. Could explain inconsistent groups.