Bedding recoil lug on Savage M12 LPV

[Engineering101]

I recently stuck a Shilen 270 WSM barrel on what was a new 300 WSM Savage 12 LPV. Normally I bed the recoil lug on these rifles and then head to the range. This time I thought to do it in reverse to see if I could tell any difference before and after bedding.

So I picked a couple of bullets (127 gr LRX and 140 gr Accubond), made up some middle of the road loads and went to the range. With 3 shot groups at 200 yards 3 different loads/bullets all shot MOA or a bit better. All the groups have 2 close together and then a flyer to open it up to around 1.8". It looks to me like none of these loads are on a node so they are "bad" loads. I've got the rifle sitting here with the lug now epoxy bedded. I'll let it cure a couple of days and head back to the range to see if it made a difference with these same "bad" loads. My guess is the loads will tighten up a couple of tenths.

 

[Black67]

That sounds very promising for this rifle, hopefully this will bring the three shot group closer together. Isn't this the same rifle that shot a nice "square" at 200 yards too?

Do you see a lot of copper from the Barnes?

 

[Bigeclipse]

I recently stuck a Shilen 270 WSM barrel on what was a new 300 WSM Savage 12 LPV. Normally I bed the recoil lug on these rifles and then head to the range. This time I thought to do it in reverse to see if I could tell any difference before and after bedding.

So I picked a couple of bullets (127 gr LRX and 140 gr Accubond), made up some middle of the road loads and went to the range. With 3 shot groups at 200 yards 3 different loads/bullets all shot MOA or a bit better. All the groups have 2 close together and then a flyer to open it up to around 1.8". It looks to me like none of these loads are on a node so they are "bad" loads. I've got the rifle sitting here with the lug now epoxy bedded. I'll let it cure a couple of days and head back to the range to see if it made a difference with these same "bad" loads. My guess is the loads will tighten up a couple of tenths.

You may also be surprised...sometimes those flyers are caused by non-bedded rifles or unfloated barrels.

 

[Engineering101]

Black67

Yeah this is the rifle that shot the square but I wasn't trying to make a square. I was aiming dead center for each shot. If I was able to do that on purpose, it would be the best shooting rifle I ever saw. But alas, it was only a 1.4 inch group in the form of a square.

As for copper from Barnes bullets - as with any good quality barrel I don't get a lot of copper from any bullet. This seems to be universally true, factory barrels pick up a lot more copper than custom barrels. I have a custom Brux 4 groove that never picks up any copper even after 100 rounds and I don't know how they do that. It shoots 0.5 MOA too.

Bigeclipse

For sure a non floated barrel will mess things up. I've had less dramatic improvements from bedding so it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[jrkempf]

I'm curious to see how this turns out, I have often wondered how much bedding a recoil lug would shrink groups. Looking forward to seeing the outcome.

 

[Engineering101]

OK, I made it back to the range today and have some results. However, I did get to thinking last night that I don't want to see what happens to a bad group because by its very nature it is not under control. I decided I wanted to see what happens to a good group so... I had a group with some 150 Berger HVLDs that ran 1.281 inches from 200 yards the other day. I loaded up some more of those and let them fly and.... wait for it... the group improved to exactly 1.250 inches. It was about what you might expect. I was kind of impressed that it actually happened. So, there you go undeniable proof that if you bed the recoil lug on your Savage it will without a doubt shoot better than it did before - unless it doesn't. In which case it might have been something else that caused all this.

All kidding aside and even though it is only a sample of 1, I am kind of glad that it got better. I can even live with the 0.6 MOA too though I'm not happy with the ES which was 20 fps the first try and 37 fps the second try today. I think I'm going to switch powders (have been using Magpro) and try again. I'm thinking maybe some H4831SC is in order. If I can get it to shoot say 1.5" or better from 200 yards but with a single digit ES, I'll take it and go hunting. Well actually I'll see what it does at 600 yards and assuming goodness, then I'll go hunting.

 

[Black67]

Glad to see that it did get better for you.

Would like to know how it does at 600 yards. That spot does look nice, to bad I am not a member.

 

[Engineering101]

While the 270 WSM was cooling down between shots yesterday I was also checking out my new prairie dog load in the 260 Rem Model 12 LRP. It is not epoxy bedded yet shot the group below from 200 yards. It has the HS Precision stock with the full length aluminum bedding block. Anyone out there who did bed this rifle and made it better?

 

[Punisher]

While the 270 WSM was cooling down between shots yesterday I was also checking out my new prairie dog load in the 260 Rem Model 12 LRP. It is not epoxy bedded yet shot the group below from 200 yards. It has the HS Precision stock with the full length aluminum bedding block. Anyone out there who did bed this rifle and made it better?

I don't have the same rifle, I have the same stock. Bedding it brought me down another 1/4 MOA. It is noticeably better, measuring group size gets difficult when you take 5 shots and it looks like two holes touching.

 

[Engineering101]

Punisher

I am kind of surprised that it made that much difference. Good to know. Thanks.