First Savage Build - .260 Ackley

[codyadams]

So this last April I had a .260 Ackley built on a Remington action, and love the gun. The only problem I have with it, is it's too heavy and awkward for timber hunting and packing in with it's 30" medium Palma contour barrel, a little over 13 lbs ready to hunt. So, I'm going to build another .260 Ackley timber/pack rifle. I don't need it super light, but would like to keep it under 10ish lbs ready to hunt. I want to put this gun together myself, and plan on ordering an action wrench and savage barrel nut wrench, go/no-go gauges, and using one of the pre-fit barrels.

I have a completely factory Savage Trophy Hunter XP 11 youth in 308 That I got for nieces and nephews to use, but they are getting their own guns from their parents, so it is what I'm building this project on.

For Christmas my awesome girlfriend got me a Boyds Prairie hunter stock in coyote for this gun. I'll do the bedding myself, I have several sets of pillars and devcon on hand.

For the barrel, I'm not totally decided yet. I like the Criterion barrels from Northland Shooters Supply, I'm thinking the heavy sporter contour, chambered in .260 AI, cut to 25", and ordering it fluted. They advertise the weight at 3.5 lbs @26" unfluted, so guessing...fluting and 1" taken off would take about 8 oz away, so put me at 3ish lbs, right?

Action w/bolt, accutrigger, metal trigger guard and bolt release, magazine, and metal bottom metal is about 2lb 5 oz from what I saw on another site...

Boyds advertises that stock at 2lb 13 oz, plus a couple oz for bedding and pillars, let's just say 3 lbs...

So that puts me at 8 lb 5 oz, leaving about 1 lb 11 oz for scope, rings and bases. I'm thinking something in the 4-14X range. The heaviest scope I have looked at is the nightforce SHV at 26.9 oz, and it would put me over my 10 lb mark by the weight of the rings and bases...not a big deal to me.

So does this set up seem like it would be about right? I'm not missing anything major, am I? From everything I have seen, it's rather easy to change the barrel on a savage once you have an action and barrel nut wrench, as well as go/no-go gauges.

One more question...I have lots of once fired brass from my other .260 AI, could I just use those cases to set headspace, instead of go/no-go gauges, and be able to have my sizing die set the same for both guns to bump the shoulder?

Thanks for any input, it is appreciated!!!

 

[Rich Coyle]

The 'smith used the case I supplied as the gauge in my last two barrel chambers.

 

[Predator 22]

Kind of off topic but what is your load for your other 260ai? Powder type, charge, bullet, primer, velocity?

 

[codyadams]

Kind of off topic but what is your load for your other 260ai? Powder type, charge, bullet, primer, velocity?

I have 2, they are as follows

140 gr Berger VLD Hunting
Seated .005" off (2.870" OAL)
47.8 gr H-4831sc
CCI BR-2
Lapua formed .260 brass
2930 fps

The other, just got this one going...

147 ELD-M
Seated .050" off (2.865" OAL)
48.4 gr H-4831sc
CCI BR-2
Same lapua brass
2940 fps

I got the 140's a little over 3000 fps, but they weren't as accurate. The current load shoots under half MOA. The 147 load shoots around half MOA, but I got a pound of reloader 26 to try out with the 147, hopefully get better performance

 

[atl5029]

You seem to be right on track. I have a 260 AI built on a Savage 111 action with a Criterion barrel. You won't be disappointed with that barrel. I am running a 26" varmint contour 1:7.5 twist with a brake. Getting about 2950 with 140 ELD-m and almost 3100 FPS with 133 CEB MTACs. Haven't killed anything with it yet, but I was able to hit deer sized rocks at 600 yards easy.

If you want I can share my load recipes when I get back home after Christmas.

 

[codyadams]

Still slowly working on this project as time/money allows, I now have the wheeler engineering savage barrel nut wrench, and plan on just having the action in my vice with hard rubber pads, I think it should work.

Also ordered the steel bottom metal today for the new stock, and I just want to comment on how good Savage customer service is. I told them I had a savage trophy hunter xp with synthetic stock, and the lady said "and you have a new boyds stock and need bottom metal?" I was on the phone less than 3 minutes, counting my wait time, and had my order placed. Came out to $144ish shipped, and the lady was very kind and professional. I wish you could order more savage parts online easier, but with customer support like that, I don't really mind. Just thought I would throw that in this thread.

Next in line will be to pillar bed the action, and get the barrel coming. Probably not for a few more months though, as I have a fishing trip in upper Canada I won from sportsman's news for my father and I coming up in June, and want a little extra cash for the trip. Soon though. I'll upload pictures once the stock is fitted to the rifle

 

[codyadams]

You seem to be right on track. I have a 260 AI built on a Savage 111 action with a Criterion barrel. You won't be disappointed with that barrel. I am running a 26" varmint contour 1:7.5 twist with a brake. Getting about 2950 with 140 ELD-m and almost 3100 FPS with 133 CEB MTACs. Haven't killed anything with it yet, but I was able to hit deer sized rocks at 600 yards easy.

If you want I can share my load recipes when I get back home after Christmas.

I do have a question for you, which chamber did you go with, the standard or match? I'm assuming the longer throated match, as you have a long action...

What is your OAL to reach the lands? My magazine limits me to right about 3.00", and I want to run the 147 eld-M...I may have to get the standard chamber....

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Don't be afraid of the Criterion. Mine is extremely accurate. My next build will have another criterion.

 

[thatguyshm]

I'm building a Remage for hunting, in 7mm Rem Mag. Going with the heavy sporter 26", with a 1/4" lug and NSS nut, Grayboe outlander stock and I went with aluminum bottom metal, I weigh out right at 8lbs 2oz. I am just waiting on a few more upgrades and my DNZ freedom mount and will be putting a Vortex Razor 3-15x44 HD LH, aiming for under 9.5 lbs loaded. Should be able to weigh it put together next week.

SHM

 

[Wado]

Still slowly working on this project as time/money allows, I now have the wheeler engineering savage barrel nut wrench, and plan on just having the action in my vice with hard rubber pads, I think it should work.

Also ordered the steel bottom metal today for the new stock, and I just want to comment on how good Savage customer service is. I told them I had a savage trophy hunter xp with synthetic stock, and the lady said "and you have a new boyds stock and need bottom metal?" I was on the phone less than 3 minutes, counting my wait time, and had my order placed. Came out to $144ish shipped, and the lady was very kind and professional. I wish you could order more savage parts online easier, but with customer support like that, I don't really mind. Just thought I would throw that in this thread.

Next in line will be to pillar bed the action, and get the barrel coming. Probably not for a few more months though, as I have a fishing trip in upper Canada I won from sportsman's news for my father and I coming up in June, and want a little extra cash for the trip. Soon though. I'll upload pictures once the stock is fitted to the rifle

Good luck on your build and I want to address your first sentence and give a little personal advice in case you have an action with the smooth barrel nut. I just did my first Savage re-barrel with a youth model 11 that was a .243 Winchester and I replaced it with a 458 SOCOM barrel I ordered from McGowen. My project turned out nice and I have sent a few targets back to Dan at McGowen but back to the lock nut. I ordered the same wrench and used the shim just like the instruction tell you to do. A lot of people hold the barrels and try to get the nut loose, it doesn't work. The wrench actually clamps down so hard it locks the nut even tighter to the threads. I see you plan on holding the action, which is a good thing, don't try the barrel method. I ended up using my homemade Mauser action wrench to hold it and rapped the Wheeler wrench with a dead blow hammer and spun the barrel and nut off together. Piece of cake and a little Kroil Oil or whatever you have helps too. My threads were full of the blackening stuff they use to coat the actions so it needs a little lubrication. My project ran over budget so I got stuck with the plastic stock but added a spacer out of half inch steel to not only make it longer but put some weight in the back end to balance the rifle better with the heavy barrel. Some pictures of the stuff in the threads. I even made a high capacity magazine for this rig, no fun at all.

 

[desertbull]

Make sure you double / triple check your order if you go with the Criterion.

I ordered a 300 WM MATCH with a VIAS brake installed

6 weeks AFTER the date they quoted me, it arrived with a standard 300 WM chamber and some sort of generic brake.

 

[Rich Coyle]

The last chambering I had Pac-Nor do was suppose to include a brake installation. When the barreled action came back the brake was laying in the package. I took it to a near by gunsmith to have it installed. He called me when he took the barrel off. In a 24" barrel there was probably .200" inch of movement at the muzzle when the barrel was backed off a quarter of a turn. I told the 'smith, "That's about like a pipe thread."

I won't be having them do the machining anymore. When I want a barrel I will get a blank and have Hired Gun do the work.