Hello all! I'm brand new to the forum and Long Range shooting in general. I just bought a Savage 11/111 Long Range Hunter today. My intention is to shoot it this season with factory ammo( Nosler and HSM). Then next year I would like to have a gun smith do some work to it and dial it in with handloads. Anyone have experience with these rifles? What can I have the smith to do it to make it a more accurate shooter? I was thinking a bedding and trigger job. I've heard of blue printing and tuning the action but have no idea what that means. Thanks in advance for any input!
Savage 11/111 Long Range Hunter .300 WM
- Thread starter RobF
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ATH
Well-Known Member
The bedding job and the trigger are the first two things I would do. However, with an average amount of skill you can do both of those things yourself. The take the money you save and put that towards a Shilen, Criterion, or McGowen pre-fit barrel. Unlike a Remington, with an action vise (mine is homemade from a couple pieces of 2X6) you can swap out the barrel yourself with a headspace gauge. You will want to know what you are doing headspacing a barrel, but again, this is not rocket science. You could put in an aftermarket recoil lug machined square while you have the barrel off, though you'll have to redo its bedding if you already bedded the rifle.
You didn't say what scope you are using. This is another place to upgrade. It won't increase the accuracy per se, but will make it easier to shoot it accurately.
Blueprinting is less often done with the Savage due to the floating bolt head. Essentially this is squaring up of the action.
You didn't say what scope you are using. This is another place to upgrade. It won't increase the accuracy per se, but will make it easier to shoot it accurately.
Blueprinting is less often done with the Savage due to the floating bolt head. Essentially this is squaring up of the action.
The LRH has an aluminum bedded stock. I would check it to make sure it isn't getting barrel contact on the stock like mine was. I had to put some sand paper on dowel rod and sand out the very end of the forearm a little. I would go ahead and lighten the trigger from what they sent from the factory too. Just watch a few videos on it, the accutrigger is super easy to adjust. As far as gunsmith work thats up to you but the gun is pretty ready to go as far as a bedded stock and trigger unless you want to really lighten the trigger up past what you can adjust yourself. I would shoot the gun as is first making sure there is no barrel contact on the stock and lightening the trigger. If it doesn't give you what you want I would start with a barrel and checking the bedding on the recoil lug or upgrading recoil lugs like mentioned before but it may have a good barrel as is and you might not need to spend that money.
My first Savage was a 111 LRH in 300WM, it started my love affair with Savage.
Accustocks don't get bedded, you'll be fine.
Never shot factory ammo but that factory barrel loved 180 gr bullets and 7828sc and H1000 and made it to way over 1200 rounds of hot loads before I re-barreled it because of firecracking . Even though it took longer to clean because of the fire cracking it still shot 3/4 MOA easy when it got rebarreled.
That muzzle brake will seize up, just leave the brake open and forget about it.
Also, just sand down the contact points on the end of the stock that touch the barrel, it won't take much.
Enjoy.
Please bear with my ignorance, but what is "firecrakcjng"? I will take the stock off tonight and sand it down a little bit then adjust the trigger down. Due to time constraints I am going to shoot factory loads this year but I will be hunting inside of 200 yards so I shouldn't have a problem. Next year I will have a new stand built and should get some 500+ yard shots. I will have some handloads with either Berger VLD or Accubond LR dialed in by then. Thanks again for the help!
Fire cracking is tiny fissures and pores that slowly appear up to a few inches in front of the chamber in the rifling caused by great pressures and heat involved in chamber combustion , it is a natural part of the life cycle of any barrel towards the end of its useful accurate barrel life.
It gatheres copper so the barrel becomes copper fouled easily, when this starts occurring and becomes visible with my borescope I order a new barrel. In my experience it can happen quicker in chrome moly/ carbon steel barrels than in SS.
well I shot the rifle and came to the conclusion I need more practice. I was all over the place with the rifle at 100 yards. I think I need a more sturdy rest. Also I have what is probably a stupid question to most, when I rest the rifle on the shooting bags will it mess up the barrel harmonics if I have my hand on the barrel to hold the rifle and keep it from flying off the rest?
lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
This summer, I did load development for a buddy on his totally stock Savage 111 LRH in .300WM topped by a Vortex PST 6-24X50.
His criteria for loads were he wanted to shoot a 210 HVLD for all game out to 1000 yards.
I went and bought 100 new Nosler brass, 200 new .308 210 HVLD, 2# H1000, 200 CCI 250 mag primers.
Doing all brass prep, a full load workup from sight in with mild rounds and a ladder test at 400 yards, then charge weight testing at 100 & 200, then seating depth testing at 200. Then stock torque testing which played a major role in accuracy. Final outing was some longer range verification.
Final load shot the 210 HVLD @ 2940fps into a 3 shot group @ 1.75" @ 616 yards, & 2.25" @ 727 yards.
All on a stock rifle. I was crazy happy with the final outcome.
Wound up shooting a total of 72 rounds for all the load development, then handing over his rifle with 100 loaded rounds.
He killed a dandy Coues with it this month, but "only" at just under 400 yards.
Makes me wonder why I spend thousands more on custom rifles for minutely better accuracy.
His criteria for loads were he wanted to shoot a 210 HVLD for all game out to 1000 yards.
I went and bought 100 new Nosler brass, 200 new .308 210 HVLD, 2# H1000, 200 CCI 250 mag primers.
Doing all brass prep, a full load workup from sight in with mild rounds and a ladder test at 400 yards, then charge weight testing at 100 & 200, then seating depth testing at 200. Then stock torque testing which played a major role in accuracy. Final outing was some longer range verification.
Final load shot the 210 HVLD @ 2940fps into a 3 shot group @ 1.75" @ 616 yards, & 2.25" @ 727 yards.
All on a stock rifle. I was crazy happy with the final outcome.
Wound up shooting a total of 72 rounds for all the load development, then handing over his rifle with 100 loaded rounds.
He killed a dandy Coues with it this month, but "only" at just under 400 yards.
Makes me wonder why I spend thousands more on custom rifles for minutely better accuracy.
I shoot Savage almost exclusively, I'm probably going to start using a Remage style so I can use 700 stocks and triggers as there is more selection. However the Savages I have played with have all gone under .5MOA at distance after some minor at home "gunsmithing". Great LR platform.
spdcrazy
Well-Known Member
this is good to know as I have the savage 11/111 in the 300wm. love it so far, but I haven't dabbled into the far distances yet. so far its accurate and I've done nothing but clean/oil and put a decent scope on it
silent thunder
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