Savage Shadow 300 WM trouble

[HuntingBronco]

Thanks Wild Bill. I don't want a single shot here. Will play with other bullets first.

 

[nealm66]

Pretty comfortable with my shooting - always learning and boomers are definitely more challenging. With the brake, it's no big deal.

I have a limbsaver I could try. Might just break down and try a lighter bullet. I have some Hammers, but for reasons beyond this thread, I really wanted to make the Berger work.

If a barrel heat problem, no bullet choice will fix that.

Well, if you're groups are spreading that much without no changes to reloads, definitely something else. We've all been there. Mega pain in the arss. I don't believe I've ever done load work on a rifle that shot quite that bad though. I did have a loose rail screw problem once that would throw random fliers. I've had a stock that would throw 1 in 10ish fliers. I've never had a bad scope and pray I never do. Your original post says groups open when you change coal and neck tension. Is this not the case?

 

[HuntingBronco]

Well, if you're groups are spreading that much without no changes to reloads, definitely something else. We've all been there. Mega pain in the arss. I don't believe I've ever done load work on a rifle that shot quite that bad though. I did have a loose rail screw problem once that would throw random fliers. I've had a stock that would throw 1 in 10ish fliers. I've never had a bad scope and pray I never do. Your original post says groups open when you change coal and neck tension. Is this not the case?

So I am in a good node for velocity. 2880 with great ES. 8-10 fps. I'll get the first group that looks okay at 1.5", but as I try to vary crimp/seating depth, nothing gets better. In fact, I see these wierd things - groups open and poi shift. Hmm…glass or mount. Go through everything and shoot cold gun 1.5" group. Try different stuff - groups open, even when I go back to combo first shot. I'll try it cold again and see if I have a repeatable situation.

 

[D-mon]

In the past I had a customer who brought me a rifle like yours but in stainless (300wm, accustock , spaghetti barrel) and he could not get it to group. I think he probably was scared of the gun because of the recoil. He was shooting factory Remington and factory federal basic 180's.
At his request I fitted a brake and recrowned the barrel during the process. I also asked him to supply me with a box of hornady eld x (200 gr) so I could test the rifle for him.
I shot the rifle over sand bags . Front one positionnes just past the recoil lug and the rear one under the rear of the stock.
With the left over federal the rifle would not group better than 2". With the eldx ,it was printing clover leaf groups at 100m ( 3 shot groups, repeated twice after letting the barrel cool down).

So here are a few avenues to explore:
1 checking the crown
2 shooting of sand bags ( with the front one not positioned too far forward). Holding the base of the fore end instead of shooting free recoil can help as well with that type of lightweight heavy recoil gun.
3 as others said checking the torque on action screws.
4 trying a box of factory eldx. Or trying another bullet, more simple or at least with a longer parallel body ( sierra 200 gr or hornady eldx 212 for exemple).

If the things do not improve after all that, then maybe the barrel needs to be changed. If you do, try to get the front of the action trued up.

 

[MagnumManiac]

If your POI is shifting when you change either neck tension or seating depth, then this a barrel harmonics problem.
Something is either shifting in the fit of the barreled action to the stock or it is touching unevenly or in a spot not wanted.
WHIPPY barrels tend to show this up more so than thick barrels.
I would go back to where you were getting 1.5" groups and tweak powder in .2g increments above and below to see if it tightens up. If not then bed the recoil lug to stop any unwanted movement.

Cheers.

 

[nealm66]

Ya, 2 piece rest paying attention to where the rifle sits on each, light hold down on the front, if it's barrel harmonics, try the dampener. Also, play with the tension on the action screws. Keep your loads exactly the same till you figure it out. Some Berger's can be persnickety but once you're done they shoot extremely well

 

[HuntingBronco]

All great suggestions and why I come here. Thanks everyone.

 

[Don Titus]

Thanks guys. Accustock with "mini chassis". Action is anything but rigid. Bolt gets sticky when I put it in a hog saddle.

I am experiencing the shift even when I change nothing. My COAL is 3.440, max mag length, still jumping .120 to lands. Barrel is free floated from Savage. Actually, acts like it would like a pressure pad.

Also, should have said I am in Michigan, so no altitude to speak of and it is a 1:10 twist.

I agree the POI shift is really making my head spin. Gun has a very effective radial brake, so recoil is not so bad. Shot with and without brake, no difference.

Try Hammers they are very insensitive to jump…My Tikka T3X in 300 WM has a max coal of 3.370 because of mag length. So the 174 Hammers jump .201" and it regularly shoots 1/2" to 3/4" groups using 76 gr. H4831sc @ 3050 FPS.

 

[HuntingBronco]

Yes. That's what I shoot out of my other 300 and agree they are great.

 

[HuntingBronco]

Innoticed the

Savage torque spec for the Accustock is 45 foot pounds. May want to back off a bit and see if things improve.

https://service.savagearms.com/hc/en-us/articles/214238343-What-is-the-torque-spec-for-my-action-screws-

Thanks - I went back and retorqued to 35 in/#, lower end of spectrum. Interestly, binding of the bolt in the rails reduced noticeably. Perhaps there's something to this needing a bedding job. It's clearly twisting the action when pulling it down tighter.

 

[HuntingBronco]

Double check your torque.
Seems like the correct toques is 25-35 in/lbs

I had one that I couldn't get to shoot till I realized it was toques too much.

Would love to know what torque your running. I dropped to 35 in/lbs and might even go lower to eliminate the bolt bind in the rails. That just can't be good.

 

[HuntingBronco]

Hard to believe that aluminum rail is twisting that action...until you realize the squeeze from the hog saddle prevents cycling the bolt. (This is with the rifle set in the saddle at the balance point - eg, where the mag is. Slide saddle forward by the recoil lug, no binding.

 

[nealm66]

My experience with the savage rifles that I've owned is that lots of things are "wth??" Except accuracy. They all shoot extremely good once I've fixed the bugs and worked up a good load. My brother competes in hunter class @ 600 with an older 111 6.5-284. Hopefully your able to get yours dialed in

 

[jimbo111]

I use several types of quality factory ammo to break in a new rifle, this also gives me a baseline for accuracy. If it shoots factory ammo well and groups to your satisfaction, then you know it's not the rifle. I like having the baseline, my goal for hunting rifles is to make them shoot better than factory.
I have had 2 rifles that I couldn't get to shoot better in 25 years and they are no longer in my possession.