Tuning Savage Action

[CaptnC]

I know a guy who inherited a gunsmith's shop. He kept everything and makes some really accurate guns for himself...he is not in the business...just for fun. Lucky dog!

Anyway I ask him what is done to tune a Savage action and didn't know. I read one thing somewhere the trued the action and trued the barrel nut...I've also seen where a guy D&T his barrel nut for a set screw....I'd like to know more about that. I think he mentioned it made it easier to change barrels. But I keep seeing people say you must replace the barrel nut with every barrel swap?!?!?!?!?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[yorke-1]

I've had a lot of Savage actions over the years, including a couple that I had timed and tuned by Sharp Shooters Supply. I've never really fallen for the trued barrel nut thing. I've had and have a lot of .3 MOA and better Savages with mixed and matched factory barrel nuts. The recoil lug is a different matter though. A good, flat, machined lug makes a big difference.

The timed and tuned Savage actions are much smoother to operate but I'm not capable of shooting well enough to say whether they're more accurate. It's very similar to what smith's like Alex Wheeler do when they time the ignition on an action. I'm not familiar enough with the details of that process to explain it but it makes a huge difference in the feel when cycling the action.

I've also done quite a few of the barrel nuts drilled and tapped for a set screw. Back when I did a lot of barrel swapping at the range it saved me a ton of time. I would drill and tap the the nut for a set screw and then headspace the barrel like normal. Once I had the barrel set and the nut tightened the way I wanted it I would snug down the set screw and lock the nut in it's current position. This essentially creates a shouldered barrel so now I can swap barrels at the range using a bench mounted barrel vise and a port or rear entry action wrench just like any other switch barrel gun. You don't even need to take the gun out of the stock if you have enough to clearance to work around the barrel nut in the barrel channel.