Missed the Mark Again!

T

taylorce1

New member
So I came home from work the other day and found this sitting on the table.



SS 7 Twist, 5R rifling, 18" Savage Magnum contour, 5 spiral flutes, threaded 5/8-24, and chambered in 6mm Creedmoor. I know you're scratching your head 18" Creedmoor? So first thing I did was put it on the scales, and what a huge disappointment, almost 3 lbs! I didn't want to use the magnum contour but it's was the best choice to run a threaded barrel for the stocks I have. I know I'm going to have trouble making my weight goals now!

I laid it in the Accustock I intended to use and even though she's a little plump I thought it looked pretty good.

[



I couldn't wait to put it together, mama was out of town visiting friends so I used the breakfast table since it was 105 outside here in SE Colorado and my garage doesn't have AC. So I piled all the parts on the table and commenced to tear things apart and put them back together.

It took me less than 20 minutes to go from this:



To this:



Unfortunately how she sits without optics and suppressed (the reason for 18" barrel) this rifle weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz. Now I know using a Savage it isn't going to be light, but I was hoping for it to be about 13 oz lighter. This thing is going to be close to 11 lbs +/- by the time I put a scope on it! I guess there might be a McMillan Edge in the future as that's about the best option to put it on a diet now.

If you were paying attention to the pictures you noticed a stock change. Yep, my precision ground recoil lug wasn't precise enough to fit in the stock I wanted to use, it was too wide and wouldn't fit in the stock. So I had to put it in an Accustock that someone took a dremel to the inside to try and get it to fit a standard Savage recoil lug.



However while the stock was wide enough to accomodate my recoil lug, it was still too tall. So I ordered a new factory lug from Midway and it should be in any day now. I'll also call up 4D Reamer Rentals and have them send me a set of gauges to properly set the head space on the rifle.

I still have to figure out options for optics, I'm leaning towards the Leupold MK-5HD 3.6-18X44 or the SWFA SS 3-15X42 Mil Quad. However, when looking at features I like this Athalon Midas TAC 4-14X44 with its capped windage turret and zero stop on the elevation. Until then I have a Vortex Crossfire 2 4-12X44 that I was gifted that will probably go on initially until I figure out which scope will find a permanent home on this rifle.
 
A 13 lb Savage hunting rifle? :eek:

Not feeling so bad with my 10 lb Mauser build now. ;)

But knowing you, yours will look better, and shoot lights out!
 
That is a purty tube! So you were hoping for about 8 lb.? Without bases and rings and glass? Are you planning on packing it in the high country a lot?
 
Nice looking rifle. I was looking at some Z5's Swarovski scopes some of their scopes come in at 15 to 17+ ounces. Don't know what your budget allows but these are pretty light scopes.
 
I'm going through a similar exercise right now. Remington 700, stainless barrel with an aluminum sleeve, 308 Winchester. This started out as a 700 VSS (heavy 26"barrel with an HS Precision stock) that weighed in at 11 lbs. The barreled action weighed 8+ lbs. Turned the barrel from 6" ahead of the breech to 9/16" and sleeved it with aluminum sleeve, then profiled it pretty close to the factory Sendero profile. Now the barreled action weighs 4.4 lbs. I'm going to drop it into a carbon fiber/Kevlar stock that weighs 20-ish oz. Never thought a 308 could kick the snot out of me, but I'm expecting this one to do just that. We'll see. I'll post pics and stuff in a separate thread.

Good luck on your project, Chad!
 
std7mag said:
A 13 lb Savage hunting rifle? 
Click to expand...

God I hope not! I'm looking at options to keep the weight manageable.

Colorado Redneck said:
So you were hoping for about 8 lb.? 
Click to expand...

Correct, I knew the Accustock was heavier but the WSM Trophy Hunter rifle is supposed to weigh 7.5 lbs with a 24" barrel. I was hoping for around 9 lbs unsuppresed weight.

ms6852 said:
I was looking at some Z5's Swarovski scopes some of their scopes come in at 15 to 17+ ounces. 
Click to expand...
I've looked at those as well, I'm looking for a FFP scope and the Swarovski are all SFP scopes. I could probably stretch my budget to $2000, but I'd prefer to stay $1500 or less.
 
Oops.... I misread the 13oz for the scope, and mixed it up for the 11 lb rifle weight. :rolleyes:

Still, you'd shave a bit of weight without the can.
I'm running 1.5 contour on a 24" barrel on the Mauser.
Conversely, i have the same contour & length on my Forbes and it weigh almost 3 pounds lighter than the Mauser.
Meaning there are other areas to save weight.
 
sako2 said:
If your trying to keep the weight down forget the Athlon scope. They're heavy.
Click to expand...

Most FFP 30-35mm tube scopes are heavy, but the ones I listed are under 24-26 ounces. All the scopes I listed keep me light enough just to add about 2 lbs with rings.
 
taylorce1 said:
So I came home from work the other day and found this sitting on the table.



SS 7 Twist, 5R rifling, 18" Savage Magnum contour, 5 spiral flutes, threaded 5/8-24, and chambered in 6mm Creedmoor. I know you're scratching your head 18" Creedmoor? So first thing I did was put it on the scales, and what a huge disappointment, almost 3 lbs! I didn't want to use the magnum contour but it's was the best choice to run a threaded barrel for the stocks I have. I know I'm going to have trouble making my weight goals now!

I laid it in the Accustock I intended to use and even though she's a little plump I thought it looked pretty good.

[



I couldn't wait to put it together, mama was out of town visiting friends so I used the breakfast table since it was 105 outside here in SE Colorado and my garage doesn't have AC. So I piled all the parts on the table and commenced to tear things apart and put them back together.

It took me less than 20 minutes to go from this:



To this:



Unfortunately how she sits without optics and suppressed (the reason for 18" barrel) this rifle weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz. Now I know using a Savage it isn't going to be light, but I was hoping for it to be about 13 oz lighter. This thing is going to be close to 11 lbs +/- by the time I put a scope on it! I guess there might be a McMillan Edge in the future as that's about the best option to put it on a diet now.

If you were paying attention to the pictures you noticed a stock change. Yep, my precision ground recoil lug wasn't precise enough to fit in the stock I wanted to use, it was too wide and wouldn't fit in the stock. So I had to put it in an Accustock that someone took a dremel to the inside to try and get it to fit a standard Savage recoil lug.



However while the stock was wide enough to accomodate my recoil lug, it was still too tall. So I ordered a new factory lug from Midway and it should be in any day now. I'll also call up 4D Reamer Rentals and have them send me a set of gauges to properly set the head space on the rifle.

I still have to figure out options for optics, I'm leaning towards the Leupold MK-5HD 3.6-18X44 or the SWFA SS 3-15X42 Mil Quad. However, when looking at features I like this Athalon Midas TAC 4-14X44 with its capped windage turret and zero stop on the elevation. Until then I have a Vortex Crossfire 2 4-12X44 that I was gifted that will probably go on initially until I figure out which scope will find a permanent home on this rifle.
Click to expand...
I am not sure of your exact goal, but it looks pretty reasonable build to me. Put a can on a light barrel and more often than not, you have a scatter gun.
 
reynolds357 said:
I am not sure of your exact goal, but it looks pretty reasonable build to me. Put a can on a light barrel and more often than not, you have a scatter gun.
Click to expand...


I just wanted to come in right at 10 lbs suppressed or slightly under. This is my first time building a rifle for suppressor use, so there will be a little learning curve. Main use will be hunting, and banging steel.
 
The most accurate hunting rifle I've ever seen was a special model of Remington model 7 with a pencil thin 20" 7-08 barrel and a McMillan stock. I pillar bedded it and the guy shot several 5 shot groups in the mid .2's.
Heavy guns are undoubtley easier to shoot good groups with but difference in accuracy is little.
This Sauer is light yet very accurate.


 
Finally got the rifle range ready, mounted up a scope this morning. Still going to give the bedding a little longer to cure before taking it out. Right now with the scope mounted it weighs in at 10 lbs 4.4 oz suppressed, but the scope is just temporary until I can find exactly what I want. Right now I'm looking at Bushnell LRTS 4.5-18X44 or NF SHV 4-14X50 and they'll add quite a bit of weight, changed to these two scope choices after giving up on trying to keep the weight down.



I also went looking for something to test, and wound up with a case of Barnes LRX ammo for $195 delivered.



I also picked up a three boxes of Hornady Black 105 grain HPBT to try. It was surprising how much longer the 95 grain LRX bullet was than the 105 HPBT.

 
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stagpanther said:
I have a few cartridges I've loaded with LRX's--they shoot very well and seem like an ideal bullet for reaching out there.
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I hope so I have a hard to draw 4th season Mule Deer buck tag this year. I still haven't decided if I'm going to even try to pack this rifle if it shoots well. If I like the cartridge, I may have to look for something lighter.
 
easbank said:
how far are you planning to shoot game with it? and what fpe will it carry to 3-4 hundred yards?
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That's truly the loaded question! I don't know how far I'll shoot game, every shot I choose to take or not take will have a lot of factors determining it. However, Rifleshooter.com did an article on the 6mm CM cutting a barrel down from 31" to 17". If my 18" barrel holds true to what they found I'll be in the low to mid 2900 fps range with 105 and 95 grain bullets.

I pretty much state, I don't believe you need a lot of FPE to kill game. I do believe you need enough velocity to get the bullet to expand properly so Barnes recommends a impact velocity minimum of 1600 fps for the LRX bullet. So if I have a muzzle velocity of 2950 that takes me to 850 yards depending on altitude. I doubt I'll need to shoot beyond 400 yards at game.
 
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