need some advice

J

JACK308

Moderator
Today I went to the range to sight in my rifle a Savage Edge 308 a cheap rifle I bought for about 300,the groups are not as tight as I would like but were talking about a cheap rifle! so looking at the pics if I would get a free floating barel do you think it would give me better accuracy?. I forgot I had to make dinner - 100 yards. nikon 3x9x40 lead sled wind about 10mph hornady 165gr. IB my reloads
 

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Hello, Jack..It would kind of help to know at what distance these groups were fired, what kind of rest was used, power of scope..if used, what brand of ammunition.
 
I would say that you should do nothing to this rifle. Work on loads and have fun with it. It may prefer a 150 grain bullet. It is trending left a bit. You might dial it in a click to the right and up a couple for 1.5" high at 100.
 
Just my 2 cents

I always start a new rifle on factory rounds and try to have at least 3 different company's ammunition to try. Every rifle is different and likes different ammo but you probably already know that.

You could also check the scope bases, and rings to be sure they are nice & snug. I have read good reviews on the Savage Edge, so I think you have a nice rifle and just need a bit more research to find out what really works with it.
 
Thats something to try out next 150 gr. bullets the rings holding the scope are tight so maybe its the bullets weight? as far as the powder I used 41.7 grains of varget. 1 /10 twist
 
You might also try reducing the powder charge a little. Most rifles will shoot accurately until the charge gets to be to high. Drop it say 10 % and try again. Also different powders or bullets may help. I also start with factory ammo in a few different brands and weights to determine a good baseline for the rifle.
 
My bud bought a cheap savage with the accu trigger for around that same price. He brought it over for me to do the frist sight in on it and I really liked the rifle. Smooth and clean. I held 5 shot groups to less then 2 inch at 100 straight out of box after a few sighting rounds. I told him to get the front loaded with a little weight and bed the stock so he did. When he got it back from the smithy I took another crack at it. After a few more sighters I was able to fire a 20Rnd box of ammo and never made a hole that a quarter didn't cover. Thats just straight off the bibod with winchest HP ammo. He nailed a ground hog the next day at 250 with using his mil dots. The glass bedding and adding the weight really helped and only cost him like 50 bucks I think.
 
I'd go with pillar bedding and free-floating the barrel. However, some cheaper synthetic stocks don't like bedding...it doesn't stick well to the injection-molded ones. It helps to drill holes for anchoring bedding to the plastic.

Make sure there's plenty of clearance between the barrel and channel. More than 1/16", because most factory synthetics are quite flexible and can bend under little stress.

Adding weight to the forend may help bench shooting, but if it's a hunting rifle, may not be as nice to carry. You might try removable weights, screwed or Velcro-ed inside the forend.
 
Break In

:) You have a green barrel there and it won't shoot it's best till it is broken in . Put a few hundred rounds through it , without letting it get too fouled ! Then fine tune your ammo , I bet she'll tighten up considerably after break in ! I don't see Cowboys need to shoot factory ammo first though ! Most of my rifles have never seen a factory load and shoot just fine with the right handload !
 
Sometimes it’s the Indian, not the bow or arrow........
Click to expand...


I agree, make sure the scope mounts are tight and learn the trigger, or better yet get a smith to do a trigger job on it.

Jim
 
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