Savage 10 FCP-k with Bushnell 5-15 Tac elite

Don'tkillbill

New member
I just picked up a nice Savage 10fcp-k with a Bushnell 5-15 elite scope. Nice rig although I found out all my m14 brass is too far out of spec to use. I bought some ammo and will keep my brass separate. I Might get some high quality brass for my reloads. Lapua brass is pricy but with neck sizing I bet I can get it to last a long time.

Here's a quick vid.

http://youtu.be/Hr4-hyOfbCk
 
Nice going, you found my next rifle I was looking for.

It would appear your's is in 308, correct?

How much did the scope run?

Thanks
Jim
 
Nice rifle , I have one and it LOVE's Federal 168gr GMM . That is the ammo they test the rifle with at the factory . My FCP-K has a short throat and 175gr mk OAL is 2.750 not the 2.800 my Sierra book recommends . The 2.750 puts the bullet right up against the lands . My guess is yours will be close to that as well .

I"m sure you have noticed by now that the rifle is a little front end heavy . I filled the butt stock with Bondo and BBs mixed in for weight . That is a permanent add on , you can fill the stock with plumbers putty to add weight . It stays soft and you can remove it later if you want . It balanced the rifle out and the stock feels much more solid now .

Here is my review on the rifle . sorry if the pics are not sized right . They change on there own and now I can't edit the thread any more
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=517846

Enjoy your new rifle , I sure do mine :)
 
Jim- The scope was 400 here in Canada so in the US I think you'll get a bit less. It is a 308 even with the 20 MOA base I ran out of clicks at 500 yards and had to use a mil dot.

MG thanks for the link and the help a little more weight in the back would steady things a bit.
 
thats interesting you ran out of adjustments . on paper that would seem impossible with a 20moa rail cus you only need to come up around 12moa for 500yds :confused: . sounds like there is something amiss
 
I'm going to have a better look in about an hour. I would of thought I'd made 700-800 yards with it although I only have 600 yards to shoot from.
 
The turret was really stiff and I found the extra clicks I need to go out past 500 yards. 1000 might be doable using the mildots but I only have a 600 yard range so I'm happy. I will be happy to try 168 grain bullets in my reloads. Right now I have some 4895 to use up so I will have to find a load 42.5 grains comes recommended. Anyone else got a happy combo going? I will go to Varget when the supply gets better and I can secure a 8 pound jar.
 
I've had very good experiences using Varget under a 175 SMK in my 10 FCP HS-Precision. It will easily shoot under 1 MOA and every now and again, I can squeeze out a 5 shot group that is better than .5 MOA.

Looking through my spreadsheet, I noticed comments from a day at the range where I was shooting 5 shot groups with Varget, ranging from 42.0 to 42.9 grains using a 175 SMK bullet. The 4 groups I shot ran from .48" to .97". I run a 2.800" COAL which puts me .005" off the rifling. Using a 2.790" COAL, I found no appreciable difference in accuracy. I've not loaded any shorter than 2.790".

I'm usually finding my best groups for my rifle running between 2600 and 2650 FPS when using Varget.
 
Thanks the 175's are hard to come by but I'll order 100 through my dealer and see how it goes. IN the meantime I have some 168's coming and will use up the 155's I got from a buddy.
 
Jim- The scope was 400 here in Canada so in the US I think you'll get a bit less. It is a 308 even with the 20 MOA base I ran out of clicks at 500 yards and had to use a mil dot.

MG thanks for the link and the help a little more weight in the back would steady things a bit.

You might have put the base on backwards ;) don't worry, we have all been there! If I remember correctly, I'm good till about 1300 yards with my 20moa base and vortex pst.

I have this exact rifle and it was my first centerfire rifle. I love it. It's done everything I could hope for. It's a <1moa rifle with factory ammo and I average about .6 moa with reloads.

The main thing I added was a cheek rest.
 
Timelinex,

I checked that first. The turrets were stiff there were 12 -15 clicks left I just didn't want to force it. I think I got my elevation back. I don't have the right bullets I have 155 grain SMK I think I need 168 + SMK. Anyway doing up a load until my bullets arrive. 44 grains of 4895 on 155 smk.
 
Timelinex,

I checked that first. The turrets were stiff there were 12 -15 clicks left I just didn't want to force it. I think I got my elevation back. I don't have the right bullets I have 155 grain SMK I think I need 168 + SMK. Anyway doing up a load until my bullets arrive. 44 grains of 4895 on 155 smk.
Something is definitely going on. Your scope has 50 moa of elevation. So with a 20moa base you should have around 45 moa of adjustment. That should get you past 1000 yards no matter what bullet your using. If you verified that everything is installed correctly, then it's either the scope is faulty or your receiver is misaligned. Both of those things are rare, but do happen. The manufacturer would replace the item if it's either of those.

Btw, don't even consider changing your bullet to 168s unless you know for sure you will never shoot farther than 600 yards. There is no reason to not shoot either 155s or 175s.
 
Btw, don't even consider changing your bullet to 168s unless you know for sure you will never shoot farther than 600 yards. There is no reason to not shoot either 155s or 175s.

^^^^??????^^^^^Please explain further .

I see the 155s and 168s being almost ballisticly the same with the 168s having less wind deflection . The 168s will do 900yds no problem and most likely will get to 1k . Now if your talking 155 palma thats a little different .Those are just a bit better and will get you to 1k with the same wind deflection as the 168s . So you get 100 more yards out of the palma .



Lets not forget the 1-10 twist is really best for 200gr or heavier . the 1-10 might be a little fast for155gr . Sure it will shoot them but is it the right/perfect twist for the 155s ? It's my understanding you never want to spin the bullet faster then needed .

I'm not saying your wrong cus I've never used the 155gr smk . I'm just looking to understand your point . All the above data was done on a ballistic calc using a 24" barrel and is only for reference and not to be considered fact for all rifles and shooters
 
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^^^^??????^^^^^Please explain further .

I see the 155s and 168s being almost ballisticly the same with the 168s having less wind deflection . The 168s will do 900yds no problem and most likely will get to 1k . Now if your talking 155 palma thats a little different .Those are just a bit better and will get you to 1k with the same wind deflection as the 168s . So you get 100 more yards out of the palma .



Lets not forget the 1-10 twist is really best for 200gr or heavier . the 1-10 might be a little fast for155gr . Sure it will shoot them but is it the right/perfect twist for the 155s ? It's my understanding you never want to spin the bullet faster then needed .

I'm not saying your wrong cus I've never used the 155gr smk . I'm just looking to understand your point . All the above data was done on a ballistic calc using a 24" barrel and is only for reference and not to be considered fact for all rifles and shooters

I can see why you might be getting confused.

The major flaw with the 168s is they do not cross the transonic barrier correctly. So they destabilize and you lose all integrity and accuracy. This can happen at somewhere around 800 yards, depending on environment. So while 155s and 175s can be shot accurately at 1000 yards, even if they go subsonic, 168s cannot.

Sometimes, depending on your load and environments, the 168s might make it to 1000 befpre hitting the barrier. However, it's still pointless because the 175s can do everything the 168s can but better. The 168s are only know to be slightly more accurate in close range, occasionally. However I've shot the 175s all the way to the mile, and I was able to rely on the bullet making it on target, as long as I did my part.
 
Yeah I have no idea how each weight of bullets handles the the transonic flight . Any time I want to know what a bullet is capable of I use the data of super sonic flight only and only quote 1200fps or more as it's affective range .

168gr smk with a muzzle velocity of 2600fps will have a velocity of 1204fps @ 900yds

My info on the 155 was a little off before . My Sierra book says you can get 2800fps with a 155gr bullet no problem .
155gr Palma will have a velocity of 1221fps @ 1100yds so you get about 200 more yards out of the Palma with the same-ish wind deflection . thats not to bad

The more I think about your statement to leave the 168s alone the more it makes sense . M'y FCP-K sure shoots them well though . I just ordered 190s cus I can't find 175s and I will try the 155s as soon as I can find some :)
 
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Yea, so with your environmental data it looks pike they hit that barrier around 900. If you ever an on shooting that far, it's not worth wasting your time on the 168s.

175s really are just the golden standard. The 155 scenars are excellent from what I hear as well. They are considered on the same level as the 175s,and just a matter of preference. 178 AMAX are also considered a good performer.

I have never heard of or used the 190s.let know how it works out. I know some people use the 208 AMAX in there 308,but that's about as heavy as you can push with reasonable velocity.
 
Interesting post. I'll be shooting 300-600 meters so the 175's will be good for that and 155 Palma's or 175 smk for 1000,

What do you think is the ideal round for the 1/10 twist?
 
I have shot out to 1050 yards with a friends Savage 10. The load is 155 gr Lapua Scenar, Winchester brass, federal gold medal primer, and 44.8 gr IMR 8208 XBR.

With that load the come up from a 100 yard zero was only 9.2 mils.

I shoot 175 gr bullets in my Remington 700 for going out to 1,000 yards and I like it. I prefer the heavy bullets and will be sticking with them (and my rifle likes them better than the 155 gr projectiles).

Out of the .308 I would not go heavier than 185 gr unless you were wanting to make some subsonic rounds to be used with a suppressor. It just gets too difficult to get the necessary velocities of the heavier bullets from the .308 case to make them work at long range.
 
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