Savage Accuracy

I bought a Savage 308 Win a few years ago. It had the worse barrel than any firearm than any in my history. I am not talking about chatter marks of which there were plenty, but that is common with button rifled barrels.

It shot very good, but the barrel was so rough that 3 shots coppered the barrel with 10" streaks of copper inside.

I sent it back, and it came back with a barrel even rougher than the original.

I had to firelap it with a NECO kit to cut down on the fouling.

Granted, it would do less than an inch 5 shot group, but I think that is the last one I will buy.

In another league of its own, the Savage Fox A grade is definitely a winner.
 
I had a Savage 110 VB in 300WM and with my handloads I achieved the same accuracy with my stock Savage as my buddies with their tricked out 4000$ custom rifles. Also the rifle was not every sensitive to bullets, I could get half MOA or smaller groups with any halfway decent match bullet ranging from 190 to 240 grains and a sane load.
 
Savage is rough but I had no problems with copper build up.

I have an x-caliber thats not a whole lot better.

I just let it cover the rough and it stopped building.
 
Do any of you have an opinion of how accurate the Savage Model 99's were/are compared to the Savage bolt guns or other makes of bolt guns?
 
Do any of you have an opinion of how accurate the Savage Model 99's were/are compared to the Savage bolt guns or other makes of bolt guns?
Click to expand...
Not very. A very accurate(rare) 99 would be sub minute.
Savages worst bolt actions are sub minute.
 
Accuracy is very subjective. Some shooters think a 1in. group at 100yds is just fine. Some will shoot there factory barrels and get 1/4 in. group. What the latter of the two doesn't tell you is the muzzle velocity and the amount of variation in muzzle velocity. In a hunting rifle, shooting under 300 yds., I don't think it matters much. With a competition rifle, it means everything. I've never seen a factory barrel out perform a Krieger,Bartlein, or the many other top after-market barrels.
 
All the Savages that I have bought over the years was very accurate out of the box they beat my Rem 700 but my old Rem 788 was as good as my Savages I used it to test my reloads it had 6 locking lugs and was a good fit for me. I wish that I never sold it
 
I've had 5 savage rifles--the very worst of them couldn't shoot under .65 MOA--all the rest could do .5 or under if I were up to it. The cheapest consumer grade $275 axis Tupperware in 308 could shoot well under .5 MOA one-holers--if I was up to the task.
 
I have.Savages are winning 1k shoots right out of the box.
Click to expand...

Savage has target rifles that are good but they are also select barrels.

A better shooter with a Savage will beat a worse shooter with a Bartlein etc.

Push come to shove, if you go full competitive one on one equal shooters then the better barrels will win.
 
My 260 Weather Warrior shot 1/2" with the first loads I put together. I'm sure it will shoot better, but I was smitten by the Grendel at .3".
 
I’ve just bought savage 111 .270 . It Can’t hit a target @100yds . I’ve had it bore sited twice . At 100yds it feet off . I’ve ran out of ajustment. Change scopes & just put a DNZ one peace mount on it . Still same problem . Shooting a 130 gr 4 different brands still the same . So I move up to 25 yds adjustments maxed out it will hit but its about 12” high and 8” to right and bullets are keyholes in target and the keyholes are in all different directions. It looks like they are tumbling. . So I move up to ten yds an hit dead center. 2 different shooters same promblem . Now the 7 mag it groups sub MOA . Any idea ??? The crown doesn’t appear to have any defects. Thinking maybe the action might need to be trued up to barrel .
 
I’ve just bought savage 111 .270 . It Can’t hit a target @100yds . I’ve had it bore sited twice . At 100yds it feet off . I’ve ran out of ajustment. Change scopes & just put a DNZ one peace mount on it . Still same problem . Shooting a 130 gr 4 different brands still the same . So I move up to 25 yds adjustments maxed out it will hit but its about 12” high and 8” to right and bullets are keyholes in target and the keyholes are in all different directions. It looks like they are tumbling. . So I move up to ten yds an hit dead center. 2 different shooters same promblem . Now the 7 mag it groups sub MOA . Any idea ??? The crown doesn’t appear to have any defects. Thinking maybe the action might need to be trued up to barrel .
Click to expand...
I've had the same rifle and it shot teeny little groups--sounds like something's slowing your bullets down and/or destabilizing them. I know it sounds a bit obvious--but did you give it a serious cleaning before use? I'd try to get a real close look at the bore and chamber and make sure they are immaculately clean with no chatter or build up/debris of any kind. Might want to get a copper buster cleaner that turns color to see if you have some build-up--should be pretty obvious if so. All that said--it's hard from me to imagine a new rifle in 270 that shoots that badly.:eek:
 
I have a Savage 111 in 30-06, not accu-trigger. It doesn't group, more like patterns, 6 - 8 inches at 100 yards with scope at 9x. It has iron sights also, and I can produce those same results without a scope. I got it very cheap at an auction or I wouldn't have bought it. I've seen articles and YouTube vids on accurizing them, but I have more interesting projects in the works right now, so it's relegated to the back of the closet for now.
 
The wonderful world of used firearms--when something shoots like a dog--pass it on to the next unsuspecting victim.:D:rolleyes: Buying used stuff is always a toss of the dice unless you have a trusted gunsmith certify the condition (NOT the gun shop "expert" you're buying it from!). I recently bought a used lever gun currently out of production knowing that it was a risk--and boy was I right--I paid almost full retail price when new and it can't group under 7" at 25 yds.
 
Bkmartin, welcome to the forum. You will get better responses if you start a new thread asking for help.

Sounds like the bullets are not being stabilized. Pull the bolt out and get some light in the bore so you can see what condition the rifling is in. (Trueing the action makes small improvement in group size. It would not help with stabilizing bullets.) Measure the bore diameter. The best method is to slug the barrel with lead. Search the forum or Google to see how. A rough way to check is to put a bullet in the muzzle, gently. You are not trying to force it in. Just making sure the bullet is contacting the rifling. It should not go all the way to the brass. If it does then you have an oversized bore. If you bought the gun new Savage should help you fix it.
 
My Savage 10T is probably more accurate than me, with a decent scope and a good handload I'd put it up against anything outside of a custom build. My 10T has both the AccuTrigger and AccuStock... it works pretty well for an out-of-the-box rifle with no mods.

For that matter, my 99F is a shooter, too... so it must be a Savage thing!
 
Gunsmiths prospective:

On a scale of 1 to 10 the average Savage is an 8. Some are 10s and every now and then you get a 5, but those are rare.
Overall Savage is one brand you can usually get excellent accuracy right out of the box with.

The gunsmithing jobs that need to be addressed with Savages are most often related to bedding, feeding and occasionally a broken extractor, but not usually barrel related accuracy issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top