Savage Model 10 PC Report

Saltydog235

New member
I finally got a chance to shoot my new Savage 10 Precision Carbine .308 Win this past Saturday. Here's the setup: Savage 10 Precision Carbine with 20" heavy barrel, Burris Mounts, Weaver 6 Lug Tactical High Mounts and a Leupold VX-III 3.5X10X50mm with a #4 reticle.

The loads were:
Hornady Match 165grn Moly HPBT's factory that my neighbor gave me
Hornady 165 grn SPBT's that I had with 45grns Varget (all following loads the same powder charge)
Nosler Ballistic Tip 165grn
Sierra Gameking HPBT 165grn.

I boresighted the rifle and sent one of the factory round down range to 100yds and it was 16" low. Hmmm, adjust the scope for the 1/4 MOA by 48 clicks and I was 24" high. Tapped the erectors and sent another down range, 18" high. More head scratching. Decided to fire on that setting for a group to see what was going on and if that first shot was an anomoly. Next round(s) were 14" high, 12" high 6" left, 14" high 8" right. Holy schitt, I thought, something is way off, this is match ammo supposedly. The neighbor that was with me said his gun did a similar thing and he had 5 misfires out of another box within the same lot.

Switched rounds to the Hornady SPBT's and fired for effect, a 2" five shot group all 2" low or so. Now I'm worried that either the scope has gone bad or I just bought a lemon and need to send it back to Savage.

The third round was the Noslers and it was 2" low but the group shrank to 1" or maybe a little less. Now we're getting somewhere I thought. That was a 4shot group. I saved one for later.

The fourth and final set was the Sierra GK 165's. The group was 4 shots 2" low and you could have covered it 95% with a dime. Now that's what I was looking for out of this gun.

I adjested the elevation and 1 click of windage and put the 5th round from both the Sierra and Nosler dead nuts into the center ring.

I don't know what was going on with the Hornady bullets and factory rounds but I won't be putting any more of their product down this barrel. Like my Savage 10 Predator Brush in .243, I have two interchangable rounds with the same POI with the Sierra being the top of the heap.

I've always read that the .308Win with Sierra bullets and Varget were the unbeatable combination but this was proof for me and this little rifle. And what a pleasure to shoot in a compact package. I foresee a few deer and pigs suffering a quick but violent end to this combination. I loaded up the 95 remaining bullets from the box and am anxious to locate some more bullets to stuff over the Varget charge.
 
Good for you. I've long been a fan of Sierra bullets, especially the 165 Gameking, although I haven't tried the hollow point variety. I use the soft point.

My buddies tell me that Varget is a great powder for the .308, and I don't doubt them nor you. I've always used RL15 in that caliber and never found a reason to change. I notice that Varget and RL15 are really close on Hodgdon's Burn Rate chart, so it might not matter. Y'all use the Varget and that will save more RL15 for me.

Still, good shooting. I'm hearing great things about the Hornday A-Max and may have to give them a spin.
 
My Savage 10 FP (without the accustock that your rifle has) hasn't had that problem with Hornady ammo, even the SuperFormance stuff.
It likes Federal and Nosler a lot.

it has averaged 0.69 inch groups with all handloads (a total of 422 measured groups) and averages 0.54 with its favorites.

Mine likes Sierra Match Kings in 150 grains and 168 grains but it shoots Nosler Ballistic Tips 168 grains well also. It shoots 175 grain Match Kings about 0.15 inches larger on average.

I started with Reloader 15 and got good results especially around 2630 - 2675 fps.
Then I tried Varget and it didn't do as well for some reason. Not terrible but about 0.2 inches larger groups on average.
I even tried Vitavouhri N150 and found that its best results were at 2730 fps. There were a few loads that had exceptionally small groups mixed with average groups so I decided that it wasn't repeatable in my rifle and abandoned N150.
Then I tried H4895 and found that I got the bests results with that. The best loads are all H4895 so you might find your rifle really likes that too.
 
I can't comment on loads for the .308 but I have also had very good results with Nosler and Sierra bullets. Gamekings shoot very well out my brother's Rem 700 in 270 and Ballistic Tips shoot amazingly well out of my Savage 110 in 30-06. It is a pre-accutriger model with 1:9 twist and 180's make a nice ragged hole. I have never bothered to take a precise measurement of the groups but they are about .25 at 100. It will keep 10 shots under a dime.
 
As I said, my nieghbor said that he had had some serious inconsistancy from the ammo he gave me. He thought that his rifle just didn't like it. I think it was a bad lot and combined with a green barrel to give the results it did. I found out what works in the Sierra and Noslers and will be more than happy loading them. Sierra's are relatively cheap to shoot.
 
When I handloaded (no longer) for a number of different calibers I always had the best luck with the Sierra and Nosler bullets. Hornady weren't bad but everything else I tried couldn't compare. By knowing which bullets to start with I usually could develop a nice load pretty quick.
 
When I handloaded (no longer) for a number of different calibers I always had the best luck with the Sierra and Nosler bullets. Hornady weren't bad but everything else I tried couldn't compare. By knowing which bullets to start with I usually could develop a nice load pretty quick.

Yeah, I pretty much of the same mind. I've always had great results from Sierra and Nosler but not so much Hornady. Unless its my .41 mag which really likes the XTP's. Speer are OK too.

To be honest, I've had some of my most inconsistant results from Barnes bullets. They hit like a hammer and destroy anthing in their path but they are some hard mofo's to get accuracy out of for me. Never run Bergers or Swifts and doubt I will at their costs.
 
I Have 2 Savages now. My 223 Model 12 fvss is very dead on with Hornady 75 A-Max and RL-15. I have tried all others numerous times and keep coming back to Hornady. The 308 Model 10 FP i just got this week ( have not shot it yet) But all are telling me 168 Sierra Match for this one. Hope it pans out like it seems to for you guys. Range this weekend i hope.Forecast is cold,windy and wet so far:mad:
 
4runnerman

I don't think you can't go wrong with Sierra Match Kings.
If you don't want to start reloading for it right away, try the Federal Gold and Black Hills with the SMK 168s. My 10 FP shot both well,

Of course, after turning the depth and velocity with hand loading, the 10 FP shot even better, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with the factory loads.
 
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