savage precision carbine accuracy problems

Is there a way to install it wrong. Any help would be appreciated.
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I know lots of ways to do things wrong--you want a few pointers? lol

Seriously, I'm no expert, but every weapon I get requires a "getting to know you" period before I finally figure out the sweet spot--whether it be the right load, the right trigger/scope etc. Every Savage I've ever had also required some kind of "break-in" of the barrel before it magically settled down to grouping reliably. Now I know there are many shooters that believe that's poppycock--but that has always been the case with my Savage rifles.

My opinion is that if you had a truly lemon gun--it would shoot badly ALL the time no matter what you did to it. The mere fact your rifle "sometimes, inexplicably" groups well, and then goes to heck other times tells me that you probably do have a shooter--but it's going to be up to you to figure out what makes her happy all the time (forgive the all-to-familiar sexist parallels , lol).
 
I'm going to guess you are using the same powders in the 260 that you are using in the 308.

If that guess is correct.... That means that you are probably using a lower charge weight compared to the 308. That means the initial inconsistent pressures of Winchester primers will have more internal volume so you'll see less shot to shot variation. Ironically the more full your case volume is, the more variation a primer can have on the initial pressure spike, which is why Palma shooters all go for the most consistently mild primers they can find. I'm also guessing your 260 will have a longer barrel, and is heavier, which also helps to tame down inconsistencies in ammunition.

If you are shooting 1" groups with Fed GMM and doing about the same with your handloads, odds are you will eventually stumble across just the right recipe for that rifle and it will shoot very nicely for you. Sometimes it's just a pain to find that load. The fact that you are equalling FGMM with win primers gives me hope for when you swap to Fed 210, CCI BR-2 or Wolf LR primers. Even Rem 9 1/2 primers are probably a good step up.

The precision carbine was not meant to be a "precision" rifle in terms of benchrest competition. It was part of the Law Enforcement lineup firmly aimed at the "patrol bolt rifle" market, as such 1 MOA is right where it needs to be for a cops "trunk gun" so to speak. The 10 PC has since been dropped as Savage now focuses on the "marksman" or "sniper" market for the Law Enforcement lineup.

Jimro
 
Again I say, you keep frustrating yourself by doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. You have other rifles that shoot well using the same procedures you've always used but this one doesn't and it bothers you. Yet you don't change anything up to fix the issues with the rifle.

You obviously have a bad barrel if you have 3" groups from a clean barrel. Now the best bet is to sell the rifle or replace the barrel as you'll never get the groups you want. However you can frustrate yourself more by hand lapping or fire lapping the barrel to smooth out the internal issues. Then you can start by weight sorting your brass and bullets, then uniform the your sorted brass as much as possible to turn it from mediocre to decent. Yes, bedding will probably help but it won't fix your barrel issues.
 
Again I say, you keep frustrating yourself by doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. * * * Yet you don't change anything up to fix the issues with the rifle.
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Totally agree.

Dude, stop letting this junker tool you. Get rid of it. Yeah, you'll take some amount of loss in the keester, but at least you've educated yourself enough to avoid buying similar junk in the future. Frustration is a great teacher ... :eek:

Man up for your next purchase and be ready to spend a good amount of coin on a Remy precision stick or Ruger's Precision Rifle.

You can thank us later. ;)

:cool:
 
Dude, stop letting this junker tool you. Get rid of it. Yeah, you'll take some amount of loss in the keester, but at least you've educated yourself enough to avoid buying similar junk in the future.
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That statement tells me that you don't own a Savage PC. MOA accuracy has been easy to obtain with mine, using three different bullets and two powders. In fact most of my test groups were MOA or better. It is the easiest rifle in my safe to work up a load for and shoots right along side my son's Remington 700 5R that cost him considerably more. The OP may have gotten a lemon rifle but the line is certainly not "junk".

98 220 Swift, I still stand by my original statement of skim bedding to see if that makes a difference. I had a similar problem with a custom rifle and bedding cured it.
 
That statement tells me that you don't own a Savage PC.
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Dude, you don't know what I own or don't own, so quit with the all-knowing Jed Clampett "grandpa talk."

I've owned several Savage rifles in the past and currently own a highly modified FP 10 short-barrelled .308. Since being modified by my 'smith to my specs and tuned for accuracy, it does sub-MOA with a few factory loads and all day with my tailored handloads, especially when using Varget. It makes a heck of a short range "sniping" stick on hogs, although frankly it's overkill on coyotes.

MOA accuracy has been easy to obtain with mine, using three different bullets and two powders. In fact most of my test groups were MOA or better.
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Same here. See above.

The OP may have gotten a lemon rifle but the line is certainly not "junk".
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Dude-ski, did you flunk reading-comprehension 101? I never said the Savage line of rifles was junk; I said the OP's particular rifle was a junker. Time for him to get rid of it and get something better.

You're wasting his time and $$$ telling him to keep tinkering with it.
 
Like I said I am going to give it one more try. loaded some different bullet weights and some other powders. I will also try a different scope. If it still does not show any promise it will be time to get rid of it. Same I really like the rifle. I guess I could rebarrel it into .260 as well.
 
Dude-ski, did you flunk reading-comprehension 101? I never said the Savage line of rifles was junk; I said the OP's particular rifle was a junker. Time for him to get rid of it and get something better.
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No I did not flunk reading comprehension. When you make the statement,
but at least you've educated yourself enough to avoid buying similar junk in the future.
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it leaves open to interpretation by the reader what you mean. The word "similar" in that sentence can mean that model, line, or brand. Since I own that model I know first hand it is not junk, and if you read reviews on that and other models from Savage you know that it is a very good budget priced line of firearms.

Dude, you don't know what I own or don't own, so quit with the all-knowing Jed Clampett "grandpa talk."
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I did not mean that reply as an insult, I'm sorry if it was taken that way.

Finally, and again I don't mean this as an insult, but calling everyone "Dude" when our usernames are right there by our posts is not the best way to start a conversation.
 
I've posted what works in my PC, give it a try. Also torque that front action screw down about 5# more than the rear. Ditch the crap scope and rings as well.
 
Update


Shot rifle today. Found shoots much better without bipod. Works better with front end on shooting rest. Best groups was in the .75" range. All .75" groups had 1 flier that keep them from being .5" groups. Could be me. Rifle is still picky about loads. Best groups was with 41 and 42gr h335 with 168 gr bullets. SD with both loads with smk bullets was 6 and 10 fps. With the Hornady bullets SD was 33? But accuracy was just as good. Was having high SD with 4064 and varget as well. 46 gr of varget also shot right at .75" with the Hornady bullet only. The suggested load of 46 gr of varget and the nosler bt bullet did not shoot well for me. The only load that did was 48gr of Imr 4350. At least now I have some loads with decent accuracy to play with seating depth and primers to see if I can get rifle to shoot a little better. Still would like to see a .5" group consistently.
 
Could be your rifle is reading this forum on it's spare time. LOL (just kidding).

.5 consistently out of a shorty carbine might be expecting quite a lot.
 
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Good luck on the load workup. If your best loads are with H335 ball powder at a low case fill, I stand by my earlier suggestion to swap out the primers. Heavier powder charges fill more of the case, which make initial pressure inconsistencies show up as higher velocity SD. Lower case fill mitigates that somewhat.

I know 42gr is a max charge, but well below a full case. When I was using Varget under 168s I couldn't get much more than 45gr without compressing the load. 48gr of 4350 sounds interesting, and if you want to bump up the bullet weight a little would probably be a great accuracy load. My suspicion is the 4350 is so slow that the initial primer inconsistencies don't show up because the rest of the pressure curve is very consistent with a stick powder that slow.

Jimro
 
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