Rbick
April 4th, 2008, 03:32 PM
Savage has come a long way in the last few years. 10 years ago if you had asked for an accurate Savage rifle for competitive long distance shooting, people would have laughed in your face. Recently however, they have made some impressive advances in their long distance shooting design. Their new models are much more accurate, and come with an already build in Accutrigger, which is an adjustable trigger from 1 1/2 up to 4 lbs. Very nice for a factory trigger.
Last year I decided to purchase a brand new .308 Savage for around 950$. It was a LE Choate folding stock model with a 20'' barrel, rifling rate of twist 1:10". Free float and buttoned heavy barrel, all weighing about 12 pounds. I'll have you know that during my military experience, I was not a sniper. I was actually heavy weapons, but I picked up long distance shooting as a hobby after a cross training session with our snipers.
I added a bipod and a 5x15 power scope. The scope was a Bushnell Tactical 3200 Series, which was about 300$. From the reviews I read, it is the best optics you can get for that price. I would have to agree, as thus far it has worked well for me and is exceptionally clear. I am able to spot my buddies bullets when he is firing and can give him adjustments. For those who don't know, while long range shooting, you can watch your shooters bullets (the heat train it leaves mostly) as they travel through the air if you have nice optics. This is usually done with a spotting scope, but a scope on your rifle can work fine too. It didn't fog up during the winter while shooting either, even in one instance were it was -5* F. I also put a nice bipod on, which cost me about 80$.
Now for the fun part. I made sure to professionally break in the barrel. The exact method I cannot pull off the top of my head, but I have it in my notes somewhere. I will post them if and when I find them. Breaking in the barrel properly is important for long range rifles, especially later down the road after putting thousands of rounds through it. I bought 168 grain BT (Boat Tail) Winchester rounds and have stuck with them since. The first few boxes were simply for breaking in, and where shot at a target about 100 yards out. At first, the groups weren't impressive, but approaching the last 20 rounds or so, they started landed inside of each other.
I started to move the target further out, and eventually had it zeroed at 600 yards, which was my goal. At 600 yards, I was able to put 6 rounds within 6 inches of each other (1 MOA). Note that the formulas for windage, drop, ect. will not be discussed in this post, I'll post my notes for those later in a different section. I moved a target out to 900 yards, which was the furthest that the property I was shooting at would allow me. It was a relatively calm day, so wind wasn't much of a problem (there was a breeze of about 3mph out of the south). I traced a life size silhouette of a human on the target. Keeping the zero at 600, I used the bottom mil dot and fired 10 rounds at the target. I then drove down to the target, as it was now over half a mile away. 9 rounds had hit the target in the chest/upper abdomen, all within 9 inches of each other, and 1 had hit the shoulder, a fault of mine I'm sure. I should also note that I was firing in the prone position on a shooting mat.
In conclusion, I really like this rifle. It works great for someone just getting in to the sport and is very affordable. I spent about 1400$ on a system that can accurately engage targets at 900 yards. The shorter barrel, 20'' as opposed to the usual 24'' or 26'', makes it useful in confined urban areas or as a patrol rifle. The folding stock makes it great for storage, better concealment, or carrying.
The bad things I had happen involved the optics and ammunition. The scope was maxed at 600 yards, requiring new rings if I wanted to zero any further. However, the mil dots have made up for this and if I want, I can spend 50$ on new rings, which isn't bad at all. Also, I had two mis-fires when the temperature was around -5*F. The ammunition I was using that day, which was federal because I couldn't get anything else, was not performing well. So this could be due to the ammo, not the weapon. It should also be noted that weapons do in fact "prefer" certain ammo. So no more federal for my rifle.
Has anyone else had experience with a Savage rifle?
Last year I decided to purchase a brand new .308 Savage for around 950$. It was a LE Choate folding stock model with a 20'' barrel, rifling rate of twist 1:10". Free float and buttoned heavy barrel, all weighing about 12 pounds. I'll have you know that during my military experience, I was not a sniper. I was actually heavy weapons, but I picked up long distance shooting as a hobby after a cross training session with our snipers.
I added a bipod and a 5x15 power scope. The scope was a Bushnell Tactical 3200 Series, which was about 300$. From the reviews I read, it is the best optics you can get for that price. I would have to agree, as thus far it has worked well for me and is exceptionally clear. I am able to spot my buddies bullets when he is firing and can give him adjustments. For those who don't know, while long range shooting, you can watch your shooters bullets (the heat train it leaves mostly) as they travel through the air if you have nice optics. This is usually done with a spotting scope, but a scope on your rifle can work fine too. It didn't fog up during the winter while shooting either, even in one instance were it was -5* F. I also put a nice bipod on, which cost me about 80$.
Now for the fun part. I made sure to professionally break in the barrel. The exact method I cannot pull off the top of my head, but I have it in my notes somewhere. I will post them if and when I find them. Breaking in the barrel properly is important for long range rifles, especially later down the road after putting thousands of rounds through it. I bought 168 grain BT (Boat Tail) Winchester rounds and have stuck with them since. The first few boxes were simply for breaking in, and where shot at a target about 100 yards out. At first, the groups weren't impressive, but approaching the last 20 rounds or so, they started landed inside of each other.
I started to move the target further out, and eventually had it zeroed at 600 yards, which was my goal. At 600 yards, I was able to put 6 rounds within 6 inches of each other (1 MOA). Note that the formulas for windage, drop, ect. will not be discussed in this post, I'll post my notes for those later in a different section. I moved a target out to 900 yards, which was the furthest that the property I was shooting at would allow me. It was a relatively calm day, so wind wasn't much of a problem (there was a breeze of about 3mph out of the south). I traced a life size silhouette of a human on the target. Keeping the zero at 600, I used the bottom mil dot and fired 10 rounds at the target. I then drove down to the target, as it was now over half a mile away. 9 rounds had hit the target in the chest/upper abdomen, all within 9 inches of each other, and 1 had hit the shoulder, a fault of mine I'm sure. I should also note that I was firing in the prone position on a shooting mat.
In conclusion, I really like this rifle. It works great for someone just getting in to the sport and is very affordable. I spent about 1400$ on a system that can accurately engage targets at 900 yards. The shorter barrel, 20'' as opposed to the usual 24'' or 26'', makes it useful in confined urban areas or as a patrol rifle. The folding stock makes it great for storage, better concealment, or carrying.
The bad things I had happen involved the optics and ammunition. The scope was maxed at 600 yards, requiring new rings if I wanted to zero any further. However, the mil dots have made up for this and if I want, I can spend 50$ on new rings, which isn't bad at all. Also, I had two mis-fires when the temperature was around -5*F. The ammunition I was using that day, which was federal because I couldn't get anything else, was not performing well. So this could be due to the ammo, not the weapon. It should also be noted that weapons do in fact "prefer" certain ammo. So no more federal for my rifle.
Has anyone else had experience with a Savage rifle?