Savage 116, 300 WM

[Luckus]

A friend of mine asked me to try and figure out what is wrong with his poor shooting 116. He had a mutual friend load some ammo a few years back (the guy since died) and worked up a load that shot pretty well. Before getting into a long dialogue; are there any issues with this model that can be fixed before I spend a lot of time burning up ammo? I have checked scope mounts and action screws. The ation screws were snug but not tight.

[psharon97]

Have you tried shooting the rifle yourself to see if its not your friend? Getting a second opinion can help plenty to see whats going wrong with a rifle.

[Mbarnes72]

I have one that is pre-accutrigger tupperware and shoots 180gr accubonds inside 1-MOA all the time without being bedded and factory trigger. Magnum weight barrell with on-off brake. My brother has it's twin and they both shoot the same ammo just as well. No problems with that model.

[Luckus]

Mbarnes72, This rifle is exactly like yours. I will be shooting it in the next few days and am glad their are no inherent problems with this model. Thanks to all . I will let you know the results. Luckus

[stangfish]

curious as to the brand and model of scope.

[Luckus]

Leupold VX11 4x12 50mm, installed new on this rifle.

[Jetpig]

I have the 116 FCSS accustock version with the light sporter barrel. It shoots real good for 3 rounds, then it wanders because of heat. Any chance this is part of the problem?

[bowhunter42]

I have the 116 300wm,accu-stock and an after market break installed on it. I also did some minor bedding around the lug and forend, more to add weight then anything. this rifle shoots 3 shot 2" groups at 600 yards all day long as long as I do my part and take care not to over heat the factory Barrel.I also have a model 11 in 300wsm with the old tupperware stock. I found with that rifle if I shot it off hand and used the sling as support the forend would flex and put pressure on the right hand side of the barrel. I inserted some welding rods into the forend and bedded over them, It fixed that problem right away. just some Idea's. keep us posted

[Mbarnes72]

Luckus let me know if you are going to handload for it and I will tell you what I am using as it works in both of our rifles equally, it might in yours too. The Winchester 180gr accubond factory load shot well if you are not making your own.

[Luckus]

Mbarnes72, Yes I will be doing some loading for this rifle. I shot it late yesterday, and the best group was from 62gr, 4895 and 165 gr SST.s. Three shots in 1.4", the other load was 77.8gr of H4831 and 165gr Hornady sp that did 2.200. These were loaded by another guy (deceased) and were supposed to be the most accurate at that time. I have a hodgepodge of ammo, some of it all mixed up, you know the routine. Guys that don't handload just can't understand the need to keep ammo sorted properly. Yes I could use your data, as it will speed up this process. But I don't think their is any problem with this rifle, other than finding out what it likes. Also, the trigger pull is pretty stiff, I don't own a gauge but think it is in the 6 to 7 lb area. Thanks for your help. Luckus

[bowhunter42]

I have a load for the 300 winmag that has proven very accurate in severl different rifles. the only thing i change is the seating depths. I start with Winchester brass, fed 215 primer 72.3 grains of reloder 22 and topped with a 200 grain Nosler accu-bond. great bc on bullet.588 and very accurate. this is my go too load when I cant get Bergers to shoot well out of a particular rifle. this load also has GREAT long range performance, out to 1000 yds. Hope this may help, Jay

[Mbarnes72]

Luckus, here you go. Fed gm215m, w-w brass, 180gr accubond, 69.5gr of IMR-4350 (nosler shows 70.0 max) 3.382 oal easily fits magazine, 3100fps, new or neck sized shoots about the same

[Luckus]

Thanks you both for the data. I gave the rifle back yesterday as I don't have time right now (Mich and Wisc Deer hunting) but will pass on the data as his Dad is a handloader. Best of luck to all this fall. Luckus