First Post - First Savage

[doc540]

Did my homework and decided to buy a Savage to thin the herds of feral paper taking over my local range.

Traded and sold 30rnd AR mags for this model in .223.

(left eye dominate, thus the Louisiana bolt)

I reload .223 for my SBR, so I thought commonality of ammo would be a good idea in these days and times.

Also found a NIB Leupold 6.5-20x40 which I also traded with AR mags.

Hope to shoot it for the first time tomorrow if the weather breaks.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions, so bear with me.

First question: 50grain Varmit Nightmare X-treme SP's should shoot ok in the 1/9 twist barrel?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Savage%20M12/M12C.jpg

[doc540]

Ya'll are a quiet bunch, arn'cha? :p

[pitsnipe]

Well,

I'll chip in. I dont shoot that caliber (not sayin its a bad one I just dont have one). But have a Mdl 10 in .308 that I can hit minute of softball at 600 yards cold bore (disclaimer: that I read the wind correctly!)
Good shootin!

[mattm0812]

Those 50gr bullets will work just fine.

And there is nothing wrong with that caliber.

It is dead accurate.

How many AR mags did you have :confused:

[BRIAN G]

Looks like you made a good aquisition. The 50s will shoot in your 1:9, but something a little heavier would probably really shine, especially once you push past 100 yds. A friend gave me a couple boxes of Hornady 52GR Match when I first got my .223 and I shot them with no problems in my factory 1:9. A lot of people are having great success with the 69SMKS, 75AMAX and 70Bergers out of their 1:9 .223s. Only one way to tell for sure though, go shoot it.

[CharlieNC]

My 9 twist shoots 69SMatchKing great, the 55SGameKing not as good. For pigs I would opt for a heavier, tougher bullet than 50Varmint. But you will never know until you try it on paper and then pop the pig.

[doc540]

Well, THAT was fun!

20-30mph north wind gusts really made it interesting.

Sighted in the Leupold at 25, then 75, then 100yds.

In between gusts, the Wammart 55gr cheap stuff would shoot inside a nickel at 100yds.

This is gonna be fun, I tell ya!

btw: Only reason I'm reloading 50gr Nightmare X-tremes is because I got deal on about 5K rounds of it.

Kind of a "run what'cha brung" thang.

[handirifle]

Those 50gr bullets will work just fine.

And there is nothing wrong with that caliber.

It is dead accurate.

How many AR mags did you have :confused:

LOL I was wondering the same thing. Looks like SOMEBODY read everything right. Me, on the other hand, I always do everything bass akwards. I sold my AR receiver (empty and unused) about 2 months before the election, for LESS than I paid. I feel like a real genius now seeing them go for twice what I paid.

But that is the way it always go for me, with gun trading.

DOC540
Ya done good. by the way, the bolt is actually on the CORRECT side of the rifle. The other 90% of them are wrong!

Nuthin wrong with a Savage bolt 223. Heck mine have decently stabilized the 75gr Vmax, from my 1.9 twist. Of course they were loaded too long to fit in the magazine and charges were at max levels, so that helped I am sure, but the same technique worked in 2 different Savage 223's, both 1-9 twist.

A 1-8 would be needed if the bullet was stuffed in the case enough to fit in the magazine.

[doc540]

Oh, yeah, one other thing.

Since I don't hunt, shooting a .223 at paper should make better sense due to commonality of ammo with my Sabre Defence SBR.

Heading back to the reloading bench right now.

Wind should be down by Friday for sure, maybe even by tomorrow.

This has the makings of a new habit. :o

[teebirdhyzer]

You are going to love that rifle! I have one just like it that is bone stock, and it will shoot a couple of different factory ammos into 1/4" groups at 100yds. I have built a bunch of different rifles including .260, 6.5 creedmoor, .243, 7.62 x 39, and this factory sporter barrel stock Savage .223 is the most accurate rifle I own.

[doc540]

Thanks

Headed to the range tomorrow to shoot two different reloads, both with 50gr Varmit Nightmare X-Treme bullets.
26gr of Varget and 24gr of IMR 3010.

Those are the only two rifle powders I have on hand.

Wind should be below 10mph, too.

[doc540]

I should'a done this a long time ago!

(flyer was from another string)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Targets/c5240625-8ffa-4fd7-ab50-6951f34e1970_zps862c210c.jpg

[stangfish]

126gr of Varget and 124gr of IMR 3010.



WOW!!! Those are some hot loads!!!:o

[doc540]

WOW!!! Those are some hot loads!!!:o

Hot enough to blow up my keyboard! :o

[doc540]

getting things dialed in a little better

just acquired some 69gr Speer bullets which should be more accurate than the 50gr SP's

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Targets/0e411f95-b462-4f5f-8f56-d803ade47f3a_zpsacaf846b.jpg

[doc540]

trying different weight bullets with different powder loads

getting it dialed in

55gr hp's w/25gr Varget are the ticket
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Targets/6096b7d4-148a-4b21-ab10-2f80fe3a506f_zps9074e95c.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Targets/51aec8d5-14f1-49c8-9b4f-3441303bb641_zps0df383eb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Targets/dd84e2d2-1e70-4d9c-86ac-5d8fcbe052dc_zps8429a762.jpg