My 12 fv is getting a little heavy for me.

[Wino]

I've had my 12 fv for a year now. Love the accuracy of this gun out of the box. It's taken quite a few yotes already. Vaporized lots of ground squirrels. But I've had my second stroke this summer. The 1st one (2 years ago) left me almost 100% normal (my hand writing went to sh**t). This one left me 98%. My left arm is weak. Not much but noticeable. I have a hard time picking up the gun and shooting sticks when sitting prone to track a moving target. I know, the 12FV is a beast for weight, but I used to be able to pick it up a re-position the gun and sticks So I want to re-barrel the rifle. Is there any stock Savage standard contour or slight varmit contour barrel I can put on this gun. I know there are a lot of after market barrel makers out there but I was thinking I could pick up a take off from some else Savage and save some $. Do any of the other Savage rifles barrels fit my 12?
Thanks in advance for any info
Wino

[RP12]

Any factory short action barrel will work. You just have to determine if it's a large or small shank action, then buy accordingly. I would guess it's a small shank.

[bootsmcguire]

Savage has made several models with shorter barrels of the same contour that you have now that would save a fair amount of weight, most are 223 or 308. If you have a 223 anything in 16.25" up to 20" in a varmint contour makes for a handy little carbine and still lets it perform well. For 223 a take-off from a 10PC should suit your needs well.

I would look up a good smith and just have your barrel shortened and recrowned. Then you can save yourself the trouble of another load work-up since its still the same barrel, and only require some minor tweaks due to the shorter length. Just some thoughts.

[Wino]

Thanks guys. I think I'll look up a local gunsmith near me and see how much weight I can shave off this rifle by shorting the barrel to 22".