Accuracy with 111 XP?

[Apex-Predator]

So I have owned a few Savage rifles over the years, and currently own a synthetic, accutrigger 110 30-06 (Wal-Mart special) While the rifle is very accurate with my handloads it sucks with factory ammo spitting out 2"+ groups, when I load them a little longer around 3.30" I am getting consistent 1/2" groups at 100yards (165gr BTSP over H414 and 150gr SST/TTSX over RL19) Is this common that the XP series Savages shoot poorly with factory ammo or is mine just a fluke?
My Savage is not the only rifle I own that does that, my A-Bolt 7mm-08 won't hold 5" at 100 with any factory ammo yet is easy sub-MOA loaded to near max length with H380 or Big Game.
I am thinking about adding a 270 Win or a 300 Win Mag to the collection this year and I would like a rifle that shoots factory and handloads well like my Tikka does, that little monster holds 3/4" with the cheapest factory fodder I could find and drills one hole groups with 129gr SST over RL19.
What kind of accuracy are you getting out of your low end Savage 110/111s with factory fodder?

[Bigeclipse]

So I have owned a few Savage rifles over the years, and currently own a synthetic, accutrigger 110 30-06 (Wal-Mart special) While the rifle is very accurate with my handloads it sucks with factory ammo spitting out 2"+ groups, when I load them a little longer around 3.30" I am getting consistent 1/2" groups at 100yards (165gr BTSP over H414 and 150gr SST/TTSX over RL19) Is this common that the XP series Savages shoot poorly with factory ammo or is mine just a fluke?
My Savage is not the only rifle I own that does that, my A-Bolt 7mm-08 won't hold 5" at 100 with any factory ammo yet is easy sub-MOA loaded to near max length with H380 or Big Game.
I am thinking about adding a 270 Win or a 300 Win Mag to the collection this year and I would like a rifle that shoots factory and handloads well like my Tikka does, that little monster holds 3/4" with the cheapest factory fodder I could find and drills one hole groups with 129gr SST over RL19.
What kind of accuracy are you getting out of your low end Savage 110/111s with factory fodder?


I can only comment with my brother's older savage 110 we have in 7mm rem mag. It is a non accutrigger version. We had a similar experience as you. However, we did find one factory load it liked. Remington corlokts. Not sure what grain bullet...ill check when I get home. But it shot 2+ inch groups at 100 yards with other factory ammo we tried (winchester super X, federal low end, and one box federal premium cant remember which it was) but with the core lokts it was .5moa-.75moa which is a crazy difference haha. My brother never tried any other ammo after that and has been shooting those core lokts since.

[Apex-Predator]

Yeah I had a Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag that loved 150gr Core-Lokts, shame my Ruger 77 does not like them that much. I have not found any factory that the 30-06 likes so when I need more brass I shoot Remington since I like their brass the best in 06. My Savage 11 270WSM does like some factory ammo, but it is some weird model with iron sights, that thing shoots even tighter then the 30-06 right now I am punching cloverleafs using 150gr SGKs over RL22 using Win brass (nickel) running 3010fps.

[Bigeclipse]

Yeah I had a Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag that loved 150gr Core-Lokts, shame my Ruger 77 does not like them that much. I have not found any factory that the 30-06 likes so when I need more brass I shoot Remington since I like their brass the best in 06. My Savage 11 270WSM does like some factory ammo, but it is some weird model with iron sights, that thing shoots even tighter then the 30-06 right now I am punching cloverleafs using 150gr SGKs over RL22 using Win brass (nickel) running 3010fps.


How many different factory loads did you try? All the same grain weight bullet? If you really want to shoot factory ammo...it may cost you a bit to find one your rifle likes. I spent a few hundred looking for factory ammo my browning x-bolt in 300 wsm liked...turned out it liked federal fusions in 165gr. When I reload for it, however, it loves 200grainers best. So you never know...you may have to try a bunch of boxes before you find something. Rifles can be picky like that which sucks.

[mazroth]

I have 3 savages, a 10 fcm scout in 7.62x39, 10tr in 308, and a 111 xp 30-06 which I just bought.
Havnt done much with 308 yet, first outing had scope mishap. The 10FCM, well, really no factory loads in 7.62x39
with 308 bullets. Shot some surplus, it shoots 2-3". Now I used some sierra hpbt in 135gr, hornady 150gr rn,
sierra 125gr sp hp, and nosler green tip 125gr. With what I tried, the 135gr and 150gr pair were 3-4" groups, the
green tip noslers looked ok at 1.5-2", but the sierra 125 soft point hollow point put 3 in a dime.

Now Ive read good reviews about hornady whitetail 150gr sp interlock bullets, with many rifles, all shooting under
1 moa. I have two boxes otw and plan to try them out.

[Apex-Predator]

How many different factory loads did you try? All the same grain weight bullet? If you really want to shoot factory ammo...it may cost you a bit to find one your rifle likes. I spent a few hundred looking for factory ammo my browning x-bolt in 300 wsm liked...turned out it liked federal fusions in 165gr. When I reload for it, however, it loves 200grainers best. So you never know...you may have to try a bunch of boxes before you find something. Rifles can be picky like that which sucks.

I bet I have tried 6 or 7 factory loads over the years, none of which ever shot better then 2MOA, never tried factory 125s though you hardly ever see them around here. In handload form it shoots 150, 165, and 180gr bullets of different design/manufacturer very well, everything from 150gr all copper TTSX to oldschool 180gr Hornady round nose but again it likes them long, I am thinking mine might just have an unusually long throat or something, that is the best I can figure. I am not complaining though, I will take a 1/2 MOA rifle all day long even if it won't shoot factory worth a darn.
BTW if you ever want to see how fast a pig can hit the ground those old 180gr RN bullets will drop them stiff, not even a twitch, they hit so hard you can hear the audible thud over the muzzle blast of the 06, I know they have a sucky BC so they are not my all around load but in the woods they are awesome, they are the only bullet I load for the Remington 742 carbine.

[Digduggy]

How many grains of h414 are you getting good results with the 06? I got a lb of it i need to use up... Use imr/h4895 for everything now...

[Apex-Predator]

How many grains of h414 are you getting good results with the 06? I got a lb of it i need to use up... Use imr/h4895 for everything now...
Max load 56gr, safe in my rifle but this is a stout load at 2950fps. Kicks a little harder then factory but with the .520 BC 165gr BTSP it has better downrange ballistics then my 7mm Rem Mag :)
That is my new go to powder for everything 165gr.

[Digduggy]

Interesting, I am putting them over 46.5 gr of IMR4895, tried to 414 and didnt get much consistency... Will have to try it again!

[Apex-Predator]

Interesting, I am putting them over 46.5 gr of IMR4895, tried to 414 and didnt get much consistency... Will have to try it again!

I did not get good consistency until I started seating them just off the lands, poor accuracy with only slightly shorter loads.

[Digduggy]

Interesting... may have to try this... how about in winter, see any temp sensitivities

[jonbearman]

Sir if you really reload then why waste money on any factory stuff. The only thing I could shoot out of a tc encore pistol in 30-06 was the blue box hi-shok ammo which is the cheapest thing federal makes,it used to be 9.99 per box and is now about 20.00 or so. But the stuff shot like a match rifle out of my pistol with that stuff.

[Apex-Predator]

Sir if you really reload then why waste money on any factory stuff. The only thing I could shoot out of a tc encore pistol in 30-06 was the blue box hi-shok ammo which is the cheapest thing federal makes,it used to be 9.99 per box and is now about 20.00 or so. But the stuff shot like a match rifle out of my pistol with that stuff.

I used to get my brass for 10-15 cents each at the range I lived next door to, sadly nobody around here carries range brass, while I have plenty of 30-06 some other cartridges I am running low on and the difference between cheap brass and cheap ammo is hardly anything, sometimes less, for example I buy Prvi ammo for my 6.5x55 because brass for that rifle costs MORE then the $12.95/box I paid for the ammo and in my experience Prvi brass is (in 6.5x55) as good as any, I almost hate to say it but I prefer it to my Norma. I don't deer hunt with that ammo but I'll practice or shoot varmints with it and reuse the brass, also if SHTF being reasonably accurate with whatever ammo you can find is a plus, not that the thought of a liberal dictatorship keeps me up at night or anything.

[gotcox]

I would think as a reloader this is a no brainer. The bullet jump on factory rifles that are meant to be sold to anyone, who may use any ammo needs to be safe. While extra room for bullet jump will hurt accuracy it will be safe, if you go the other way and set the jump to short...well one long round thrown in the rifle and bad things happen. This is one of the main reason people will always get more accuracy from hand loading for there rifle. Instead of rounds meant to work in any rifle your making rounds for your rifle. My savage 111 has so much lead in (bullet jump) that i could load my rounds longer than the magazine can hold and still be off the lands. But i know any factory round can be tossed in it and fired safely. You can take your rifle to a gunsmith and have him ream you a new chamber with less lead in, but you will lose the ability to through just any old ammo into it without worry. Lots of target shooters do this to there bench rifles so they can get the jump at the exact depth they know there custom rounds will be.