My first Savage! Kind of...

[foxx]

Used and new take-off Savage factory barrels are available here in the member classifieds on a regular basis. Before I would pay $150-180 from the factory, though, would STRONGLY recommend an Apache Gun Works aftermarket barrel. Jim enjoys a great reputation for making top-notch barrels for about $180-200. He also will make higher-end barrels in the $300 range, though most of his customers will tell you from experience that his less expensive barrels shoot very, very well for about 2/3 the cost of others. Check him out: http://apachegunworks.com/

[Hotolds442]

Used and new take-off Savage factory barrels are available here in the member classifieds on a regular basis. Before I would pay $150-180 from the factory, though, would STRONGLY recommend an Apache Gun Works aftermarket barrel. Jim enjoys a great reputation for making top-notch barrels for about $180-200. He also will make higher-end barrels in the $300 range, though most of his customers will tell you from experience that his less expensive barrels shoot very, very well for about 2/3 the cost of others. Check him out: http://apachegunworks.com/
You won't pay 150-180 for a barrel from the factory, according to Effie at Savage Customer Service, they absolutely positively will not sell you a new barrel.

[Mach2]

I have a thumbhole stock. It looks great and is a good bench setup but thumbholes are not very good for hunting. The thumbholes are bigger stocks. They stick out in places. They don't lend themselves well to portability.
Bench stocks are for bench use.
Many of the tactical stocks also are not given to be good hunting stocks.
If you are lucky enough to live out West and you prairiedog hunt from a fixed, prone position the thumbhole and tactical stocks are in their realm and great for long range precision shooting.
For stalking; the classic hunting stock is king. They are designed to be carried while stalking. They don't stick out in places and stab your thigh or snare a vine or limb.

[UCChris]

Luckily, I do live out west. And most my hunting is from a fixed position. My shooting/hunting includes coyote (fixed), jackrabbit "sniping" for a farmer (fixed), paper punching (fixed), and other varmint control (crow, coon, fox, etc) all while in a fixed position. The only other thing that I *might* be doing with it, is doing an antlerless deer hunt for some winter meat.

@foxx, thanks for the link! Those are some killer prices. I just sent him a price inquiry for a 26" varmint contour (.8" muzzle) .223 barrel in chromemoly w 1/9" or 1/8" twist.

[Mach2]

We have Coyote here in SC but I NEVER see any of them. Not ever. I just stood at my back door listening to some Coyote yippen it up like crazy about 300yds in the woods behind my house but they never show themselves. Very secretive creatures. If we had the open spaces like you Westerners have then yea, I'd see them regularly but foliage hides them here. I regularly see my dogs barking at the back fence at night at what I assume is Coyote. They could easily kill my dogs if the fence weren't there.
We have few cats around here and I bet it is because the Coyote catch them.

[UCChris]

They are certainly wily creatures...

I've been doing some reading and, apparently, a barrel over twenty inches is not really needed for medium range varmint shooting. But, is a twenty inch barrel with a 1:8 twist enough to stabilize the heavier, and thus longer, bullets more suitable for light deer hunting?

[tammons]

IMO a bull barrel is too heavy and unbalanced for Pdogs and the like especially with that stock.
Okay for full on FTR target etc though with a heavy stock.

I would buy a Varmint profile barrel myself to keep the weight down and actually I am about to sell my new bull barrel just for that reason..
For just me I dont care for thumbhole stocks either but to each their own.

Also I would buy a 7 twist barrel just in case you ever want to shoot 90 gr bergers. 7 twist is fine unless you are shooting
something like 35-40 gr bullets then you might overspin. That said I loaded mine with 52 gr amaxes and it was the most accurate bullet I loaded at 1/4" groups and I never had a bullet blow up.

If you want to do a very nice matt finish stock then get it unfinished and do a Permalyn Sealer wet sand finish on it.
It takes about 20+ coats but creates a very nice matt finish.

Start off with a normal sand like with a sanding sponge then a couple of coats of Permalyn Sealer with a brush then start wet sanding with 180 and ending up with 320 or 400. Also you wipe it down after each wet sand and hang and let dry.

[tammons]

They are certainly wily creatures...

I've been doing some reading and, apparently, a barrel over twenty inches is not really needed for medium range varmint shooting. But, is a twenty inch barrel with a 1:8 twist enough to stabilize the heavier, and thus longer, bullets more suitable for light deer hunting?

For me barrel length is more of a function of how I will use a gun and 20-22" is a nice place to be for all around mobility.
A 20" bbl will work fine.

1:8 will stabilize a 80 gr match bullet. You need a 7 twist really for 90 gr bergers, and I will also add for the heavy 70 grain barnes bullets I think they need to be spun very fast and pushed hard to get them to group. The box says 8 twist but my gues sit will take a 7 twist to get them to shoot tight in 223.

Barnes says 9 twist on the box for the 62 gr TTSX but I never could get the 62 gr TTSX to group with our 9 twist sporter but they did shoot well in my 7 twist..

[UCChris]

Got an email back regarding my price inquiry. $190 for a twenty inch chromemoly barrel with a 1:8" twist. My plan is to use the 64 grain Winchester Super-X Power Point for deer under 200 yards and varmints out as far as I am accurate. There is a cool gel test on YouTube regarding these loads. Quite a nice cavity is shown.

I need to purchase a rangefinder, then the stock and barrel, in that order.

[tammons]

Personally I would either load a 62 gr TTSX for deer for a complete pass thru, unless you are going to shoot them in the neck then it doesnt matter.

They have good shock value but a cutting edge 60 gr copper raptor would do even better for dropping them.

Everything we have shot with the raptor bullets in 6.8 SPC has never made it more than 10 yards.

[UCChris]

Personally I would either load a 62 gr TTSX for deer for a complete pass thru, unless you are going to shoot them in the neck then it doesnt matter.

They have good shock value but a cutting edge 60 gr copper raptor would do even better for dropping them.

Everything we have shot with the raptor bullets in 6.8 SPC has never made it more than 10 yards.

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated. Unfortunately, I don't reload. So do any of these bullets you are talking about come in (semi)cheap factory loadings?

Also, I wouldn't mind shooting them in the neck. I'm only going to hunt deer for food, so neck shots are preferred to save as much meat as possible.

[tammons]

Remington Hog Hammer Ammunition 223 Remington 62 Grain Barnes Triple-Shock X Bullet Hollow Point Lead-Free Box of 20
About $30 a box. Although sounds like a lot, the actual 62 gr TTSX projectile cost about .60 cents each without shipping.

Use the cheap stuff for varmints and the Hog hammers for Hogs and deer.

Cutting edge bullets no on loaded ammo that I know of. The cutting edge projectiles alone cost about $1.40 each after shipping.

[Mach2]

I'll buy lead free ammo when it becomes tax deductible.

[UCChris]

Here's a pic of the gun now that it has a bipod.

http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz287/footballplayerchris/IMAG0058_zpsqivqswrd.jpg

[savgebolt]

Chris,,,, a thought on the thumbhole stock,,, i must admit i have only handled very few,,,, but , clearly some dont fit my hand,,,,