Savage Big Bore Project Pre-1995 Model 111

[S11033]

Hey guys,

I just joined this forum because I am working on a fun big bore project using a Savage 111. I've fallen in love with my suppressed .300 BLK rifles, especially my bolt actions, because they are dead quiet. They're fun to plink and tinker with.

I decided I want to build the biggest, baddest silent rifle that can legally be owned in the US. Since the power of a subsonic cartridge is only limited by projectile weight, I decided to go with a .510 bore size. The cartridge will either be .510 SOCOM (a necked up .458 SOCOM case) or .510 Beck depending on the details of the Beck when it is released. It should be very similar to the SOCOM. I'll be loading 647 gr .50 BMG pulled bullets at 1050 fps and will buy a suppressor if the first phase of my project turns out well.

I want the rifle to be mag fed so I spoke to the folks at Accurate Mag, who make the DBM system for the Savage 111 .338 Lapua Long Range Hunter. They said that their .338 Lapua magazine should work, and I can either use their bottom metal or PTG's bottom metal.


I bought a used Savage 111 for a great price but it has a blind mag and the stock has no opening. I called Savage to see what my options were for stocks, but they told me that my rifle was made before 1995 and that they don't provide any service for rifles made prior to that date. They further said that no post-1995 stocks would fit my receiver, which I thought odd given that the screw spacing has not changed to my knowledge. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


I have two questions-
First, will a modern Savage Trophy Hunter or similar stock fit?
Second, which bottom metal (Accurate Mag or PTG) will be easier to fit to the stock?



Ideally I'd like to find a stock that will fit the action with no inletting and fit either of the two bottom metals with minimal inletting.


Thank you for your help!


Steve

[scooterf79]

Welcome to the forum!
You should have a stagger-feed action--the mag box stays attached to the receiver when removed from the stock. You could order a stock from Boyds or most any other place will have stocks to fit the action, just make sure it is top bolt release when you order(your action should be IIRC) as my 96-97ish action is. Ive not messed with the DBM setups but a lot of guys on the site have and will be able to direct you better than myself, but if Ive read most stuff correctly, with that bottom metal the stock will need to be inletted. CDI(one of our sponsors here) will do it, and they have a pretty quick turnaround I hear. As far as later stocks not fitting....I'm not sure about that provided you get Stagger-feed stock vs a Centerfeed one. Also, one more thing before I forget, I don't know the COL of the cartridge you will be building, but if they told you the 338LM mag will work it must be a Long action length. Make sure your action is a LA cartridge(270, 30-06,etc) your action is prior to actual short actions. Savage used the same numbers 111, 112 etc but would machine the bottom of receiver to hold a SA(243, 22-250, 223) box but it was still a LA(same LA spacing). It wasn't until several years later they came out with actual SAs 110, 112, etc.
I hope this helps some.
Scooter

[S11033]

Hey,

Thank you very much for the info! You're right, my rifle has the side bolt release and was originally a 30-06, which is perfect for this cartridge because it uses the 30-06 bolt face (.473 IIRC) and has a COAL of 3.2". I'll upload a photo later. It's a beast!

Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction on the stock. So will a center feed stock not fit a stagger feed action even with inletting?

Any input from guys that have mounted DBMS on stagger feed actions?

Thanks again!

Steve

[Hotolds442]

In the Savage long action models, a centerfeed stock will fit a staggerfeed action with inletting. Switching to aftermarket bottom metal should allow proper feeding providing that bottom metal and magazines are compatible with the factory milling in the bottom of the action.

[S11033]

Thank you very much for that info.

Can anyone point me to where I can see how to inlet the centerfeed stock for my stagger feed action? I found this thread. The third post addresses the question, but I think the pictures have been removed.

http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?11095-Convert-stagger-feed-to-center-feed

Thanks for all the input!

Steve

[Hotolds442]

I would just call CDI Precision and talk to them. You buy the bottom metal from them and they do the inletting for free - you just pay the return postage. That eliminates most of the inletting issues and puts any feed issues you may have on them to solve.

[S11033]

I actually just got an email back from Jeff and he told me he would experiment with it if I send him dummy cartridges.

His offering is significantly more expensive than the Accurate Mag and PTG products. Is it worth it?

Thanks,

Steve

[Hotolds442]

Send him the dummy cartridges and find out. If he can get it to function flawlessly with minimal modifications I'd say it's worth it. If you have to modify every magazine then no, probably not worth it. If it were me I'd take him up on his offer and go from there.

[S11033]

Okay, thanks for the advice.

I'll work with him on this and let you guys know what ends up happening.

Steve