30Hart
01-11-2017, 10:58 PM
I’ve always liked the look/performance of the original Accuracy International rifles, but at $4,600 for just the rifle no way was I going to own one. This build started when I found out Accuracy international made a stock for the older top bolt release 4.4 action Savage and they happened to be on clearance at Mile High Shooting. The problem was finding a donor action as all the new Savage short actions were bottom bolt release. After a ton of searching I found that Savage still built the older top bolt release Model 12 Varmint for Cabelas. As luck would have it the gun was on sale and had a $100 rebate on it, my donor action was secured.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun3_zpshpiip6d9.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun3_zpshpiip6d9.jpg.html)
Those AI stocks are solid aluminum and extremely heavy so this gun was designed to be used as a long range western hunting rifle that provided an extremely stable platform to shoot from the prone position. The cartridge choice for me was extremely easy as I already shoot a 7mm SAUM in my lighter carry rifle. I also had a custom reamer and plenty of 7mm SAUM brass. The other nice bonus was the Savage didn’t need to be milled out to accept the longer OAL Accurate Mags I chose to us allowing me an OAL of 2.970. All was not roses yet as I quickly found out that converting a small shank Model 12 308 Winchester into the larger SAUM cartridge provided some obstacles. Steve at S&S Sporting educated me quickly and informed me he’d have to convert my small shank action into a large shank action in order to have enough barrel steel left after chambering for safety’s sake. After that, a simple bolt head swap was all that he needed to do.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun2_zpsrr0cg2hn.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun2_zpsrr0cg2hn.jpg.html)
For the barrel, I went with Rock Creek. They had the regular small shank varmint profile in the computer so all they had to do is adjust it slightly for the large shank, no extra charge. The contour wound up being .850 at the 28 inch finished length. The 5R barrel has gain twist that starts at 9.2 twist and ends at 9.0. Pederson Precision (who incidentally used to work at Rock) did the pre-fit work and was referred by Rock Creek. After that, Steve at S&S Sporting converted the action, swapped out the bolt head, installed the new barrel on the action with a new barrel nut and recoil lug, and finished the barrel in a dark grey titanium looking finish.
I stayed with the original trigger for now as it broke clean at 2.25 pounds, but may upgrade down the road. I added a Leupold Mark 4 steel 20 MOA base with Seekins Precision Low rings. For the scope, I went with a Mark 4 Leupold 6.5-20x, 50mm scope with the TX29MOA reticle. The reticle is perfect for long range hunting especially when one doesn’t have time or prefers to not turn knobs. Last I added a set of Atlas BT10NC Bipods to finish off the look.
Summary:
- Model 12-FV 308 donor rifle
- 7mm SAUM
- Rock Creek 28 inch 9 twist
- AICS 1.5 Stock
- Accutrigger
- Leupold Mark 4 steel 20 MOA rail with Seekins Precision Low rings
- Atlas BT10NC Bipods
Brad
30Harthttp://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun1_zpsnskqslim.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun1_zpsnskqslim.jpg.html)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun3_zpshpiip6d9.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun3_zpshpiip6d9.jpg.html)
Those AI stocks are solid aluminum and extremely heavy so this gun was designed to be used as a long range western hunting rifle that provided an extremely stable platform to shoot from the prone position. The cartridge choice for me was extremely easy as I already shoot a 7mm SAUM in my lighter carry rifle. I also had a custom reamer and plenty of 7mm SAUM brass. The other nice bonus was the Savage didn’t need to be milled out to accept the longer OAL Accurate Mags I chose to us allowing me an OAL of 2.970. All was not roses yet as I quickly found out that converting a small shank Model 12 308 Winchester into the larger SAUM cartridge provided some obstacles. Steve at S&S Sporting educated me quickly and informed me he’d have to convert my small shank action into a large shank action in order to have enough barrel steel left after chambering for safety’s sake. After that, a simple bolt head swap was all that he needed to do.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun2_zpsrr0cg2hn.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun2_zpsrr0cg2hn.jpg.html)
For the barrel, I went with Rock Creek. They had the regular small shank varmint profile in the computer so all they had to do is adjust it slightly for the large shank, no extra charge. The contour wound up being .850 at the 28 inch finished length. The 5R barrel has gain twist that starts at 9.2 twist and ends at 9.0. Pederson Precision (who incidentally used to work at Rock) did the pre-fit work and was referred by Rock Creek. After that, Steve at S&S Sporting converted the action, swapped out the bolt head, installed the new barrel on the action with a new barrel nut and recoil lug, and finished the barrel in a dark grey titanium looking finish.
I stayed with the original trigger for now as it broke clean at 2.25 pounds, but may upgrade down the road. I added a Leupold Mark 4 steel 20 MOA base with Seekins Precision Low rings. For the scope, I went with a Mark 4 Leupold 6.5-20x, 50mm scope with the TX29MOA reticle. The reticle is perfect for long range hunting especially when one doesn’t have time or prefers to not turn knobs. Last I added a set of Atlas BT10NC Bipods to finish off the look.
Summary:
- Model 12-FV 308 donor rifle
- 7mm SAUM
- Rock Creek 28 inch 9 twist
- AICS 1.5 Stock
- Accutrigger
- Leupold Mark 4 steel 20 MOA rail with Seekins Precision Low rings
- Atlas BT10NC Bipods
Brad
30Harthttp://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/brvargo/gun1_zpsnskqslim.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/brvargo/media/gun1_zpsnskqslim.jpg.html)