12FV 6.5 creedmoor build in Choate Tactical stock

[bassman110]

Bought the 12FV a couple years back. Decided to put a Burris Eliminator III on it when they went on sale last month as I drew prime public hunt in Texas where shots will range out to 300+ yrds. It shot lights out at 400 yards in the plastic Savage stock. I decided to put a better stock on it to see if I could improve it (which would be hard to do). I chose the Choate Tactical stock after doing some research. I also decided to convert the 12FV from a blind mag to a DBM. I called Savage Arms and ordered the bottom metal ($79) and the bottom plate to convert the blind mag into a drop mag. I asked the gentleman on the phone from Savage if I needed anything else like new action screws. The answer was no it all should work. When everything arrived I quickly pulled everything out and started the build. The bottom metal was a little snug so I lightly sanded the stock material. I transferred the metal trigger guard over from the original stock, dropped in the action, and found that the front action screw was too long. The Savage support guy was not correct about everything transferring over. After some searching, I found many posts about this issue. While I found many such posts I did not find a solid confirmation on how to proceed. Some said cut/grind the original screw down to fit. But as you can see in the pictures doing so would not leave enough threads. Further searching revealed references to using the 10/110 front screw. But it was the weekend and I would have to wait to call Savage and another 7-10 days shipping. I also have a savage 110 high country in .308. I removed the action screws and the front screw was the correct length. I found Midway USA had a DBM screw for an HS stock while Brownells had nothing in stock for DBM stocks. Searching the big box h/w stores turned up nothing. So I ordered the option from Midway and continued the search checking at a local gun shop to no avail. However checking at a local ACE h/w store I found a possible solution in a 1/4-28 x 3/4" button head screw. I had to file the diameter of the head down to fit the stock by putting the screw in my drill press and using a file to cut the head down. I also shortened the screw slightly by using a couple jam nuts and grinding it down slightly. At last, I had the solution to finish the build. I tightened the front screw first torqueing it to 40 in. lbs as recommend by Savage for the Accustock. I the followed the same procedure for the rear action screw. Overall I am satisfied with the finished solution. I will have to wait to get it to the range to see if it shoots as well as it looks. It is heavy but I will likely be hunting from a ground blind with shooting sticks. Hope this helps anyone looking to do a similar build. Enjoy the pictures.

New Screws:
https://ibb.co/tmzvGKQ
https://ibb.co/tmzvGKQ
https://ibb.co/tmzvGKQhttps://i.ibb.co/tmzvGKQ/1-25-28x-75.jpg (https://ibb.co/tmzvGKQ)

Original screw blind mag vs. purchased new screw comparison
https://i.ibb.co/61xKRTS/2-12-FV-scew-comparison.jpg (https://ibb.co/LJWTzcy)

Savage 110 vs new screw comparision
https://i.ibb.co/yVp4wtV/3-110-screw-comparison.jpg (https://ibb.co/yVp4wtV)

Savage 110 high country screw - has a washer?
https://i.ibb.co/ckWMzMm/4-110-washer.jpg (https://ibb.co/ckWMzMm)

Savage 110 screw length
https://i.ibb.co/fDTnSY0/5-orig-screw-length.jpg (https://ibb.co/fDTnSY0)

New screw length
https://i.ibb.co/vv1RxSR/6-new-screw-length.jpg (https://ibb.co/vv1RxSR)

Jam nuts to enable grinding new screw
https://i.ibb.co/qxrxjM3/7-screw-trim.jpg (https://ibb.co/qxrxjM3)

Drop Box Mag bottom purchased from Savage Arms
https://i.ibb.co/Bcb0mG6/8-DBM-bottom.jpg (https://ibb.co/Bcb0mG6)

Assembled mag with mag pulled from original stock plus purchased bottom
https://i.ibb.co/Gs0X5Ky/9-0-DBM-assembled.jpg (https://ibb.co/Gs0X5Ky)

Bottom metal purchased from Savage installed
https://i.ibb.co/xLt71GR/9-1-bottom-metal.jpg (https://ibb.co/xLt71GR)

Drop box mag installed
https://i.ibb.co/qDrff5W/9-2-mag-installed.jpg (https://ibb.co/qDrff5W)

Finished rifle
https://i.ibb.co/Nn1CwZS/9-3-finished.jpg (https://ibb.co/Nn1CwZS)

Choate stock + cheek piece invoice from Tactical Works
https://i.ibb.co/zxWzLnT/9-4-choate-stock-invoice.jpg (https://ibb.co/zxWzLnT)

Savage Arms invoice for bottom metal and mag bottom.
https://i.ibb.co/xgY3xcv/9-5-savage-invoice.jpg (https://ibb.co/xgY3xcv)

[hamiltonkiler]

Good deal. Picture links are broken.

Always remember a washer or two work to shorten how much thread your running into the action. Cheers
I’d like to see the pictures


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PhilC]

Pics worked for me just now. Nice detail!

[Robinhood]

We have been fixing the action screw issues for some time. You did a great job documenting and explaining the process.

[Bama]

Thank you for posting this. I have been thinking seriously about doing this same conversion on my 12FV using the Choate Tactical. ( I am currently having ejection problems and do not want to start conversion until I see if they can be resolved. ) With the information you have posted , perhaps I can talk Savage into sending the correct screw(s) ?? One question , does the cheek piece make using a cleaning rod more difficult ? Thanks again for all the information - this is exactly what I've been searching for.

[bassman110]

If you have a stiff brass cleaning rod it might make it more difficult. The cheek piece does not cause issues for me as I use an Otis elite cleaning kit which uses a breach-to-muzzle cable pull system. (https://otistec.com/the-otis-elite/) I cannot say enough good things about the Otis kit. They have a unique patch system that allows you to make multi-pulls with the same patch. (https://otistec.com/instruction-sheets/). Depending on what you have when you talk to Savage tell them you need the front action screw for DBM on a 10/110 if you are converting the blind mag to DBM. I specifically asked them when I ordered the bottom metal and mag bottom and was told what I had would work (Ha). I would keep checking Brownells to see if they get them back in stock. I will update the thread when the screw I ordered from Midway comes in later this week. Once I found the screw at my local ACE h/w it wasn't hard to tweek it. It may have worked as it was but my OCD kicked in and I ground it down ever so little and then blued it for protection. As I noted, the screw from the 110 I have has a small washer under it. I have never seen such a washer on any of my other rifles. It has small ridges on it to keep the screw from loosening up which I have read can be a common issue.

[Bama]

Looking forward to your update on this thread . Thanks again.

[bassman110]

The screw from Midway USA is .029 inches shorter than the screw I took out of my 110 .308. which is maybe a thread or two smaller. I believe it would work.

https://i.ibb.co/gZc8B5d/savage-front-screw-in-HS-precision-stock-from-midway.jpg (https://ibb.co/0yzLdgK)

[Bama]

Again, thanks for posting this. I believe I would be more comfortable with this option - I have little to no machinist skills . With a little blue loctite , I would think this would work ??

[bassman110]

Other's can chime in but my experience/research says you do not put loctite on the action screws. I have several rifles/brands and have have most of them apart cleaning after hunts and none have had loctite on them. The action screws are supposed to be torqued to spec. I do recommend every now and then to check the torque.

[Bama]

No Loctite it is then . Thanks

[bassman110]

Got the rifle to the range this morning. Once I verified zero at 100yrds I moved over to the 300 and 400 yrd metal range. It shot very well. The wind was a little gusty but mainly blowing into my face. The rifle did very well and I am pleased. The 12" square at 300 yrd didn't prove to be much of a challenge. I pinged it on 4 straight shots and moved to the 400 yrd and went for the 12" circle. I pinged it 2 out of the 4 shots and then put a couple dead center on the larger silhouette. The wind judgement at 400 yrds was a little trickery. All said, I believe hunting from a blind with a tripod the 300-400 yrd shot is something I will now consider. My ability to read the wind will be the deciding factor. Not the rifle as it is capable of delivering the shot.

[TommyD11730]

Maybe you can help bassman110. I have a FV in 223. Was thinking about the choate, so I called them today. They put me on the phone with a smith. He said any choate stock would need inletting. That their stocks are made for the stock Savage BM. He said I should buy the full uncut stock, buy the bottom metal I want and hand it to a smith.
After I hung up the phone it got me thinking. Does choate sell their tatical stock for Savage 110 that already use AICS mags? If yes I could buy that stock , and add the factory Savage BM.
Thoughts?

[Txhillbilly]

The DBM inletting on a Choate stock is for factory Savage DBM bottom metal only. If you want to use 10 rd magazine's, you'll need to buy some from Dark Eagle to work with the Savage bottom metal setup.

https://darkeaglecustom.com/magazines/

I use them on mine -

https://i.imgur.com/mNxA4vy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8EGgUPL.jpg

[Kev1Doggy]

I changed from a Choate tactical to the MDT chassis so i could have consistant magazine performance. Other than that I really liked the Choate which i have for sale in the classifieds! I have Savage BM and Darkeagle mags also!

[TommyD11730]

The DBM inletting on a Choate stock is for factory Savage DBM bottom metal only. If you want to use 10 rd magazine's, you'll need to buy some from Dark Eagle to work with the Savage bottom metal setup.

https://darkeaglecustom.com/magazines/

I use them on mine -

https://i.imgur.com/mNxA4vy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8EGgUPL.jpg

I see no option on their page for caliber 223

[bassman110]

As stated above, the Choate stock is setup to accept the savage DBM. I bought the stock from tacticalworks.com who offers many different stocks. Note the choate stock are setup for action length and/or screw spacing rather than by caliber. This can get a little confusing as it is my understanding savage several years ago changed the screw spacing on what would be normally be considered short actions. That is why you see mention of screw spacing when looking at stocks.

Another option if you want to use ACIS mags is to look at the Oryx stock by MDT. I built a 308 in the oryx stock and use the ACIS mags. It will cost more for the stock but you don't have to buy the DBM metal. I posted it here on the forum back on 3-30-2019. http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?64002-Another-Oryx-Chassis-with-12FV-but-in-308