Almost Perfect Group .026"

[Rifleman51]

I woke up today and it was the first nice day we have had in weeks, high 30's, sunshine and almost zero wind.

I took my Savage BRJ over to Savagegunsmithing to shoot as Scott has a 50 yard range.
I had just put one of the flat forend adapters on the forend of my rifle and wanted to try it out.
I shot free, just pinching the trigger guard and trigger.
I had one box of Wolf MT left over from an old lot. The bore was clean so I shot 15 rounds to season the bore. I only had 20 rounds in that box and could see the groups coming togather, tighter with each 5 shot group.
Scott and a friend had come out of the shop to see how the rifle was shooting.
I carefully aimed each shot, the first two went in the same hole, I shot the third, same hole, same with the 4th. By this time I was nervous as a bride, Scott looked at me and said, think small.
I carefully aimed and let the shot go, same hole.

We all went up an looked, none of us could believe the target when we went up close.
We took it inside and measured it, .222" from the edge of the grease mark to the hole on the other side, 5 shots @ 50 yards. Scott called a couple of friends over to see the target.
The BRJ was one of the guns Scott accurized for me. I have never seen or shot a perfect group, I was elated. The black mark at the top right hand side of the group is a dot I marked with a marker. it gives me an exact aim point.

The box of 20 was the last of the lot # I had. I went out and shot another target, shot 18 25X. The wind had picked up slightly, but I was pretty happy with that target. had I taken a little more time and not had two flat bags under my main bag, I know I could have done better. It was a pain with 3 bags stacked so I could hit the target.

Later I went out and fired a couple more targets, by now the wind had picked up.

I don't know if I can eve do it again, but you can bet the next windless day, I'll be out trying. I don't think I have any more of the lot of ammo, Wolf MT left to shoot. Sure wish I did, because the rifle sure liked it.

The forend piece, sold by Sinclair really helped hold the rifle steady.
The gun shot a best of .4" prior to being accurized. I have the 1/8" bottom metal and have found the gun shoots best with the action only snugged down, maybe 8 inch pounds. The scope is a Millet 4 X 16 X 56 AO.
It may have been luck, but I still can't get the smile off my face.
here are some pictures. I have shot a bunch groups in the low .1" range before, with my best being .117". With the long winters, I have had very little practice time. Days without much wind are rare, but you can bet I'll be doing a lot of shooting this summer. I'd love to get good enough to compete with the Savage that Scott accurized for me, but my wind doping skills still need some work.

My Best, John K

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[Rifleman51]

The .026 is not correct, someone measured it off the computer with one of the programs and took the aiming dot that I put on the target into the equasion, it actually measures .222 across, which means it's perfect, that's measuring from the outside of the grease mark on the left to the hole on the right which is clean, no real mark. These Savage's are real shooters. My gun shot a best of .4" prior to being accurized, so they really do respond to the right kind of modification.

John K

[sha-ul]

Congrats on some fine shootin' John ;)

[VjjR]

I'm really glad to see this... I have the same rifle but have yet to get a scope mounted on it. I need a base cause my rings are to short.

[Rifleman51]

It was five things that allowed the perfect group. First was practice and some luck, second was an accuracy job by Savagegunsmithing, third was having a very good barrel on my rifle and I bought a wide forend adapter from Sinclair Int for $35.00, it just fits into one of the lug holes. It's 3" wide and fits perfectly into a 3" bag on my rock front rest. It helped me hold the rifle steadier than just a regular bag and forend and lastly a quality scope with a very fine hair retical.

I could not have shot a perfect group without all these things. I was very close, but could not get past the low .1" mark prior to getting the Sinclair forend adapter, it made the difference. You will need a rock solid shooting bench also. No way you will shoot this kind of group with a stock rifle, cheap scope or unsteady shooting platform and a good fine retical scope.

My best, John K

[Digi2496]

Nice group and the BRJ shows awesome!!!

[Rifleman51]

It took some time to get there. I had a perfect shooting day. The forend adapter was fit perfectly in a 3" bag on a Rock front rest and a tall flat bottom bunny ear bag and I free shot the rifle.

Scott at Savagegunsmithing is a master at accurizing the Savage 22's. Much of the accuracy of a MKII depends on the quality of the Barrel. Savage did have a run of bad barrels. They have been trying to get them back from the distributors before they get sold to dealers as they know the Ser # range.
Should you get a Savage that won't shoot, you got one from old stock, send it back to Savage, they will replace the rifle.

Scott does a very good soft lap of the barrels and I have seen some shoot as much as .3" better after his lapping job. He has a special way of doing it and a great feal for any rough spots. This is of course in addition to all the other things he does.

One tip, if you have your 22 bedded and have got the heavy bottom metal from Scott, if you just snug down the action, about 8 inch pounds, it will be more accurate than the recommended 15 inch pounds, give it a try. It works on most rifles..
If you are interested in a more accurate Savage, RF or CF, call him, he will actually take the time to talk with you, pretty neat.

John K