Savage SA Custom Lightweight Rifle Project - Update

I've been trying for to build a light weight Savage hunting rifle with wood stock for several years. I thought I'd share some of my findings. Finished weight of stock, SA, and barrel (20" .308 Savage Sporter) is 7 lbs, 2 oz. Since the scope, rings and lens caps weigh right at 16 oz, that means the rifle weight is 6 lbs, 2 oz. (first picture). In the second picture I show some recent updates. I changed out the ebony tip to give some more length and balance to the rifles appearance. I changed to a Shaw 22" SS .260 barrel barrel and added a better recoil pad. Finished rifle weight is now 7.5 lbs. The Savage 14 walnut stock in the background is another attempt at a lightweight stock. It weights 8 lbs using the same action barrel and scope, or 8 oz more than the laminated version.

I've tried the Remington Model 7's. They weighted about 7 lbs with the Leupold VX-3 2.5-8 x 36 pictured. I loved the light weight and handling, but never could get them to shoot like I wanted. Most attempts at a traditional wood stock Savage have come in around 8 lbs with scope, give or take.

I started with an unfinished Boyd's LTH that weighed 2 lbs, 13 oz. I removed over a pound of wood from the stock. I added a ebony wood grip cap and tip to dress it up a bit. I converted the hole spacing from a stagger feed to a center feed, added pillars and bedded the action. I was able to get the finished weight of the stock down to 29 oz. The barrel in the first picture is a Savage factory .308 22" sporter cut to 20" and recrowned. The 2" cut reduced the barrel weight by almost 4 oz. I used Talley LW scope mounts. I'll need to replace them with the low height rings to get the proper sight picture for quick shots with this set up.
I got to shoot it a few times this evening before it started raining. I'm going to need to remove the hard rubber recoil pad and replace it with something a little more comfortable. Otherwise, I've finally got an easy to handle, light weight hunting rifle that shoots sub MOA groups like it should.


[img width=600 height=450]http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii276/jpdown/PICT0005.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=450]http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii276/jpdown/PICT0018.jpg[/img]

This looks good, i have thought about doing the same thing, but keeping a full size stock. Did you hollow out the fore end at all? Iv'e thought about going as far as hollowing out the pistol grip....Now, this won't be on a 460 Wby. Mag or any heavy caliber/dangerous game rifle......but a 6-6.5 caliber deer / pronghorn rifle. I have rifles i use for hunting that have telephone poles for barrels, and weigh in at 11-13 lbs.....but the mountains get steeper every year after 55!!!! Thanks for the write up and pics....rsbhunter

Actually, the two Boyd's stock I've purchased lately already had the forend hollowed out. So cutting off the forend on the pictured stock only reduced the weight by 6 oz. Most of the weight reduction comes from either hollowing out, or removing wood from the buttstock.

The stock I modified first was a JRS Classic in walnut. The start weight of that stock was 2 lbs, 12 oz I shortened the forend by about 5" and added back 2" with a ebony wood tip. Final stock length was the same as a Remington Model 7 stock. I hollowed out the buttstock with a wood bit. I've found with these light weight stocks, a good recoil pad is needed for comfort and control, especially with anything in .308 or larger. So, I changed out the 1/2" hard rubber pad to a 1" Kick-Eez recoil pad. That added about 3 oz to the weight of the recoil pad. The finished weight of the modified JRS walnut stock was 2 lbs, 3 oz. I sold it recently in the classifieds because I wanted a checkered stock.

So next, I got a discontinued Savage 14 classic compact stock from Numeric. I hollowed out the buttstock, added a 1" Kick Eez recoil pad and made a ebony wood insert for the DBM cutout converting it to a blind magazine box. The Savage metal DBM/HFP assembly adds 9 oz of weight verses going with a blind magazine box. I heard they use a plastic DBM assembly on the new Savage LWH to address this issue. Final rifle weight was 8 lbs using the same action, 20" barrel and scope picture.

Hopefully my experiences will serve as a shortcut for others seeking a LW wood stocked rifle.

I definitely want to cut out the stock area, but save alittle more of the cheek piece / rollover , but that looks awesome...rsbhunter

Yea, if I had to do over, I would have left a little more of the rollover for a more comfortable cheek weld.

pretty cool effect ;D

Do you think it will hold up OK to recoil, a couple spots look awfully thin. :-\

The top rear corner is the only spot I'm concerned about. But I believe the way the laminate runs, it is a lot stronger than it looks. Most likely would crack at that point if it was walnut.