Bobby Hart LRT

Long post but there's a reason.

Have been messaging with Sage Rat Shooter on the LRT and am going to share my experience. I had decided to get the LRT before reading of his brother's satisfaction with the same stock. Got mine for Christmas but too much going on to replace the factory stock with which, btw, I was able to produce 1/2 MOA gps.

Had read Sage Rat's comments of needing to notch for the "L" bracket and some Dremel work so the trigger guard would fit. I chose to replace the trigger guard instead of modify the inlet (inlet is for 12BV guard). Ordered the trigger guard from Gun Shack on a Saturday morning and it was in my mailbox on Monday afternoon (TX to WA)!

I had a tough time getting the magazine in the LRT, it was really tight, in fact I had to tap it in place with a 4oz ball pein hammer and wood dowel. Once I got it situated I put the action back in and torqued screws as recommended. It took a tremendous amount of force to get a round into the magazine, and doing so dented and scratched new brass. Glad I used factory rounds instead of some of my handloads (Nosler and Peterson brass).

Knowing it should not be this way, I removed the action and started my diagnosis. I also made contact with Stocky's customer service to let them know of my issue, and initially, was a bit disappointed in their reply as they told me the LRT was not designed for the model 12 and blind magazine with the "L" bracket. No such information was posted on their website, instead all the information indicated the LRT was made for Savage 10 - 16, either 4.40" or 4.27" action screw spacing, with internal blind magazine and in my case, the center feed blind mag with heavy varmint barrel.

This started several emails with Stocky's and my analysis revealed the problem, which is simple to correct. I should note, the current LRT does indeed come with the "L" bracket notch AND steel pillars.

There were two problems with the magazine well it was too narrow and too short. In addition to that, the "L" bracket notch was also too narrow which caused the "L" bracket to sit on top of the notch rather than down inside it.

To determine corrective action I grabbed my trusty 6" caliper and measured both stocks. Here are the results:

Factory plastic

Mag well length - 3.155"
Mag well width - 1.038"
Depth @ front of mag well to center of barrel channel - 1.059"
Depth @ rear to center of "L" bracket notch - 1.175"
"L" bracket notch width - .560"
"L" bracket notch depth - .138"

LRT

Mag well length - 3.181"
Mag well length between "buttons" - 3.127"***
Mag well width, front/middle/rear - .980"/.972"/.970"***
Depth @ front of mag well to center of barrel channel - 1.043"
Depth @ rear to center of "L" bracket notch - 1.125"
"L" bracket notch width - .494"
"L" bracket notch depth - .155" - .160"

*** Obvious problem areas. The red arrows in the stock comparison picture below point to what I call "buttons".

Even without the follower and "L" bracket I had to squeeze the magazine to start it in the well and it was still hard to push to the bottom. It literally dropped in the well on the factory stock.

My solution was to remove material from the rear "button" since the rear of the magazine is supported by the "L" bracket. The front "button", however, had a shelf for the front magazine tab so I didn't want to alter that area at all. I used some 80gr paper on a small block square edged block to carefully remove material measuring frequently until the length matched the factory stock. Then I set about widening the mag well using the same block and 80gr until I could slide the magazine in with very light finger pressure.

I noted in a recent reply to another member Fred recommended shortening the "L" bracket so it didn't extend over the pillar, well it did on the LRT so I followed his advice and shortened it.

Because the "L" bracket originally didn't seat in the notch, I was only getting maybe 2 threads contact on the rear action screw. Between widening only the rear portion of the notch and shortening the "L" bracket I now have full thread contact as before.

So, about 20 - 30mins of sanding and a few minutes of delicate work with a small chisel, my blind mag slides in place nicely, I can load a round with one finger, and my LRT fits my 12FV like a glove, and, unlike before, I can also slide a sheet of printer paper all the way to the barrel nut.

I can absolutely recommend this stock for the 12FV. :nod:

The blind S/A centerfeed stock I have from Boyds had a similar issue, but not in as many places. On it it was just the mag well length that needed adjusted. The Boyds has a hump on the rear wall of the mag well similar to the hump yours has on the front end. I simply took my dremel to it with a small sanding drum and knocked it down a little at a time until I had just a slight friction fit with the mag box and L-clip.

I am glad you got it working. They are good stocks.
I have two or three of the LRT stocks and I think I had to fit the mag as well. Kind of glad there was a need to remove material rather than a need to add some spacers.
Almost all the after market stocks I have needed some kind of modification to them for proper fit. But that's the fun of it for me.
Jack

There were humps at both ends Jim, the rear one was thicker than the front but it's almost gone after relieving for fit. I'll need to pull it down again to seal the sanded areas so will try to remember and get a picture with the magazine out for reference.

It's really solid now and rifle weighs just under 13lbs with scope. The 6.5CM has little recoil to begin with, should be almost non-existent now.

So glad to hear that it all worked out for you on the stock Phil... Still looking forward to seeing the whole thing put together. :thumb: As far as recoil reduction, it cuts it a little bit more. I don't have a brake on my 260 (12.7 lbs) and it maybe kicks 2X more than my 22-250. As much as I'd like to add a brake, just to make it easier to spot my own shots, I'm afraid to mess with it now, as it's shoots so good I don't want to risk having something go wrong.

It's not enough kick to worry about that's for sure. I don't recall having to do any notching with my brothers L bracket, so you might have read that post from Fred (sharpshooter) as all we had to do was dremmel work for the trigger guard. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll take the credit for it though... Thanks Fred!! :peace:

The problem I had on a recent LRP stock was the mag well wasn't milled deep enough, causing the bolt to drag on the magazine lips. Very annoying! A bit of work with a Dremel and it was all ok.

It worked out great! I'm not recoil sensitive, used to my 7RM and 338WM, so the 6.5CM seems like a rimfire in comparison. :cool:

You're right on the notch, it was customer service who told me that. Guess I got that mixed up with our messages. Customer service also told me it would take "significant modifications to the magazine well" and "there is no spot for the L Bracket in the new stock" claiming it would cause the magazine to sit too high. This stock comes notched for the "L" bracket and also has steel pillars. I hope Stocky's updates the descriptions for the LRT. Have sent them numerous pictures, the measurements posted above, and my observations. They even responded to my "Success" email yesterday!

Will see if I can get a decent pic of my rifle today, came down with some kind of crud yesterday so housebound anyway.

Edit to add link to Fred's recommendation to shorten "L" bracket - http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...-Bedding/page2

Not the best pic but you get the gist of it...

Attachment 5673

Turned out REALLY nice Phil!! :thumb::thumb::rockon::rockon:

Hope it shoots as good as it looks. Got to get over this cold before I do any shooting though.

Phil,

My bet is that it will shoot lights out!! You'll be stacking them on top of each other if you have the skill. I can't seem to shoot any better than about .5 MOA on a consistent basis, but the rifle itself is better than that as it has shot sub .5 MOA on occasion.

It will be fun to shoot, that I'm confident of. Hope you get better soon, that nasty head/chest cold has been running around down here too.