First time out with my 10 FCP

I've been waiting for months to shoot my 10 FCP with the HS stock. Today I did. It wasn't what I hoped for.

I got it on paper quickly by using a big sheet of paper and putting a round out at 25 yards. After making the correction and firing two for effect I had a bad feeling.

Moving out to 100 yards, I shot a few more rounds and got it closer to the aim point but it wasn't settling down. At this point I took the bipod off and went to using the front rest and bag I use with all my other rifles. The final 7 shots grouped 2.75" for 7 shots.

Ammo is Winchester 180g Power Point, I bought a bunch of this because I couldn't get brass to reload from scratch. Scope is a Vortex Viper PST, all screws for mount and base were tightened with a torque wrench.

The trigger is nice, I wasn't able to anticipate the break, I didn't put the magazine in correctly twice so I failed to strip off a round twice. When it went click I did not see any flinching not that that should be an issue, I'm used to calling my shots, Marines taught me something.

Now that I have 20 cases fired in my chamber, I'm thinking 10 loaded with 168g BT and 10 loaded with 190g BT, sure wish I could find 175g SMK but things are crazy.

Any ideas on what I should look at? The crown looks good.

Thanks,

Szumi

Is this a new rifle? Are the action screws torqued?

Mine (an FCP-K) will shoot 168-180 gr just fine, at least after I learned how to get behind the gun, load the bipod, breathe, etc. I also had to learn to adjust the parallax correctly. At 100 yards, I suspect some kind of a scope or loose action screw problem, but I hope some of the more experienced people here respond.

I bet you can find the problem and get it running fine in no time.

Joe

just gonna have to roll your own and do ladder test. store bought aint worth the money

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Originally Posted by eddiesindian

just gonna have to roll your own and do ladder test. store bought aint worth the money

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Rifle should shoot sub moa at 100 yards with box ammo, sure, better with tuned hand loads. But only 3" groups now? He has a problem.

Joe

I have an hs precision . I had a weird problem like you on the first day I shot mine . I shot the first shot went to shoot again and noticed the mag was hanging out . I honestly couldnt get it to group or even be in the same zip code on the next shot . I went home without my targets I was so pissed . The next time out it was closer and even got closer every shot . I cant tell you if it was me or the gun . I now shoot under 1/2 " at 100 yards and 1" groups at 200 yards . I have right about 200 rounds through her now . I say give it a little time and get to know one another . This is only my opinion and experience on what I did with my gun . Good luck and let us know .

I would say give it some time, most savage barrels like to be a little dirty and the barrel isn't even seasoned yet. You probably already checked but make sure the barrel is not rubbing the stock. Once you get some more rounds through it pull the stock and looking for shiny spots where the receiver is contracting the stock. A little bedding work can go a long way. Good luck!

I have the FCP 10 HS Precision in 308 and shooting handloads it is the most accurate rifle I own. It will shoot sub 1/2" at 100 and has shot some very impressive groups at 300 and I have shot steel with it at 800.

It likes the SMK 168's and 175's with Varget behind it.

I also have the FCP110 HS in 338 Lapua. Jury is still out on that one as I only have about 60 rounds through it and every time I get it out I end up shooting the steel long range and totally forget about groups. Still need to perfect a handload on that one.

Just out of curiosity, what torque should be on the action screws? I'm thinking that after I get a shower and dinner started I'm going to pull the action out of the stock for a look see.

I have a 260 in LRP I seasoning right now. I pulled it apart, cleaned it, torgued to 40 inch, and shot 1 x clean, for 10 shots. I am using a box of 130 Federals for break in. My first string of 3 shots at 100 was 1". It has been cleaned and ready for the next 3 round group and clean session. This rifle should be tack driver when I get to handloads. Hope yours seasons in. My 6.5-284 is now shooting .25MOA. It took 250 rounds for it start really shining.

Okay, my torque wrench set at 30 would not remove the front screw, on 50 it broke loose. I'll use Brent's forty as a starting point. I put the action back in with the stock standing up and went 10, 20, 30, 40.

Give it another go with the same ammo and see what gives. If you can or have handy, try sending lighter rds thru the barrel. 150SMK MHPBT have worked well for me. suprised me as well. Im sending them out to 1K no problem.
IMO....I tend to think its more of a weight factor. I know my Savage doesnt really care heavier pills.
Good luck

My Savage didn't care for the Federal 180 blue box stuff but it liked the 150 Winchester power points at just under a inch at 100 yards. Like Big Bullseye, my Savage loves 168 SMK and 175 SMK fueled by Varget. Last weekend I shot 50 rounds in a match and I am amazed at how clean burning the Varget is. When I looked down the bore when I got home it was as clean as a whissle with no powder fouling visible. I wouldn't sweat it at all, your rifle probably just doesn't care too much for that ammo your using.

If you really want to see how tight of a group you can get with factory ammo get the 168 Federal Gold Medal Match, it shoots bug holes. Good story is my friend and I both shot 3 shots at the same target with the same gun (mine) . I went first and had 2 shots in the same hole and 1 just under .75 away. So my buddy shoots his three and 2 of his went in the same hole my 2 went into and his 3rd shot was about .75 out also. There was only 3 holes in the target for 6 shots and that hole that had 4 shots in it was low .1's. I have that target if anyone would like to see it.

I too have a fairly new 10 FCP HS in .308. It is more accurate than I am and with home rolled 168 Nosler Custom comps over 8208 xbr at .010 off the lands it's giving me just over 1/4" - 3/8" groups @ 100 yards. This is with about 200 rounds down the pipe. It was dang near this accurate right out of the box though. Running a Nikon M-308 on an EGW rail.
Now for the meat and potatoes on that HS stock, right from HS and several of our HP competition guys, the torque spec is 60 inch pounds. I took mine apart when new to preclean and checked the contact of the bedding block to action. Reassembled by installing both screws lightly, preloading the recoil lug to the rear and alternated tightening the action screws in 10 inch pound steps till 60 was reached. This has not loosened or shifted and now the only variable is me or my test loads.
Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by eddiesindian

Give it another go with the same ammo and see what gives. If you can or have handy, try sending lighter rds thru the barrel. 150SMK MHPBT have worked well for me. suprised me as well. Im sending them out to 1K no problem.
IMO....I tend to think its more of a weight factor. I know my Savage doesnt really care heavier pills.
Good luck

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I have 140 rounds of the same ammo. Now that I have 20 cases to reload, I'll try some handloads but I'll have to empty the other 140 rounds so anything I do to the rifle along the way can be checked out by using up my stash of the factory ammo.

Getting bullets to reload has been a challenge. I have 168 and 190 boat tails. I'd love to have some 150-155 and 175 boat tails to try but things are as they are.

I took the rifle out today in fairly heavy wind to try it out. The first 5 shot group of 168g Hornady BT went .88" at 100, then I fired 5 more of the WW 180g Power points, that went 3" vertically strung, then I fired my last 5 rounds of 168g Hornady BT's into 1.33". I used 41.4g of IMR-4064.

I feel a lot better now. I have a lot of tweeks to make to fit the rifle to me better. Should be a fun summer!

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Originally Posted by Szumi

I took the rifle out today in fairly heavy wind to try it out. The first 5 shot group of 168g Hornady BT went .88" at 100, then I fired 5 more of the WW 180g Power points, that went 3" vertically strung, then I fired my last 5 rounds of 168g Hornady BT's into 1.33". I used 41.4g of IMR-4046.

I feel a lot better now. I have a lot of tweeks to make to fit the rifle to me better. Should be a fun summer!

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What seating depths are you working with? I assume you are reloading since you mention 41.2 grains. The 168's and 180's will probably not like the same seating depth. For me it is hard to follow your process as I am unsure of your approach. That is not meant to be a dig at all, just not sure how you particularly go about looking for accurate load etc. Some bullets like a big jump, others like to be crushed into the lands, etc.

Well, anyway, good news.

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Originally Posted by Brent

What seating depths are you working with? I assume you are reloading since you mention 41.2 grains. The 168's and 180's will probably not like the same seating depth. For me it is hard to follow your process as I am unsure of your approach. That is not meant to be a dig at all, just not sure how you particularly go about looking for accurate load etc. Some bullets like a big jump, others like to be crushed into the lands, etc.

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The 180g stuff is factory Winchester .308 hunting ammo. I bought it to get cases but I expected it to shoot 2 moa or better. I still have 135 rounds of it to pop off in order to get cases I'll be reloading.

The 168g Hndy HPBT reloads are 2.794 OAL. We reload to find that ammo that is sweet for our individual rifle. It looks like Winchester made some ammo that is the absolute worse stuff for my rifle and I bought a lot of it.

Just an FYI, unless you are shooting in a tornado, the wind will have virtually no discernable effect on the POI of a 308 at 100 yards. Having said that, your rifle should be shooting better than it is and and I might have a few ideas for you. First, and I say this as gently as possible because we've all been there, if you are new to this the biggest problem is probably you. But I promise it gets better. Just because a rifle can shoot sub moa doesn't mean it will unless you can shoot sub-moa. However, if you are not new to this then let's have some fun. :-)

It's been my experience that the savage barrels are great but they do need to be broken in properly. Right out of the box they can be a bit squirelly without a good break-in. With proper break-in you should see accuracy improve as you go and by the time you get to about 80 rounds it will be settled in. Also, when torquing the action put the front screw in and lightly tighten just enough to keep the action from falling out of the stock. Then stand the rifle up and seat the recoil lug. Then put in the rear action screw and lightly tighten. Torque the front screw to 15 in-lbs, then the rear to the same value. Then increase the front by 5 in-lbs and then the rear the same. Repeat until you reach 40 in lbs on both. Don't exceed 45. Later on if you really get froggy you can try adjusting the rear to a different value. For example, set the front screw to 40 and the rear to 10. Shoot a 5 round group. Increase the rear screw to 15 and shoot another group. Repeat until the rear screw is 40. Now look at the groups and choose the best. You should see a classic bell curve for the group size. (By the way, an accu-stock is a different process and there is a good write-up on it somewhere on this forum).

I've noticed that every Savage I've shot is pretty sensitive to OAL. They will shoot a good group with a lot of ammo but if you find the right thing for your rifle it will shoot absolutely fantastic. For example, I had a savage 11 long range hunter that shot about 1.25-1.5 MOA with 168 gr Federal Gold Medal Match which is supposed to be THE standard for factory loads. It just didn't like it. So I started playing with my own loads and discovered the barrel likes a little jump in the OAL, maybe 1 or 2 thousandths. Finally settled in on IMR 4064 at 42.2 gr, SMK 175 HPBT, 2.006 trim length and 2.2135 to the OGIVE. The load shoots about 0.3 MOA.

One other thing, it probably isn't an issue but just in case...take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. Then run it down the length of the barrel between the stock and the barrel. If you are supremely unlucky there could be a defect in the stock causing contact with the barrel. BAD BAD BAD for accuracy and consistency. If this does happen to be the case a piece of dowel and some sand paper in the barrel channel easilly fixes it.

Oh yeah, I know a lot of people love Hornady ammo, and it is pretty good, but I've never shot any that I thought was good for better than Minute of Deer. Just sayin. :-)

Same rifle. Tested lots from 150 grain sierras to 180 SST. Use 168 Amax primarily but would group very well with almost any bullet in that range at .020 off the lands. I use IMR 4064 with 42 grains. Remington 9 1/2 primer (started with Winchester primers but found the Remingtons to deliver more consistent results). Torque specs on my stock are 65 in lbs. Make sure the recoil lug is seated properly. Make sure the front action screw is tightened first to 65 in lbs, then the rear. Mines shot lots of groups in the .25 moa range at 100. Usually opens up to 1/2 to 3/4 moa from 500 to 700 yds. After 700 the accuracy is really depleting and at 900 the bullets are Keyholing.

I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. I have a lot to learn. I took the rifle out and shot 200 yards today. With my hand loads that are nothing special, it was under 1 moa for the most part.

I'm curious what do you use for an aiming point? I'm using a PST Viper 4-16x50 first focal plane scope. The moa measuring reticule isn't a target reticule. If I shoot at a sticky dot, I'm looking for a bit of bleed on all four sides of the cross or I can try to hold tangent to two cross hairs.

I used up the last of my IMR 4064 today. I've tried to score some more but things are as they are. I have Varget, both 4895's and a lot of 748. IMR 4064 seems most popular in the 168 weight, what powder should I use until I can get more?

Thanks,

I think you will get it dialed. I shot some 160 matrix in my 6.5-284 Saturday and most shot under 1 moa at 200. Then I hit .25moa and called good. It took me about 40 rounds. Then I shot the 260 at 200 with factory ammo and it was shooting right at 1 moa for a 5 shot group.
My point- savages seem to be very good rifles and will reward when find a good combo. My 6.5 likes .100 off the lands. Weird but it does. So does my 204.

I just finished up some loads with varget for my 168 amax (the IMR 4064 is getting hard to find here and I want to have a backup just in case). Gona test sometime in the next few days. The optic on this rifle is a Vortex Viper HS. 4-16 x 44LR. Deadhold BDC reticle.