1.5 Mile ELR Rig: 338 Edge
So my Savage addiction started with a basic Savage Axis in 308. I'd always wanted to try my hand at long range shooting. Even growing up, I was always fascinated with snipers. Finally, a year or two ago, Dad and I decided, why not? We did some research, and the Axis was getting good reviews, so we figured we'd give it a try. He bought the rifle as a Christmas present, I topped it with an SWFA scope and shot it out to 1k yards without issue. The bug bit. HARD.
Since then, I've built a 6.5 Creemoor on an Axis donor, to get me out a bit further, because soon, the 308 wasn't enough. Now, I'm, once again, in the process of building something to get me a bit further. The creed is a great shooting gun, and I love shooting it. Last year, however, I went to an Extreme Long Range Shoot with some guys and decided, one day, I was gonna be able to do that. From that point, I started doing a lot of research on ELR shooting. The plan is to be able to shoot out to at least a mile and a half one day. Having good luck with Savage thus far, I figure, why screw with a good thing?
I settled on a 338 Edge, because I could build it on a regular magnum action, unlike a Lapua, which would need a bigger action. I'd gotten my Creedmoor barrel from Jim at Apache Gun Works, and the barrel, the experience, everything, has been fantastic. Jim is a great guy that goes above and beyond for his customers and his workmanship is outstanding. So naturally, that's where I turned for this barrel. He'd told me a while back he was in the process of securing a deal on some nicer high end, hand lapped blanks. So I waited patiently until that was worked out. The new barrel was ordered, and built on one of new X-Caliber blanks.
I picked up a Savage 111 rifle chambered in 270 from the classifieds here, dismantled it, swapped the bolt head to a magnum bolt head, and had my donor action. I picked up a trued barrel nut and precision ground recoil lug from Northland Shooter Supply. Headspace was set super snug with a 300RUM go gauge, and a piece of scotch tape on the rear of it.
After owning two Boyds Tacticools for the Axis pair, I like the stock design, and I'm used to it. I bedded both of them, on my own, and they work well. The creed is definitely the better looking of the two, but hey, you learn something each time. I figured I'd try to document this build with pictures and a bit of a write up, since I never did it on the other two. So here goes nothing.
