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I want to casually get involved in F/TR. locally, most will be 600 with the ocaisional 1000. I found a steal on a bedded 10 FCP (I think) in a B&C tactical stock.
Main question is, how much will the 23-24" midweight (.8" MD) barrel hurt me? I can run the numbers, but how does that translate to reality.
Not a lot. Those barrels are 10 twist, and you can stabilize the Berger 185 through 210 weight bullets at 1,000 yds, and drift is about 7" per mph of crosswind. I have loaded Berger 215 hybrids in cases with 57 gr of water capacity and get to 2550-2575 fps, which gives a 1,000 yd. wind drift of 6.5" per mph of crosswind. If I could still shoot matches, I'd probably load a JLK 180 LBT to 2650 fps and expect 7 1/2" of wind drift per mph of crosswind. The guy next to you with the 32" barrel running the same bullet will have a wind drift of 7 1/8" per mph.
OK, thanks. So it sounds like the variability of the factory accuracy is more of a risk than the slightly lower FPS. I guess I could almost make an argument that slower FPS will help my learning curve with wind calls.
You'll get plenty of wind-call training no matter how much money you invest in your gear. The Savage 10 FCP barrel and action are capable of accuracy in the 0.3" range for 5 shots, with proper handloads. Your stock is as good as they get, and has been bedded. Adjust your trigger so that it pulls enough weight not to decock, and get started. I shot a 5-shot group with one a few days ago, testing loads, and used Lake City cases, Nosler 155 Custom Competition bullets, and IMR 4895 powder, and got 0.28" center-to-center. I have also gotten similar results from another one just like it which I worked on a couple of years ago.