Savage 116 30-06

So I am going to be getting serious about getting my 116 Classic in 30-06 dialed in Thursday for deer hunting in November. I do not reload for this yet, I will once I have enough brass. Anyway I have a box of 150 and 165 grain Remington Core lokts that I used to sight it in. I will also pick up a box of 180's. As far as factory ammo goes what do other Savages like? I know each rifle is different but just thought I'd ask what other people are having luck with in the 116's? For deer hunting, longest shot possible is 300 yards, most 50-150.

Thats a great rifle you have there! personally i would stick with the 150s or 165 if your shots are under 300 yards.

in my experience with the 30-06, the 180s velocity is just low enough to not really expand a whole lot in a deer sized animals. small exit wounds and slower killing than a 150-165 with a higher velocity.

Corelocts have worked great, as well as federal fusions. Most factory cup and core 150 gr loads @3000 fps with SSTs, corelocts, gamekings, ect will knock a deer in its tracks with a 30-06

Still like that rifle!! No recommendations here but the old farts have always used 180's seems to me. If ya can get 3 to group inside a quarter I'd call er good.

180 gr corelocts in a 30-06 exit 75% of the time on elk. probly overpenetration on deer unless you use a lighter constructed 180 like an sst

Check out the numbers for the Nosler 165 gr Accubond.
https://fusiontables.googleuserconte...&tmplt=1&cpr=1

My 30 cals like the 165s. I usually hand load accubonds for several calibers, as far as factory ammo goes I've had good luck with the Federal "Deer Thug" in 165gr grouping well.

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Originally Posted by sixonetonoffun

Still like that rifle!! .

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Thanks Me too! Pretty excited to hunt with it in a month. I stopped on my lunch break and picked up a box of the 180 core lokts, also a box of 165 Federal Fusions. So between the 4 loads I should find one the rifle likes enough for this fall.

I chose this gun and caliber for the sake of easy to find cheap ammo. I got to tell you it is very refreshing to walk into a store and have not just one but many choices to choose from in the caliber I am looking for. And $19 a box for multiple different loadings is a bonus. My other deer rifle is a 300 Weatherby and if you can even find ammo its $80 a box, I sold my 270wsm cause that wasn't much better.

When I start reloading for it this winter 165 Accubonds are for sure on the list!

One of the bullets I always liked was the hornady 165 spire point for deer. They shoot really accurate when handloaded and do a lot of damage so a blood trail should be really vivid.

In my opinion, 180 is too much for deer and you risk little expansion. As someone else mentioned, 150 to 168. I used corelokts factory ammo in 165 or was it 160 for years. Good round, good exit holes, lots of blood and short trails. I am a fan of neck shots which dont take much to kill a deer but always prepared for them broad side shots. Once I started reloading I used nosler 150 silver ballistic tip with rl-19. sub moa groups out to 200 yds.

Still haven't been to the range to test the 4 factory loads I have. Life keeps getting in the way... like yesterday I was at the range on my break, got the target stapled, walked back to the truck to grab the 06, then the phone rings and it's the nurse at my daughter's school saying she has a 102 temp... off I go and one more shooting session cancelled. Oh well

Well that was disappointing to say the least. The barrel is still very very new with only 40 or so shots through it so I'm not panicking yet but still disappointed. It grouped, or should I say patterned, all 3 weights of the Rem's in 3-4" groups. The Federals were a hair better at right about 3". I waited about a minute in between each shot and about 5 mins in between each group. This being my first new centerfire barrel how long do these things take to settle down? As of now I wont hunt with it with groups this big, need to figure this out.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1d1e0b25.jpg

Check scope bases, & rings they may be loose.

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Originally Posted by short round

Check scope bases, & rings they may be loose.

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Yep, every savage ive seen that shot over 2" groups the scope bases were the culprit

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Originally Posted by Luke45

Yep, every savage ive seen that shot over 2" groups the scope bases were the culprit

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Not quite, I had plenty of of ammo that would shoot over 2" in some of my guns that shot sub moa at 200 yds with the correct reload and in a few cases with factory ammo. However, this is not to say that the problem is not the optics or something outside the gun itself.

Should I give the barrel a good cleaning before the next range trip or keep it dirty?

Should I give the barrel a good cleaning before the next range trip or keep it dirty?

if you are not in the "break in" group I would leave it dirty. most of the stock barrels I have shoot do it better fouled althougt at some tike they need cleaning but generally we are talking hundreds of rounds.

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Originally Posted by Nandy

if you are not in the "break in" group I would leave it dirty. most of the stock barrels I have shoot do it better fouled althougt at some tike they need cleaning but generally we are talking hundreds of rounds.

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Yep, leave it dirty for now. but if he shot 4 types of ammo all over 3 " it is probly the scope or bases.

If you have another rifle that does well move the scope to it and try it and see if you get the same results. That is how I realized I had a problem with a combo Nikon scope. If you dont have a good known rifle/load combo it will be harder to isolate. However, taking down the scope, bases, cleaning screws and put it all back correctly will be cheaper that keep buying ammo. In my 110 the screws for the base are not all the same length, front base are shorter. Not sure if your 116 will be the same but keep a look out for that. Many will use the longer screws up front and not realize that very front screw is not tight but resting on the barrel thus not securing that base.

Good luck, let us know.

I use Talley one piece rings and bases, I will give them a check this weekend. Man I hope its not the scope!!! No time to ship it out and get it back before the season. Its a Bushnell 4200 3-9x40 that has seen action on a AR, 270 wsm, and a .50 muzzleloader. Its my scope I use before I decide what should go on the specific gun.

Maybe try a premium type loading in the 150-165gr range. Fusion and core-locts are the kind of the low end offerings from Federal and Rem. Remington makes a couple premium offerings as does Federal , Win and others. Expecting high end results with low end ammo may be a stretch. How much do you value your hunt? Cutting corners on ammo is not where I try and save money. If I total how much time ($), energy, money I dedicate to a hunt, missing an opportunity because of $20 ammo is unacceptable to me. If the cheap stuff shoots than great, if it doesn't, change it or upgrade it.

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Originally Posted by Wildboarem

Maybe try a premium type loading in the 150-165gr range. Fusion and core-locts are the kind of the low end offerings from Federal and Rem. Remington makes a couple premium offerings as does Federal , Win and others. Expecting high end results with low end ammo may be a stretch. How much do you value your hunt? Cutting corners on ammo is not where I try and save money. If I total how much time ($), energy, money I dedicate to a hunt, missing an opportunity because of $20 ammo is unacceptable to me. If the cheap stuff shoots than great, if it doesn't, change it or upgrade it.

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just becasue a load has a bonded or premium bullet doesnt mean its held to any tighter specs than the cheap stuff.

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Originally Posted by Luke45

just becasue a load has a bonded or premium bullet doesnt mean its held to any tighter specs than the cheap stuff.

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So federal fusion an federal gold medal match are same? If you've ever deconstructed ammo or even shot same brand different bullet of the same weight, you might find there will be different powders used and different velocities and SD when shot over the crono. Plus different bullets of the same weight shoot differently in some if not most barrels. There is a reason $20/box ammo is $20/box. Its also why dont use Winchester white box ammo as my personal defense ammo. It might be good for the range but the quality is now where near the premium self defense ammo. It's not that it can't shoot well, it's that if it doesn't I might think about upgrading.

Alright I'm sitting at the work bench scratching my head. I checked the rings and everything was tight (25 in lbs per talley). I then took the top rings off and the base screws were also tight. Got everything put back together and snuggled down. So how do I tell if the scope has indeed took a crap? I'll shoot tomorrow and let you know what happens. Never had issues this close to deer season!

You could throw your scope back on a the rifle you know shoots and see if its consistent with holding previous group size, depending on how much time you have.

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Originally Posted by 03mossy

So how do I tell if the scope has indeed took a crap?

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One way, use a optical bore sighter like a Bushnell w/arbors , Leupold Zero Point and etc.. Record the current settings ( turrets and grid) then turn them they're entire range, U-D, L-R. You should be able to turn them back to they're previous settings. If not its time to try a known good scope.

You can also check the mount(s) rings to some degree by pushing on the scope forward-back and diagonally and tapping on the turrets to see if it moves on the grid.

Bill

Went to the range over lunch again and I am less panicked now. Something must have been loose on the rings cause I retightened everything back up last night and had better results today. Took me three shots to get the scope back to close at 100 then I shot the groups in this order. Rem 165's, Rem 180's, Rem 150's, Fed 165's and then another group with the Rem 165's on the bottom right dot. I shot that last group immediately after the Fed group so maybe barrel heat made it not as tight as the first Rem 165 group. Ill head back there tomorrow and try a cold bore group again with the 165 rem's and if its like that first one today ill be happy!

(The circles are 2 1/4" across)
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...pskjccu5q7.jpg

Went one more time today and brought a box of Barnes 168ttsx. Shot those and also another group with the 165 Rem's. The Barnes grouped right at about an inch and a little better than the Rem's. I'm going with the Barnes for this season. Thanks for all the advice.

glad to see you have it fixed!

Well I hunted with this rig for 4 days this past week with the temps never getting above 12 degrees. One morning starting out it was -8. I did not even see a single deer!!!! Guess Ill have to wait till next year to test the bullets.

Bummer, good luck next time around...

The snow was rediculous! I went out with the kids opening weekend before it hit. Land we usually hunt was over run with fly in in-laws and their friends.

So we just posted out back on 20 acre woods. Managed to drive a nice buck and doe out towards the other party :-)

After the 22.5" snow I didn't bother going back out even when neighbors offered to drive our woods "for us".

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Originally Posted by 03mossy

Well I hunted with this rig for 4 days this past week with the temps never getting above 12 degrees. One morning starting out it was -8. I did not even see a single deer!!!! Guess Ill have to wait till next year to test the bullets.

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I run a 125g JSP in my Savage 111 30-06 for antelope & deer out here to 600 yards.
Those are my handloads though.
If I was not reloading Id stick to 150g or 165g max for deer.

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Originally Posted by 5spd

I run a 125g JSP in my Savage 111 30-06 for antelope & deer out here to 600 yards.
Those are my handloads though.
If I was not reloading Id stick to 150g or 165g max for deer.

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i used to run similar, 125 gr sierra w/ 54.5 gr 4064

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Originally Posted by sixonetonoffun

After the 22.5" snow I didn't bother going back out

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22.5" of white stuff ???? Tell ya what, I'd put another log on the fire, put on sweats and put my old butt in the recliner and the first deer that walked in the camp door would be in a heap of trouble!

At my age there are two things I live by....
1. Deer are where they find me.
2. Why should I hunt'm, they ain't lost!:p

Bill