Axis noob's journey to better accuracy

I know this forum holds tons of good info for Savage Axis noobs like me but it took a while to search for it. Thus, I decided to aggregate some of the info that I noted and actually used.

I bought an Axis XP 223 basically as an inexpensive ($199 + shipping + FFL fee = $247) plinker to shoot at paper and interesting targets and not for hunting. Right out of the box, I upgraded the scope to a Redfield Revolution I had lying around and surprisingly the scope ring from Axis XP fit -- though barely.

The heavy trigger was not appealing, almost heavier than a military AR15 trigger (about 9 lbs). So I did the DIY trigger job. The over travel screw is a 10x24 3/4 inch screw from Lowes and the spring is from a pen. I followed this Youtube video. I did not touch the sear. Surprisingly, you don't need much spring tension to hold the sear safe and prevent discharge from banging on the action because of the extra tension provided by the cocked bolt spring pushing on the sear. BTW, my Axis did not have yellow adhesive on the trigger spring.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/662/31...ea833dda1d.jpg

I then put on a bipod that I had lying around on the front swivel stud and found that the Axis stock was so filmsy and flexing with the bipod installed... but what the heck, I wanted to shoot and went to the range to zero. Unfortunately, I found the grouping to be somewhat inconsistent at 50 yards. The black dots are 3/4 inch and the red circles are 2 inches.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/587/31...db0de5b9de.jpg

100 yards were even worse!. From Left: PMC => about 3.5 MOA, American Eagle => about 3.5 MOA, Wolf Gold => about 2 MOA. My CZ 527 (7.62x39) shooting steel case ammo can group inside of 1.75 MOA every day... so I wasn't too thrilled about the rifle's accuracy... I think my putting on the bipod may have contributed to the dispersion of the groups and/or the rifle may not have liked the ammo.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5591/3...23a5aa2717.jpg

I came back home to find means to stiffen the forend to prevent flexing and found few options on this forum (search for filling axis stock ), but went for Rockite as I am lazy. I bought a 1 pound bag from "Do It Hardware" store for $2.99 and then mixed about 1/3 into a plastic cup into thick yet pourable consistency and filled the forend. Now it's VERY firm and does not flex at all. I also used a dremel tool to remove some plastic around the forend to make sure at least a thick postcard can clear the barrel/stock when doing the free-floated-barrel test. I don't plan to paint the Rockite. Another surprise -> the stock did not feel that much heavier than before...
https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/634/31...370d7c88ef.jpg
I DID NOT fill the hollow stock with Rockite, but instead glued the plastic trigger guard using Krazy Super Glue ( Misc Info: if you drop Krazy glue on a Hanes sweat pants made with synthetic fiber, the pants will SMOKE ! ).

I also bought 9/64 inch ball bearing from Amazon ( about $5 for 25 each ) and replaced the factory detent ball under the extractor because the spent shells were NOT ejecting after few magazine worth of shooting but were just dropping into the magazine. I don't know what I will do with the 24-left over bb's. If this "upgrade" doesn't fix the issue, then I'll buy the extractor upgrade kit from SSS.

The to-do action item is to visit the range when the weather is a bit warmer and check for any change in accuracy! The next upgrade is to bed the action IF the grouping does not improve. I don't think I'll upgrade the stock or put any additional funds into this plinker, but you never know with us addicts!

This AR grade 55gr Factory ammo is inexpensive, but it is not very consistent. The rate-of-twist of the Axis accommodates heavier bullets. I've tried weights from 50 to 69 grains. I finally settled on 60 grain bullets.

I'd recommend using a 1 peice scope rail. This will makes your scope mounting a little more flexible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kentgoldings

...I'd recommend using a 1 peice scope rail. This will makes your scope mounting a little more flexible.

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Thanks! I think I will get a new mount and new rings...

Update:
My visit to range today with the above setup ( Rockite in the forend ) gave VERY good groups windage wise, but was stringing vertically. My attempt at fix will be:

- put some Rockite into the rear stock area to better balance the rifle and reduce the "wrist" area from flexing.
- lightly polish the sear to lighten up the trigger and may be take off another half or quarter coil from the trigger spring.
- put on new mount and rings

Axis223Shooter,

I did almost the same thing you did. I got my trigger down to 2 1/2 lbs using a ball point pen spring. Not bad, but I put a Rifle Basix trigger in it and have it down to 14 oz. (Costly compared to what the rifle cost.) I filled the stock channel with a few tubes of JB Weld mixed with cut up pieces of nylon string. I get good groups. I have not shot it in a while. I have shot various bullet weights up to 69 grains. I would have to go back and look, but of all the bullets my rifle liked, it absolutely LOVED the Sierra 65 grain Game King bullets. They grouped very well. I think I used IMR 4198 powder, which would not have been my first choice, but that is all I had at the time. Hopefully, you can get your stringing issued resolved.

Thats funny. My Axis II
XP 223 likes Sierra Varminter 60 gr HP over Hodgdon H4895.

The one-hole groups will make you weep.

While waiting for the EGW mount and Burris rings to arrive, I played around a bit more on the Axis:

- I filled the rear stock with Rockite, but only half way. I also added couple of long aluminum nails into the Rockite - as a prevention against any future cracks in the concrete due to expansion. The rifle feels more balanced.. I think I added about one pound of Rockite combined for both the forend and the rear stock. The rest of the empty rear stock space, I filled it up with "peanut" packing material that I had.

- my conclusion for DIY trigger job is that you can go down only so far by reducing the trigger spring tension. My DIY spring is from a ball pen and it is barely providing enough tension to the trigger to catch the sear. The "weight" of the trigger pull is actually from the effort required to overcome the sear/trigger engagement surface when the bolt is cocked. (Check the trigger pull when uncocked... that is the "pull" due to your spring ) . I removed a bit of metal from the trigger surface that engages the sear. The pull weight is around 2.5 to 3 lbs now. I don't wish to go down further for safety reasons. I put some grease around the surface to reduce friction.

- Another interesting find. If you tighten the DIY over-travel screw too tight, that may lead to a light primer strike. The sear has to freely "travel" over the trigger surface. (See below for green arrow). I had my over-travel screw very tight just enough for the sear to break. I got 1 light primer strike out of 20 rounds. I also had difficulty pressing down on the bolt release, too... Giving more over-travel allowance eliminated the light primer strikes and it is easier now to press down on the bolt release.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/625/31...60184479f0.jpg

BTW, you can remove the trigger assembly from the action by pushing on the red arrow location (to reduce tension) and pulling out the pin indicated by the green arrow. I remove the assembly to clean out the existing grease/moly and applied my own lubes.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/620/31...ab9cde4f01.jpg

Definitely do not want judge it on the ammo you have tried so far. I basically had the same thing with the inexpensive stuff, although the American Eagle comes in several flavors and you might find something from this brand it likes. Try some Australian Outback or Black Hills and you might see it tighten up.

Update: no more "investment" on this plinker!

It's too cold to go to the outdoor range to verify the finished rifle, but it seems to provide consistent group at indoor range: 25 yard with only left elbow resting on a table. When the weather warms up, I'll check if my investment improved anything and compare the accuracy against my AR15.

What's been done: (larger picture here) Sorry for the quick "paint job" of the basement floor that was showing a lot of junk.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/503/32...b3f7744d_z.jpg

• DIY Trigger MOD: ball pen spring, over travel screw, modify sear/trigger engagement surface => about 2.5 lb to 3 lb pull
• Stock: fill with Rockite. For the rear, filled only 1/2 way + couple embedded long nails => 1 lb heavier !
• free floated barrel + added bipod
• replaced the detent BB under the extractor with larger 9/64 inch BB => good extraction !
• replaced mount (EGW), rings ( Burris XTR high ), and scope (Redfield Revolution 3-9x40)

Note: Using Burris Medium height rings with EGW mount should clear MOST scopes. I went for high rings just in case I wanted to use a Nikon scope.

Total Cost: $539

Axis XP 223 - $247
Rockite + over travel screw + 9/64" BB + misc supplies - $15
EGW mount - $33
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Axis specific subtotal: $295

Reusable on other rifle:
New Burris XTR rings - $44
Scope ( re-used what I had - about $170 )
Bipod( re-used what I had - about $30 )

Left over parts:
Axis XP specific scope , rings, and mount, 24 BBs

I think you are going to be happy with your modifications once you are able to shoot the rifle outside. You made more mods than I did, and I am quite happy with mine. It should shoot better than your AR-15, although I have some AR-15s that shoot pretty well. (2 are heavy barrel ARs) My Axis can hang with them though. Since I reload, one benefit with the Axis over the AR-15s is I can have my bullet seated closer to the lands, which usually helps once you find the sweet spot. With the AR-15s, I am relegated to magazine length since I don't single feed for them.

Great weather today, so I went to a 50 yd range to zero the scopes. The black "dot" below is almost 1 inch and the red target is 2 inches.
I used factory ammo: Wolf Gold 223 55gr for the Axis and the AR15 (Windham Weaponry HB). The CZ 527M shot Wolf Steel ammo 123 grain.

My personal assessment: Savage Axis is finicky... It took a lot of effort (for my old body with poor breathing and fast heartbeat) to shoot decent groups with the Axis. With the AR15 and the CZ, I was basically pulling the trigger fast-- like pulling as soon as the cross hair seem to be on the target -- and still managed to get similar groups as Axis. I was blasting away on AR15 and was "reminded" to slow down by RSO. The "better" groups for Axis on the 3rd row was achieved using a "free recoil" method, but I could also see the reticle move a bit when pulling the trigger.

I believe Axis is a 2-3 MOA rifle as is with my AR15 - at least using this ammo.

	Savage Axis (223) on bipod + 3-9x scope	AR15 (223) - NO bipod + 3-9x scope	CZ 527M (7.62x39) on bipod with 3-7x scope
1 inch	https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/363/32...0665897b_o.jpg	https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/526/32...689b9bf8_o.jpg	https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/631/32...cfaefaea_m.jpg
2 inch	[IMG]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/716/31...c109d5c3_m.jpg	https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/465/31...5689d2d8_m.jpg	https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/456/31...c42680c0_m.jpg
Axis only	Free Recoil method on Axis https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/596/32...d2a43477_m.jpg	Free Recoil method on Axis https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/538/31...c7fa1537_m.jpg

A good barrel will be the next thing you might want to do. My axis 22-250 is a 1/2 to 1 MOA shooter after new barrel and stock.

Last update from me on this thread:

I used a rifle bag -like below - to hold the rear stock steady (basically removing my old body from the shooting variable) and fired few well aimed shots while at a friend's farm. I don't know the distance to the target ( could be between 50 to 75 yards) but the 5 rounds from the magazine were all touching each other using Wolf gold ammo. I am satisfied. :p BTW, the below combo bag from Amazon was about $21 and the it took about 15 lbs of cheap Walmart rice to fill them full ( 20 lb bag at $9 ).
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/723/32...658293bc_m.jpg

I also bought Glades Armory's bolt handle ( about $70.50 with shipping ). It makes lifting the handle so much easier. Minor issue: The knob on the handle constantly kept coming loose from the thread on the handle. The blue loctite did not seem to work, so I applied few layers of teflon tape on the thread and that seems to prevent the knob from coming loose, so far. I like the fact that my fingers no longer feel banged up after an afternoon of plinking with friends.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/470/31...ce693156_m.jpg
Funny thing is, I spent app: $640 total to prove Axis's inherent accuracy to myself... but I am already losing interest. I know NOW it's accurate, but to me - who is not a bench rest shooter - it's such a finicky gun. Here's how I see it... Axis is like a high maintenance girlfriend you seek out occasionally because she's so different from your comfortable wife (AR15) of 30 years :rolleyes:

I think you will see better results with different ammo. The sporter barrel will definitely heat up quickly and could also affect groups.

One final update: Play around with the torque applied to the action screws to get changes to the groups. I don't have a torque driver, but if I applied just a barely enough turn to keep the action screws in place, the rifle delivered the best groups.

I have good results with Fiocchi 50gr V-Max ammo, about 1/2" group avg. For my handloads, with an IMR4197 recipe, I can bring it down to 1/3" group avg. My rifle is in its stock configuration.