My current Savage axis build thread .338-06

This is my current build and my responsibility. If anyone decides to copy any of it, it is your responsibility. Do so at your own risk.

So Midway had the ultimate varmint stock for long actions on sale for $139. I have model 12 in 308 in a Choate stock and like the feel. Plus I like the look, better than the ultimate sniper model. I like the show "The Shooter", but can't afford the real rifle the black king in the show is based off. So I thought it would be cool to use a stock that had a similar look. And since they were selling it for much less than usual, I could afford to butcher it and not feel bad.

The donor rifle is a axis 30-06. Here begins the list of problems. Receiver screw spacing, lug position, trigger group pocket, and magazine type are all different from this stock than the axis.

I opted to position the receiver based on the rear screw. It looked like it aligned with the mag well pretty good as well as put the trigger in a good spot that was comfortable for me. I then took a blue sharpie to use as layout dye and colored the aluminum about where my interference was in the front lug area and the rear trigger block. Then used a "k"drill bit to locate the trigger block in the stock. It was a very tight fit so I felt good it was not going to move while I scribed the outline. I ended up going down .410" from the top edge of the rear "v" in bedding block. This allowed good clearance for complete trigger group.

I then screwed receiver down into stock using the rear screw and scribed the edge of the receiver. I'm going to use a std recoil lug instead of the axis style. I cut a lot off the face of the front "v". I don't have the measurement right now but it had to have been .200" or more. Edit: .300".

I am waiting on recoil lug and new barrel nut before I can go any further. But I did slap it together for a photo op. The scope is not staying on there. That is my cheap slam on anything scope till I decide what I want.

Well it looks like I am too new to post pics of anything and I can't delete this either for some reason. The only thing I found on posting pics was for paid members.

http://imgur.com/gallery/f9KNP69

NICE work!

That is nice!

Thanks y'all. Once I get my little parts in, I want to hop back on it. I did update it earlier with the amount I had to take off the front of the mounting block, it was .300".

So no new pics, but I have made some progress. Action is bedded, magazine is shimmed to feed 30-06 good (when I paint I'll post a final shim measurement as I take it back apart) and drilling of rear screw hole to correct depth is done. I had to swap to short screw in the back and it was no where near long enough. I'll get a final depth measurement on this too.

Issue now is can't depress trigger far enough to remove bolt with out loosening up the rear action screw. Trying to figure out if issue is with trigger guard interference or that aluminum pad under front of trigger is hitting the bedding block. I already clearanced for the top bolt release piece of the trigger and no signs of interference, so the work continues. Just wanted to give a quick update, but it cycles real good. So far I'm pleased.

Edit: magazine shim thickness is .091" and goes all the way across the bottom of the sheet metal. The depth of the rear screw hole is .8465" from top to shoulder inside.

Looks good. Real custom.

Ok, updated the shim thickness and the depth of the rear screw hole. Also, got the stock painted and rifle assembled. Got a can of a flat rustoleum tan, painted the stock with it, then mist' d the stock with the camo paint dark green. I was trying to match the scope's color of FDE and I think it looks pretty good. In some places it's obviously 2 colors, but I think looks pretty cool.

Here is the updated pictures link.
http://imgur.com/gallery/RqGG166

Now to load up some ammo and live fire test, pretty excited to see if I did a good job. I'll up date as soon as I can.

https://i.imgur.com/uVbDXBm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3PGvy33.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Tzr4V7n.jpg

Thanks Robin hood.

So current issue with this build..

I have taken it to shoot twice now with the same results, light primer strikes and no bang(8 different reloads of mine and some tried twice). I did not have this problem when it was a 30-06(yes my loads) and have made no changes to the bolt or any part of it since it was a 30-06.

However, I checked firing pin protrusion (.050"). Pulled firing pin/spring/etc and ejector parts and re check headspace. The no go gauge won't go, good. Check a round, goes into battery. Measured a piece of masking tape (.002"), add to back of round, won't go into battery,good. Actually re-checked headspace twice. I feel confident
This is not a headspace issue as much as i would like it to be since easy fix. I also dont feel it is a protrusion issue.

I have 3 of these acutrigger savages that I have re-barreled and none have this issue except this guy. I really don't think it is trigger pull. I do think it might be in the trigger though. In order to get the bolt out, I have to lossen the rear action screw about half a turn. Otherwise I can not depress the bolt release enough to remove the bolt. This sounds like the stock needs relief in the trigger group area, but I'm not sure where yet as otherwise it seems to function check properly.

I appreciate any thoughts on this if someone has had a similar problem.

I would fix the bolt release and go from there. I believe some one else on here had a similar problem from that area.

Cool build. Keep us posted...

I took it back to the range on Sunday and successfully fired 1 round out of 3, but it went bang. Never felt so good to be unsuccessful, lol. Last night I took it apart and took a good hard look at the trigger assembly.

I found one side of the pin hole (for the pin that attaches group to receiver) a little put of round, and the other side pretty much egg shaped! I did buy this gun used but honestly didn't pay a lot of attention to this,my fault. It is allowing the trigger group to have a lot of movement in any direction. Obvious solution is a new trigger group. But, since I can't make it any worse, I decided to bush the egg shaped hole and see if that fixes it.

I found a roll pin in my collection (3/16) that the pin almost goes through. Bored it out(in steps) with a #26. The #26 is way bigger than the pin. However, my roll pin is spring steel and was flexing out so only removing minimal material. It ended up a nice snug fit with a little bit of finish file work. I only drilled about 1/4" of the roll pin. Measured the side of roll pin I DIDN'T drill and found a drill bit that was within a couple thou. Then I drilled out the egg shaped side only. I left a little of the original pin boss area to use as a depth guide.

Used a finish file until the side of the pin I did drill out(the o.d. was slightly more from the drilling) was a tight fit. Used a little loctite and tapped it in. I then used a cut off wheel to remove the remainder. Followed that up with filing it down about .010" more so that the pin would go all the way to the outside of the other side of the trigger group. Filed the hole thing smooth inside and flat on the outside. The pin is snug now and the trigger group has no side to side movement.

What a long explanation for what took 30 minutes, lol. I'm headed back out on Sunday and we will see if I fixed anything or just wasted time.

Edit: I have pictures but have not added them yet.

If you didn't want to wait you could put primers in some empty cases and see if they go off ;)

I have had short brass(new) that wouldn't go off until I seated a bullet in the lands. something to look into. Charlie B gave some good advise for sure.

Primer only testing sounds like a good idea. Putting it back in the stock tonight, I noticed that the trigger safety is just barely touching the stock at the same time the trigger breaks. Maybe it's not completely out of the way? But how am I getting primer strikes every time?

All the more reason to primer test I guess.

So the trigger may have been part of the problem, but it was not the end all. Spring pressure was the problem. Flatend a lock washer and put it between the main spring and the big screw that goes in the back of the bolt. Now it goes bang, success! Fired 3 rounds (primer only)out of the stock, and 2 with it back in the stock. 5 in a row, I think I got it.

So now I need to get a replacement spring and the usual suppliers don't seem to offer anything for the axis. So is Savage my only option or a spring manufacturer I guess?

I just ordered a bunch of bolt parts from Savage, they were cheaper than Midway and Brownell's AND they actually had them in stock. Savage will be my first call in the future for stock parts.

Glad to hear it, I'll give them a call. Thanks.

Glad to hear of some success. Would like to see pics of your first shots with this rig.

Success at the range for the most part. I didn't take pictures of the targets this time, but I was very pleased at 100y. I discovered that I goofed and installed the pic rail backwards and was out of elevation adjustment, so I didn't shoot any further.

I'm also back to magazine problems. If I use the factory internal mag retainer, mag is too low to feed. If I don't, recoil pushes it up too high and it hits the bolt. So gonna have to modify mag retainer.

Enough of the bad, this rifle feels great. Trigger pull is awsome and bolt cycling feels smooth/easy. I really like this stock. I have a 300wm 110 T-SR that I just picked up and this thing has less recoil as a comparison. (I'm going to do a review of my experience with that rifle soon).

Next I need to load some more up and finalize my load and fix the mag thing. I will deffinetly take pics of load with chrono results, but with the holidays I don't think that will be for a few weeks.

Still have not completely fixed the magazine issue, but did get out last week to do some load testing. Oddly enough my chrono speed readings did not seem to change a lot with increase in powder charge. Though admittedly I only made it through 2 different loads but speeds were 2,492- 2,530(cold bore) with 56.5gr of H414 and 2,523-2,577(last shot hot bore) with 57.5gr. Bullet was 225gr SST. Obviously there is an increase but even at 57.5gr 5 out of 6 hovered right around 2,530- 2,550 so I'm thinking that last one may have had too much powder.

Now the accuracy was great I felt with the 56.5gr. This was all with the After chrono shots, I went back and confirmed 0 with no real cool down. I shot 2 rounds .650" center to center from each other it was 1 inch low so I adjusted and put another round. It tracked right so I adjusted to center of diamond and put one just barely off center. I followed it up with 2 more with other adjustements. They also measured around .650". I was at this range to qualify for their long range, so this rifle got some cool down time while I was doing that. After I was done I came back and shot 2 more rounds(the last I had loaded of the 56.5) and picked a spot on the target away from any other rounds and stacked them right on top of each other. The holes are overlapping so I figure around .500". I'd like to get more speed out of this, but man I hate to mess up a good thing. Here is the picture link.

http://imgur.com/gallery/p44Y8wd

The trigger pin hole is oval for a reason. It's for ease of assembly on the production line. When the action is bolted into the stock, the stock snugs it up to the receiver. If it is not tight against the receiver, the trigger is out of position, causing a lack of travel in the firing pin. When you relieved the stock for the trigger bracket, you cut it too deep, letting it hang down unsupported by the stock. This is most probably contributing to the bolt removal dilemma also. You will need to shim the relief pocket up until the trigger bracket is tight to the receiver and the receiver is resting on the vee blocks.

I appreciate the info regarding the trigger group, but would like to add this hole was more out of round than my other axis. Your advice is worth knowing for any future projects. As of now though, I have 0 fail to fire and can remove bolt without difficulty. My fix may not have been the correct method (your way would have been much more simple) but it is working.