I just assembled my first Savage rifle. It is shockingly accurate. I seriously doubt I had anything to do with it.

I say assembled because screwing together a bunch of parts can't be called building. I'm no gunsmith but I thought this was within my ability. It took me a while to gather all the parts and I'm not quite finished as I want to change a few things.

1. Savage 3-screw target action, right bolt, right port, PT&G Magnum faced bolt head, SSS extractor kit, NSS barrel nut and recoil lug.

2. X-Caliber barrel, 300 Remington Ultra Mag, 416R, large shank, 26", 1:7" twist, 5R rifling, #28 Savage Big Varmint contour, 5-straight flutes, threaded muzzle, X-Terminator muzzle brake, cryogenic treatment (it was free).

3. H-S Precision Pro-Series 2000 stock. 3-screw single shot, aluminum bed, black w/white web.

4. Steiner T5Xi 5-25X56, MRAD, illuminated reticle, scope.

5. Burris XTR Signature rings, 3-screw, aluminum, polymer inserts.

6. EGW -20- MOA aluminum Picatinny mount.

I sighted it in with factory Hornady 300 Remington Ultra Mag 220 grain ELD-X Precision Hunter 2910 FPS.
I used a Wheeler green laser to get it on paper at 50 yards after zeroing it in at home. It worked with no problem. I had a Caldwell Lead Sled FCX with 35 lb's of lead shot in the bag and it still bounced the whole thing back four or five inches. However, when I moved to the 100 yard targets, it shot three 5-shot groups that made one ragged hole. It was amazing. I let the barrel cool down between every few shots so things didn't cook.

As happy as I am I want to change a couple of things. I've decided I don't like the bladed Savage Target Accutriger. The trigger is super safe but I just don't like the blade style so I've ordered a Rifle Basix SAV-2. I have more than a couple of Timney's and they're all good but most people moving from Savage triggers seem to be going to the Rifle Basix. I'm also going to be changing to a Bench Source scope mount. Not much of a reason other than it's 7075 instead of 6061. I'm also likely to trade out the bolt handle for a Tactical Works.

I have a LabRadar unit so once I get it all reassembled I'll be out seeing how things go. I'll be working up handloads using Retumbo and Sierra 200gr Matchking HPBT (B/C .715).

Great job man.

Looks like you got a good barrel...congrats!!!

Awesome, It is too bad they do not make a long target action.

So the fact it shot what it shot is absolutely due to the H-S stock and aluminum bed that the Savage action rigidly bolts into and the X-Caliber barrel that screws into that and the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled that solidly holds it all. The Steiner scope appears to me like the freakin' Hubble.

Ultimately, all I actually did was make sure ALL the screws were tight and torqued to the right numbers.

One last thing. Forgive me if you guys already are all up on this. I read some reviews about a cheap bore scope that was supposed to be amazing! Like the last gazzilion. I've wasted my money on that last Last Lyman that was supposed to be great, it wasn't. The picture was at best poor and it died, twice. Lyman replaced it no questions asked which tells me death was very a common occurrence.
Back to the review. I decided to bite. I bough the Teslong Rifle Borescope, 0.2inch Digital Gun Barrel Bore Scope off Amazon for $49.99 not expecting it to be worth $4.99. It has two cables, one an LED camera, one a USB cable. You also get a mini USB adapter for your phone. You also get three mirrors that all look the same to me and some simple directions. I plugged it into my Windows 10 laptop, turned on the camera in Windows and presto-change-o this darn thing produced an incredible picture of the bore! And I mean incredible! I could see where I had copper fouling that I didn't even remotely get out. I could also see why this X-Caliber barrel shot well, at least by my uneducated eyes, it was perfect. There was not a scratch, blemish or wavy anything. It was perfect, even at the forcing cone.
Is this $50.00 borecam better than a $1000.00 Hawkeye? I have no idea. I've never seen one of those nor will I ever. Is it worth $50.00? You betcha it is. This will blow your sox off for $50.00. They make one that's rigid for $75.00. That might well be better for rifle barrels because you have to fool with the floppy one a bit more I'm guessing. Here's a link.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's true, the Remington Ultra Mag is big but the only time it's a problem is if I have to take out a loaded round. If I do, then I have to remove the bolt with the round clamped to the bolt face. Other than that, there's no issue. The loaded round goes in easily and the empty case has more than enough room to eject.

Love it when a plan comes together !! Yeah, triggers are preferential.
I personally like the blades on accu-triggers since I'm fond of 2 stage
triggers. What weight did you set the trigger to ?? I like to clip a coil
off the blade spring, then stretch it a bit, and reinstall.

Robinhood mentioned about the lack of a long range target action. In this
day and age with long range shooting as popular as it is, Savage is no
doubt missing the boat. My bucket list is long, and I had to buy another
stove just for the things I put on the back burner, but I always envisioned
the 111LRH action with a solid bottom and going 4 screws !! Maybe the
Lapua action if one should ever come my way.

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Originally Posted by AbitNutz

Is this $50.00 borecam better than a $1000.00 Hawkeye? I have no idea. I've never seen one of those nor will I ever. Is it worth $50.00? You betcha it is. This will blow your sox off for $50.00.

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A lot of us know about the Teslong and everyone agrees it's the shizz....easily the best value in borescopes.

Attachment 7378

Here is a Teslong view of my unfired X-caliber barrel in 6.5 CM. In this pic I have seated a 142 SMK and sanded off the bullet nose down to the Ogive to capture a view of the bullet touching lands. The face of the bullet has been coated black with a sharpie, but still looks highly reflective in the Teslong view.

The machine work on this barrel was absolutely superb, and in this picture you can see the top of the lead on the land at the viewers 9 o'clock position.

You're dedicated work will show on the target, I'm sure. Sounds like you did a great job on your first home build Savage. Congratulations!

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Originally Posted by Fuj'

What weight did you set the trigger to ??

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According to my Wheeler digital trigger gauge, I did a 5-shot average of 15.1 oz with a high of 15.8 oz and a low of 12.5 oz. You gotta love this digital stuff for numbers crap. While that sounds great, I'm not really happy with it. When I was starting out I was getting noticeably higher trigger weights and it wasn't the gauge. I was getting trigger pulls in the 1.2 oz range. The more I dry fired it, the lighter the trigger got, until it settled down till the above numbers. I'm hoping the Rifle Basix SAV-2 doesn't do that. I guess I'm throwing too much shade at the Target Accutrigger. It's a really good and safe trigger. Really the only gripe I have is that I'm used to single stage triggers and the blade feels totally alien to me.

Welcome to the BROTHERHOOD OF THE BARREL NUT

Due to the d%*n Teslong I've decided to go on a hunt for the best copper remover. Why? Because I can now see the copper fouling I've left behind. Clearly Hoppe's NO.9 isn't doing it for me so I've decided to try the following:

1. Sweets 7.62 Solvent
2. Montana X-Treme 7035 Copper Killer
3. Bore Tech CU+2 Copper Remover
4. Otis Technology O12-CU
5. Hoppe's HBCC Black Copper Cleaner

Yeah, I know there are reviews out there but not by me and not with my barrels. Plus I never seem to get the results that those reviews get.

Anyone have recommendations? I'm willing to give it a go.

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Originally Posted by Balljoint

Welcome to the BROTHERHOOD OF THE BARREL NUT

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Ain't that the truth...in so many ways.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbitNutz

Due to the d%*n Teslong I've decided to go on a hunt for the best copper remover. Why? Because I can now see the copper fouling I've left behind. Clearly Hoppe's NO.9 isn't doing it for me so I've decided to try the following:

1. Sweets 7.62 Solvent
2. Montana X-Treme 7035 Copper Killer
3. Bore Tech CU+2 Copper Remover
4. Otis Technology O12-CU
5. Hoppe's HBCC Black Copper Cleaner

Yeah, I know there are reviews out there but not by me and not with my barrels. Plus I never seem to get the results that those reviews get.

Anyone have recommendations? I'm willing to give it a go.

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Sweets...smells like crap but works soooo good. Or any cleaner with ammonia...

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Originally Posted by celltech

Sweets...smells like crap but works soooo good. Or any cleaner with ammonia...

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Smells like crap !! More like cat piss.....LOL I use Sweets 308 also when
things get ugly. Use it out at the range with the wind at your back.:cool:

Man, If I had a cat that's piss smelled like Sweet's 7.62 it definitely would be on it's way to the vet for a visit. 'Cause nothing that smelled like that should be coming out of a live anything.

KG-12. Best I have used and far better than Sweet's, Hoppe's, or ammonia. It is not ammonia based so has little odor. Also no green patches. You have to look in the barrel to see when you are done. OTOH, you can also watch it work. Swab the barrel and look at the bore near the muzzle. You'll see the copper going away. Only takes me about an hour for a REALLY bad copper build up (which is probably what you have with a new barrel).

Don't know about the other three, but, if they are ammonia based I would not bother.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbitNutz

Due to the d%*n Teslong I've decided to go on a hunt for the best copper remover. Why? Because I can now see the copper fouling I've left behind. Clearly Hoppe's NO.9 isn't doing it for me so I've decided to try the following:

1. Sweets 7.62 Solvent
2. Montana X-Treme 7035 Copper Killer
3. Bore Tech CU+2 Copper Remover
4. Otis Technology O12-CU
5. Hoppe's HBCC Black Copper Cleaner

Yeah, I know there are reviews out there but not by me and not with my barrels. Plus I never seem to get the results that those reviews get.

Anyone have recommendations? I'm willing to give it a go.

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I have had good success with Sweet's. The smell is horrendous but, I'm always amazed at what you can get used to.

As long as you can extract an empty case from the action your good to go in my opinion.
Ive had a Rem 40x action and also a custom Hart#4 action opened up on tha back end so i could extract the emptys with no issues.
I also removed the chintzy bolt release on the Rem, but later had a better one installed.
Curios as to why you chose the 7 twist?
As for the bore cleaner, dont hesitate to try Wipeout.

Boretech Cu2 and C4 are all I use now, heard good things about Wipeout and KG12 too.

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Originally Posted by yobuck

Curios as to why you chose the 7 twist?

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Well, there are two reasons, one required and one personal preference. The cartridge is a 300 Remington Ultra Mag and to get the most out of it you have to shoot high B/C bullets and the high B/C bullet I like the best is the Sierra #2231 .308 200 gr Matchking HPBT which has a B/C of .715. It has a warning on the box that it requires a twist rate of at least 9:1. There's also a 235 gr bullet that requires a 1:8. If I use a slower twist these bullets won't stabilize. If I choose to shoot light bullets, like 150's or 165's I've found that I usually don't have a problem. They still shoot fine.

With Retumbo, a .308 200 gr Sierra Matchking and a 26" barrel I should easily get over 3000 FPS. I'm going to try this out at some point at Thunder Valley's 1000 meter range in South Eastern Ohio.

Second reason is the 1:7 was available in 5R. I've had good results with 5R rifling before. Not so much with better accuracy but they were easier to clean and gave a little higher velocity for an identical cartridge and length barrel.

So, when X-Caliber had their 50% off sale the 1:7-5R was an no brainer from their drop down list.

At 3000 fps your bullets are going to be spinning at 308,571 RPM. At 2910 fps they're going 299,314. That seems to me to be a bit fast for most jackets, what are you anticipating using?

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Originally Posted by Texas10

At 3000 fps your bullets are going to be spinning at 308,571 RPM. At 2910 fps they're going 299,314. That seems to me to be a bit fast for most jackets, what are you anticipating using?

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I can only go by what the manufacturer says, Sierra #2231 200 gr HPBT. They specify nothing slower than 1:9 and their 235 gr want nothing slower than 1:8. The groups I shot with Hornady factory 220 gr confirm that these heavier bullets seem to like the faster twist. Those clocked at 2910 fps.

One of the choices in the list for .308 X-Caliber barrels was a 1:5-5R!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbitNutz

Well, there are two reasons, one required and one personal preference. The cartridge is a 300 Remington Ultra Mag and to get the most out of it you have to shoot high B/C bullets and the high B/C bullet I like the best is the Sierra #2231 .308 200 gr Matchking HPBT which has a B/C of .715. It has a warning on the box that it requires a twist rate of at least 9:1. There's also a 235 gr bullet that requires a 1:8. If I use a slower twist these bullets won't stabilize. If I choose to shoot light bullets, like 150's or 165's I've found that I usually don't have a problem. They still shoot fine.

With Retumbo, a .308 200 gr Sierra Matchking and a 26" barrel I should easily get over 3000 FPS. I'm going to try this out at some point at Thunder Valley's 1000 meter range in South Eastern Ohio.

Second reason is the 1:7 was available in 5R. I've had good results with 5R rifling before. Not so much with better accuracy but they were easier to clean and gave a little higher velocity for an identical cartridge and length barrel.

So, when X-Caliber had their 50% off sale the 1:7-5R was an no brainer from their drop down list.

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Well if you cant get well over 3000 fps with a 200 SMK you should be very disappointed.
In fact with a 30” barrel 32 to 3300 would be very likely.
For about 25 years a 36” 9 twist barrel chambered in 30x378 gave me 3500 fps using 113 gr of H570 with that same bullet.
And many others as well using that cartridge got the same type results, and some i know still are.
The 300 Rum is fairly close to the 30x378 as for performance.
Fact is that much of the data we see are as a result of computer models, not actual live round testing.
So dont rely entirely on what it says on the box of bullets.
People today insist on knowing the BC of a bullet, but to a very large degree that is controlled by the velocity.
The 230 gr for example wont really start to show any improvement over the 200 till after about 1500 yds in your gun.
And that is due to the increased velocity the 200 has over the 230 or 240.
Same goes for the 338s. Many guys think having a 338 and using 300 gr bullets puts them in a different league, but actually it dosent, at least not with all of them.
Velocity rules regardless of the cartridge, and that requires powder, and enough barrel length to burn it before the bullet exits the muzzel.
For what its worth to you, i can run a 190 SMK from my 30” barreled 300 Norma at 3350 using 97 gr of Retumbo.