First Rifle, First Savage.

I have been lurking these forums for quite a while as I was trying to figure out over the last 5 or 6 months what I would purchase for my first high power. I'm a lefty and I wanted a bolt action so I was pretty limited on selections. I was put off by Savage at first because I did not believe you could get a good shooter for the lower price of the Savages. I looked hard at the remi's and browning. I knew this gun would be something I wanted to customize so I kept coming back to this forum as well as help from the Google's. I finally pulled the trigger, no pun, and ordered a model 11 trophy hunter xp .243 with the prostaff glass in freaking left handed bolt. My first truly left handed gun, and no, ambi guns do not count as the casing still ejects across your face.

That being said I have finally joined this brotherhood and am looking at what steps I should take for the new rifle. I have been doing research but I still get confused trying to read through all the models and the different steps done to the different rifles. I understand what bedding the barrel is, but the question is should I do this. I plan on switching out the .243 for .308 and going back and forth depending on what I am planning on shooting.

So far I have installed a Harris on it, and I am currently waiting on my fluted bolt from SSS to get here. I look forward to learning as much as I can about long range shooting and other odds and ends. I am also new to coyote calling and haven't had much luck, so I will probably be in that section the most for now. I can get them to answer me back, which is cool, but I'm guessing you don't really want them calling back to much.

I live in Nebraska so I should be able to put down at least one coyote I would think. :cool:

My biggest question would have to be about timing and truing the action. My savage is a little sticky on the upward movement on the bolt and I have read that this will fix this problem. My question is how much does it smooth out the action. I would love for it to feel smooth like glass.

I look forward to chatting with you guys.

Ray

I am surprised that while "lurking these forums for quite a while" you have not seen that one of the biggest issues with the 11/111 XP package is the flimsy stock. From what I've read bedding won't help much and you would be better off with a new stock. While I'm partial to the Axis because of it's low price I would consider an 11 with the Accustock and add a scope seperately. But then I certainly am not an expert.

I am curious why you would switch bewteen calibers rather than 243 bullet weights. The 55 gr should be a very good round for coyotes with it's flat trajectory and low penetration. And the 100 gr is certainly suitable for deer. Plus if you are shooting coyotes at long range then you must be pretty accurate so using the 100 gr on elk should even be ok.

Thanks for replying. I guess I hadn't seen much on here about the stock, probably because I'm looking at getting a laminate stock with a thumb hole so i haven't looked to much at the stock. I haven't heard to many good things about the accustock, mostly from here. My understanding is that the kill power of a .243 at long ranges is not as good as the .308. maybe I am misunderstanding it. I like the .243 for precision do to lower effects by the wind and the speeds of the .243 lighter bullets. So far I have been shooting 80gr and 100gr. I'm waiting for some coyote killers from hornady at 58gr.

The prostaff glass is actually a pretty nice scope. It has the BDC and so far I have hit a 1 liter soda bottle at 300 yrds. Hit it once out of three shots which was pretty good for my first 300 yrd shot with a rifle.

Pic of it

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...08236942_o.jpg

The stock will be flimsy.

Become a paid member and look at fgw_in_Fla's article on the front page. It is the axis modification but he has done to my 110 and to his also. It works great.

Good info on the prostaff. I have been looking at the Burris E1. Chuckhawks has some pretty good writeups on a lot of things - he says nice things about the Accustock but then objectivity of professional writers is always a question. I have never had a thumbhole and have been curious about them - but then I have very small hands. I was looking at getting the action and stock then paying extra for a scope with high clarity. But it sounds like you are going the route best for you - get the action and scope you want then spend extra on the stock. I will keep that in mind too.

Too many options, too little money and time. If I had both I would start with the 12 LRP and put the Burris Eliminator on it.

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Originally Posted by rgburrill

Good info on the prostaff. I have been looking at the Burris E1. Chuckhawks has some pretty good writeups on a lot of things - he says nice things about the Accustock but then objectivity of professional writers is always a question. I have never had a thumbhole and have been curious about them - but then I have very small hands. I was looking at getting the action and stock then paying extra for a scope with high clarity. But it sounds like you are going the route best for you - get the action and scope you want then spend extra on the stock. I will keep that in mind too.

Too many options, too little money and time. If I had both I would start with the 12 LRP and put the Burris Eliminator on it.

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Exactly. I have been saving up for a while for my first so I had some money to play around with and i was able to pick up the harris and the new bolt, plus put some towards a new stock and better glass. I said the prostaff is a good piece of glass, but it will not do for long ranges over probably 400yrds so it is a must to be upgraded. I didn't look very hard at savage's for probably the first 4-5 months, which I wish now that I would have. I wanted a rifle that I could customize without having to go to a gunsmith every time I wanted to change something, but it had to be left handed bolt. After reading through a lot of the posts here about customization I was sold. This is a gun that I can get my feet wet with and learn some things about precision shooting and long range hunting as well as some minor gunsmithing. The barrel can be changed out very quickly and then a simple modification on the bolt and now I have a .308. Want to go out and shoot coyotes, switch out the barrel again, modify the bolt again, and pop some 58gr .243 in it. So far I am enjoying the heck out of it, I've only got about 60 rounds through it so far but it is very accurate to me, even when the barrel has been heated up.

@mattm0812, thank you very much for pointing me towards that article.

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Originally Posted by kchiefs

Exactly. I have been saving up for a while for my first so I had some money to play around with and i was able to pick up the harris and the new bolt, plus put some towards a new stock and better glass. I said the prostaff is a good piece of glass, but it will not do for long ranges over probably 400yrds so it is a must to be upgraded. I didn't look very hard at savage's for probably the first 4-5 months, which I wish now that I would have. I wanted a rifle that I could customize without having to go to a gunsmith every time I wanted to change something, but it had to be left handed bolt. After reading through a lot of the posts here about customization I was sold. This is a gun that I can get my feet wet with and learn some things about precision shooting and long range hunting as well as some minor gunsmithing. The barrel can be changed out very quickly and then a simple modification on the bolt and now I have a .308. Want to go out and shoot coyotes, switch out the barrel again, modify the bolt again, and pop some 58gr .243 in it. So far I am enjoying the heck out of it, I've only got about 60 rounds through it so far but it is very accurate to me, even when the barrel has been heated up.

@mattm0812, thank you very much for pointing me towards that article.

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no bolt mods. needed to change to 308
drybean

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Originally Posted by drybean

no bolt mods. needed to change to 308
drybean

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Ha, the guy at the store told me i would have to do something with the bolt for spacing.thanks for looking out.

I read all this internet chatter about the flimsy stock on savage rifles. I personally have 5, and 4 of them had this stock. Replaced 3 of them and kept the one on my .243. I can consistently shoot clover leaf shaped groups with my flimsy stock and 43gr of varget with a 58gr nosler and the guns I have restocked do not shoot as consistent. Only thing I did to mine was free float the barrel very loose.

I have been hitting .5" groups at 200 pretty consistently. For a beginner i would guess that is decent to ok. The other day at 100 I shot 3 times and had two holes in the PC i was shooting at. Either i nailed it or missed completely on the second shot. I prefer to think I nailed it, only two exit wounds on the old Dell machine.

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Originally Posted by mattm0812

The stock will be flimsy.

Become a paid member and look at fgw_in_Fla's article on the front page. It is the axis modification but he has done to my 110 and to his also. It works great.

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his tutorial is for a different stock than what is on my 11xp. is there a tutorial like that for my stock?

A 243 on elk? WOW!