been out of the game awhile...

Hey fellas! Did a lot of Internet scouting researching the savage I recently purchase a month ago and this forum was a very common place to check out. Figure why not just pull the trigger and sign up since I know I'll be having a question or 2. I come from. A custom rifle exclusive back ground. I have never purchased a gun in the store. All my grandfather and I did growing up every summer was build guns for customers.

Now that I'm grown and pop can't get around like he used to, both time and money to do my own personal build just hadn't been there so I finally chose a savage model 11 trophy xp in 6.5 creedmoor. Loved what savage offered growing up and knew I'd go that route. The round was a cute little thumper for hunting purposes without, imho, beating myself up every shot. I've got a 12 gauge for that. After highschool I got heavy into traditional archery and have spent every year competing and hunting in it since then but, since I have a son on the way now and want to have this with him too, here I am...writing my first post on a gun forum.

Got the gun and it's been very much love hate for 2 reasons. The first being what came to my attention after purchase about the gun upon tearing down and investigating my gun (ocd can't let me sleep without knowing how it's all put together) ....is that there is nonsense involved. The second, my gun so I don't build a gun, gun....has turned into a gun build by default. Stock is junk, tossed the plastic gaurd, bottom bolt release looks like a future problem in the making, and the accutrigger has two spring offerings come to find out.


After testing 5 different boxes of store bought loads, I about threw the gun in the trash. Out of the box "awesome" I remember savage having was a 7" group in the end before it got too dark. Then came the 140 grain ELD. 7 shots in a quarter at a hundred. Needless to say, the gun didn't go in the trash. Since then, I have a bought vortex peeper, metal trigger guard, looking at a stock, bought all new reloading crap because factory ain't good enough (a joke), new target spring, trying to figure the bottom metal puzzle out, and have already chopped the barrel to 22" and will be doing the crown tomorrow.


Sorry for all the lengthy write up.

7" I would be looking at the scope. Be methodical with your tuning like action screw torque, use quality rings and a known quality scope, tight rings and bases etc...

I did that knowing that factory says one thing but confirming is another. I also have never heard of a barrel needing to be "shot in" after all these years. However, I've read and have heard from folks in person that sometimes 50 to 80 shots were required. I cleaned and always clean my gun out after 10 rounds out of the pipe. Old habits die hard. Bases were good. Rings were good. Action screws were good. That being said, I have since bought much nicer glass and rings to go with it along with remounting the bases and thread locker'd it all down. Shot that way after scope base inspection prior to the first shot ever taken.