Which 1 piece picatinny style base and rings for short action?

All,
i have a savage lady hunter (for my wife) which simply shoots terrible. Its been back to savage and they claim it shoots 1.25 inches but do not state the range they were shooting. The best groups I’ve achieved are 3inches at 100 yards. I have checked with two different known good scopes with 5 different types of ammo. I replaced all plastic bottom metal with real metal as I’ve heard that can help since I can torque the pillars a bit more. Currently the action screws are at 45lbs. It currently wears 1 piece Talley base/rings. My next step is to eliminate the current bases/rings to something better to make sure that’s not the problem. If that does not work, I’m ordering a new criterion barrel and fully bedding the rifle stock which I know will solve the issue. So what 1 piece picatinny type base do you recommend and which rings? I would like to try to keep the scope height low if possible. Thanks!

Before I did all that I would vice the weapon and fire a few strings with match ammo to see how it groups.

The fact they claim 1.25 is bad news. I just bought a warne one peice, I have multiple EGW's. I don't think this will fix your problem.

Get an EGW picatinny rail with Weaver 6 screw rings. Make sure to clean out all threads with denatured alcohol and use a thread locker of some kind.

You may have it torqued too much. Some guns like less torque than others. Make sure to torque the fe front screw first.

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I would first re-torque the rear screw to 20 in lbs (inch pounds) and note any change in grouping. Then up the rear screw torque to 25 and again note any changes. Also check that the barrel is free floated and the rear tang isn't touching the stock. If you have the action out of the stock, make sure the blind magazine clip (silver colored) in correctly positioned on the rear pillar. Fix any discrepancies. And finally give the barrel a good cleaning being sure to remove any built up copper in the rifling.

I took a 338LM that wouldn't group worth a darn, cleaned it good, torqued it properly and it hit targets at a mile after that.

FWIW I use EGW bases and Werne rings on all my Savages, 223 to 308 calibers, but I only shoot for sport and occasional hunting.

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Originally Posted by Evlshnngns

The fact they claim 1.25 is bad news. I just bought a warne one peice, I have multiple EGW's. I don't think this will fix your problem.

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Why do you say that is bad news? Id be thrilled if it would actually shoot that at 100 since this is her backup rifle. Is it bad news because they don't shoot at 100 yards but rather 50?

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Originally Posted by Texas10

I would first re-torque the rear screw to 20 in lbs (inch pounds) and note any change in grouping. Then up the rear screw torque to 25 and again note any changes. Also check that the barrel is free floated and the rear tang isn't touching the stock. If you have the action out of the stock, make sure the blind magazine clip (silver colored) in correctly positioned on the rear pillar. Fix any discrepancies. And finally give the barrel a good cleaning being sure to remove any built up copper in the rifling.

I took a 338LM that wouldn't group worth a darn, cleaned it good, torqued it properly and it hit targets at a mile after that.

FWIW I use EGW bases and Werne rings on all my Savages, 223 to 308 calibers, but I only shoot for sport and occasional hunting.

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I am a bit confused as I have heard if you have pillars you should be torqueing close to 65 and a wood stock without pillars should be around 30in/lbs? I did shoot it at the 30in/lb mark and it was terrible 4+ inch groups. Ive never had a rifle shoot that badly. As an FYI, this rifle is not a blind magazine rifle. It has a magazine box. I have changed all the bottom metal, including the mag box, to steel bottom metal. I have two other savages which I have rebarreled and those shoot lights-out so I'm thinking I'm just going to get a new barrel and be done with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texas10

I would first re-torque the rear screw to 20 in lbs (inch pounds) and note any change in grouping. Then up the rear screw torque to 25 and again note any changes. Also check that the barrel is free floated and the rear tang isn't touching the stock. If you have the action out of the stock, make sure the blind magazine clip (silver colored) in correctly positioned on the rear pillar. Fix any discrepancies. And finally give the barrel a good cleaning being sure to remove any built up copper in the rifling.

I took a 338LM that wouldn't group worth a darn, cleaned it good, torqued it properly and it hit targets at a mile after that.

FWIW I use EGW bases and Werne rings on all my Savages, 223 to 308 calibers, but I only shoot for sport and occasional hunting.

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I forgot to add that I have tried cleaning the barrel out well and also fouling it and both shot bad. I am not sure what you are talking about the magazine clip being position on the rear pillar?

I would assume its at 100yds. I agree 1.25 is plenty sufficient for most hunting scenarios. What cartridge, twist, and bullet weights have you tried?

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Originally Posted by Evlshnngns

I would assume its at 100yds. I agree 1.25 is plenty sufficient for most hunting scenarios. What cartridge, twist, and bullet weights have you tried?

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The rifle from factory has a 1:9.5 twist. I have tried Hornady SST 139, Hornady Interlock 139, Federal fusion 140s, Nosler 120 BT, and Remington Core lokt 140. The odd thing is Sometimes I will get what looks like might be a decent group going where 2 shots will be SUB MOA and then the third shot will be inches away which makes me think something is going on more than just a bad barrel. I also want to echo that I have been shooting a long while now but to confirm it was not shooter error, I had my wife shoot who is of equal quality as a marksman and she was getting the same result.