my first impression of my new 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 Creedmoor
First off, I'm not a professional reviewer. So, please bear with me. I don't know the exact specs on this gun because they are not posted anywhere and are not in the paperwork.
I was in my local gun shop and saw what appeared to be a "new" model of Savage that I was not aware of. I picked it up for a closer look and saw that its a Model 10 FCP-SR chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. The rifle came in a Savage Accustock in Flat Dark Earth color. It had a 24" heavy barrel and had a threaded muzzle with a thread protector in place. The barrel was also NOT fluted like the .308 FCP-SR. It also came equipped with the Accutrigger. It came with Pictanny scope base installed. Another notable difference between this gun and the .308 FCP-SR is the bolt handle. This bolt handle is a rounded pear shaped oversize type as opposed to the very large bolt handle that comes on the .308. I actually like this bolt much more. This rifle also has a 10 round detachable box magazine. It's a metal/plastic magazine that's exclusive to Savage. I had been wanting a long range rifle and this appeared to be the perfect starter long range rifle for me. I asked the gun shop owner some for info on this gun. He stated that its a distributor exclusive gun that Savage has made in limited runs. Since this was also chambered in 6.5, I had to have this rifle. I paid $600+tax for this rifle and Savage is currently offering a $75 rebate. I felt this rifle was a real good deal at $525 + tax.
My plans are to set this rifle up for long range shooting. Therefore, I've narrowed down my scope choice to a Vortex Viper PST GEN II FFP 5-25x50. Since that scope won't be on shelves for another few weeks, I decided to just put on a cheap Chinese scope until I can get my hands on the Vortex. Once I got the rifle home I decided to go ahead and clean it and mount the scope. The next morning, I headed out to the range to do a lil barrel "break in" and see what kind of potential this rifle may possess. I purchased a box of Hornady ELD 140gr Match ammo and decided to use that. Ok, I did "my" routine of break-in by cleaning the barrel after each of the first 5 rounds and then shooting three shot groups and then cleaning the barrel after each three shot group and then to 5 shot groups.
First of all, the trigger is light and crisp. A very nice factory trigger. Second, I cant wait until I get a good quality scope on this gun.
This gun has a lot of potential. After I got it on paper at 50 yards, I then moved the target out to 100 yards to see if my old eyes, nerves and trigger finger can make any type of group while still breaking in the barrel. I managed a couple of .75" 5 shot groups. I'm very pleased with the accuracy because I am very confidant that this rifle will be capable of some great groups once the barrel is fully broke in. Also, another good thing, The soft rubber butt pad worked great at eliminating any felt recoil.
Now to the negative things. The magazine only holds 9 rounds even though it states 10 rounds. It also locks-in a little differently than most magazines. Not a big deal, just different. It also didn't feed ammo as smoothly into the chamber as I would have liked. And now to the very negative,... In the 20 rounds it failed to eject "EVERY" round I fired. It would pull the round from the chamber a couple inches and then would just release it . This alone was a big pain. This was very disappointing, but overall I'm confidant that this is going to be a great starter long range gun for me,..... well, as soon as it returns from Savage.
