New 110 Varmint 22-250

This is my only 22-250, just wanted to try this caliber. Since 22-250 is a bit hard on barrels I was attracted to Savage because of the easily replaced barrels. The accustock bedding system and accufit were also appealing. When I got it home, I took the stock off and cleaned it. Using a Lyman bore scope, I noticed the last few inches of the bore were very rough and had two heavily coppered spots. There was pitting at the end leading into the muzzle crown. I cleaned all the copper out, loaded some ammo and headed to the range. I wasn't too surprised that the accuracy was really bad, most bullets missing the target completely.

I thought about contacting Savage about this and I'm sure they would would have it right. What I decided to do was get piloted facing and crowning tools and experiment. I hacksawed the last three inches of bad barrel and re-crowned it. Went back to the range with the same loads and what a difference! At 100 yards it was grouping mostly 1/2" to 1" with one 5/16" with a 52gr MK. I think with some load development this Savage will be pretty good. Cleaning it after these 30 rounds I noticed more copper fouling than I'm used to in other rifles but this copper is more of a hazy coating with no thick areas and it cleaned up easily.

The action on this one is good. The bolt cycles smoothly and feeds/ejects well. The trigger is really good. The stock is plenty rigid and that aluminum bed is sure nice. I really like this rifle and considering getting one in 223. Production rifle barrels at this price point are somewhat of a gamble but at least on Savages the owner can actually do something about it without needing a (very busy) gunsmith.

Welcome Robert. You probably should have sent it back to Savage but I probably would have done the same thing as you with the muzzle. Well actually I did. Did the hacksaw "trick" with a 6.5 Creedmoor heavy barrel from a Savage FV. Went from a bad shooter to a pretty good one after finish.

Savage bores generally tend to be a little "rough looking" from the factory, but typically still tend to shoot plenty good. They also tend to smooth out and "shoot in" after the first 150-200 rounds so don't be surprised if you see your velocity increase a bit around that round count which may or may not have an effect on that loads accuracy. Many will play around with their charge weight or the bullet seating depth a little at that point to dial in their load to the now seasoned barrel.

I’m assuming you bought it used.. Question for you. If you were attracted to Savage because of the user friendly barrel change, why not just do that? Or is replacing the barrel still the plan? Just thinking, 3 inches..that’s a good bit of velocity you’re losing out on.

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Originally Posted by Dave Hoback

I’m assuming you bought it used.. Question for you. If you were attracted to Savage because of the user friendly barrel change, why not just do that? Or is replacing the barrel still the plan? Just thinking, 3 inches..that’s a good bit of velocity you’re losing out on.

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I bought it new. According to a few sources, the velocity loss is 40-ish fps per inch so yes, the loss of 3" is significant. It's now 23". Since I'm shooting 100-200 yards at paper with this barrel, the greatly improved accuracy is a good trade. The easy barrel change was the main appeal of the Savage for me. I do plan to change the barrel fairly soon, but it will be fun to shoot a rifle without worrying about "abusing" this barrel. Shoot it till the barrel is sizzling hot, why not? Try interesting loads, sure! Experiment with barrel cleaning, you bet! First though, I'll see what this barrel will do. If it's really good, I'll take care of it.

According to QuickLOAD, with a 55 V-Max, a reduction of 3 inches of barrel would drop velocity closer to 80 fps.
In my model 11 VT, that I got at an incredible inventory reduction sale, shoots Berger 52 grain FB #22408 and Sierra 52 grain SMK FB #1400 better than the 52 gr SMKs HPBT #1410.
The flat base bullets should still be good at 200 yards.

Most Savage .22-250s have a 1:12 twist. Mine does.

The original .22-250s mostly were 1:14 twist. I have an old Remington 700 with that twist and it would never shoot bullets heavier than 55 grains accurately.
But it would shoot 40 grain Nosler BTs like a laser at 4000 to 4100 fps. They were like grenades on prairie dogs.

I think Savage makes one upscale model 12 in .22-250 with a 1:7 twist.
To get that barrel twist, that would be what I would consider a barrel change to consider.
The 1:12 still doesn't stabilize the 69 and 77 grain bullets that I have found to be really accurate in my .223s.
I would love to be able to shoot the heavier bullets in my .22-250s.

I got ya....I’m pickin’ up what you’re pittin’ down. Interesting you got a new rifle with a fouled & pitted barrel. That would pretty much piss me off! I’ve purchased many new Savages, sure. And each one was very fine shooter in it’s own. But my current Model 10 started life as a USED Junior model in 243 Win. Got it for a song & dance basically. This was my route from the start, as I immediately tore it down to a bare Action and started the build. It’s now a fully built Chassis Bench gun with all the fixin’s in, 260 Rem. And I have loved her every minute I’ve owned her!

I bought several Savage 22-250's back when Savage was dumping excess stock after the 2016 election. I was very impressed with both the speed and accuracy of the (new to me) chambering. So I put a 28 inch X-Caliber 8 twist on one and started shooting 80 gr SMK's out to 800 yds. What a riot!

If you haven't already, give the 53 gr. V-Max a try. I shoot that bullet, along with the 1400 and 1410's out a pair of 223's with great success. The 53 V-Max is notoriously accurate!

I bought a 10T-SR a couple of years back chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. It had the same problem as yours. Mine was so bad that there was basically no rifling for the last inch or so. Also had unbelievable marks left from the reamer for the whole length of the barrel. Turned me off Savage for a while. I took a gamble and picked up a 12FV in 308 a couple months ago, ran the bore scope down the barrel and it was night and day difference from the 10T-SR.

Must be the luck of the draw.