My latest Savage tinker project.
Several years ago I picked up a pawn shop beater Savage 30-06 from Candler Rd pawn for $165 from their clearance shelf. I took it home and worked it over first stripping it down and then replacing the trigger spring and tuning the trigger to a crisp 2#, refinishing the stock and bedding it to the action, and putting some Burris bases and rings on it along with a Pentax Pioneer 3-9x40 (clearance from Cameraland) and a good slip on recoil pad. Here it is just before I presented it to my son.
Well the tinker bug bit me again and with rampant Savageaholicism and tinkeritis I can never leave well enough alone. I had brought the rifle home from my sons house intending to upgrade the optics and switch it over to a synthetic stock. While visiting a friend yesterday I ran across a Factory 24" fluted threaded .308 barrel from a 10BA and it followed me home. So the transformation began. I had to open up the synthetic stock to fit the new bull barrel contour. I got out my Turkey fryer pot and filled it with water and brought it to a boil. I placed the fore end of the synthetic stock in the boiling water for about 4 minutes, and then while wearing gloves forced a 1" broom handle into the channel, wrapped it up with duct tape, made sure everything was straight and let it cool. I put some kroil on the threads, took my barrel nut wrench and popped the nut loose on the -06 barrel and removed it. At this point I checked the locking lugs and found the lugs to be making full contact. No surprise with the Savage floating bolthead design. I removed the ejector from the bolt then I installed and headspaced the barrel to absolute minimum using brass sized in my dies. After that I added a piece of shim stock and checked for no go and the barrel swap was finished. I dug through a few boxes and located the takeoff flash hider from an R25 project because there was no thread protector on the barrel. It wound up looking pretty cool and timed with no crush washer or filing needed. Sometimes you get lucky. Then I turned my attention to the bolt and installed a bolt lift kit made from a cutoff shell casing, a ball bearing and a spacer for the bolt assembly screw made from 1/2" galvanized pipe and sized to .001 with a hand file. I reassembled everything and upgraded the optics using an EGW picatiiny rail with Leupold rings and a Burris E1 3-9x50. Well here it is my budget friendly Long Range Hunter clone. Still needs a cheekrest to line the eye up with the 50mm but that's for another day. Any recommendations on a cheekrest appreciated. Pardon the cell pic I'll have to get some better ones up to do it justice.
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