Heya guys,

I purchased a 10 BA a few months ago because every review I had read about it was positive and having never tried anything on the Savage platform, I decided to take a shot.

The action is great, genuinely have no complaints about the Accutrigger, either...To be quite honest, I don't understand why more people don't like it but, definitely a preference thing.

My complaints are more/less about the barrel...I had complaints about the stock, definitely too heavy for a tactical platform but, my girlfriend is getting me a Manner stock for xmass so, those complaints are out the window.

I shoot at a 500yd range and my rifle definitely prefers 168grain loads...Hornady Match/Federal thus far...

I've been working my way up in caliber so, the 308 is new to me.

At first, I was contributing the 1+ spread to be shooter error and began to work more on my positioning/fundamentals.

Well, last week, I went shooting with a friend that's on temporary leave. He's a huge fan of Chey-Tac and spends his cash on nothing but Chey-Tac so, out came his rifles; 308, 408 and the 50.

From 300yds and 500yds I was shooting sub .30's/.50's on his rifle (Crazy good day, no wind...perfect)...On my Savage, I was seeing results of .7-1.0 from 300, 1.0-3.0 at 500.

He took over on the savage and actually got practically the same results, I did.

In reading around a bit, I've been shooting at about 1-2m/clip. I think I've done some permanent damage to the barrel because even now at cold bore, the performance has begun to get worse.

When I spoke to the store about it, they're willing to take it back but, I'm really kind of attached at this point, especially with the new stock coming.

Do you guys think I should give it back to the store or just get a new barrel?

If I do end up choosing to get a new barrel are there any match-grade options out there that can stand up to that kind of heat and will keep their performance?

The store also said that it's possible I could just send the barrel back to Savage as well but, I don't know what the reality is of that happening.

Thanks guys!