I have a Savage model 10, 308 “package” gun I purchased at Christmas. I was finally able to get it out to shoot for the first time on Father’s Day and had a miserable experience – 2 additional shooting sessions since have not been any better. The rifle will not shoot tighter than 3-4 MOA at 100 yards no matter what I do. This is my first Savage, which I deliberately purchased based on all of the great things I’ve heard about Savage out of the box accuracy. It has turned out to be the worst shooting firearm I’ve ever encountered – printing the worst groups (6+” inches at 100) with commercially produced 168 grain HPBT match ammo!


The rifle was purchased new in December and shipped in the following configuration: Accutrigger, non-Accustock black plastic stock, internal non-DBM magazine, and an entry level, 3-9 power Bushnell Scope. I have shot the rifle on 3 separate occasions, with 4 different types of ammo, 2 scopes (First scope used – Leupold Mark 4 4-14x40 LR/T , 2ndscope was the original Bushnell – in case the Leupold was faulty) and have cleaned bore prior to the first shooting session and after each. A detailed description of my efforts follows – but my question is, what am I missing? I don’t think anyone would consider the rifles performance remotely acceptable. I do not believe it is the stock, as I did some searching online after the 1st abysmal shooting session and found torque values and the order of action screw tightening posted online – which I completed for the 2nd shooting session and rechecked prior to the 3rd. I’ve also verified that the barrel is free floated along its entire length. I have been shooting the rifle off of a high end, adjustable rest, with the stock butt on a shooting/rifle sandbag, with the rifle placed on the front rest bag just forward of the barrel nut.


I may have been overly ambitious, but was hoping (based on reviews I read online) for around 1, to just under 1 MOA at 100 yards with quality ammo. I would consider 1.5 MOA OK and under 2 acceptable for an off the shelf, big-box store bolt gun. This rifle is not even close. As far as I go, I’m a former small-bore and NRA service rifle competitor (having shot at Camp Perry in years gone by) and I shoot rifles fairly well. While taking breaks to let the Savage cool between shots during the sighting in process, I would shoot sub MOA groups all day long with my 223 Encore pistol & Leupold scope – so I can’t see the rifles performance being something I’m causing.


Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I’d also welcome information on how good Savage is about resolving issues such as these – I plan on calling them this afternoon or tomorrow. Any advice on dealing with them would be appreciated as well. Not only is the rifle unacceptable, but I’ve spent several hours mounting/unmounting/remounting scopes, shooting, cleaning, traveling to/from range, not to mention the ~$90 bucks of ammo I’m out as well. I apologize in advance if it sounds like I am a complainer – but I’ve been hearing great things about Savage rifles for years and frankly I’m shocked by my experience. I realize that occasional “lemons” make it through any manufacturing process, but since the rifle was shot at the factory, I’m having trouble understanding how it slipped between the cracks.


Thanks for any help.


-Calvin


Here is a detailed breakdown of how I went about shooting the rifle.


Prior to initial shooting, I cleaned rifle bore with Hoppes #9, a nylon brush, and cotton patches – per instructions on Hoppes bottle.


Scope for first and second shooting sessions – a new Leupold Mark 4 4.5-14x40 LR/T scope. Mounted on Weaver one piece base with Burris 30mm Signature Zee rings – all screws (base and rings) torqued to manufacturers stated values with Wheeler FAT torque driver. Removed and remounted scope prior to 2nd shooting session – did this to verify tightness/torque of the base screws.


Shooting session #1 on 6/16/2013 – Commercially loaded 150 grain FMJBT ammo. Shot at private range, under cover, the scope was the Leupold. Bore sighted scope at 50 yards and was on paper – didn’t pay too much attention to group size and just wanted to get scope “in the ball park” before moving onto 100. Shot 3 shots at 50. Moved to 100, used 3 additional shots to get scope further tweaked and attempted to shoot a 3 shot group that measured around 8 inches! Let rifle cool. Attempted to shoot further 3 shot groups – none better than 3-4 inches. Assumed something was wrong and pulled the plug on session – left range after 20 shots.


Went home and cleaned rifle bore with Hoppes #9, nylon brush, and cotton patches – per instructions on Hoppes bottle. Also, carefully used Shooters Choice Copper Remover *exactly as instructed on the bottle* for 2 cycles. Did remove copper fouling and after 2nd cycle patches came out clean. Removed and remounted Leupold scope prior to 2nd shooting session – did this to verify tightness/torque of the base screws.


Shooting session #2 on 6/23/2013 – Commercially loaded 168 grain HPBT *match* ammo. Shot outdoors at 120 yards. Even though Scope had been removed and remounted, rifle was on paper at 120 yards and I fired 3-5 rounds to center scope and attempted to shoot 3 shot groups – none better than 4 inches – with 2 that were at least 6+! Shot through the box of the 20 match rounds and then tried some 150 grain ball. (10 more rounds) still 3-5 inch groups.


Went home and cleaned rifle bore with Hoppes #9, nylon brush, and cotton patches – per instructions on Hoppes bottle. Also, carefully used Shooters Choice Copper Remover *exactly as instructed on the bottle* for 2 cycles. Removed less copper (initial patches not as blue) than first cleaning. Removed Leupold scope and mounted Bushnell. Verified torque of the scope base screws while changing scopes.


Shooting session #3 on 7/6/2013 – Commercially loaded 147 grain ball. Back at covered range at 100 yards. Went through similar process as 6/16. Bore sighted at 50 and was “in the ball park with 5 rounds. Moved out to 100 and could not get a 3 shot group better than 3-4 inches with 25 additional rounds. Packed it up and left.