Savage Makes Cover of March American Rifleman

[Balljoint]

Just received my copy of the March American Rifleman Magazine, has an article on the 338 Lapua Mag. in the 110 BA will read the article as soon as i can.

[Balljoint]

For those that don't get American Rifleman Mag. go here http://www.americanrifleman.org/Arti...?id=2160&cid=3

[Savage Lover]

Got that today too. Saw the cover and read the whole story while standing in front of the mailbox. Nice rifle minus that gobby AR style stock and rails all over the place. Put one in a McMillan A-5 then you would have a great looking rifle.

Now the real question is........ Can I buy one of those new actions by itself?
For $2,250 I could have a custom barrel and any stalk I wanted plus money left over to put toward a nice scope.

[pa hog]

+1 They call them AR stocks for a reason LOL!! Thats were they belong. Really a truely ugly rifle. Just the barreled action in a McMillian,Manners or a Russo laminate would be slick.

[Balljoint]

Yes they are ugly and heavy but maybe there is a reason for it

[pdog06]

+1 They call them AR stocks for a reason LOL!! Thats were they belong. Really a truely ugly rifle. Just the barreled action in a McMillian,Manners or a Russo laminate would be slick.

+2

[efm77]

I'd like to see one in person. The article says the bolt head is the "thickest and heaviest" they make. I'd like to see how much bigger it is than a regular magnum head.

[3fingervic]

Great. Now all I need is $2000. ;D I think I could have a .338 lapua built on a custom action for that.

[Pete K.]

The article mentioned it was tested at 300 yards with four types of factory ammo and it averaged either just above 3" or just under 3" depending on the ammo used. I think only two types averaged grouped just under 1 MOA something like 2.84". When the rifle is broken in and best hand loads are developed for that particular rifle you would expect more like 2.5" groups at 300 with all the very tight tolerances designed into the rifle during manufacturing.
What are are top shooters here on the forum getting for average groups at 300 yards?? With what setup and what hand loads? Just for comparison purposes. I would venture to guess that many of our members are bettering what that custom purpose rifle is able to offer and at lower costs.

Let's hear your responses please.

Pete

[pa hog]

My Walther barreled .260 shot under 2" at 400yds. I had under $2000.00 in it with a McMillian stock and a SIII 8-32

[jdg]

Thats some very nice 300yrd groups, in that artical! The rifles is butt fuggly!! ;D

[efm77]

If only the ammo weren't so expensive. Even if you handload the brass is expensive. I like the round but think I'd be better off and more economical with a 338 RUM.

[memilanuk]

I don't recall the 300yd group size exactly; somewhere around 1/2-5/8 moa @ 300 & 600 rings a bell. When we stretched it to 1k for the writer (Aaron Carter) @ Douglas Ridge Rifle Club outside Portland the loads in both guns were far from what I'd consider 'optimized' due to somewhat short notice, real life/work interfering, etc. and we still beat up the center of a LR-FC target pretty good with it.

The gun *is* fugly, but then again, people have been saying that about Savage rifles for years. After a while you get used to it It was surprisingly comfortable to shoot, even considering the rifles we had were the early prototypes with a different stock.

The .338LM *is* gawd-awful expensive, all the way around. Nothing I had would fit it - new shell holders, new dies, new bore guide, new bullet comparators, new headspace comparator, new case trimmer shell holder, new jags & brush adapters, etc. Lots of little things that add up. The added frustration comes from that the .338LM uses a different case head diameter (bigger) than most domestic magnums (.532), so when I called up vendor A and asked 'Will this fit a .338LM?' all they heard was 'Will this fit... blah blah blah MAGNUM?' 'Sure!'

[3fingervic]

I've got a .300WM. If I'm going to go big, I'm going real big. I'm thinking .338 Allen Mag (.338-.408 Cheytac)

[MSG Janoski]

I had the opportunity to shoot both the 338 Lapua and 300 Win Mag this past November along with some other Savages. The new BA's shot nice, accurate and smooth.

[Balljoint]

It can also be had in 300 Winchester Magnum a little cheaper to shoot and load for

[Welding Rod]

Good article in the American Rifleman, but I hope the author just wasn't shooting well that day, or that it was windy out.

1 MOA for a purpose built long range 15 plus pound bolt action rifle?

I have been seriously considering this rifle, but would like to see some better grouping by testers.

[Toyoda]

Maybe I am the only one, but I like the way it looks. To bad 338 Lapua cost so much, that would be a fun squirrl gun.

[memilanuk]

...but would like to see some better grouping by testers.

Will this do?

...we evaluated their performance at 1,000 yards. Typical of Savage Arms’ products, accuracy was impressive—maintaining 1/2-m.o.a accuracy or less with the 250-grain loads with Team Savage members shooting. For me, the average increased, but remained less than one m.o.a.

Shooting was done with handloads we'd worked up in the middle of working back and forth debugging little things, so the ammunition used was not what I would call full-meal-deal 'match' loads, but it was getting there.

[bigngreen]

I had to read it a few times, each time I was able to read a little slower, I was jacked! I noticed that it is running a 1-9 twist which should stabilize the larger bullets at longer distance. I would like to see an other stock option that would lower the price a bit. I was really impressed with them putting on a 20MOA rail from the factory also, though I would saw the front half of.
Savage is really setting the bar for factory rifles, IMHO. Think about it, a factory sub-moa 338 Lapua for under 3 grand, are you kidding me. ;D It's kinda like they are listening to customers!!!