Accuracy Improvements?

[Pet-Rock]

Hi Guys,

Relatively new to the forum and center fire savage rifles. I'm building a savage 308 from the 24" FCP-SR and I'm wondering if there is any "quick" or "no-brainer" thing to do to these rifles for a noticeable improvement in either accuracy or operation.

I own a Mini-14 so I'm used to having to tweak things a bit ha-ha.

I fully understand that I am the biggest detractor of accuracy in the system, and range time is the only solution. But the search function didn't quite help with my inquiry so any tips or advice is appreciated.

Thanks All

[idunham]

Nothing that is a "Oh, duh" tweak.

The first thing to do to improve accuracy is practice, practice, practice. Making a consistent shot is absolutely important.

From there, determining a good loadout for the gun is a very important step. When I take a gun out to the range for the first time, I load up 3 different loads and see which one provides the best group.

Scopes and bases are very important as well. Making sure the scope doesn't jar, wiggle etc, after every shot is crucial.

Then, if you want to narrow accuracy down more, you'll have to get into modding the firearm. Glass Bedding and Pillar Bedding the action is important to make sure the action is seated in the same place after every shot. Then you could upgrade the trigger to something with a shorter travel and a lighter pull.

Out of the box, a Savage should be Sub-MOA.

[Pet-Rock]

Thank you idunham.

I couldnt find anything in the archives that indicated an "oh, duh" tweak, but I dont know what I dont know.

Good point with the ammo, I will buy a few different brands of 308 and try them along with the Federal GMM I currently have on hand.
Reloading dies are on the list and will be purchased once I have an adequate supply of once-fired brass.

So far I have:
Savage FCP-SR 24" 308
Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42mm MilDot
Weaver 6 Hole Low Rings
Weaver 20 MOA Rail

I also purchased a FAT wrench, the wheeler scope level, and some loctite. Soon i will pull the base and rings off the rifle and redo them with these for consistency's sake.

[theloyalsavage]

Make sure you push rings forward against the rail slots, then torque tight. Make sure you lap the rings.

make sure you level the bolt race, then align scope crosshairs with a plumb bob located abou 40 a 50 feet away. Don not level scope with elevation cap which likely won't be true. Test scope adjustments for jumps indicating scope binding.

now sight system is robust.

Copper fouling - I hope you did a good barrel break in. If not 50 strokes of jb bore paste will remove the inconsistent gobs of copper that are now likely in the throat, which will cause aggravatin flyers.

Firing pin inconsistencies - make sure there's no globs of heavy manufacturing grease in the firing pin, it's pretty easy to disassemble the bolt, clean, then rub everything with powdered graphite before reassembling.

stock/action system.

your stock has beddin pillars, so bedding may not be necessary. But remove the stock from the rifle and make sure no manufacturing debris in recoil lug recess or between action and stock. If you decide to bed, be sure NOT to bed the rear tang area.

when reinstall stock be sure rifle is vertical, then tighte, front screw to 35 in lbs.

tighten rear action screw to 10 in lbs. stock/ action now ready for "tuning"

shoot 10 shots, 1 minute wait between shots.

clean

tighten rear action screw to 15 in lbs

shoot 10 shots, 1 min wait between shots

clean

repeat, in 5 in lb increments up to 35 in lbs on rear screw.

you will likely find a sweet spot at a point where you have minimum movement and minimum action stress.
The 10 shots are needed to see what really can happen at each level of action stress.

ive done this action/stock tuning an found I could really reduce the magnitude of the Flyers that occur as barrel heats up.

Now you're ready for serious load development.

check the shoulder on each fired case. If shoulder has no noticeable scratch marks (a well polished chamber), you will likely have better accuracy with neck sizing only.
if you see noticeable scratch marks (reamers first barrel or poorly polished chamber), I guarantee that full length resizing will give you better accuracy. Either way, that rifle will shot .5 moa or better with something.


168 grain amaxs, and barnes 130 TTSX, shoot great in my 3 savage 308's.

have fun.

[Pet-Rock]

Make sure you push rings forward against the rail slots, then torque tight. Make sure you lap the rings.

make sure you level the bolt race, then align scope crosshairs with a plumb bob located abou 40 a 50 feet away. Don not level scope with elevation cap which likely won't be true. Test scope adjustments for jumps indicating scope binding.

I had a feeling about this. I was going to take the cap off and level on the turret, then check it with a level at distance. The plumb bob at a good distance away is a great idea, thanks.

now sight system is robust.

Copper fouling - I hope you did a good barrel break in. If not 50 strokes of jb bore paste will remove the inconsistent gobs of copper that are now likely in the throat, which will cause aggravatin flyers.

Firing pin inconsistencies - make sure there's no globs of heavy manufacturing grease in the firing pin, it's pretty easy to disassemble the bolt, clean, then rub everything with powdered graphite before reassembling.

I havent been able to shoot the rifle yet unfortunately. Exams and weather have been hampering my efforts thus far. I will look into picking up some bore paste and check that the bolt is free of heavy grease.

stock/action system.

your stock has beddin pillars, so bedding may not be necessary. But remove the stock from the rifle and make sure no manufacturing debris in recoil lug recess or between action and stock. If you decide to bed, be sure NOT to bed the rear tang area.

when reinstall stock be sure rifle is vertical, then tighte, front screw to 35 in lbs.

tighten rear action screw to 10 in lbs. stock/ action now ready for "tuning"

shoot 10 shots, 1 minute wait between shots.

clean

tighten rear action screw to 15 in lbs

shoot 10 shots, 1 min wait between shots

clean

repeat, in 5 in lb increments up to 35 in lbs on rear screw.

you will likely find a sweet spot at a point where you have minimum movement and minimum action stress.
The 10 shots are needed to see what really can happen at each level of action stress.

ive done this action/stock tuning an found I could really reduce the magnitude of the Flyers that occur as barrel heats up.

Thank you very much for the detailed write up on this. I believe I will shoot around 100 rounds through the barrel before attempting this to get a feel for the rifle and to start seasoning the barrel. I will return to this once that is complete.

Now you're ready for serious load development.

check the shoulder on each fired case. If shoulder has no noticeable scratch marks (a well polished chamber), you will likely have better accuracy with neck sizing only.
if you see noticeable scratch marks (reamers first barrel or poorly polished chamber), I guarantee that full length resizing will give you better accuracy. Either way, that rifle will shot .5 moa or better with something.

Thank you for this tip, I plan on saving all of the brass to reload anyways so it wont be hard to determine this.


168 grain amaxs, and barnes 130 TTSX, shoot great in my 3 savage 308's.

have fun.

Thank you for the detailed procedures! This is the invaluable knowledge I was hoping to find here