New 112 Target 338 LM with Extremely Short Throat

[yobuck]

[QUOTE=Harpoon1;454206]Well, I purchased the gun to shoot a mile+!

And according to StrelokPro, the 300 Noslers out perform the 250 Hornady’s at that distance and beyond. Nosler says their BC is .800. Which is probably a little on the optimistic side but, the Bergers have an even higher BC, so switching to them would give me an even greater advantage over the 250’s.


Well enjoy yourself, that would or at least should be the whole idea. Pick a nice day with little wind and things will tend to go better.
I would suggest putting up a target or picking one out at about 1500 as well as a mile if at all possible. Be prepared for a surprise in the performance difference between the two distances.
BC numbers are used today as a means to sell bullets. But velocity controls what that number actually is to a large degree.
Im not aware of any bullet maker indicating the required velocity in order to achieve the listed BC number however.
Some do list the recommended twist in order to stabilize them, but ive not seen any velocity suggestions.
Custom bullet makers like Cutting Edge tend to avoid posting BC numbers on their boxes for that very reason.
The best way for you to find out what works and what dosent is to do as you plan and try for yourself.

[jimbo88mm]

I have found that as of late, there seems to be some inconsistency with the throats in savage rifles. One of my shooting buds and I have the same Savage 12FV in 308 (Cabelas special). His throat is so short that factory ammo jams the lands. My throat seems pretty normal. This same buddy also has a savage axis in 308 as a cheap hunting rifle.. and that has a normal throat.

In regards to the 112 338, I have the same rifle, I'm shooting 285 elds with H1000 @ 2800 fps. My overall length on them is 3.8" and that gets me 15 thou from the lands. I did run tubbs final finish bullets through the barrel, and it did push the lands out a little bit. I measured it but I dont recall.. It wasnt much.. maybe 25 thou or less.

Since your intended purpose is to shoot a mile.. and the 112 is one of their target actions.. I would message Savage about it and see if they are willing to do something about it warranty wise. I know it sucks but having a tight throat like that I think compromises your goals. Let them know that different brands of factory ammo are all showing signs of being jammed.

For what its worth, I had to send mine back in for warranty work due to light primer strikes 20% of the time. After spending more time (and money) than I should have trying different brass, primers, cleaning, measuring and adjusting firing pin protrusion, etc, etc.. I finally sent it in. They replaced a few parts (firing pin, spring, couple other parts) and got it back to me in a couple of weeks. The issue is completely resolved.. should have sent it in months ago.

Good Luck!

[Harpoon1]

An update.

Things may have not been quite as bad as I first thought. It’s starting to appear like it may have been more of a case of an extremely rough cut free bore and lead, than one of being too short. With very high angular tool marks causing most of the problem.

Purchased a cheap iPhone bore scope and had look see in the chamber, neck, throat, etc.... The neck, free bore and lead all looked better than I had expected, all appear to be proportional, with a nice gentle transistion into the lands and grooves.

With slightyly more than 200 rounds through it now, the free bore clearance seems to be opening up somewhat now. It’s a tricky process trying to get exacting measurements in there. With a large difference between methods used. And it’s just a relative number, a baseline, anyway.

I’ll measure again after another 100 rounds or so and report back what I find.