I just want to verify some thoughts in my head. I have swapped a couple barrels on my rifles, but I'm not a frequent swapper so the limits of what can be done escapes me.
I have a Early 2000s era 110 in .300 win mag that I have swapped the barrel on already. It came with a heavy barrel and I swapped it for a Shaw magnum contour fluted barrel. It shoots good enough for me, but it's not what I consider light or a balanced carry gun. At 9 lbs 12 oz it seems top heavy and muzzle heavy with a 24 inch barrel that tapers to .73 muzzle diameter. The current recoil is okay since I'm not a high volume shooter and I did have a muzzle brake but ditched it as I really don't like them. I don't want to increase perceived recoil.
Purpose: Definitely an elk gun since that's the one tag I can get when I don't draw an archery elk tag. Could get a goat, moose, or sheep tag if I ever beat the LOTTO like odds. I regularly shoot out to 500-600 meters (546-656 more or less yards for non military trained football players). I don't care about killing paper or steel at 1000 yards. And since the elk typically go to timber once rifle season starts, in the end this will mostly be used by being carried in the timber in very steep terrain. Yes I have other guns better for timber, but we all have seen elk out in the middle of the sage on the last day of rifle season just basking in the sun with no covered approach so my .270 hits a little soft out at 500 meters. In my mind an 8 1/2 pound gun would be an okay carry weight for a 600 meter gun.
1. .300 win mag barrels can be had at 24 inches down to a muzzle diameter of .6 to .565. Is this too light a contour for a .300 wm in that 500-600 meter range?
2. Is it time to let the .300 wm nostalgia go? Does a 7rm make more sense for this purpose? High BC lighter bullet. Maybe a slight bit less perceived recoil with the lighter rifle weight?
3. Is it time to let go of the heirloom calibers and go with something totally different? Not too big a fan of boutique calibers that can't be picked up off the shelf. I assume with a long action magnum bolt I could still chamber short action magnum bullets. Is this thought correct and what would that on the shelf caliber be considering the parameters I have laid out.
4. Or do I just ask too many question, and a person in his mid 50s should be happy with a heavy gun.
Thanks for the input.
And yes that 9 12 weight is with scope and sling. Zeiss v4 4-16 is about 22 oz, so no real boat anchor there. I could get a stock lighter then 2 lbs, but that would be close to the cost of a new rifle or at least barrel and bolt head and it would still be top heavy. Besides, I really like wood stocks in cold weather.
I know this is blasphemy to mention on a forum dedicated to Savage rifles, but Savage rifles generally are not the easiest to turn into lightweight rifles. There are some aftermarket manufacturers making parts for Savage rifles, but there are certainly more of those parts for Remington 700's and Tikka T3's.
Now, saying that, it is definitely possible to have an 8.5 pound Savage rifle including scope and sling. You may have to replace your magnum contour barrel as well as your stock. You could save several ounces by switching to a different scope too, but you'll likely lose magnification. Something like a lightweight Leupold or an SWFA would fit the bill.
You could spend a lot of time assembling a lightish weight Savage, or you could just buy a Tikka in 7 RM or 300 WM and mount a lightweight scope on it. I really don't like making the suggestion to buy a new rifle, but until stock manufacturers other than McMillan and Manners start making lightweight stocks it's hard to make a Savage truly lightweight.
I should mention that I own a Savage model 16 Lightweight Hunter and I have been searching for years to find a replacement for the factory plastic stock. I'm very aware of the lack of an inexpensive lightweight stock for Savage rifles.
Very true. I got a model 12 down to 7:09 for the wife, but that was a 20 inch .308 barrel and a wood stock I routed out to 28 oz and a light weight leupy vx2. Wouldn't care to shoot much past 300-400 meters with those little scopes.
My model 70 scoped with a vx3 is about 8 1/2, which feels pretty comfortable in .270. Dunno what magnum I could play to that weight, but I'd like to be in that ball park without dislocating a shoulder and still maintain my effective range. Could be just a savage pipe dream. I actually thought about a tikka t3 light in 7 mag, but truth be told I was concerned that might be too light at 6 1/2 pounds for my spindly self to be holding steady at max range. I guess I need to answer what magnum caliber is comfortable at what weight to get my bearings set and then determine what minimum barrel contour will hold a 2 shot group for that caliber. Yes I said 2 shot, if it's more than 2 shots then I did something wrong.
Time isn't a factor on a barrel swap. Unless the local sporting good store has an amazing sale, I have to travel at least an hour in one direction to buy an affordable firearm. Kind of rural here.
Keep in mind the lighter the gun the recoil does go up. For the average person it’s harder to shoot good.
Also the lighter the barrel and any residual stress in the blank (from button rifling or hammer forging) that when you contour the blank if during the contouring process if you hit any residual stress points this can effect bore uniformity (sizes go sour/open up) which will effect accuracy. Also as the barrel heats up during shooting it can wander/effect your zero.
That’s not a problem with cut rifled barrels but if it was my gun I wouldn’t go any smaller than a .630” muzzle diameter. A .650”-.670” is what is typically called a magnum sporter contour.
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
Going from a .600” muzzle to about a .650” muzzle your talking about adding around a .5# maybe a tad more but the contour at the breech end can effect this both ways.
If you look at Winchester featherweight contours they never offered them in magnum calibers. Why? One was for a safety factor (wall thickness).
Not knowing what stock is on your rifle or if you have intentions of changing it and not too concerned about spending some money (or should I say know what your budget is) but you can put some weight into the barrel and get a new stock as well. If you are considering a new stock as well I’d look at a Manners sporter stock in carbon fiber. Strong and light and excellent quality.
Think 6.5x284!!!
Or start chopping bbl length and relearn the dope charts for your load.
Good suggestion. The new 6.5 PRC is interesting too. It should have enough energy at 600 yards for elk. IIRC, the recoil isn't bad either. Less than most 30'06 loads.Originally Posted by RustyShackle
Same bolt face for the 6.5PRC as the 300wm too boot!
The 6.5 will be more then plenty for elk. Those long bullet would do the job nicely!
Thank you for the muzzle diameter information. That's something I can sink my teeth into by finding contours with that muzzle diameter and putting those numbers into a barrel weight calculator and seeing where that gets me. This could be the nail in the coffin.
True I could go with a shorter barrel to save weight and it would be stiffer too. I don't know about doing that with a magnum as it just seems like leaving unburned powder in a barrel is a waste, but at only 600 meters maybe this is irrelevant.
I am familiar with Manners and McMillan light weight stocks. They would do little for a top heavy muzzle heavy carry rifle unless I changed the barrel profile too. For that money I could get a Tikka and ammunition. Besides, I still like wood stocks on cold days and apparently other companies like Cooper and Montana have found a way to make wood stocks work and so will I.
6.5 prc looks good on paper, like a super .270. However, I will wait until more than one company with two options of bullets is in the game. I haven't had issues with Hornady, but I don't want to gamble that a new rifle will shoot the only commercially offered ammo well and I don't want to reload.
6.5-284 and 6.5-06 all of which I'm not familiar with. I'll first see if it is a locally offered ammo and then research what the numbers are on it. I still want something I can pull off the shelf. Yes usually I can order any ammo on line, but CO has a thing where occasionally left over tags become available to next person in line with very little notice.
Don’t trust the barrel weight calculators! Sometimes there right on the money and other times they are not even in the ball park!!!!!
Click on the contour page of our website. Not every contour is listed but the ones that do have weights listed with the contour. Those weights where taken from an actual contoured barrel.
6.5PRC ammo....Yes Hornady is the primary one right now but other ammo places are either starting to make ammo and or are in process. Also other places like ADG are already making brass. We got about a 1k pcs in at work a couple of weeks ago. Copper Creek ammo and a few other places are making ammo. Also a couple of ammo companies overseas have already purchased test barrels and most likely ammo from overseas will be available as well.
Thanks for the heads up on barrel weight calculators and all of your input. I actually took my gun apart to weigh the barrel. 3 lb and 4 oz with 8 groove spiral fluting. I was almost tempted by McGowan's barrel weight calculator taking a pound off with a fluted 24 inch sporter, but now maybe not so much.
Might just wait til 6.5 prc catches on and see if Browning will make it in an xbolt hunter. Don't care for their synthetic offerings. If not a 7 rm in that same model with a 26" barrel comes in at 7 pounds. That would make my 8 1/2 goal scoped. Of course I would have to paint over that gold trigger they're sporting. Too 007 for me.
7 mag is a strong choice given that you're already working with a LA.
6.5 PRC, is marginal at 600 yards IMO- right at the minimum 1500 ft lbs "consensus" minimum energy for Elk with 143 ELD-X's. Personally, I'd want a bit more energy if 600 yards- or more- was a likely scenario.
The most important factor for you is availability of commercial ammo- and you're as likely to find 7 mag ammo as much as anything else in a pinch.
My 300wm shoots great at 22" including the brake. Stainless fluted savage in a Boyd's thumbhole, cant weigh much over 8 lbs
what load data and velocity and you seeing on that 22” 300wm? I’ve read a fair bit about shorter magnums and I had the general understanding that you were basically creating a loud flame shooting 06 or 308 depending on how short you went.
Around 3100fps using 215 primers and rl17
Posting Permissions
The sole purpose of this site is to provide an online community for those who wish to interact with other Savage firearm enthusiasts.
The information and opinions expressed within this site are those of its contributors, and in no way should be viewed as the opinions or recommendations of Savage Arms.
This site utilizes affiliate programs to generate revenue and as such purchasing a product reached by clicking on a link on this site may earn us a small commission on that sale.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks