Hi,

great site, been lurking for a while and decided to jump in. I do shoot a 340 in .222 but I'm new to the larger Savage action.

I wanted a hunting weight rifle in .308, use will be mainly shooting off the bench but it might go hunting hogs or deer a few times. Mostly it will be shot off a front rest and rear bag, or offhand using cast bullets at a hundred yards or farther. For jacketed bullets 168 Match Kings and Hornady Match have worked well in another .308 and I want to try similar weight A-Max's.

Info found so far: stagger feed is more reliable than center feed, this rifle has stagger feed. Make sure the recoil lug seats well against the stock, bed if needed. Torque the action screws but I'm not sure how many inch pounds. Make sure the barrel floats freely and the tang does too. Adjust the Accu Trigger for bench/hunting use. I might break the barrel in with jacketed bullets in the usual accuracy rifle manner before shooting cast. Is there a better recoil pad?

OK, what am I overlooking? Any advice or comments on how to best get a sporter weight Savage to shoot well are welcome and much appreciated.

A couple comments: I've been wanting a Savage bolt gun since seeing those with the big screw knob on the back of the bolt. Those used older Savages are priced a lot higher at the local gunshows than a new Stevens 200 at a dealer. The Stevens 200 looks great but the ones I find for sale are center feed and aren't in .308. Then this 16 FSS turns up, it's the right caliber, has the right magazine and trigger and should be better for shooting in the blowing drizzle (bench or hunting) than the carbon steel Stevens 200. Drizzle: when you have to shoot, you have to shoot and besides it's better than shooting in the blowing sleet.

Again, I'm sure glad this forum and it's members are here, this is a great resource.