My brother has a Savage 112 BVSS in .223. He gave it to me for some load work-up so that we can see what it's accuracy potential is. He had been shooting over the counter military like ammo. The rifle wears a 6.5x-20x Leupold scope. According to the specs for the rifle it should be a 9 twist. I carefully checked the twist rate using a cleaning rod and a tight patch. I get a rather consistent 8.5 twist. Has any one else noticed that?

I have loaded at least 20 different loads with 50gr A-Max and 69gr SMK bullets. I'm using Lapua cases and Fed 205M primers. Using 5 different powders, I have varied powder charges and varied jump to the lands. Most loads shot equally well but a few shot better than others. All-in-all the rifle seems to be capable of regularly shooting 1.5" @ 200yds and 3"-4" at 400yds. I'm curious to know what others have managed to achieve with this rifle which is all stock. Is further load development worth the effort?