Just had another response from Savage support.

"The firearm barrel is a 1 in 12 twist and we use a 168 grain in the twist as well. We do use a 155 grain in our 12 Palma with a 1 in 13 twist. You can certainly take it to your local gunsmith for evaluation. We qualify them at 1 inch or better at 100 yards. The standard warranty is to the orginal owner for 1 year, unless it is a manufacturing defect.
thank you,"

Typo is theirs.

The response from the actual manufacturer is a far from impressive. A target rifle only qualified to 1 minute.... wow, had I known that I wouldn't have bought it..

Using 168 grainers moves me from F Std to F open and 308 will struggle against the 7mm shooters. It wouldn't be my calibre of choice for F open. Likewise changing propellant from the listed approved ADI types to others again shifts me to F Open, that is a non starter. 155 Noslers are available by mail order only, at high cost but again not approved for F Std unless the HPBT. I'd have to check the exact Cat number on that. 44g of varget (which is a direct equivalent of ADI 2208) is a lot lower charge than I've tried so far.

I'm considering the Whidden - Savage V block at the moment as well as the Pacific tool and die bolt head, always presuming such a thing can be imported.

http://www.pacifictoolandgauge.com/s...erformance.htm
http://www.whiddengunworks.net/beddingblock.html