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savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

nathanrouw

Private
Minuteman
Feb 7, 2013
8
0
40
Hey guys been wanting to get a larger caliber for a while now and had decided on the savage 110ba .338. i found one but im a little unsure of the rifle after more research i have noticed guys having problems it seems a lot of the problems i have noticed r related to the rail, jamming, and the barrel being set in too far/not enough, also poor groups but that seems to b at close ranges. I was hoping to hear feedback from some guys who own them and maybe from some other similarly priced/equipped gun owners. havent settled on a scope yep but prob going nightforce. my brothers back door opens to a a 1900+yd range so i would like to b able to use the whole distance for once.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

also some load data would b cool and what kind of groups guys r seeing
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I am considering the same rifle and would also really appreciate any feedback from current owners.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I had one. Wouldn't launch 300gr pills to save its ass. Never got better than 1.5 MOA at 100. Also got EXTREMELY heavy bolt lift with both retumbo and h1000, like a hammer was needed. Got rid of the bolt lift with us869 but also got rid of all hopes for accuracy.
Seems like they launch lighter stuff a little better, but good luck getting the distance you're looking for. Not only are the ballistics not there, but the barrel is ridiculously short for a 338 LM, imo. Seems most 'reach out and touch' 338 guns sport a 29"+ barrel, and the barrel is way beefier.
I like the idea of the rifle. I like the chassis. But to do it again I'd have had the action trued and barrel replaced with a much longer, much heavier, match barrel from the maker of my choice.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I love my BA, with good rounds far more accurate than I am. Shooting match grade factory ammo, .5 to .75 MOA with 300 scenars or SMK's. Mine prefers 300's to the 250's. Just started reloading but having good luck with H1000 and N560 powders with 300 SMK's. Still trying to find the "perfect" load. Seems to like 91.5 gr H1000, just starting to toy with seating depth changes. Factory rail (bedded), but looking to replace with a Badger rail, I just don't care for the look or the snags. Badger rings Nightforce 5.5-22X56. No problems with bolt lift but DO NOT fire Hornady factory rounds or use Hornady brass! No problems with HSM (bergram) brass, and loves Lapua brass.

I will be the first to admit I suck at 1000+ but recently shot 3 5 round groups at 1000 all under 8" (really calm day). For me that was great and I know a better driver could have done better with this rifle.

If I was going to do it again I would get the HS fcp, sell the stock then upgrade to the XLR chassis. I just like XLR better than the skinny PRS butt stock on the BA

Disclaimer I really like Savage rifles....... FCP-K in 308, XLR Chassis, Vortex PST, true .6 MOA for under $3000, among others.

Anybody loading with the 300gr Accubonds or the 280 grain Barnes LRX's? Just got some in and would love some starting points.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

hmm not what i like to hear but my brothers pof usa ar10 can do 10in and below at 1000yds with the right loads and i can do 800yds with my m77 mark2 .223 with a good spotter and a ballistics calculator ppl tell me the ballistics rnt there for that so i dont know what to say bodywerks. is there anyone out there that has taken the time to work the kinks out of this gun and had good consistent results? im not against doing some work on it just dont want to buy a piece of junk with no hope
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

the barrel is a little short but u still get something like 2.9 rotations out of it
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I have one and it has been a love-hate relationship. The love part is the accuracy... It is extremely accurate with 300 SMK, 300 Scenars and 300 Berger OTM Hybrids. Those are the only projos I have tried, but each has been .5 MOA with Retumbo and the Bergers are closer to .3 MOA. I have made repeated hits at 1760 and I am by no means an ELR expert.

The hate comes from the chamber. It took over a hundred rounds for me to figure out that the chamber was too tight. Luckily, this is a Savage and it's an easy fix. All you need is a set of go-gauges and a Savage barrel nut wrench. A few thousandths of a turn out and re-check with the gauges and I was back to being able to use close to book max charges without heavy bolts and stuck cases. I am now using 93 grains of Retumbo to launch the 300 Hybrid at 2790 fps. I think that is respectable out of a 26 inch tube.

The other thing I hated was the goofy looking 3 sided rail that it came with. I replaced that with an EGW 20 MOA rail and I like the way it looks a lot better.

So I guess I have fixed all the things I hated and now I should love it, right? We'll see how the next 1000 rounds goes. By that time, I may be looking for a new barrel.

-Shaky
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

After speaking with another member i am conident this rifle will do it want with the right load and a 40moa base i should b able make 2000yd+ shots might not b the best ever built but i like a challenge and i dont have to feed the kids ramen noodles for 6months to afford it.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

All you really need to do if you want to make it quite a bit more accurate is call up Shilen or similar and order a new barrel, for an extra $300 on top of the rifle you will have a much better gun.

Also yeah, dont even take the scope base it comes with out of the box. Call Cameron Murphy at Murphy Precision and hell make you whatever MOA base you want for it, and make it solid for the solid top action.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

Got one. Had to put longer barrel on to get velocity with 300's. shot very inconsistent before. Retumbo h1000 rl25. Us869. Magnum. Finally a guy said that there is probably unburned powder from these slow burners. Switched to 4831 and shot lights out but at 2660 fps. Put a 30" on and rl25 up to 2875.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shaky97</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have one and it has been a love-hate relationship. The love part is the accuracy... It is extremely accurate with 300 SMK, 300 Scenars and 300 Berger OTM Hybrids. Those are the only projos I have tried, but each has been .5 MOA with Retumbo and the Bergers are closer to .3 MOA. I have made repeated hits at 1760 and I am by no means an ELR expert.

The hate comes from the chamber. It took over a hundred rounds for me to figure out that the chamber was too tight. Luckily, this is a Savage and it's an easy fix. All you need is a set of go-gauges and a Savage barrel nut wrench. A few thousandths of a turn out and re-check with the gauges and I was back to being able to use close to book max charges without heavy bolts and stuck cases. I am now using 93 grains of Retumbo to launch the 300 Hybrid at 2790 fps. I think that is respectable out of a 26 inch tube.

The other thing I hated was the goofy looking 3 sided rail that it came with. I replaced that with an EGW 20 MOA rail and I like the way it looks a lot better.

So I guess I have fixed all the things I hated and now I should love it, right? We'll see how the next 1000 rounds goes. By that time, I may be looking for a new barrel.

-Shaky </div></div>


^^^ This fellow (Shakey) gave me the go gauge/tight chamber hint and while I have yet to source a gunsmith to look it over for me I think he is on the right track. Been putting in 11+ hrs a day so I don't think of calling a smith during daytime hours.
Mine eats pretty much all I feed it quite well. Other than sticking cases:(
I had to stop at 89gr retumbo due to pressure signs and hope to get mine dialed like Shakey so I can find the next node up in speed and accuracy.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I plan on buying the optics first using it on the .308 for a bit while i stockpile brass lead and powder for the .338. thinking im goin with a nightforce since i dont want to go over $1900ish. havent decided for sure just want to make sure the scope was going to perform as i need it to. just wonder if anyone out here has anything to say about them that might change my mind. i was thinking the nxs 8-32x56
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I have the 110 Ba in a 300 Win Mag bought it used and got a smoking deal on it, first time I took it out I was not happy at all and thought this is why the guy sold it so cheap I could not get it under 1.5 Moa. After looking the thing over some more I realized the top rail was not bolted to the action straight so I re attached it and re zeroed the scope there was a big difference but still nothing to write home about.Also I was not getting on well with the accutrigger so I ordered up a replacement, when I went to install the new trigger I found the rear action bolt was not tight, the next trip out the gun is a tack driver under .50 Moa. I read all the bad about these 110 ba's but I have to think they are a lot of really good ones out there as only bad things end up on forums plus how many are like mine, I now have been refining the loads and the rife is stellar the action bolts have not lost torque, I think they are incredible value and very accurate when set up correctly.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I have a 110BA that flat out shoots. It didn't seem to really like the 300gr but with the 250gr Matchkings the biggest groups are .5MOA. The last time out I shot 3 groups at 1000yds and they were 1.6", 3.5", and 5" all 3 shot groups. So accuracy potential is definitely there. I am getting cases stuck after 5 firings so maybe I need to check the chamber as others have mentioned.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

it seems to me that this rifle has got a bad rep but with a little fine tuning i believe it will exceed my abilities.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

You might want to look at a 5x22x56 Nightforce unless you are going to use it for bench rest only, that is what I put on mine with the MLR retical and and medium NF rings, very happy with it. This was my first bolt action also but I am already outshooting my budys's 5500.00 dollar custom and I still have not found the perfect load yet I really believe mine will be .250 Moa rifle when fully dialed in and some more trigger time.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

I have the FCP HS precision (same barreled action)
Two Critical things:
a) Handload
b) Use Lapua Brass only

Mine is dead nuts with 88gr. H-1000 and 300gr bergers set as long as would fit in the magazine.
Its .5MOA and it is the first and only load I have ever shot through it. But after 200rnds I figure why mess with a good thing?

FYI: 2650fps. for anyone that cares. Personally fps doesn't mean squat to me shoot them at whatever speed they are most accurate.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

i have a BA while not in 338, mine is the 300 and accuracy with the 210smks is awesome. i have heard many complaints about the 338 which makes me happy on my choice to go with the 300 in this rifle. i have heard alot that the 338s have an extraction problem. mostly with the hornady brass.

good luck and cheers on the savage. let us know how it goes for you.
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

nrouw
I shot the 110 BA .338 many times, a good friend of mine has one.
This is my experience with it:
Cons: Don't use soft brass, such as Hornady, it may get stuck; stick with Lapua brass. Hornady is good in other rifles but, in general, the 110 BA doesn't like it.
He did have to send the rifle back to Savage once; I do not remember what the issue was but Savage took care of it. Looks like Savage has a good customer service.
Pros: We shot the 110 BA from 100 yard to 2400 yards and, on this particular rifle, it is GTG.
100 yards under MOA, once you find the proper load.
1000 yards is easy.
A mile (1760 yards) is no big deal, if you practice enough and have a decent understanding of winds, humidity, altitude.
2000 yards and more, the rifle and ammo can do it, as long as the shooter knows what he is doing. You probably will have more miss than hits but it is doable.
There are better rifles but they cost more, so all together, IMHO, if you have limited funds, the 110 BA is not a bad purchase. If money is no issue, start looking at top factory rifles, or even better, custom builders. They will build you a top .338 and you will never look back. Just make sure you do your homework, ask a lot of questions and pick a good one.
If you want even better info, contact my friend at [email protected]
He owns the 110 BA, made a bunch of high quality videos on the Savage and will be able to give you good info on the rifle, scope, reloads and gear. I told him about you, so you can contact him whenever.
Have fun and good shooting.
Ombre noire
 
Re: savage 110ba .338lapua ?s

nrouw,

I have a Savage BA110 .338LM. Overall, for the investment, I'm happy with the rifle.
Initially, I did have a problem with extracting soft cases like
Hornady or Jamison Brass. I learned to use only factory ammo that uses Lapua Brass. i.e. HSM/Cor-Bon etc.

I sent my rifle back to Savage, they worked on the bolt, extractor
and a few other small things, sent it back to me and it's fine.

I shoot 1 mile regularly with this rifle. I have a NF NXS 5.5-22x50 scope. The original rail that came with the rifle and the scope gave me 73.5 MOA elevation. I need between 56-59 MOA elevation to shoot a mile. Depends on the load.

I have changed out the rail with a Murphy Custom titanium rail with a 40 MOA cant. After re-zeroing the scope (had to use a bit higher rings) I got back 17 MOA. I now have 93.5 MOA elevation on my turret.

If you're looking to shoot tiny groups at closed distances, this ain't the right stick. However, at 1000 yds. I hit within a 10" radius all day long with it.

I reload my own loads using: Lapua Brass, Federal 215 Primers, Hodgdon H-1000 90.5 gr. & either Berger or SMK 250gr.-300gr. bullets. It has a 1:9 twist so it can handle both.

As said earlier, I wish I had a bit longer barrel on this rifle but all things considered, that being a factory rifle and the price, it does a good job.

Here's a few films I made shooting the BA110:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/shooting-skills/extreme-long-range-shooting-at-2300-yards/

If have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck on your decision.

MDslammer