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Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Garvey

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
May 1, 2010
1,825
5,244
Melissa, Texas
I added a Savage MKII GL to the family a couple of weeks ago. Being Left Handed I only had ONE rifle to choose from out of the Savage line. Therefore it is wearing a wood stock. Yesterday I mounted weaver bases, torqued all the screws to 30 in/Lb and added red low hold lock tite, mounted some Burris Zee rings I already had, torqued all the screws to 20 in/Lb holding my Center Point 4-16X scope.

I Bore sighted it at 80 yards, and began sighting it in at 50 yards. With Federal Gold Metal Match it would only hold 2 MOA, 1" @ 50 yards, 5 shot group. WTF? The rifle was resting on a Harris Bipod and a rear sand bag. I thought it would at least hold 1 MOA. I did check for a free floated barrel with a dollar bill and I wouldn't consider it floated as difficult as it was to get the dollar to slide all the way to the chamber.

Do you think a stock swap would make a significant difference and/ or is my ammo not that great?
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

I would suggest trying different ammo to start with. Currently my MKII TR is getting about 1" groups at 100 yards with Wolf Match Target ammo on calm wind day from a bipod and bean bag.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Halligan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I added a Savage MKII GL to the family a couple of weeks ago. Being Left Handed I only had ONE rifle to choose from out of the Savage line. Therefore it is wearing a wood stock. Yesterday I mounted weaver bases, <span style="font-weight: bold">torqued all the screws to 30 in/Lb</span> and added red low hold lock tite, mounted some Burris Zee rings I already had, torqued all the screws to 20 in/Lb holding my Center Point 4-16X scope.

I Bore sighted it at 80 yards, and began sighting it in at 50 yards. With Federal Gold Metal Match it would only hold 2 MOA, 1" @ 50 yards, 5 shot group. WTF? The rifle was resting on a Harris Bipod and a rear sand bag. I thought it would at least hold 1 MOA. I did check for a free floated barrel with a dollar bill and I wouldn't consider it floated as difficult as it was to get the dollar to slide all the way to the chamber.

Do you think a stock swap would make a significant difference and/ or is my ammo not that great? </div></div>

Did you torque the actions screws to 30in-lbs also? If so, that is too much. You have to experiment a bit but usually people have had good results with 10-15in-lbs on the actions screws. The stock is not rigid enough to take anymore without warping. Also, as stated, try different ammo. 22lr's are very fickle about ammo.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

smile.gif


I've found, at least for myself, that if I want to feel good about my shooting that I DON'T shoot 22's for accuracy....we just don't get along...lol..
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Question - how much accuracy shooting have you done with a 22? What kind of results have you had from other "better" rifle/ammo systems?

Comment - 50 yards is a long way for non-"real" match ammo to expect it to perform. That stuff you are using is not "real" match ammo. try backing up to 50 feet and see what it does.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

50yds should EASILY by 1/2" groups....deff check the action screws tq....if you don't have an inch/pound wrench (i don't...wish i did) you can just do them as close as possible..just a little more than hand tight.

have you turned your trigger weight down any? they usually come on the lowest setting, but i found that after stretching the sear spring and cutting rounds off the trigger spring....and removing the accu-trigger blade, it helps a lot.

but...i'm FAR FAR FAR from a decent shooter....VERY far. my breathing is horrible, my technique is less than desirable, and i was shooting off a bipod (horrible for bench shooting) and i shot these 2 groups wiht cci sv:

savagemk2019.jpg


here's my rifle:
savagemk2031.jpg
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Keep peckin at it you will find what it likes.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

It just ticks me off that I can drive the rifle so that it should be shooting one MOA or better. Being that it's a rimfire I can't work up loads for it and that is what is so frustrating.

In a 5 shot group I would have 2 that were touching, 1 half an inch away and 2 that were way the hell off. I did not torque the action screws, I'll do that. And yes I do have an inch pound torque driver.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

.22's can be fussy on ammo choice. Try a few different brands and find one that shoots the best. I just got a new CZ and most of the ammo I've tried is about 1" @ 50 yards. Then I tried some German SK ammo and I put 10 shots through the same hole (well it was half an inch when all was said and done but you know what I mean!).

I also think technique can make a big difference with some .22's (especially wood stocks resting on bi-pods on a hard surface) - get lots of trigger time, after all that's the benefit...
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: drmarc</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
smile.gif


I've found, at least for myself, that if I want to feel good about my shooting that I DON'T shoot 22's for accuracy....we just don't get along...lol.. </div></div>

+1

I have issues shooting a round were I have to accept flyers or do magic with the ammo.

Chris
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

My Mk II BTVS is running about 1.04 to 1.05 MOA at 100yds with cheap, modified and sorted bulk pack Federal. See "Score This Target Please!"

I too am a lefty.

That said, this is what I encountered with it out of the box:

First, I checked the barrel to make sure it was floating. It was not. It was drilled a bit off center and so I sanded the barrel channel down, then clear coated it. The barrel then floated.

I still wasn't too impressed - it was only doing about half an inch at 50 yards - so I pillar bedded it. After pillar bedding it, I retapped the forward action screw to take a bolt with American threads. The front bolt is now torqued to 50 to 55in-lb (forget which), and the rear is torqued to about 25in-lb. I'd go higher except the heads strip out easily.

I replaced the dual mounts with a one piece, 20moa from EGW. The cheap 'scope became a Mueller APV. The rings are Weavers with two straps on each ring (forget the name).

The Accutrigger got a very light spring, while the trigger return got replaced with my own setup: A light spring combined with a stop screw. I hate overtravel.

Everything inside got polished.

Try some CCI Blazer. Mine likes that, and Federal American Eagle. If you do not have a resizing tool, you might try 38gn bullets - mine shows a preference for shorter bullets, so I tend to knock them back a bit to center the gravity a bit more toward the band which engages the rifling.

Josh
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

My Savage is the Mark II TR with one of the Centerpoint scopes they sale at Wal-Mart. I started with the Federal 550 round bulk packs and at 50 yards I can hide 5 shots under a dime. Heck my 6 year old Son can keep the groups under 2 inches and he's only shot a few times so far.

I personally would never remove the blade from the trigger. My friend removed his and the trigger is unstable now, sometimes will fire from a bump. This is on a centerfire rifle, I don't know if it makes a difference.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?


halligan

the fed gold medal isn't that bad of an ammo, you should have had better results. hell with just about any ammo at 50 you should be touching them.

try a box of wolf at 50 yards. it should also shoot the cheap rem subsonics well at 50.

i'm assuming your shooting form is on (same Cheekweld, good eye alignment, good smooth trigger squeeze, etc.).

if another ammo soesn't work out, check all of the screws including the rings and base. hopefully you have another scope lying around, perhaps you got a bad scope.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

The more rounds I put through mine the more accurate it gets
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: max47</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The more rounds I put through mine the more accurate it gets</div></div>

+1

Not for sure but have heard 22lr's get more accurate with use, and not to clean the tube until accuracy falls off?
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TOP PREDATOR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
halligan

the fed gold medal isn't that bad of an ammo, you should have had better results. hell with just about any ammo at 50 you should be touching them.

try a box of wolf at 50 yards. it should also shoot the cheap rem subsonics well at 50.

i'm assuming your shooting form is on (same Cheekweld, good eye alignment, good smooth trigger squeeze, etc.).

if another ammo soesn't work out, check all of the screws including the rings and base. hopefully you have another scope lying around, perhaps you got a bad scope. </div></div>

I've heard that the Wolf is good stuff. That really surprises me, but I'm going to order some anyway.

And yes my form is good, I can shoot tighter groups with my .22-250 at 200 yards than I can with this .22lr at 50 yards. I bought this rifle to be able to keep my practice of form. I can shoot this rifle at home, as opposed to the .22-250 or the .308 which requires a trip to my range. That's why this is frustrating me. I can out shoot this rifle which is the opposite of my other rifles.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Also, get in position, have somebody else check free float while you bear down.

The SK Standard Plus of Wolf Match, see if your Dick's got Fed 714, some guns do spectacularly with it.

If there's any wind, 1/2 minute @50yd may not be possible.

 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

It's brand new right?

give it a hundred rounds or so. When I first got a new bbl for my 10/22 it shot the same as with the stock barrel... I was pissed. Slowly but surely, after about 150 rounds it was shooting better than I thought it would before I got it.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

My MKIIF (very old) likes CCI Standard Velocity Target (blue box).
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Yes it is brand new. It has probably had 100 through it by now between me and the kids. I havn't put it back on paper for a second try though. We've been shooting reactive steel targets at 50 yards the last few evenings, with moderate success. Last night I put 1 minute Left adjustment on it. It seemed to be better. I had 7 hits out of 10. Sunday I'll put it back on paper, after I remove some wood from the forearm to get that barrel free floated. Then I'll torque the action screws properly. I'll update what it's doing after that.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My MKIIF (very old) likes CCI Standard Velocity Target (blue box). </div></div>

I'll give that a try also. Thanks Greg
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

714 shoots pretty darned well especially for the price. Way better than ANYTHING Aquila I've tested - but its velocity is not all that consistent, so the further you get from the target the more vertical spread it will produce. 711B is quite a bit better in this regard.

Eley Target (if you can find it), Wolf, and SK (same stuff as Wolf) are a major step up from the two Federals 711B and 714 in accuracy.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

One thing to bear in mind about .22LR accuracy is that after time, some lead will build up in the extreme forward end of the chamber, between where the case ends and the chamber ends. If 'new rifle' accuracy fades and won't seem to return no matter what you do, pay some extra attention to that portion of the chamber, and it should help. Some folks will actually chase the lead very gently with a chamber reamer. I think that's excessive, but it works. Note, there are a lot of '.22lr chamber' specs. Savage Customer Service ought to be able to tell you which one they employ.

Greg
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Try diffrent ammo.

My MKII can shoot 5 shot, .40 inch groups at 50 yards with CCI Standard Velocity.

A friends MKII won't shoot FGMM or 711B at all, so you never know.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

Oh yes you can work up loads...from the $1 a box to the /$12 dollar a box. Clean it with Hoppe's or other solvent before shooting each brand/box. Fire at least 25 rounds of the new box before looking for accuracy. The lubes vary, the bullets vary, and the machines that make the ammo vary. When you find a batch that it likes, buy a case. And, as Jagged77 points out, trigger time is basic...the barrel time is so much longer on the rimfires and air rifles, that technique is the key. Practice follow-through especially.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

I understand, that I need to just try as many different brands and types of ammunition I can get my hands on.

Practicing follow-through was one of the main reasons I got the rifle. I discovered I had some bad habits on the bolt action that I am working on correcting. Last night I loaded it up with 10 rounds and was firing at the 3" steel plate at 50 yards. My stepson was watching through the spotting scope. While holding the rifle the nonfiring hand was driving the rifle, the firing hand was pressing it into my shoulder, both eyes open (dusk, lowlight-real not the mod) while the shot broke I was concentrating on calling the shot which of course is not hard with that cartridge. After all that my firing hand would cycle the bolt and I would start over. I was doing somewhat of a speed drill and somewhat showing off for the boy. But it worked out. I was making follow up shots while the target was still moving from the previous shot. He said "how'd you get so good?" I said "just practice". What he doesn't need to know is that I've been trying to educate myself on properly driving the bolt action THEN practicing what I've learned through reading. I just hope that form will remain when I shoot my .308 next time.
 
Re: Am I expecting too much out of my MKII?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: drmarc</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
smile.gif


I've found, at least for myself, that if I want to feel good about my shooting that I DON'T shoot 22's for accuracy....we just don't get along...lol.. </div></div>

.22's are very exacting. Low velocity and long barrels mean if you don't do it all perfectly you will magnify your errors.

THIS is one of the reasons they are excellent trainers.

Of course the easy way is to just not shoot the weapon you aren't good at. For me, THAT is the weapon I am driven to master.