Greetings! You may remember several threads I've had about my mechanical ineptitude and how it caused me many problems. Here's the backstory:
I purchased a Savage Stevens 200 in .308 ($350) about a year ago. I recently wanted to customize it and get into precision shooting (I blame the folks on this site for my new-found addiction). Anyhow, I ordered a barrel from McGowen Precision Barrels, LLC. In the process of trying to remove my factory barrel, I royally F-ed up and twisted my receiver at the bolt rail section. I posted some pictures, thinking it was a sad/funny story, and got a swarm of comments to the essence of "say goodbye to your face" or "I hope no one is near you when that goes off," along with a small group who believed it would be fine. My thought was, since the lugs were not compromised at all, the worst effect would be loss of accuracy (or no accuracy at all) due to the bent and re-bent rails.
Well, I got my barrel in the mail from McGowen yesterday ($250 shipped, with a 6-week wait time). I can't say enough good things about this one. It came prefit for my Savage (small shank), I had it chambered in .308, finished to 26", in a bull contour with a recessed crown. The fit and finish was simply superb. I couldn't be happier with its appearance.
After installing the McGowen barrel, along with a new barrel nut and recoil lug (at $20 for both, I figured, "why not?"). Everything went very smoothly this time around (with the help of a PROPER action wrench and placement of said wrench). I torqued the new barrel nut to approximately 55 foot*pounds and called it good.
I put the rifle in a B&C Medalist A2 stock ($220) which I love, and of course widened out the channel to accommodate the heavier barrel. I then mounted my 20 MOA canted scope base from EGW ($30). I used the blue locktite and torqued her down good. I then put my SWFA SS10x42M ($320 used) in my Burris 30mm low XTRs ($50/set), screwed it all down tight, and I was good to go. Added the bipod, and went to see if she would shoot.
Annoyingly for me, the range (the only one within a hundred miles or so) was packed, so I did not have access to 100 yard targets at all. So I didn't want to wait around doing nothing, so I spent some time at the 50 yarder with my .32 Win. Spl. That was a bad idea for the shoulder (50 rounds of hot-loaded 180gr). Around dusk I had the range all to myself, and I set up a printed target that can be downloaded for free from Storm Tactical (THANK YOU, SIRS!) as part of a 60-page target PDF book.
I attempted a hillbilly boresight, and put one shot on paper (aiming for the centre diamond). As you can see (picture below) I was a bit off. I made one elevation and one windage adjustment and fired a 3-shot group. I know it's not the best shooting, but for me (I don't consider myself a stellar shot) it was very good. Probably the best 3-shot group I've ever done (again, that's just my shooting ability as a reference point).
I got very excited. But, I wanted to do a 5-shot group to make sure I was good to go. I did one very small windage adjustment, and then shot the 5-shot group that is in the bottom-left diamond.
100 yard groups (sighter marked as circled "s" and 3- and 5-shot groups marked with "3" and "5":
A little closer:
All shots were made with American Eagle 168gr OTM ammunition ($18/box of 20).
I have to say that I am VERY please with my setup and the performance. The Savage is truly an incredible weapon, the McGowen barrel is excellent, the EGW base and Burris XTRs are more than enough for me, and the SWFA SS10x42M is a fabulous scope for the money. My entire setup costs approximately $1300. For an amateur to precision shooting, this setup is working great.
Before I close off on my ramble, I have a couple of questions for the pros:
1) Will improving my trigger help my groups a decent amount? I'm currently using the factory Stevens trigger that I managed to tweak down to about 5 pounds. It's not horrible, but it's far from ideal.
2) Will using higher quality ammunition help my groups at all? This ammo seems to do pretty well (especially for under $1/round), but will .308 match from say Federal or such help me out?
3) What tips do you have for my vertical stringing problem? I seem to be grouping left-to-right much better than I am top-to-bottom. Is this an issue with my breathing/shooting technique? Or could ammunition with a high SD in the velocity department also be a culprit.
I would appreciate any comments/thoughts/suggestions/advice/hatred.
Cheers!
Brian
I purchased a Savage Stevens 200 in .308 ($350) about a year ago. I recently wanted to customize it and get into precision shooting (I blame the folks on this site for my new-found addiction). Anyhow, I ordered a barrel from McGowen Precision Barrels, LLC. In the process of trying to remove my factory barrel, I royally F-ed up and twisted my receiver at the bolt rail section. I posted some pictures, thinking it was a sad/funny story, and got a swarm of comments to the essence of "say goodbye to your face" or "I hope no one is near you when that goes off," along with a small group who believed it would be fine. My thought was, since the lugs were not compromised at all, the worst effect would be loss of accuracy (or no accuracy at all) due to the bent and re-bent rails.
Well, I got my barrel in the mail from McGowen yesterday ($250 shipped, with a 6-week wait time). I can't say enough good things about this one. It came prefit for my Savage (small shank), I had it chambered in .308, finished to 26", in a bull contour with a recessed crown. The fit and finish was simply superb. I couldn't be happier with its appearance.
After installing the McGowen barrel, along with a new barrel nut and recoil lug (at $20 for both, I figured, "why not?"). Everything went very smoothly this time around (with the help of a PROPER action wrench and placement of said wrench). I torqued the new barrel nut to approximately 55 foot*pounds and called it good.
I put the rifle in a B&C Medalist A2 stock ($220) which I love, and of course widened out the channel to accommodate the heavier barrel. I then mounted my 20 MOA canted scope base from EGW ($30). I used the blue locktite and torqued her down good. I then put my SWFA SS10x42M ($320 used) in my Burris 30mm low XTRs ($50/set), screwed it all down tight, and I was good to go. Added the bipod, and went to see if she would shoot.
Annoyingly for me, the range (the only one within a hundred miles or so) was packed, so I did not have access to 100 yard targets at all. So I didn't want to wait around doing nothing, so I spent some time at the 50 yarder with my .32 Win. Spl. That was a bad idea for the shoulder (50 rounds of hot-loaded 180gr). Around dusk I had the range all to myself, and I set up a printed target that can be downloaded for free from Storm Tactical (THANK YOU, SIRS!) as part of a 60-page target PDF book.
I attempted a hillbilly boresight, and put one shot on paper (aiming for the centre diamond). As you can see (picture below) I was a bit off. I made one elevation and one windage adjustment and fired a 3-shot group. I know it's not the best shooting, but for me (I don't consider myself a stellar shot) it was very good. Probably the best 3-shot group I've ever done (again, that's just my shooting ability as a reference point).
I got very excited. But, I wanted to do a 5-shot group to make sure I was good to go. I did one very small windage adjustment, and then shot the 5-shot group that is in the bottom-left diamond.
100 yard groups (sighter marked as circled "s" and 3- and 5-shot groups marked with "3" and "5":
A little closer:
All shots were made with American Eagle 168gr OTM ammunition ($18/box of 20).
I have to say that I am VERY please with my setup and the performance. The Savage is truly an incredible weapon, the McGowen barrel is excellent, the EGW base and Burris XTRs are more than enough for me, and the SWFA SS10x42M is a fabulous scope for the money. My entire setup costs approximately $1300. For an amateur to precision shooting, this setup is working great.
Before I close off on my ramble, I have a couple of questions for the pros:
1) Will improving my trigger help my groups a decent amount? I'm currently using the factory Stevens trigger that I managed to tweak down to about 5 pounds. It's not horrible, but it's far from ideal.
2) Will using higher quality ammunition help my groups at all? This ammo seems to do pretty well (especially for under $1/round), but will .308 match from say Federal or such help me out?
3) What tips do you have for my vertical stringing problem? I seem to be grouping left-to-right much better than I am top-to-bottom. Is this an issue with my breathing/shooting technique? Or could ammunition with a high SD in the velocity department also be a culprit.
I would appreciate any comments/thoughts/suggestions/advice/hatred.
Cheers!
Brian
) out to 600+ on steal. Make sure you keep all your brass because you're going to regret it if you don't.
