Custom .308 Plinker on Savage Action - Guide and Request for Input

[Maxyim]

Hey everyone!

I am building a custom rifle. Highly considering a Savage stainless target action for my starting point. I have done a LOT of research to date, and have trolled these boards quite a bit. I figure that I will go ahead and make a thread in the hopes of refining my plan and perhaps steering a few other lost souls in the right direction.

My profile - novice shooter, this will be my first long range rifle. I am limited to shooting up to 800 yards in my geographic area, however I do plan to build a setup that can push the .308 cartridge to its maximum limit. My short-term goal is to become proficient enough to place high in local prone competitions (this limits me to .308 caliber, as it is the choice of the local gun club), while also being able to do a bit of hunting. My long-term goal is a .338 or magnum-caliber rifle on a Surgeon action that can get me out to 1 mile + by the time that I am ready to compete on a national level - I am sure that this will be the subject of another thread down the road, wanted to make it clear that I do not expect to be a world-class champion with the .308 setup.

My tentative plan at this time for the .308 is as follows (general idea = heavy rifle, minimized harmonic vibrations, not worried about excess weight for hunting but should be no more than 22# with bipod and scope):


RIFLE

Savage Stainless Target Action or your recommendation; will be blueprinted by Sharp Shooter Supply (see below). Interested if anyone really hates this action for any reason; all research shows that it is significantly tighter than Remington 700, and will shoot a LOT better than me for a long time (hence not going higher-budget on this component).
McMillan A-5 Stock w. Clamp Cheekpiece, Sniper Fill, 3 bolts; will be glass-bedded. Should I get it with aluminum pillars, or any other option not listed here?
Barrel - looking at Brux, 20-24", as heavy as possible, not fluted, threaded. Very interested in your recommendations for this component (which metal, twist and contour, longer length?). Brux order form is here.
Trigger - Evolution from Sharp Shooter Supply - my understanding is that they only install these on rifles that they have blueprinted; looks like they turned their phones off so I reached out to them already via e-mail.
Scope Mount / Rings - Honestly not sure, Badger?
Bottom Metal - gunsmith recommendation unless you guys have any input; the action is single-shot so I cannot have a DBM.


PERIPHERALS

Optic - IOR Valdada 3-18 x 42 X1 Snipers Hide edition!
Can / Muzzle Break - AWC Thor PSR (titanium, will be interchangeable with the extreme range setup that I will build down the road). I am rather unclear on how the can will impact harmonic vibrations; hence I am leaning towards a shorter barrel.
Bipod - Harris 9-13 S with notch leg.
Sling and Carry Case- open for suggestions! Will need to fly with the gun, so carry case should allow for that; what brands should I look at?
Ammo - will start with store-bought and move to reloading, seems like the general consensus is to get Lapua brass and reload it a LOT; I do understand that I will need to find a specific grain setup for the rifle as each is unique, where should I start?

Timetable - generous; my local gun club won't even let me shoot long-range until I take a course which has an 8 month waiting list, haha. Looking to accumulate all of these components gradually over the next few months (well, 1 yr+ for the can, tough life).


So, what do you guys think??

 

[2guard]

I would just buy the savage hs precision or mcmillan 10 fcp and shoot the barrel out (mcmillan if you are going to bed it, hs if not). Go ahead and order the barrel and when you are ready to put it on, do so. I would replace the accutrigger, but not sold on SSS blueprinting. I have heard mixed reports on the work. I think you would be pleased with their competition trigger (12oz to 2lbs), or even one of the rifle basix triggers (sav2 is 4oz to 3 lbs). both of those can go light for bench work or heavy enough to carry for hunting. If you must have the evo trigger, be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait (unless you get lucky). Check with Kevin Rayhill at stockade also, he trues/times savages.

What type of shooting is the rifle going to be used for (bench, tactical)? small groups on paper only or maybe some other stuff, too? what is your price limit for spending on this project? You might be better off to order a custom action since you are having to wait anyway. Check out bugholes.com and look at the stiller actions. I have nothing against savages (own quite a few and my last two builds were a 243 and a 308 on a savage short action), but depending on the money you are going to spend, you might be better to order a custom rifle, and dont forget about the used section here. a lot of nice customs go through the used section for great prices.

If you buy the 10fcp factory setup in hs or mcmillan, you might find later that you want a different caliber (6mm, 6.5 maybe?). factory setup is plenty accurate to learn on, and sometimes really accurate from the factory.
ammo: black hills or federal gmm 175gr.

shoot it until you want something else.

 

[medium rare]

I would get a longer barrel to get a better margin of error for 1000 yds in the future. It would not be fun to get good at 800 but find out you don't have the velocity to stay supersonic at 1000. Are you planning to reload and if so you might consider another caliber (ie. 260, 6.5 creed.....).