Well, not sure if this was a great idea building off a Savage, but I'm really liking the results so far!
Long story somewhat short, I picked up a Savage 12FV when Cabela's had them for sale for $300. Mounted with a SWFA 10X and a kydex cheek piece and thought I was doing pretty well for a budget gun and banging plates out past 1K.
Fast forward several months and I noticed a trend. Cold bore fouled shots were way off. I mean shoot one day at the range and all dialed in, the next day shoot again without touching it or cleaning it and the first shot was 1.5 Mils left, next one about .5 mils, then back to zero.
Not a good deal, especially since this is a gun I planned to hunt with.
I was going to sell it and get a Tikka CTR, although I really wanted the Tac A1, but didn't like the chassis. Too heavy for a gun that doubles as a hunting rig.
All plans quickly derailed when I found a barely used XLR Element chassis for my Savage. Picked that up for $450. With a new chassis, I sent the gun off to a smith who put on a Benchmark barrel and cerakoted the action and barrel.
Got it back a few weeks ago and so far this thing is awesome. Love to hate the accutrigger, but I'm a fan. I haven't played with high end triggers, but I did buy a Timney for this gun and after installing it, found no discernible difference so retuned it and kept the Accu.
Cost:
Barrel and cerakote $650
XLR Element $450
Action: $320
SWFA 5-20 HD : $770
I'm still wondering if building off a Savage was the right thing to do, but it's done and shoots awesome so guess I'll have to live with it. I don't do PRS so hopefully I don't see any issues that you guys encounter when shooting matches.
Pics of the first three shots after getting zeroed. Maybe the 5th-7th shots out of the barrel. No break in voodoo done. Nothing as fancy as many guns I see on here, but for a hunting and steel ringer on somewhat of a budget while trying to keep weight down I think she'll work!
Long story somewhat short, I picked up a Savage 12FV when Cabela's had them for sale for $300. Mounted with a SWFA 10X and a kydex cheek piece and thought I was doing pretty well for a budget gun and banging plates out past 1K.
Fast forward several months and I noticed a trend. Cold bore fouled shots were way off. I mean shoot one day at the range and all dialed in, the next day shoot again without touching it or cleaning it and the first shot was 1.5 Mils left, next one about .5 mils, then back to zero.
Not a good deal, especially since this is a gun I planned to hunt with.
I was going to sell it and get a Tikka CTR, although I really wanted the Tac A1, but didn't like the chassis. Too heavy for a gun that doubles as a hunting rig.
All plans quickly derailed when I found a barely used XLR Element chassis for my Savage. Picked that up for $450. With a new chassis, I sent the gun off to a smith who put on a Benchmark barrel and cerakoted the action and barrel.
Got it back a few weeks ago and so far this thing is awesome. Love to hate the accutrigger, but I'm a fan. I haven't played with high end triggers, but I did buy a Timney for this gun and after installing it, found no discernible difference so retuned it and kept the Accu.
Cost:
Barrel and cerakote $650
XLR Element $450
Action: $320
SWFA 5-20 HD : $770
I'm still wondering if building off a Savage was the right thing to do, but it's done and shoots awesome so guess I'll have to live with it. I don't do PRS so hopefully I don't see any issues that you guys encounter when shooting matches.
Pics of the first three shots after getting zeroed. Maybe the 5th-7th shots out of the barrel. No break in voodoo done. Nothing as fancy as many guns I see on here, but for a hunting and steel ringer on somewhat of a budget while trying to keep weight down I think she'll work!
