Outfitting a Savage 110 FP

[DonasaurusRex]

Hi all,
I've recently purchased a Savage 110 FP in .308 and I'm looking to do some upgrades on the firearm. I would be very interesting in seeing any suggestions for the firearm itself along the lines of replacement stock options and triggers. I'm considering McMillan, Bell and Carlson and Choate tactical replacement stocks. I'm under the impression this is an older model FP (stagger feed).

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

Look to MDT for chassis if yer into that - I put my Savage 10 FCP-SR into an MDT LSS-XL Gen2 chassis and turned it into a <.7 MOA rifle. AICS Magazines and the vertical grip and other goodies helped.

I'm a Savage Whore. There are definitely better choices but I'll never outshoot my Savage FrankenGun.

VooDoo

 

[Huskydriver]

Best way to outfit it... is to sell it and get an AI,Mrad, or cadex with a zco or TT

 

[Wannashootit]

Really kinda dependent on what you like aesthetically (stock, chassis, etc) and what your intended use is.
Big difference on what's optimal for benchrest vs a lightweight mountain rifle...

 

[Altoonabcm157]

I’ve had bell and Carlson and I would say thats a great option for a stock, I think they are a pretty big step up from choate, mdt has awesome options for chassis‘s, krg is also coming out with an updated option for savage soon.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies, keep 'em coming. I had not previously considered the LSS Gen2 Chasis System, that is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get. The truth be told, this wasn't the rifle I was intending to get. But a deal presented itself that was too good to pass up. So here we are.

This rifle won't win any beauty contests. I'm not going to be the most popular guy at the range. But if I can get it putting bullet holes inside of bullet holes, can I really ask for anything else?

 

[loveha]

For a good budget chassis look at Oryx (it's made by MDT).
Only "drop in" trigger is from Jard, otherwise there are other options like Timney and ELF.
I have a Jard in my one and only Savage and it's worth it. Also had an ELF I liked but gave to my father.
The rest is up to you and your barrel.

My Model 10 in 300WSM I built. Disassembled and Cerakoted.

Cerakote E120 Smoke and E200 FDE.
The panels I bought as FDE, grip I had Cerakoted.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Xlr makes a chassis that fits savage too. Worth a look as well.

 

[hafejd30]

MDT and XLR are a couple of my favorites. Your staggerfeed will have a 4.25” screw spacing vs 4.4” for centerfeed. So keep that in mind when looking for options. Some work with both utilizing a reversible washer setup.

Rifle basix was the go to trigger when I played in the savage game. I usually just swapped out springs in mine tho

 

[redbullitt]

I'd definitely do a chassis, skip the bedding unless you really like the more conventional stock setup.

People will give you shit for the savage lol, but I've had a few and I liked them. Shot well. Mine was a savage 10 fcp and with a set of gauges I could switch the barrels in no time. 308 and 260 calibers etc from the same budget rifle, prefit barrels and no smith needed. Win win.

Mine had an accutrigger that was good enough to not NEED replacing for practical style shooting. Not perfect, but good enough.

Accuracy etc was just fine, no complaints. I'd invest in barrels and stuff to swap them yourself if your rifle will work like mine did there. The chassis will be a good addition too.

 

[MarshallDodge]

...

This rifle won't win any beauty contests. I'm not going to be the most popular guy at the range. But if I can get it putting bullet holes inside of bullet holes, can I really ask for anything else?

No worries, some guys like their rifles THICC

My friend has a Savage in a McMillan stock and the rifle shoots really well, 0.5 MOA, after he bedded it.

 

[KYAggie]

krg is also coming out with an updated option for savage soon.

I can’t wait to see this, I have a 308 Hog that would love to be dressed up in a KRG-B.

 

[Gustav7]

I've been very happy with my B&C stock so far, and its more than accurate enough for my needs. I got mine back when you could get CDI bottom metal for it, but the owner died unfortunately.

If I were buying the same thing now, I'd look into the KRG or XLR chassis...

 

[DonasaurusRex]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies, a number of you have given me plenty of feedback and suggestions to think about. One of the things I'm most conscious of is not just spending money for the sake of spending money. So I've been attempting to track down information on a number of the suggestions made in this thread in an effort to understand exactly what kind of performance I can expect from a stock upgrade, trigger replacement etc.

These Savage rifles have a great reputation for accuracy, but their resale value leaves a lot to be desired. People aren't knocking down the door to get a Savage bolt action rifle, so it can be easy to sink a small fortune in one of these rifles - never to see your investment again. Knowing that this rifle is already in that category, I don't want to get too carried away on the investment.

The two stock options I'm currently considering are as follows:

Bell and Carlson M40 Varmint Tactical


Oryx Precision Rifle Chassis


Truth be told, I'm still considering the Choate Ultimate Sniper and Tactical stocks, but I've read that they're pretty heavy. I wonder how these stack up in performance to some of the other suggestions in the thread?

Choate Ultimate Sniper


Choate Tactical


Out of all of the suggestions, the Oryx (1a) and Bell and Carlson (1b) are likely the two choices I'm going to ultimately end up going with. I like the fact I can bring the rifle up to date in many ways with the Oryx chassis considering it's an older model Savage 110. With the Bell and Carlson, it has a more traditional look to it that I find attractive. Performance is where it counts the most for me, but it doesn't hurt to have a firearm that's easy on the eye as well.

 

[Steel head]

I have a choate tactical, it’s ok but I like my XLR element a LOT better.
Savage can definitely be a dead end financially but if you’re planning on keeping it you get a decent rifle for the $$$
This savage has burned out quite a few barrels and I just have a hard time moving away from it.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

I'm actually quite happy with my purchase, the Savage 110 FP Tactical is a very well respected firearm in its original factory configuration without any of the upgrades we're currently discussing. A factory built law enforcement sniper rifle, it's hailed as an introductory, economic solution to those looking to enter the world of precision, bolt action rifle shooting. The Savage 110 FP comes in several different calibers and configurations, with some models possessing more desirable features than others. All of them described as lights out accurate.

Some of the videos I've managed to find on these rifles which have left me convinced I made a solid purchase include:

Long Term Report - Savage Sniper Rifle

500 Yards with the Savage 110 FP in .308

For those who may come across this thread in the future, from my point of view at least, among the most important factors in deciding how happy you may be with these rifles is how much it cost you to get into the firearm to begin with.

 

[TORCHRIDER]

I don't think I've seen anyone ask this question. How does it shoot as is? Are you trying to correct something ? I have a box stock Savage 110 in 308 that shoots into one hole with my handloads. Nothing I could do would make it shoot any better, so I spent that money to get other rifles to shoot better.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

Excellent question. It shoots lights out and I don't think anything is wrong with the rifle as is. I've asked myself this exact question every time I look at the price of a new stock or chassis system.

 

[loveha]

For me, when I redid mine. It turned from just a rebarrel to, why not this, and since I'm doing this, why not that, and, while I'm here....
My rifle was originally just a 7mm-08 in your average wood stock. Didn't shoot it much, and the original barrel didn't shoot well. Now it does half MOA with factory loads. The cost I put into it doesn't matter to me, I don't sell guns. The major complaint of most savage rifles is the heavy bolt lift. Which with work, I was able to reduce. I actually love the rifle, it's fun to shoot. Just sort of expensive at the moment being 300WSM.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

My Savage 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 CM straight out-the-box with a cheapo Vortex Crossfire II 6-24X50 shot <.7 MOA in the hands of a rank newbie who knew nothing.

Folks run them down and into the ground but if I had it to do over again I'd do the same. Presently it is a FrankenGun with MDT chassis, Atlas Bipod, Vortex Golden Eagle and all the trimmings *but* it shot sub MOA right-out-the-box. No resale? I'm cool...I'll never sell it as it does everything I need it to do.

VooDoo

 

[Steel head]

For me, when I redid mine. It turned from just a rebarrel to, why not this, and since I'm doing this, why not that, and, while I'm here....
My rifle was originally just a 7mm-08 in your average wood stock. Didn't shoot it much, and the original barrel didn't shoot well. Now it does half MOA with factory loads. The cost I put into it doesn't matter to me, I don't sell guns. The major complaint of most savage rifles is the heavy bolt lift. Which with work, I was able to reduce. I actually love the rifle, it's fun to shoot. Just sort of expensive at the moment being 300WSM.

My savage was my only bolt action for many years and my introduction into long range shooting.
I learned a ton on that rifle.

 

[anon]

Savage has made the bvss style stock for a long time, for multiple actions. They cost less than $300. I have used them for budget F/TR builds.

 

[AllenOne1]

If you are just starting out in long range shooting the Savage is a great platform in my opinion. I have a model 10 GRS that I have been shooting for the last 3 years and have learned a lot about shooting and rifles. It came in a GRS Berserk stock from the factory and I still like that stock. I have changed out just about everything on the rifle so now I have the original GRS stock, the action and bolt which I have modified.

The great part is you can try out things that you won't try on a $5k Kelbly, if it doesn't fit you right you aren't as worried about taking a file to it and "fixing" it. If the trigger pull is too heavy cut the spring off and see what happens. If you like to tinker with stuff it's great, if you are one who has a gunsmith do every repair there are probably better ways to go.

And winning with a Savage against a bunch of custom high dollar guns is just icing on the cake.

Or you can just buy an MRAD and call it good.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

The only thing I do to a Savage is a B&C M40 stock. Be careful though. They are for blind magazine top bolt release. Anything other and you will need to modify a little. I have a few Savage actions. Savage makes too many small changes and they lost their fucking minds. Thus, mine are all set up for single shot. They are very accurate with decent barrels that are not Savage. With what they have out now and not many choices for aftermarket I suggest a varmint model and just leave it stock.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

The only thing I do to a Savage is a B&C M40 stock. Be careful though. They are for blind magazine top bolt release. Anything other and you will need to modify a little. I have a few Savage actions. Savage makes too many small changes and they lost their fucking minds. Thus, mine are all set up for single shot. They are very accurate with decent barrels that are not Savage. With what they have out now and not many choices for aftermarket I suggest a varmint model and just leave it stock.

Bell and carlson makes the M40 stock for both blind magazine and detachable magazine rifles. You just specify which one when ordering. the big change everyone talks about is screw spacing. this effects what stock works. if you have a savage made in the last 7 years or so the spacing is 4.4 inches the 4.25 inch spacing is older. I would have to look up when the change was made, not a major thing to think about unless the rifle is older.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

great looking bolt loveha, sometimes I wonder if I should have chosen that fluting over the fluting I picked and I second that the JARD trigger is worth it. I have tried the timney, elf, sav2 and the JARD is the only one in my opinion that really is exceptional for a savage. All the others were ok but fell short in one way or another.

 

[BoilerUP]

My first centerfire rifle, given on my 11th birthday, was a staggerfeed 110 in 270 Winchester. That rifle now sits in a McMillan A5A with CDI LA/308 DBM and is currently chambered in 223 Wylde.

If your 110FP is a staggerfeed factory long action running a fixed 308 magazine box, you'll have an extended bolt stop on your rifle.

As someone who went full send down this road about ten years ago: spend $300 on the B&C M40 Medalist, get a Rifle Basix trigger and call things good, as your upgrade path with that particular action is now rather limited.

Since the death of Jeff @ CDI Precision, I'm not sure if anybody else is making a DBM that allows a 110 to run short action AICS-pattern magazines and your choice of chassis will be zero unless you are willing to run long action AICS-pattern magazines (I never had issues feeding 260 Remington out of a standard staggerfeed long action magazine).

I'd also recommend membership at SavageShooters.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

My first centerfire rifle, given on my 11th birthday, was a staggerfeed 110 in 270 Winchester. That rifle now sits in a McMillan A5A with CDI LA/308 DBM and is currently chambered in 223 Wylde.

If your 110FP is a staggerfeed factory long action running a fixed 308 magazine box, you'll have an extended bolt stop on your rifle.

As someone who went full send down this road about ten years ago: spend $300 on the B&C M40 Medalist, get a Rifle Basix trigger and call things good, as your upgrade path with that particular action is now rather limited.

Since the death of Jeff @ CDI Precision, I'm not sure if anybody else is making a DBM that allows a 110 to run short action AICS-pattern magazines and your choice of chassis will be zero unless you are willing to run long action AICS-pattern magazines (I never had issues feeding 260 Remington out of a standard staggerfeed long action magazine).

I'd also recommend membership at SavageShooters.

there are currently a few places making dbm for savage, PTG, accurate mag and a few others. there are also quite a few chassis makers MDT, KRG, XLR that will all support short action AICS mags for savage.

 

[BoilerUP]

...but do they offer DBM for a long action Savage (which is likely the OP’s rifle based on description) that uses short-action AICS magazines?

 

[AllenOne1]

Keep in mind a lot of the money you will spend upgrading a rifle is accessories, bipod, scope, rings, muzzle brake which can always be moved to the next rifle.
Things I have done to the "Savage" are really pretty minor, it came with a great stock IMHO so no additional money was spent there after the initial purchase. I have had a bolt bushing installed and added a lift kit to it for not a whole lot of money, I re-barreled it but I had shot 2000 rounds through the factory barrel, a wear item, and I have now put a JARD trigger in it. Everything else I have spent can move on to the next gun.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

...but do they offer DBM for a long action Savage (which is likely the OP’s rifle based on description) that uses short-action AICS magazines?

I misread what you were describing, I am not sure if there is a long action DBM that accepts short action aics. thought you were saying something else, my fault. PTG is probably the best bet to check for that or they may be able to modify their long action DBM to accept short action aics. they tend to be good with making product to customers specs.

 

[Halfnutz]

Bolt lift kit and possibly an extended bolt handle are good upgrades and cheap.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Bell and carlson makes the M40 stock for both blind magazine and detachable magazine rifles. You just specify which one when ordering. the big change everyone talks about is screw spacing. this effects what stock works. if you have a savage made in the last 7 years or so the spacing is 4.4 inches the 4.25 inch spacing is older. I would have to look up when the change was made, not a major thing to think about unless the rifle is older.

The OP has a LA

 

[Deleted member 10043]

I forgot I I have one if these on a .244 Rem LA. He will make a very good LA stock. The wait period is long.

Stocks - Stockade Gun Stocks

Stockade Gun Stocks specializes in varmint, hunting, long range bench rest, tactical, AR-15, and bench rest rifles. Rifles may be built on custom actions, Remington, Savage or other various actions.

www.stockadegunstocks.com

 

[Halfnutz]

Had one of these prior to switching to XLR chassis. My Stckade stock is short action pre Accutrigger with blind magazine. Added a Karsten cheek rest. It was/is a good stock just wanted alittle more and a detachable mag. Stockade also carries boltift kit and bolt levers.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

Perhaps the main reason I'm considering the Oryx chassis is because I would like to upgrade to DBM's and it's features to price point ratio. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that an aluminum bedded, free floated stock is ultimately the bond that ties the majority of these different brand stocks together. Many of these options are simply different flavors of the same general idea. After reading many of the comments in this thread, it looks like I should be very sure that the stock I'm purchasing will actually fit the exact action I have, which could vary depending on year of manufacture.

 

[BoilerUP]

Perhaps the main reason I'm considering the Oryx chassis is because I would like to upgrade to DBM's and it's features to price point ratio. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that an aluminum bedded, free floated stock is ultimately the bond that ties the majority of these different brand stocks together. Many of these options are simply different flavors of the same general idea. After reading many of the comments in this thread, it looks like I should be very sure that the stock I'm purchasing will actually fit the exact action I have, which could vary depending on year of manufacture.

If you have an older flat back staggerfeed 110 long action with a 308 box magazine, it should fit in a 110 long action chassis but you'd 1. have to run AICS LA magazines and 2. replace the extended bolt stop with a standard bolt stop.

That's really it...Savage thankfully hasn't dicked with bolt spacing on long actions over the years like they have with short actions (and the numbering convention, but that's another complaint).

 

[DonasaurusRex]

If you have an older flat back staggerfeed 110 long action with a 308 box magazine, it should fit in a 110 long action chassis but you'd 1. have to run AICS LA magazines and 2. replace the extended bolt stop with a standard bolt stop.

That's really it...Savage thankfully hasn't dicked with bolt spacing on long actions over the years like they have with short actions (and the numbering convention, but that's another complaint).

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your help and wisdom. So, Bell and Carlson it is then? lol.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

The OP has a LA

View attachment 7616564

I missed the big part regarding long action in the OP. My savage knowledge is strong but not in the long action department lol. Should have taken more time figuring out the words he wrote haha.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

That's okay. Savage makes things confusing. B&C once did an informal survey on the LA M40. People ignored it even though they stated it would determine if they tooled up to offer the same choices in LA as SA. I really like the B&C M40 but with the bottom cheap ass bolt release Savage switched to from the better top release is what killed me ever getting another Savage action. You can see other evidence of stupid decisions like the smooth barrel nut. I never have switched out an original accutrigger. I do have some top bolt release parts and I think I can get them to work with a little modication but I bet if I heat it up to bend it a little it will break by design. That is how much I trust Savage. What would be nice if somebody made that black plastic bottom release part from aluminum. Another dumbass move was their new recoil lug. WTF? Like I said I have some Savage and with exception of an older Varmint in 308 the rest are all relugated to single shot bench 1.5 MOA sillhouette out to to 500 meters/600 yards. They shoot good but I'm not taking them up into the mountains. I can say I have never had a failure to fire. Knock on wood.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Perhaps the main reason I'm considering the Oryx chassis is because I would like to upgrade to DBM's and it's features to price point ratio. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that an aluminum bedded, free floated stock is ultimately the bond that ties the majority of these different brand stocks together. Many of these options are simply different flavors of the same general idea. After reading many of the comments in this thread, it looks like I should be very sure that the stock I'm purchasing will actually fit the exact action I have, which could vary depending on year of manufacture.

This is why I would leave it stock if it is solid. It is in the Varmint/LE family. With the exception of the 308 varmint all mine started out with just the action. Those would be what became .244 Rem for the 110 SMK and a 6.5x284 for the 142 SMK. They are only good for precision load development. Xcaliber is my go to barrel. That is the most important upgrade when the OEM bites the dust and it will happen even with the 308.