Question for the Savage guys?

[panhandle]

I recently purchased a Savage Model 12 Low Profile in 204 Ruger and am really disapointed in its grouping ability. I have decided to buy a finished Shilen barrel in 22 Rem BR.  I know that I'll have to change the bolt head to accomidate the larger cartridge head, Where is best place to purchase the bolt head? Do I take the ejector and extractor from the original bolt head and use it in the original? What do I need to purchase to change the barrel besides the wrench and headspace gages? Would my vise with aluminum inserts work for a barrel vise? Thanks

[lik2hunt]

Should be able to get all your questions answered here.

http://www.sharpshootersupply.com/

[billy_56081]

  One of the savage sites on the web has plans for an action vice made of wood, I made one and it works great. Also try Midway for bolt heads and a barrel wrench. If you have a friend that is an FFL and on there mailing list the prices are much lower.

[teddy12b]

What kind of groups were you getting that you were disapointed in it?  Was there something else wrong with it?

[riddleofsteel]

I assume that before you take off the barrel that you have made certain the rifle is correctly bedded. May SAVAGE barreled actions are capable of incredible accuracy but like many manufacturers SAVAGE often delivers them in cheap stocks or in stocks that need bedding. Solve the bedding issues, if any, before swapping barrels. You can always change barrels later. 

[KN]

I second riddleofsteel , I find it rare that savage varmint rifles won't shoot well. I would check every thing imaginable before dropping in another barrel. That is a crap shoot all its own and you may not be any better off if the problem isn't the barrel.   KN

[riddleofsteel]

I once had Henry Ball install a $400.00 barrel on a Remington Varmit Synthetic that I could not get to group under 1.75 MOA for love nor money. With the new heavyweight stainless match grade barrel it shot the exact same groups that it did with the factory Remington barrel. Turned out the fancy H&S Precision stock had left the recoil lug hanging in the breeze. Four tablespoons of bedding compound solved the problem. Just enough to skim coat the aluminum block and to bed the recoil lug. Turned it into a "one hole grouper" rifle. Too bad it was discovered $400.00 to late.

LOL

 

[Ahab]

I have the model 16fss that gave me shotgun groups and keyholers out of the box. Sent it back to the factory and they installed a new barrel. Shoots good now but I still have primer cratering.

[saltydog]

Sounds as if you were unlucky and bought one off the few Savage  204's that won't shoot well - Sorry to hear about that. I second the advice to contact the factory as they certainly don't want customers spreading dissatisfaction around without giving them an opportunity to remedy it. If you want to shoot a larger base cartridge you can see if your gunsmith can mill out bolt head and save you some time and money.

[giturgun]

Bought a new Savage 112 in 25-06 . shot great for a while . suddenly opened up like a shotgun. Finally figured it out , stock split right down the middle lamination . Reinforced it and repillared it . shot better than ever. I would bed and float the barrel . Is not hard to do and there are many good articles on the net on how . One of the best on 6mm br . com Good pictures and all

[The Gamemaster]

All that I would say is that you should have done a little more homework before you bought the .204

Gun manufacturers will tell you anything to get you to buy their products and gun reps are paid to tell you that the manufacturers makes the greatest product in the world.

I'm sitting here right now watching Jim Zumbo hunt on the outdoors channel on the dish.

It's funny that all you sportsmen petitioned to have him removed from the media, only to have him come right back again.  Jim likes to tell you how good a single shot rifle is - because they pay him to do so.

Give me a couple of hundred thousand dollars per a year for a salary and a 3 day work week, where I have to sit in a blind or out in a treestand someplace and hunt deer and turkeys and stuff and I will tell you how great a single shot rifle is also.  I will become a ballistic's expert and will also become an expert shot that will never need more than one shot to kill that whitetail buck of a lifetime at 300 + yards.

Too bad tv doesn't show the real story.  All the times that people misses and all the crappy shots to the hind quarters and the back up shooters that finishes off the deer for them so called experts.

[panhandle]

Thanks for all of your replies.  The Savage was somewhat of a disappointment after listening to all the Savage owners brag about the out of the box accuracy.  It would shoot one inch 5 shot groups, but just barely with the best load I could find for it.  The recoil lug has been glassed before it was ever fired.  The barrel is also pretty slow.  I purchase a new standard Ruger 77 in 204 which shoots great and is giving a little over 3900 fps with the 39 gr Sierra bullet.  The Savage also liked the Ruger load the best but it yields about 200 fps less from the 26" barrel than the Ruger from its 24" barrel.  I definitely expect better grouping out of a heavy setup like the Savage.  I don't get too excited about any varmint rifle till it start producing groups at 1/2" or better.  Both rifles are using Nixon 6x18 BuckMaster scopes.   

[teddy12b]

Just curious, and maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but why did you have the recoil lug glassed before shooting the gun?  The only way to know if it would have made any difference would be if you had an example of how the rifle shot before you did all that.  The guys with savages are mostly bragging about "out of the box".  Maybe glassing the recoil lug didn't help it but there's no way to know if you don't shoot the gun first.

[panhandle]

It was glassed mainly because of winter boredom.  It seems whenever I get a new rifle in the winter time, it gets a pretty thorough makeover before warm weather arrives.l