Hog Hunter...

[Handsome Rob]

Took it to the range today, just to walk it in to 500yds & see how badly set up it was, for a cheap gun.

I've got it in a take off Savage non-Accustock with Accurate Mag bottom metal. The action isn't bedded at all & the torque settings on the action screws are 'that'll hold it' tight.
Cheap EGW alloy rail, really cheap UTG QD rings, Redfield Revenge 2-7x32 scope &$20 eBay brake.

And after 46 clicks of elevation, this is how it performed at 500....

[KahrMan]

Very nice!!!

[Chris]

That'll do the trick.

[CommsNBombs]

Who says you need to spend big bucks to go long?

Very nice for a rig like that, sine pare.

[jeff43]

That's good Shootin ! I got one for my son for X-mas,I loaded some 168 grain SMK bullets and IMR 4895. You can cover 3 shots with a dime at 100 yards. It's hard to beat a Savage rifle!

[Moped]

Can't argue with that!  Wanna trade?

[jeff43]

So would that make it dropping about 11.5 inches at 500 yards?

[Handsome Rob]

A little more than that! It ended up being around 34".
The scope 'says' each click is ¼"@100, but beyond 100 that seems to be a crapshoot.
With a 100yd zero, I had to hold roughly 30" over the 5' steel plate to hit near center. From there I came up 10 clicks at a time until I was shooting to POA. No science was harmed in the making of this!
No idea what my BC or velocity is. I loaded up 100 rounds with whatever I had on hand, just to get the barrel broken in. Edited March 27, 2015 by robtattoo

[sybo]

With groups like that at 500, I wouldn't touch a thing!

[Dolomite_supafly]

This is why I LOVE my Savages. I have yet to have one that is not this accurate. I had some that had some heat related drifting because of their off center bore but even those shot amazing groups before the barrel warmed.

 

What you need now is a silencer to go with it.

 

I have been working on, and building, my Savages for about 10 years now. When I first got into "tactical rifles" I called a friend and asked which is better Remington or Savage. He said Remington is better but Savage is more accurate out of the box. I could have just as easily been a Remington guy had I not wanted the most accurate rifle. A Savage is like the 10/22 of the centerfire world. You can change out EVERYTHING, including calibers, at home without the need of a gunsmith.

 

I am getting ready to build another Savage but this one will be a little different. It will be a 12 gauge with a rifled bore. I am going to see how well I can get it to shoot 2+ ounce slugs by loading it like a traditional rifle. Should be a fun project and if it does turn out to be a really accurate package I might build a silencer for it as well.

[Handsome Rob]

This is my first Savage bolt &, well, I know it won't be my last (mostly because I already have most of a second...)
I'm honestly astounded by the out of the box accuracy with what basically amounts to whatever load I could put together with whichever powder I had on hand.
I haven't even started working on load development yet. I bought the rifle as a cheap, knock about range/hunting gun that seemed cheap. I mean, that's basically all it still is. Other than the bottom metal & box mag the stock & break stand me at under $70. The only reason I changed the stock was to install the mag.

My next Savage is getting put together on an old 110 long action. Now that I've joined Strategic Edge, I have the long range bug ;) Edited March 29, 2015 by robtattoo