Target Sports

PROJECT RIFLE: FACTORY SAVAGE F/TR PLAN B

Created on 19th May 2009

Waiting for parts can put a spanner in the works. Luckily VINCE BOTTOMLEY has a Factory Savage F/TR rifle to keep him busy

Last month I left you hanging as my stock had not arrived from America. This meant that despite the metalwork part of the project being complete, we were still lacking an essential part to finish our project rifle. It had been my intention to pit our project rifle against the factory offering from Savage, as we will have spent around the same amount on our project as it would cost for a new Savage 308 F/TR rifle.

Two months passed and still no news on my stock; time to email the US supplier - Savage Shooters Supply - to ensure that the stock was not ‘lost' somewhere mid-Atlantic. The reply came and I was assured that my stock was in the final throes of ‘finishing' and would soon be in the post - another month gone and another missed deadline.

A shoulder-to-shoulder test of the two rifles is looking unlikely, as the last Savage F/TR that North West Custom Parts had on hold for me is now in the hands of its new owner. However, he has kindly offered to help us out, so what should have been the final part of our project-build will now be given over to a review of the new Savage F/TR rifle.

A gap in the market

This rifle and its bigger brother, the 6.5-284 Open F-Class rifle, represent a totally new departure for a major arms manufacturer in offering dedicated competition-ready rifles; you could buy a hunting rifle or even a tactical rifle off-the-shelf, but that was about it. If you wanted a competitive rifle for F-Class, Benchrest or Target Rifle none were available from any of the major manufacturers - until now. RPA, of course, offers actions and complete rifles; Accuracy International once offered a target rifle and maybe still does, but otherwise the shelves were empty. So, bravo Savage for taking the plunge.

Although we are reviewing the 308 F/TR version, the 6.5-284 Open Class rifle is equally impressive and would make a decent long-range benchgun. I recently witnessed Phil Gibbon shoot a 3.5" five-shot group in a 600yd benchrest competition earlier this year and that's not shabby by any standards.

The two new Savages share the same action but as the 6.5-284 is intended to be shot from a rest the stock comes with a 3" wide flat forend, whereas our F/TR version has a more conventional-looking forend with an Anschutz-style accessory-rail as it is designed to be shot from a bi-pod - as demanded by the F/TR rules. Both stocks are, however, cut from the same grey laminate and attractively finished with a tough-looking satin clear-coat. Both have rubber butt-pads and 30" barrels and the same Savage patented Accutrigger - but more of that later. The F/TR also comes with a screw-on adjustable cheekpiece but with a rifle rested front and rear this is superfluous, so it will not be used.

I first shot the Savage F/TR when North West Custom Parts took delivery of the first batch to arrive in the UK last year. NWCP owner Stuart Anselm brought one to the range with a Chinese scope on top and invited me to have a few shots at 100yd. Stuart also brought along a box of HPS .308 target ammunition, which proved to be very accurate though a little ‘soft' - a wise precaution on behalf of the manufacturer but to be competitive at extreme ranges velocities in the region of 3000fps need to be explored.

My three-shot groups off the bi-pod were comfortably below the half MOA - I was impressed but for this test the new owner is looking to work up some loads to give us velocities nearer 3000fps and hopefully achieve the same accuracy.

On test

If you can recall my exploits with the re-barrelled .308 Savage, I found that the 155gn Sierra Palma Match bullet and Vihtavuori's N540 powder produced an accurate combination, not only at 300yd but more importantly in competition, when Stuart turned in an impressive performance at the European F-Class Championships at Bisley last October. Unfortunately the F/TR's new owner had brought along some Accurate Arms 2520 powder. This is not ideal, as I'm unfamiliar with it, but it will have to do. Velocities over the chronograph were impressive, however, easily bettering 3,000fps. We did struggle to reproduce the accuracy of the HPS ammunition, though. Three or four shots would go into a respectably small cluster - then a flyer or two would spoil the group. The load was upped and dropped and bullet seating-depths were altered, all to no avail. We were getting some nice three-shot groups but we just couldn't keep five together. OK, it wasn't horrendous - the groups were still around an inch - but I knew the rifle was capable of better.

After about 30 rounds the barrel was showing serious signs of ‘coppering' meaning accuracy would undoubtedly suffer. We abandoned the test and I took the rifle home to have a closer look. The first job was to remove the barrelled action from the stock. Although the barrel was free-floating, clearance was minimal and it appeared to be touching the stock in the area of the barrel-nut. The bedding beneath the action looked OK and so did the area around the recoil-lug but as a precaution I decided to Devcon bed the lug. I also relieved the area around the barrel-nut and gave the barrel-channel a bit of sanding to improve clearance.

The three action-screws are located in steel pillars, which looked fine, so I left it at that. When I replaced the barrelled action, however, I was careful to torque up the three bedding-screws evenly as the action pulled down into the stock. I also took the liberty of increasing the trigger-pull slightly; the otherwise excellent Accutrigger was set too light for F-Class shooting off a bipod in my opinion. Fortunately this is easy to do as Savage includes an adjusting tool with every rifle so that the owner can set the trigger to his own requirements. If you go too light, the rifle will effectively ‘slam-fire' when you close the bolt - except that the clever Accutrigger mechanism prevents release of the sear and thus the rifle will not actually fire.

For our next test the following week I was tempted to take along some Vit N540 or even 140 but we were working with the AA2520 again and, as the owner said, the groups were basically OK - it was just the flyers! Even though the 1-in-10 twist is capable of handling a much heavier bullet I wanted to stick with the 155s as a quick search on the internet had revealed that the official US Savage F/TR team was also using the 155 bullet though Hodgdon's Varget seemed to be the favoured powder choice.

A second attempt

This time we started a bit lower down the scale with our powder charges and didn't worry too much about velocity - sure enough, we were quickly rewarded with some excellent five-shot groups at 100yd measuring below ½". Velocities were still in the 2,900fps range, so were good enough to remain super-sonic even out to 1000yd. More load development work is needed, however, and the owner intends to try the Vihtavuori N540 and maybe some 155 Lapua Scenars in place of the Sierra Palma Match bullets and, of course, experiment with seating depths and the like.

It's difficult to say exactly what was causing our flyers, but personally I think that we were experiencing occasional contact between the barrel and stock, so it's essential to maintain a healthy clearance in this area. Inletting is very neat and the recoil-lug appeared to be in full contact: I'm not convinced that my Devcon bedding was necessary. Although the laminate is dense, it is after all just wood and there will inevitably be variations. Savage has given us that extra bedding-screw and tried to offer a form of pillar-bedding which, short of opting for a full custom bedding job, is as good as it gets for a factory rifle.

I've already waxed lyrical about the solid-bottom Savage action and the benefits of its free-floating bolt-head. This rifle is clearly capable, particularly if you take F/TR shooting seriously. There are other .308 rifles which are accurate - for example the Sako TRG (£1,800) or the Remington PSS (£800) - but none of these comes with a 30" barrel and none will therefore approach 3,000fps with the 155gn bullet and offer the supersonic terminal velocities that are essential for effective long-range target shooting. I predict a great future for the Savage and F/TR competition.

Finally, thanks to Stuart Anselm of North West Custom parts and Russ Howard, the Savage's new owner, for their help with this project. Don't forget, one of these rifles will be awarded to the winner of this year's GB F/TR League.

Next month we will hopefully have our project rifle up and running - we need to, as I will be shooting it in the first GB F-Class League shoot of 2008 at Diggle ranges on 12-13 April.

Technical Specification

Manufacturer: Savage Arms
Model: F/TR
Type: Single-shot, bolt-action rifle
Calibre: .308 Winchester
Barrel: 30" stainless-steel button rifled
Profile: 1.125"-0.99"
Twist: One in 10
Crown: 90° recessed
O/A length: 50"
Weight: bare 13lb
(F/TR maximum weight with scope and bi-pod 18lb)
Stock: Factory wood-laminate with rubber butt-pad and accessory rail
Trigger: Savage Accutrigger - owner-adjustable down to about 8oz
Sights: None (8.5-25 Leupold used in test mounted on Farrell base)
Guide price: £1,175

UK Distributor: Garlands
T: 01827 383300

PROJECT RIFLE: FACTORY SAVAGE F/TR PLAN B

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PROJECT RIFLE: FACTORY SAVAGE F/TR PLAN B

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