Target Sports

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING PART TWO

Created on 26th May 2009

Vince Bottomley continues his challenge to build an F/TR rifle at the same cost as Savage's new model in .308 Win

F Class shooting has really taken off in the last couple of years, thanks in no small part to the formation of the Great Britain F Class Association (www.fclass.org.uk). At the same time something of an ‘arms race' has developed in the Open Class, as shooters strive for the ultimate cartridge. Big wind-bucking bullets driven by hefty powder charges usually mean short barrel life - often less than a season in some cases, and that's just not enough for many shooters.

By contrast the F/TR Class is restricted to the .308 Win cartridge, so barrel life is not a problem (F/TR shooters are free to choose the .223 Rem cartridge as an alternative to the .308 Win but as all the GB league shoots will be at 800yd and beyond, the .308 is the sensible choice). A common cartridge also levels the playing field somewhat. These two factors no doubt contribute to the fact that F/TR is rapidly gaining popularity. What's more, a brand new Savage factory F/TR rifle is up for grabs for the 2008 GB F/TR Class League winner, thanks to the generosity of Garlands and North West Custom Parts.

Savage Arms is currently the only manufacturer to recognise F Class's potential and it now offers a new rifle in the 308 Win chambering especially for F/TR class. This new Savage costs around £1,175 out of the box, which represents excellent value for money. My challenge is to build a rifle at least as good as the Savage for no more than this amount, so let's get on with it!

A stiff package

I am starting with exactly the same action that the factory Savage uses, as Savage has now made these ‘target' actions available to the public. At £500 - complete with trigger, trigger-guard and recoil-lug - they are great value and a good basis for any F Class rifle or similar. The action comes in single-shot configuration with solid-bottom and small ejection-port. This makes it a very stiff package so I can use a barrel even heavier than Savage's. My choice of barrel is Pacnor's button-rifled ‘super match'. I ordered it online on 6 November last year and it arrived the day after Boxing Day, well inside Pacnor's promised eight-to-10 weeks. The heavy-profile blank is 33" long but it is normal to discard the last inch, which gives me the option to finish it anywhere between 30" and 32". The last inch is discarded because match-grade barrels are hand-lapped to achieve the final finish and as the lap does not come out of the barrel the last inch at either end is not fully finished and should not be used. Obviously, the rifling at the chamber-end is removed by the chamber reamer so we just need to discard that last inch of muzzle.

Watch your weight

The Pacnor blank weighs a hefty 8lb and I am looking for an all-up weight of no more than 18lb complete with scope and bi-pod, so final barrel-length will not be determined until the rifle is virtually finished. I know from weighing all the components that the final weight will be very close to the 18lb limit and that 2" of barrel will weigh around 7oz - should I need to lose it!

My first job is to get the barrel set up in the lathe and run in the Pacific Tool & Gauge reamer. The reamer is ground to what PT&G refer to as its ‘Palma' profile. In other words, the lead is cut to suit the Sierra 155gn Palma Match bullet. Why have I chosen this bullet? All our shoots will be at long-range - 800 to 1,000yd - and to keep any .308 bullet supersonic all the way to 1,000yd a muzzle velocity in the region of 3,000fps is needed. I can achieve this with the 155gn bullet and a 30" barrel and I can also keep the twist-rate of the barrel down to one in 14. Remember, never spin a bullet faster than you need to stabilise it. The faster you spin it the more any minute eccentricities in the copper-jacket and lead-core will be magnified.

The Savage uses a 20tpi UNF thread on its 1.125" diameter tenon and this time I will use the recoil lug supplied with the action. Although I'm not a fan of recoil lugs trapped between the barrel and action, this is a very good lug and should not be confused with the horrible stamped examples found on some factory rifles.

Although it's not at all big the .308 Win still needs a fair bit of steel removed when cutting the chamber. Professional gunsmiths will often use a carbide ‘rougher' reamer to take out the bulk of the metal but these are expensive for the amateur. An alternative is to drill out the bulk of the chamber with an undersize stub drill and then bore the chamber true before cutting the final bit with a finishing reamer. Both these methods save time and reduce wear on the finishing reamer. This is important for professional gunsmiths but I'm not in a hurry and don't consider either method superior, so I will take my time with the finishing reamer.

Threading and chambering a barrel means working to very small tolerances: tenths of a thousandth of an inch! When the chamber is finished we can ‘clock' it with the dti and see just how good our work is. Nothing I can do about it now, mind you, but it's comforting to see barely a flicker on the dial. A final check with the bore-scope to make sure all is well with the neck and leade, and I can remove the barrel from the lathe.
At this point I would reverse the barrel in the headstock, cut it to length and crown it. My barrel-blank is 33" long and I've paid an extra $55 for those extra 5" over Pacnor's standard 28" blank. Just how many I have to cut off will be determined by the scales - remember, our all-up weight limit is just over 18lb.

Stock

If you recall, Savage Shooter Supply is supplying the stock and although I've been told it's been dispatched I had not received it in time to meet the deadline for this article. So unfortunately completion of this project will have to wait until next month, but I will try to make it worth the wait by carrying out a more comprehensive review of the Savage.

Fortunately I have borrowed an identical (except for the colour) stock from North West Custom Parts, so I can mock up the rifle and weigh it complete with scope and bi-pod.

Results are below:
Barrelled-action C/W trigger, guard and screws: 11lb 0oz
Donor stock: 4lb 13oz
Leupold 8.5-25 scope c/w rings 1lb 10oz
Harris bi-pod: 10oz
Accessory rail: (to be fitted to the forend)3oz
Total: 18lb 4 oz

So I am about 2oz over the limit: an inch off the barrel will do nicely! Off comes the barrel and it's back in the lathe for a final chop and crown. As usual I'm going for a recessed crown with no muzzle brake - this is an F Class rifle, remember, and brakes are forbidden. If weight had been a real problem I would have swapped the Leupold variable for my Weaver T25 scope, which would have saved half a pound.

Money spent

So what did I end up spending? The cost of the stock has already appeared on my latest credit card bill and if I add on a further 20% for VAT and duty, plus that diabolical Parcel Force handling-charge, I should be close to the final cost. I did cheekily ask Savage Shooter Supply for a discount on the stock in exchange for the publicity. Unfortunately it was declined unless I bought two - so I did! In addition to the £500 I spent on the action, the barrel and stock added another £440. The scope rail, accessory rail, screws, bedding-compound, lacquer etc took the total cost to £1,050. The reamer and ‘go' gauge added another £100, so I'm getting dangerously close to the cost of the factory Savage F/TR rifle and if you factor in the machining costs it takes me way over. Believe me, at £1,175 that Savage is terrific value for money.

Hopefully, my stock will arrive in the next few days so I can definitely complete the build in time for the next issue of Target Sports. Then, as promised, I will pit the rifle against a new factory Savage F/TR rifle and see how both perform on the range.

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING PART TWO

Related Links

PROJECT RIFLE PART TWO: SILK PURSES AND SOW'S EAR

PROJECT RIFLE: SILK PURSES AND SOW

PROJECT RIFLE: DESIGN OVER COST

PROJECT RIFLE: A WHAT GUN?

PROJECT RIFLE: IN STOCK F/TR SAVAGE PART THREE

PROJECT RIFLE: FACTORY SAVAGE F/TR PLAN B

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING

PROJECT RIFLE: FRIENDS RE-UNITED

PROJECT RIFLE: SMOOTH OPERATOR

PROJECT RIFLE: SAVAGE REVAMP

Get a copy of Sporting Rifle

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING PART TWO

Related Links

Newsletter