Target Sports

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING

Created on 27th May 2009

VINCE BOTTOMLEY's new project rifle aims to satisfy F/TR Class without denting your wallet

THE F/TR Class is meant to offer competitors an opportunity to shoot in top-level long-range rifle competition at a realistic cost. Realistic? A custom-built ‘Open' class rifle, chambered for one of the competitive ‘wunder' cartridges, will now cost upwards of £3,000 excluding scope - and bear in mind, a barrel will barely last a season. Judging from the feedback I received following our Savage F/TR upgrade in January's issue of Target Sports, there is clearly a growing interest in the F/TR Class, and with a brand-new Savage F/TR rifle up for grabs for the winner of this year's GB League, I'm not surprised.

Even our second-hand re-barrelled Savage cost in excess of £1,000 and that makes Savage's new factory F/TR rifle exceptionally good value at under £1,200. The Savage F/TR rifle uses the factory's new solid-bottom ‘target' action with small ejection-port, which results in a stiff-looking action. You won't be surprised to hear that it also shoots exceptionally well and is a real bargain if you are looking for a single-shot 308. Not only that, Savage is happy to sell you its ‘target' action - as used in the F/TR rifle - for less than £500.

This action is a real bargain. It comes complete with the Savage patented Accutrigger which, although not to the standard of a proper competition trigger like the Jewell, is more than adequate for an F-Class rifle. In addition, we also get a good quality quarter-inch-thick recoil-lug and a trigger-guard. These three components could easily add £100-200 to the cost of a custom action, so the Savage is an excellent buy. The Savage may not be in the same league as the BAT or Stolle action, but it's got to be considered for anything except benchrest.

One drawback with the Savage action is the bedding area. Although the action is a handy 8" in length, the rear action-screw is forward of the trigger rather than being placed in the rear tang, as is more common. However, Savage has addressed the problem by adding a third screw. Having said that, I've already established - to my own satisfaction at least - that there isn't a problem with the two-screw action, as the rifle we featured in the January issue is happily carrying a heavy 32" barrel.

The Savage action could be the key to our next rifle. Even better, North West Custom Parts usually keep one or two in stock and, as I will be doing the chambering myself, this hopefully gives me the opportunity to build a rifle similar to the factory F/TR for less outlay - or preferably - a better rifle for the same outlay.

Savage is the only major rifle manufacturer to use that unusual locking-nut for securing the barrel. Using this method means that the critical head-spacing becomes part of the assembly process rather than part of the machining process. It neither adds to nor detracts from the accuracy potential, and in addition to keeping manufacturing costs down, it also allows the Savage owner to easily swap barrels and calibres. On the downside, it limits the weight of the barrel - or at least the breech diameter - as it must be smaller than the locking-nut. I'm not a fan of that nut, so we will dispense with it for this project and simply ‘shoulder' our new barrel up to the action-face. We can now use a barrel measuring 1.25" in diameter at the breech as opposed to the 1.125" maximum when using the nut.

We've established that this new action is rigid, but does that automatically make it accurate? Surely it's just a mass-produced factory action, built to factory ‘mass-production' standards? Yes it is, but the Savage has another feature that contributes to its above-average accuracy, which is perhaps more by accident than design.

Have a good look at a Savage bolt. It's made up of over 20 separate pieces - about twice as many as a Remington bolt. The reason for this is the same as the barrel-nut initiative; it saves a few costly machining techniques. The bolt-head is a separate unit which is pinned to the bolt-body. This allows the bolt-head and lugs to articulate slightly, allowing the lugs full contact with the action-lugs when ignition takes place. Do I need to emphasise the importance of full-contact with bolt locking-lugs? It is a basic requirement of an accurate action. It's what we pay for in a top-end custom action and get for free in every Savage action.

I'm convinced even if you're not, and to prove it, I've laid out my money. Remember our goal - a better rifle for the £1,175 it would cost for a Savage factory F/TR rifle. We've now blown £500 on the action, leaving £675 for a barrel, stock and a few other bits and pieces.

At the moment, the pound is strong against the dollar, so any American-sourced bits should be good value. The Pacnor barrels offer exceptional value anyway and I'm impressed not only with their finish and accuracy but also with their speed of delivery, so the next step is to order a ‘super-match' blank from Pacnor. This is straightforward and, thanks to the locking-nut system, you could even order a pre-chambered barrel and a new bolt-head if necessary via your local RFD, of course. The following day, I received a re-assuring email from Penny at Pacnor thanking me for my order and informing me that I could expect delivery in eight-10 weeks.
I'm also ordering a tapered Weaver-type scope-rail from www.kenfarrell.com. The Farrell bases are really solid, superbly machined and good value at $80. There is a choice of steel or aluminium, and as we are ‘weight-conscious' with this build, I'm going for ally.

What about our stock? We will be shooting off a bipod, as this is one of the requirements for the F/TR Class. Although we won't need a three-inch wide benchrest-style forend, we do need a stiff forend: remember, we are carrying a very heavy barrel. However, we must keep in mind our weight limit - just 8.25kg or 18lb (compared to 10kg for an Open F-Class rifle) and that includes bipod and scope. Although this seems generous, the weight soon adds up - the action, complete with trigger, screws, guard and scope-rail weighs 3lb, the barrel 7.5lb, my Leupold 8.5-25 scope with rings another 1.5lb and a Harris bipod is around ¾lb. That leaves about 5lbs for the stock.

I'm looking for a laminate stock, even though they are heavier than a fibreglass version. Laminates can be trued-up, pared-down and re-shaped, which is difficult to do with a fibreglass stock; a pre-inlet would also be nice, to keep the project as simple as possible.

North West Custom Parts put me onto Sharp Shooter Supplies in America - see www.sharpshootersupply.com. It specialises in all things Savage and offers some nice-looking stocks for around $300, which come ready inletted and complete with aluminium pillars and pre-installed Pachmayr butt-pad. NWCP was able to let me have a look at a few stocks and they are a great option, especially if you are looking to build your own Savage with minimal effort. With a pre-chambered barrel, you could put the whole rifle together in a couple of hours! The wood-laminate is offered in a wide variety of colours and finished to a high standard, ready for lacquer and honestly - although I will probably not be able to resist bedding mine - you could simply screw in your barrelled-action and shoot.

By next month, I hope to have all my bits and pieces and we can build our project rifle, take it to the range and shoot it alongside one of NWCP's genuine Savage factory F/TR rifles, to see if our time and money has been well spent! Meanwhile, have a look at the GB F-Class Association website at (www.f-class.org.uk) where you'll find an exciting calendar of shoots for the coming season. Get that .308 dusted-off and come and do some real shooting!

PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING

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PROJECT RIFLE: A SAVAGE SAVING

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