I bought a SAVAGE...

[4cefed]

...Rifle



I've been looking for a decent bolt action .308 for a while now. Got one today. It's a model 110 that came with a 3-9x Simmons scope which seems OK, leather sling and nice hard case. It was "used" but I doubt it was even fired. The thing shot about 6" left at 20 yards. For $395 not a bad deal.

It's screaming for upgrades. I know it's an entry level rifle, but it's a solid action that I can eventually put high dollar stocks, barrels, and optics on. .308 Is very popular and a military round, so ammo is plentiful. I'm shopping for a nice stock and bipod already. I'm looking for 3" groups at about 400yds. I'll have to start going to my range and see how she does.

[sickkwidit]

NICE

[Mr1der]

can't tell from the pic, but does it have an accu trigger?

it looks to be an older rifle...the 110 is a good platform though.

Remington 700 guys will probably come in and bash on it like they do Mossberg 500's....

for that kind of accuracy at 400, the stock and trigger would be a place to start after going over the optics.

[4cefed]

It's not an accutrigger, but for the money I couldn't pass it up. If I get serious I'll add a Timney trigger or something anyway.

I wanted a Rem 700 action, but most of them are in the $450-500 ballpark mostly without optics. The savage is known to be a great accurate rifle for the money and a good first sniper wanna-be rifle. I'm not making 1000 yard head shots with this thing.

[Dattebayo]

SO, you own several POS Dodge's, and now this huh...

[4cefed]

Yes, I do.

[Mr1der]

gotta live up to stereotypes Dave.

[Dattebayo]

gotta live up to stereotypes Dave.

It's a good thing I'm just an all-around nice guy.

[Bubba1]

Yes, I do.

I guess the big question is whether any of those Dodges have gun racks....

Nice find.

[Koshin]

nice gun

[ADDirishboy]

Wait, wrong Savage....

[Bwana]

Remington 700 guys will probably come in and bash on it like they do Mossberg 500's....

I HAVE AN AWESOME 700 AND IT ARE WAY MORE BETTER THAN THAT CRAPPY SAVAGE POS!!!!


Naw, it's a good gun. Basic upgrades should help out a lot. I'm thinking scope>trigger>stock. And learn your ammo. Finding the round your particular gun likes is key to good consistent groups at that range.

[4cefed]

I'm going to put a few rounds downrange just to zero in what i have and figure out a decent hunting load. I plan on taking a deer or two this fall. After working this fall I might put some money into a decent stock/bipod. My friend built a DPMS LR308 and had a 10x mildot SASS scope that I think he's going to sell me. I'll have to check that out.

I reload ammo, so when I'm looking for the sub-MOA groups I'll start working up a few loads. Being as popular as this round is, hopefully I won't have to put in a lot of work to find a good load.

[Speedy7_7]

can't tell from the pic, but does it have an accu trigger?

it looks to be an older rifle...the 110 is a good platform though.

Remington 700 guys will probably come in and bash on it like they do Mossberg 500's....

for that kind of accuracy at 400, the stock and trigger would be a place to start after going over the optics.

All of these rifles are exactly the same, in terms of accuracy and reliability. They may as well be made in the same factory.
Good entry level rifle! Hopefully it isn't a piece of crap.

[PoorManQ45]

Remington 700 guys will probably come in and bash on it like they do Mossberg 500's....

Agreed. I was looking at the 700s, but they're just too expensive. I ended up getting a Marlin XL-7 in 30-06. $299 new!

[Speedy7_7]

I'm going to put a few rounds downrange just to zero in what i have and figure out a decent hunting load. I plan on taking a deer or two this fall. After working this fall I might put some money into a decent stock/bipod. My friend built a DPMS LR308 and had a 10x mildot SASS scope that I think he's going to sell me. I'll have to check that out.

I reload ammo, so when I'm looking for the sub-MOA groups I'll start working up a few loads. Being as popular as this round is, hopefully I won't have to put in a lot of work to find a good load.

Putting new optics on it will help a ton, and the accuracy will change after you have fired a couple hundred rounds through it, hopefully for the better.

.308 is one of my favorite calibers, I bought my wife a Ruger .308 junior model and she can shoot tacks with that thing. 2 years ago was her first ever time hunting, she stuck a doe at 257 yards, perfect shot, right behind the front shoulder.

I personally shoot a .300 win mag. TC Encore, single shot break barrel, great gun, just a little hell on the shoulder.

[PoorManQ45]

Putting new optics on it will help a ton, and the accuracy will change after you have fired a couple hundred rounds through it, hopefully for the better.

Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing with a hunting rifle that you are putting hundreds of rounds through it?

[Razi]

Shooting?

[PoorManQ45]

Shooting?

Shoot a lot of paper?

[Speedy7_7]

Putting new optics on it will help a ton, and the accuracy will change after you have fired a couple hundred rounds through it, hopefully for the better.

Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing with a hunting rifle that you are putting hundreds of rounds through it?

Hell yea, you shoot alot of paper, you need to learn the gun and the gun needs to break in. When I do the first sight in with any of my rifles, there is at least a hundred rounds going through in the first day. I buy multiple different brands in as many different grains as I can, I get the rifle close to sighted in at 50 yards and I fire a crap-ton of different rounds through it, some rounds will give you a 3 inch group at 50, others will be dead on every shot, I would rather go with the dead on rounds. I shoot Winchester Super X game tips in 185 grain through my rifle. My old 30-06 shot remington 165 grain nosler. My wife shoots Federal 135 grain ballistic tip. Different rounds just shoot differently through certain guns, if you want to be confident with any gun, you damn well better be putting hundreds of rounds through it. And if you bought a cheaper rifle, it was most likely test fired with three rounds. High end guns have a hundred rounds put through them before they leave the factory, look at Sako, TC, and the like.

[Razi]

Shooting?

Shoot a lot of paper?

Babies.

[Speedy7_7]

Shoot a lot of paper?

Babies.

Hell yea, you shoot alot of babies, you need to learn the gun and the gun needs to break in. When I do the first sight in with any of my rifles, there is at least a hundred babies going down in the first day. I buy multiple different brands in as many different grains as I can, I get the rifle close to sighted in at 50 yards and I shoot a crap-ton of babies with it, some rounds will give you a 3 inch group at 50, others will be dead on every shot, I would rather go with the dead babies. I shoot Winchester Super X game tips in 185 grain through my rifle. My old 30-06 shot remington 165 grain nosler. My wife shoots Federal 135 grain ballistic tip. Different rounds just shoot differently through certain guns, if you want to be confident with any gun, you damn well better be putting hundreds of rounds through babies. And if you bought a cheaper rifle, it was most likely test fired with three rounds. High end guns have a hundred rounds put through them before they leave the factory, look at Sako, TC, and the like.

[Razi]

[numbnuts240]

[PoorManQ45]

Hell yea, you shoot alot of paper, you need to learn the gun and the gun needs to break in. When I do the first sight in with any of my rifles, there is at least a hundred rounds going through in the first day. I buy multiple different brands in as many different grains as I can, I get the rifle close to sighted in at 50 yards and I fire a crap-ton of different rounds through it, some rounds will give you a 3 inch group at 50, others will be dead on every shot, I would rather go with the dead on rounds. I shoot Winchester Super X game tips in 185 grain through my rifle. My old 30-06 shot remington 165 grain nosler. My wife shoots Federal 135 grain ballistic tip. Different rounds just shoot differently through certain guns, if you want to be confident with any gun, you damn well better be putting hundreds of rounds through it. And if you bought a cheaper rifle, it was most likely test fired with three rounds. High end guns have a hundred rounds put through them before they leave the factory, look at Sako, TC, and the like.

Very interesting. Maybe it's because I read forums, but if you read up on your gun you'll find what other people have had great success with. This is usually a great starting point.

I'm not quite sure about the break-in statement though. I'm not sure how you would get used to your gun if you're firing that many rounds through it. The barrel heats up and the groups open after a few shots. It would take forever to shoot that many rounds accurately, so I'm not sure on the usefulness of doing that.

I always learned that as long as you know where your first shot is going to hit, that's all that matters.

Break-in is also very questionable. 30-30s with open sites will be dead nuts accurate on the first shot as it is on its 100th shot. So I'm not sure I'd want to use all that ammunition up. I mean, 100 shots should give you close to 75 animals once you factor in the 25 shots used over that time period to ensure accuracy... I know ammo is relatively cheap, but why waste it?

I like my Marlin 336 30-30. Feed it anything off the shelf, hold steady, pull trigger... "Hey look, that animal has a hole in its heart!"

[Razi]

You shoot animals?
You heartless bastard!

[PoorManQ45]

You shoot animals?
You heartless bastard!

I also club baby seals!

[Razi]

And next you're going to tell me you're against shooting babies!

[Speedy7_7]

Hell yea, you shoot alot of paper, you need to learn the gun and the gun needs to break in. When I do the first sight in with any of my rifles, there is at least a hundred rounds going through in the first day. I buy multiple different brands in as many different grains as I can, I get the rifle close to sighted in at 50 yards and I fire a crap-ton of different rounds through it, some rounds will give you a 3 inch group at 50, others will be dead on every shot, I would rather go with the dead on rounds. I shoot Winchester Super X game tips in 185 grain through my rifle. My old 30-06 shot remington 165 grain nosler. My wife shoots Federal 135 grain ballistic tip. Different rounds just shoot differently through certain guns, if you want to be confident with any gun, you damn well better be putting hundreds of rounds through it. And if you bought a cheaper rifle, it was most likely test fired with three rounds. High end guns have a hundred rounds put through them before they leave the factory, look at Sako, TC, and the like.

Very interesting. Maybe it's because I read forums, but if you read up on your gun you'll find what other people have had great success with. This is usually a great starting point.

I'm not quite sure about the break-in statement though. I'm not sure how you would get used to your gun if you're firing that many rounds through it. The barrel heats up and the groups open after a few shots. It would take forever to shoot that many rounds accurately, so I'm not sure on the usefulness of doing that.

I always learned that as long as you know where your first shot is going to hit, that's all that matters.

Break-in is also very questionable. 30-30s with open sites will be dead nuts accurate on the first shot as it is on its 100th shot. So I'm not sure I'd want to use all that ammunition up. I mean, 100 shots should give you close to 75 animals once you factor in the 25 shots used over that time period to ensure accuracy... I know ammo is relatively cheap, but why waste it?

I like my Marlin 336 30-30. Feed it anything off the shelf, hold steady, pull trigger... "Hey look, that animal has a hole its heart!"

I dont read gun forums, I learned from doing and from shooting with older shooters. A 30-30 is a great gun for the woods, it will shoot a good group with any round out to a distance. Pass that distance and you are just spraying and praying. I would say a 30-30 is very confident out to 200 yards, past that, you may as well hope for a hit. If you are never in a situation that you would shoot further than that it is a perfect gun, it will also go through branches and grass without to much loss of accuracy. A .308 is a different beast altogether, if he is confident in that gun, he can make a kill near 800 yards. But if he is in the woods, any branch or blade of grass can toss that bullet into space. Read up on Break in, it does take all day, you dont want to over-heat the rifle, but you want it to get used. Shoot in 5 shot groups, look at where your hitting. shoot at many different ranges to see what the gun will do. I you are confident at 200 yards but you cant hit a barn at 400, you better hope that trophy buck is within range before you squeeze off a shot and wound an animal. I shoot at milk jugs filled with water for my super long distance practice, it is about the size of a vital area and you can see when you hit it.

[PoorManQ45]

I dont read gun forums, I learned from doing and from shooting with older shooters. A 30-30 is a great gun for the woods, it will shoot a good group with any round out to a distance. Pass that distance and you are just spraying and praying. I would say a 30-30 is very confident out to 200 yards, past that, you may as well hope for a hit. If you are never in a situation that you would shoot further than that it is a perfect gun, it will also go through branches and grass without to much loss of accuracy. A .308 is a different beast altogether, if he is confident in that gun, he can make a kill near 800 yards. But if he is in the woods, any branch or blade of grass can toss that bullet into space. Read up on Break in, it does take all day, you dont want to over-heat the rifle, but you want it to get used. Shoot in 5 shot groups, look at where your hitting. shoot at many different ranges to see what the gun will do. I you are confident at 200 yards but you cant hit a barn at 400, you better hope that trophy buck is within range before you squeeze off a shot and wound an animal. I shoot at milk jugs filled with water for my super long distance practice, it is about the size of a vital area and you can see when you hit it.

I've never shot over 200 yards. There is a 1000 range about 30 minutes away, but I don't want to embarrass myself...

I also have a Lee Enfield 303 British. Flip up peep sites set to IIRC, 400 and 600 yards. I need to get to the 1000 yard range to give that distance a try with the Enfield. Unfortunately it's a 2 groove and not the elusive 6 groove

I am intrigued by the 308 at 800 yards though. I'd probably step to a 7mm RM around 500 yards due to the ballistic coefficient. But 308 is definitely more then capable of 800 yards in the right hands

*edit* I'm still considering picking up a 243 and taking it to the 1000 yard range. Should be able to reach out and touch! I'm too cheap for a 6.5mm...