advice on issues with Savage rifle

[thomis]

Hello friends. I have this rifle from Savage. I was pretty happy with it out of the box but as time goes on, I am feeling the desire to return it to Savage. I went to the website and looked at customer service/ warranty info and was very surprised to see that they only offer a one year warranty.

The overall biggest problem is that I can't get shots to group. I don't think I'm expecting too much from this rifle. I'm a handloader and I have tried 3 powders (IMR 4064, Varget, and H4895) and a dozen brass and bullet combinations. I just can't get tight groups. At 50 yards I am getting 3 to 4" groups. At 100 yards about the same, sometimes 5" groups. Granted I have gotten a few 1.5" groups but using the SAME loads that achieved those groups, the next time I shoot those loads, I get 3 or 4" groups again. I am using a good solid rest. I passed a dollar bill around the bbl and it appears to be free-floating. I have a torque drive and torqued the stock to various foot pounds (20 to 40), still can't find a sweet spot.

A few other minor issues:
--- The rear trigger guard screw was stripped from day 1.
--- The Savage emblem on bottom of the stock pistol grip recently fell off (it was glued)
--- The safety is not smooth, you have to work it side to side to get it all the way forwards and backwards

I was thinking since it has been beyond one year (it's been about 1.5 years since I purchased), my choices are to call Savage and plead my case or send it to my gunsmith.

I appreciate any and all advice.

Many thanks-

 

[scratcherky]

What caliber and how many rounds down the tube?

 

[wingman]

Give us caliber and model of gun:

Overall the accuracy issue "could" be scope/mounts.


For me Savage has been excellent with problem solving,
I suspect they would do same for you.

 

[jpwilly]

I'm pretty sure they will take care of you call them with the serial number of the rifle in hand and follow the warranty return instructions.

 

[DoubleMag]

If you do call them don't tell them its handloads, this can void any warranty

Most manufacturers claim warranty is void if using handloads

But yes back to basics you need to post some more info, caliber, model# scope setup etc

 

[thomis]

The mount system is Warne bases and Leupold PRW rings. (But Warne makes the rings for Leupold as well).
The scope is Leupold VX-II 3-9 X 40
The screws are Loctited (blue)

The caliber is .308 Win

The rifle is the Savage Model 14 / Classic

Here is my original post (with pics) on the rifle shortly after I bought it. Since then, I have stretched it out to 100 and 200 yards and there have been about 150 shots through the tube. I have thoroughly cleaned the barrel twice.

There are two other threads I posted over the past year and half regarding this rifle. But don't bore yourself if you don't want to. I think all the needed info, I have already posted...

June 2010

July 2010

 

[thomis]

Are you sure about the handloads voiding the warranty? I read in the warranty info they wanted you to provide what loads you were using to help them determine accuracy issues.

 

[DoubleMag]

Are you sure about the handloads voiding the warranty? I read in the warranty info they wanted you to provide what loads you were using to help them determine accuracy issues.

This is common language for manufacturers, you should see it in your manual. Remember, they see everything wrong and have to write policy for it. It's not about your skills its about dunce's. And in your case with that type of group sizes you would be using handloads to increase accuracy, my guess is it would do it with factory loads too or have you tried that.

 

[wingman]

I will point out a couple issues and not being critical but problems I've had over a 40+ year period.

1-I never remove stock from an action when I purchase I clean barrel
grease bolt lugs and shoot, my thought is I want too see how rifle performs
from factory using factory(commerical) ammo.

2-While you have a good brand scope they can go bad.

3-You may be a person who over tightens screws/bolts I also had
a heavy hand in my youth.

I would recommend trying a new scope, commerical ammo(good brand),
re check receiver bolts, they can be too tight putting stress/strain on receiver.

After shooting (with gun empty) check powder pattern at crown should see
a nice star pattern.

All fails call savage they will help...

 

[788Ham]

Not to be nit picky here, but after 150 rounds shot through your rifle, you've only cleaned it twice? Maybe thats the problem and not your scope, or over tightened screws, or scope base mount. Possibly cleaning that thing more often, you'll have a better idea why/where its shooting, or not shooting. YMMV

 

[Datacrypt]

At 50 yards I am getting 3 to 4" groups. At 100 yards about the same, sometimes 5" groups.

This indicates to me that it may not be the rifle. I would expect to see a much larger variance when moving between 50 and 100 yards if it were the rifle.

Handloads add another set of variables, you do not indicate how many bullet types you have tried and honestly some guns are picky down to the primer. You may try factory loads until you can determine the problem.

As far as the safety, stripped trigger guard screw, and grip cap you should definitely call Savage about it.

 

[kludge]

1) Have someone else shoot it.

From a solid rest I can't imagine any rifle shooting 3-4" groups at 50 yards, unless the scope is broken and the reticle is floating around inside. I've had groups move 1.5" at 100 yards from a scope that was not mounted tightly.

P.S. I hope your screws are 20-40 INCH-pounds, not FOOT-pounds. Maybe that's why your trigger guard screw is stripped. 15-30 inch-pounds should be plenty.

 

[thomis]

Yes, I meant inch pounds. And the rear trigger screw was stripped out of the box. I never used the torque driver on it.

I have tried factory ammo. I have had one other competent shooter pattern the rifle with same results.

The scope is brand new and I am confident that it is not a scope/ mount issue (I'm not new at this).

 

[Datacrypt]

Well, it seems you have troubleshot the issues to the point that you are satisfied and believe it is the rifle. That being the case, I see only a few options from there.

A.) Call Savage.
B.) Do a barrel swap and see if that is the problem.
C.) Take it to a smith that accurizes bolt guns and see what they say.
D.) Sell it, preferably in an honorable fashion outlining your problems so the next guy that owns it is not posting the same questions on THR in a month or two

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

As a manufacturer, were I to get a dirty rifle that had only fired hand-loads, I'd clean the rifle, shoot an off the shelf premium ammunition and if/when it performed as designed I would charge the owner $62.00 per hour for my time.

Point being - they don't give two-poohs how well you load or how great a marksman you are or what your particular cleaning regimen is. They care about what they designed the rifle to do with factory ammo shot from a rest and with it being maintained to their expected level.

Clean 'er up, buy some factory ammo of the configuration recommended and have some pals shoot it with you the next time you take it out.

 

[Tinpig]

I've had a Savage 14 Classic for a year now. It's in .223 and I put a Bushnell 3200 Elite 10x40 scope on it. I found a good load for it with 24 gr. of H4895 and a 55 gr. FMJBT. It is consistently within 1.5 in. at 100 yds and I'm not the greatest shot, so the Savage 14 with accutrigger can be very accurate.
I guess the only way to narrow down the problem is to start eliminating the variables. Hope it works out...I do like that rifle.

Tinpig

 

[rajb123]

I had this issue with a rimfire gun. It just would not shoot well. I tried everything ...nothing I found including a close inspection of the muzzle crown, action screws, rifling, chamber burrs, etc. was identified as a cause of bad grouping and several
brands of ammo were tried by several different shooters.

It was just a stinker....

 

[thomis]

apache todd- as stated earlier, i have shot factory ammo.

 

[BoilerUP]

I'll give ya $200 for the hunk of junk.

Seriously though, while it may not be the root cause, yours wouldn't be the first "newish" Savage to leave the factory with a crappy chamber reamed into the barrel. If you've eliminated other variables (rings, base, ammo, shooter, rest) then its probably the most likely scenario. I'd probably still put a box of FGMM down it just to make sure...

Call them and see if they'll do the right thing. I'm guessing they probably will...and while it might take 3-6 weeks for you to get the rifle back when they send it back to you it should include a test target showing its performance.

As for 150rds and only 2 cleanings...my Savages shoot best after they get 40-50rds though them and accuracy doesn't start to fade until well north of 150 down the tube. Why clean unless 1. accuracy fades or 2. you're going to be storing for a while?

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

apache todd- as stated earlier, i have shot factory ammo.

Oops - blew right past that but my main point is keep the re-load issue to your self if you do return it and tell them exactly what ammo failed to perform for you. Savage are (or at least, were) decent folk and they may step up on this too.

 

[WVRJ]

I would look hard at the scope-I recently messed up a 12X leupold by overtightening a set of Warne rings.They can be drawn tight enough to cause trouble.I would start by either putting the scope on a known good shooter or by trying another scope on your 308.Mine actually broke the crosshair and was visible,but there could be damage to other parts inside.

 

[JohnBT]

A few years ago I picked out a mid-priced Leupold for my father to give to his brother. He mounted it on his early .30-06 BAR and after exactly 7 shots the shots started going everywhichway. They fixed it of course, but they do go bad sometimes.

 

[oldgold]

A couple of years ago I bought a second hand 110 in 30-06. Like yours it, shot patterns instead of groups. A local benchrest shooter sold me another barrel also in 30-06. I swapped the barrels myself [easy] and the first five group out of the new barrel was .437".

Bad barrels happen to all manufacturers.

 

[snakeman]

first try a different scope and all new mounts and rings. If that doesn't work take it up with savage they should do something about it.

 

[243winxb]

I passed a dollar bill around the bbl and it appears to be free-floating.

Will 5 of them slide in out ok? If not open up the channel. Then Tubb Final Finish to smooth out the barrel. Clean well, load 150 gr Sierra with IMR 4895 and give it a go.