New Rifle Mods - What's worth the money?

[Taurus44]

I have been shooting rifles for quite some time, but I recently acquired a new Savage 10FP for the sole purpose of drilling paper out to whatever range I can find to shoot. I regularly shoot at a 300 yard range, but I'm looking to find something that will drill tiny groups even beyond that.

I have the gun (10FP in .308 with 24" barrel and Accutrigger), a Choate Ultimate Sniper stock, Burris Xtreme tactical rings and two-piece bases, and a Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 fixed power scope.

I'd like to have the action slicked-up and bedded in the stock, but what other mods are worth doing? Is cryo-treating worth the money for accuracy and barrel life? Should I have the bolt face worked on? Jewel the bolt?

I'm not saying that money is no object, but I'm not opposed to spending money on worthwhile mods. So... What would you do and/or have done? Also, where would you have it done (I'm in Ohio if that makes a difference)?

 

[rero360]

having the action blueprinted, i.e. having the bolt face and the barrel trued up in relationship to the reciever is a big one, I'd stay away from the cryo treatment, but thats just me.

I don't have any experience with those paticular rings or bases, but another worthwile job is to have the insides of the rings worked on to ensure optimal engagment with the scope as well as to make sure they're trued up with the action as well.

 

[USSR]

Taurus44,

I know I'll take some flak for this, but, the beauty (if such a word can be said in the same sentence as Savage) of the Savage is that they are cheap and shoot pretty well right out of the box. Putting several hundred more dollars into a $600 rifle, simply gets you a $600 rifle that you have more than $600 into.

Don

 

[silverlance]

what ussr said sums it up.
actually it's true of pretty much any gun other than the AR15 (because the upper receiver is basically a whole separate gun).

 

[Taurus44]

I know I'll take some flak for this, but, the beauty (if such a word can be said in the same sentence as Savage) of the Savage is that they are cheap and shoot pretty well right out of the box. Putting several hundred more dollars into a $600 rifle, simply gets you a $600 rifle that you have more than $600 into.

Okay. Point taken.

Now, do this for me... Replace "Savage" in my original post with "Remington" and "10FP" with "700". Then reply to my post telling me what you think would be worth the money. The end goal is the same regardless of the cost of the base rifle.

I just chose to start with a Savage because I had some money burning a hole in my pocket, and the local shop had one that I could buy right then. It wasn't really a matter of trying to save money (although that's not a bad thing).

actually it's true of pretty much any gun other than the AR15 (because the upper receiver is basically a whole separate gun).

I have multiple ARs in various configurations already. I also have multiple bolt guns already, but this one is "for fun" simply because I want to, and I can.

 

[CWL]

Bed the barrel.

Start reloading if you haven't already to develop some loads that will maximize performance.

I feel that anything beyond what you already have won't help you at all.

I knew a guy in highschool who put a $5000 stereo into his $1100 Ford Fiesta. Don't do the same thing with your rifle.

 

[Bill73]

On March 16, 1991 I bought a Savage 110 for $234.86 OTD at a old Gibson Discount Store. It has a trigger job and glass bedded action.

Long years ago I sat in a Mesquite pasture in the late afternoon of the last day of the season. As I started to walk back out I saw a deer way in the distance. I sat on the ground and put the riffle on a low branch and ran the scope up to nine and then I could see a rack. If it hadn't been the last day I would never have taken a shot. He put his head down to feed, I raised the cross hair until I saw a sliver of sky above his back and fired. When I got to him he had dropped on his chest with neck and head stretched out. It was 350 paces back to my stool. I could shoot at a paper plate all day long at that distance and doubt that I'd ever hit it.

The Savage .270 is still with me, a great gun.

 

[USSR]

Okay. Point taken.

Now, do this for me... Replace "Savage" in my original post with "Remington" and "10FP" with "700". Then reply to my post telling me what you think would be worth the money. The end goal is the same regardless of the cost of the base rifle.

Okay, I'll bite. Take a $600 Remington Model 700 (Oh, and BTW, none of my rifles say "Remington" on them), put a custom barrel on it and bed it, and you can sell it for nearly $1000. That's the difference; resale value.

Don

 

[Taurus44]

Resale value only counts if you ever intend to sell the rifle.

But, I can see that I'm beating my head against the proverbial wall here, so I'll continue to look elsewhere for advice.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Taurus44, don't be discouraged. I know a local gunsmith, a skilled and experienced Long Range and Palma shooter, who builds lots of rifles on the Savage action. His name is Larry Racine, you can Google him and find his shop here in NH.

As for mods to your rifle, probably float the barrel, bed the action and lap the scope rings. That will likely get you the most bang for the least cost and frustration. Eventually the thing to really upgrade will be the barrel, but that's just my opinion. I know Savages have a good reputation for out of the box accuracy.

FWIW, my "precision rifle" and shooting is just with an AR-15 in NRA Highpower, so remember what you paid for this opinion.

 

[TimboKhan]

But, I can see that I'm beating my head against the proverbial wall here, so I'll continue to look elsewhere for advice

Well, don't get discouraged. The problem that's presenting itself here is that your asking us to give you advice on a rifle that might shoot perfectly well right out of the box, you know?

For example, you ask:

Is cryo-treating worth the money for accuracy and barrel life

To properly answer the question, we need to know the baseline accuracy of the rifle. I can't honestly say "yes, cryo-treating is worth it" if your already shooting one hole groups.

Also, to be perfectly honest, if money isn't an object within reason, the advice of thinking about a different rifle in general is pretty solid, whether you plan to resell it or not. The 10FP is a perfectly good rifle, but (for example) a Steyr SSG 69 is probably a better rifle overall, and would require virtually zero modifications.

In any event, I think just the basic float, bed and lap job are probably the only modifications that you would really want or need to make, and I think that they are the only modifications that would result in an acceptable performance/value ratio for you. Bolt jeweling is nice and all, but I remain unconvinced that the cost is worth any performance gains that you might see. If you were a hardcore benchrest shooter who looked for any gain in accuracy regardless of how minimal, probably it would be worth it. Past that, I just don't think you would ever even notice the gains. Really dude, if you want to make a dramatic, positive dent in your performance, you need to start reloading. Assuming your rifle is a shooter to begin with, figuring out the best load for the rifle and then loading ammo as consistently as you can for it will result in a much bigger and noticable gain than cryo-treatment or anything else. Plus, you have the added value of being able to use the equipment to load other calibers as well.

 

[YodaVader]

A lot of those over at savageshooters have installed aftermarket barrels like Lothar Walther or Pac Nor. The bolt jewelling looks good but the rifle will still shoot the same. Cryo? I would not do it myself and expect to see a fantastic accuracy improvement.

Some act like it is a sin to put money into a Savage? Part of the appeal of the Savage action is the ease of match barrel installation compared to a traditional rifle like a 700. Mnay do it themselves. One of the reasons I bought my 12BVSS was to ability to inexpensively install a match barrel one day.

Fred Moreo over in Delphos , OH (Sharp Shooter Supply) is a top Savage riflesmith. He has installed one of his triggers in my 12BVSS , far nicer than the AccuTrigger that came with the rifle, he is one that can work on your rifle.