Rebarreling a savage. Spend my money!

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greyling22

greyling22

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For Christmas, I'm going to rebarrel my savage 110. It's currently a 257ackley and the barrel is just about shot out. I was going to install a savage take off threaded fluted 18" 308 barrel, but the profile would force to to hog so much material off my nice custom stock that I would be unhappy with the finished result.

So custom barrel time! My first thought was a McGowan 18" 308 in stainless, but I suppose it could be a 20". It will wear a suppressor, so I don't want to too long and unwieldy.
Thought #2 was to do the same thing in 6.5 creedmoor. It's popular, but something g of a barrel burner I suppose)
Thought 3 is to keep it as a 257 ackley so save money on dies, but I think I'd like to be able to shoot a heavier bullet than the 120's
Option 4 is a 280 ackley. (I have a long action receiver, so this would take advantage of that, but I have concerns it would be too much recoil)

It is going to be mostly a casual bench gun for 200yds, bit I'd like it light and short enough to take hunting in a pinch. I have a 30/30 and a 6.5 Grendel I could hunt with, but both are somewhat limited in power and range. I'd like a notable increase in power/range over the Grendel, without killing me off the bench.
I am also not married to McGowan if there is a better price/performance option.

So weigh in. I'd love feedback and suggestions. Spend my (limited) money.
 
Mcgowen makes a good barrel, then for stainless and if cm maybe save some and get a Shaw. 280ai is very nice, maybe consider the 7x57Ai it's one of the more efficient as you know from having a 257ackley.
 
I rebarreled with a Shilen select match, in the varmint contour, and it was lights out accurate! I could shoot same hole 5 shot groups at 100yrds, 1.3" 5 shot groups at 330yrds, this is off a bipod and rear bag. Northland shooters set me up:)
 
greyling22 said:
For Christmas, I'm going to rebarrel my savage 110. It's currently a 257ackley and the barrel is just about shot out. I was going to install a savage take off threaded fluted 18" 308 barrel, but the profile would force to to hog so much material off my nice custom stock that I would be unhappy with the finished result.

So custom barrel time! My first thought was a McGowan 18" 308 in stainless, but I suppose it could be a 20". It will wear a suppressor, so I don't want to too long and unwieldy.
Thought #2 was to do the same thing in 6.5 creedmoor. It's popular, but something g of a barrel burner I suppose)
Thought 3 is to keep it as a 257 ackley so save money on dies, but I think I'd like to be able to shoot a heavier bullet than the 120's
Option 4 is a 280 ackley. (I have a long action receiver, so this would take advantage of that, but I have concerns it would be too much recoil)

It is going to be mostly a casual bench gun for 200yds, bit I'd like it light and short enough to take hunting in a pinch. I have a 30/30 and a 6.5 Grendel I could hunt with, but both are somewhat limited in power and range. I'd like a notable increase in power/range over the Grendel, without killing me off the bench.
I am also not married to McGowan if there is a better price/performance option.

So weigh in. I'd love feedback and suggestions. Spend my (limited) money.
Click to expand...
6.5x284 Norma, it checks every box for the recoil and hunting requirements, but it will burn barrels faster than the 6.5cm..... I still suggest it though as it's a "short cartridge" that thrives in a long action. Otherwise, I like the .280ai as well, just sounds like the .284 babies are closer to the recoil preference. On that note, maybe a classy 6.5 swede would do it for you?
 
As much as I like the 280AI on paper, for 200yrd paper punching with a can on it, a 16-18" 308 sounds like just the ticket. On the long action, you'll be able to load ultra long, heavy bullets for sub sonic loads too and not have to worry about them fitting. As long as you're not trying to fling 750yrd shots while hunting I think it's a good match.

But I also am not a fan of short action cartridge in long actions. In this specific case though, I think it makes sense.

What about 338fed or 358win?
 
rbernie said:
If it's a bench gun, why the concern over 25cal 120gr bullets?
Click to expand...
I'm already shooting a 120 Grendel, and I like something a little heavier. Just a personal preference.
It will spend almost all its life shooting paper. However, I don't have a full sized rifle, and if an opportunity for a sheep or elk hunt arose, I'd like something capable.

I thing 280ai may be out of the running just because it appears to want a 24-26" barrel. 6.5-284 looks like a really cool round, but appears to be a barrel burner.
 
greyling22 said:
I don't have a full sized rifle, and if an opportunity for a sheep or elk hunt arose, I'd like something capable.
Click to expand...
I dunno that you'll find many chamberings from 257-284 that flatly won't work for sheep or elk, even if they do mean being mo' picky about your shots. I do know that optimizing the choice for elk has the strong likelihood of de-optimizing it for bench shooting. :) If you had to pick a middle-of-the-road choice, I dunno that the long action 6.5s aren't your best bet. At least then you'd have bullet commonality, for range work.

greyling22 said:
I thing 280ai may be out of the running just because it appears to want a 24-26" barrel. 6.5-284 looks like a really cool round, but appears to be a barrel burner.
Click to expand...
Barrel's are relatively cheap, in the grand scheme of shooting rifles, especially if you can install them yourself. Spending $400 for a new barrel every couple/three years is likely a much smaller cost than any other aspect of the build.
 
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Call James Kessler at Northland shooters supply, he has Criterion and Shilen Barrels in stock.
I do recommend the Criterion barrels for a couple reasons, one being high quality for a reasonable price.
He can also supply the reamer print which is very valuable to a reloader, I have no idea why you would select a 308 when there are so many great performing calibers available nevertheless James will hook ya up
 
greyling22 said:
I'm already shooting a 120 Grendel, and I like something a little heavier. Just a personal preference.
It will spend almost all its life shooting paper. However, I don't have a full sized rifle, and if an opportunity for a sheep or elk hunt arose, I'd like something capable.

I thing 280ai may be out of the running just because it appears to want a 24-26" barrel. 6.5-284 looks like a really cool round, but appears to be a barrel burner.
Click to expand...
I am a big fan of the 7-08.
 
They were out of Criterion bbls for my Savage, so I bought the Shilen, glad I did. 24" 308, plenty accurate, good velocity gain over the 20" factory barrel.
yrMFPN1h.jpg
 
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Lets take this from a slightly different angle: Out of an 18-20" barrel, is there anything better than a 7mm-08, 308, or 6.5 creedmoor? I just don't think the 280ai, 6.5x284 norma, or any long action caliber makes much sense in a short barrel. how about a 7mm-08 ackley?
 
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