Savage 12 trigger guard screw

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I have a Savage 12 VLP with a laminate wood stock. Before the rifle got to me the rear trigger guard wood screw had obviously been overtightened stripping out the wood. That area is rather thin as it is. To deal with this I built the area up with epoxy and set the wood screw into it. The screw won't be going anywhere unless I want it to and the rifle's stock can be removed without touching the screw. I know that the stock is held to the action via the two action screws that must be torqued properly, but will the situation with the rear trigger guard screw have any effect on accuracy? I could see how a rear trigger guard screw on a Remington 700 could effect accuracy as it screws into the tang, but the rear screw on the Savage serves no such function. I really like the laminated stock and don't want to replace it unless I have to.

 

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Just to update in case anyone else has this issue (that area of the Savage laminate stock seems to be prone to stripping), I had built up the area around the screw with epoxy. The amount of wood between the screw bore and the trigger well is extremely thin. I carefully slathered epoxy into the screw bore, seated the trigger guard, and screwed (more pushed) the trigger screw in (while the epoxy was still wet) and returned the action to the stock. I let it sit overnight. As it turns out I was able to unscrew the screw leaving the new epoxy bore intact. The screw went back in and was able to be tightened up as if it was the original wood. The screw having been set into the wet epoxy created a threaded bore. The epoxy didn't stick to the screw itself which allowed the screw to be removed leaving the new bore intact.

To do it over again I would use a five minute quick curing epoxy. I went with a longer curing epoxy to give myself more time to work as I didn't quite know what the task would be. Longer curing times generally mean a harder curing epoxy. Again, generally speaking, five minute epoxies don't cure as hard as the slower curing ones, which, while maintaining an adequate bond, could potentially create a more shock-resistant base in an area where shock is an issue as it allows for a bit more give. A friend of mine who is a chemist/tech in the adhesives industry explained this to me, something that is somewhat counter-intuitive. I work with epoxy extensively on a daily basis and know that often times repairs made with epoxy are stronger than the original repaired material.

 

[dho3]

Having had the unpleasant task of working on two model 10 Savage rifles with the same type of set up, I too had the same problem on one and cured it the same way. No, it will not affect the accuracy whatsoever. Another way to solve the problem would be to bed a retainer nut or bushing and using a matching bolt to secure the triggerguard. This would be similar to doing swivel studs in the proper manner. But, I have made many of a new screw hole with epoxy in non-bearing, so to speak situations many times. Great trick.

 

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Epoxy and duct tape are wonderful. Okay, maybe not duct tape for a rifle...

I'm a little surprised that Savage has never beefed up that area of wood. It really is very, very thin and it would seem to be very easy to over-torque. Any idea what maximum torque should be? The torque wrench set that I have on the way from Brownells has a minimum setting of 15# which would be too much. I'm thinking hand tightened just enough to be snug is the trick. The epoxy should even add a bit of bite for the screw.

BTW, so far this rifle has been a real challenge, at least as to my patience. I bought it "new" from a dealer who bought it from a shop that went out of business. Savage tells me that it left them five years ago. I had it on layaway for a month and when i went to pick it up I noticed that there was no follower assembly. I hadn't noticed it when I put the gun on layaway as I had tried the trigger and was astounded by it being so light and crisp, and even a pre-Accutrigger, and was distracted. The rifle got passed around the shop and everyone was amazed. So, they knocked off $50 for a $7 part and my trouble. I ordered the follower from Brownells. Then the follower arrived and I realized that the internal box magazine (it's a blind mag) was also missing. Someone along the way had snagged it, probably to convert to a blind mag. How I missed that I don't know. So, it was a phone call to Savage for the magazine box and the bracket that holds it. Thinking that I already had the follower assembly I was tempted to not get one from Savage, but it occurred to me that I wasn't sure if I had the right one and for $6 more I could be sure. As it turned out the one that I got from Brownells was the wrong one. No problem as it will be a spare for my 10FP. So, here I am a month out and the rifle is just now ready to shoot.

Still, it is one sweet rifle. It has just taken a bit more effort.

 

[dho3]

Yeah, the Savage rifles will challenge you patience. Once you get inside of them you can see how they cut the cost. The blind mag box and retainer pin is pretty chintzy stuff. I bedded one and once I was finished had to work to get the whole set up to stay put. I have never shot it since then and so I really do not know if it worked. And that rear pillar bed on the Accu-trigger models. What they did to accommodate the new trigger was instead of extending everything a quarter of an inch back was to cut about one third out of the rear of the rear pillar bed. It looks really cheap and makes bedding that area kind of tough. I put one in a Boyd's stock, but I think I am going to re-do it and put in another stock, not sure. When the actions, Savages come out of the original stocks, they are flexed and the rear tang is not suppose to be touching the stock, so I have since found out. Well to stress free bed them I will just need to bed the action and probably forget about the rear pillar. Oh well, go figure.

 

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My 12 VLP, as I have said is in the factory stock, and the barrel is completely free-floating. What surprised me was that the rear tang was not free-floating with some contact. I'm not sure how much the tang matters and whether I'm going to do something about it. I like the rifle in this stock and will almost certainly stay with it. On other rifles I have not hesitated to go with Bell & Carlson and Boyds. Tomorrow the boys in brown will be delivering a Boyds Fetherweight thumbhole for a Rem 700 in 30-06. The Remington plastic stock doesn't seem quite as flimsy as the Savage. Savage does cut some corners, but at least it's in areas where things tend to get replaced anyway.

BTW, getting that blind mag in was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Mine was a tight fit, and even tighter with the retaining clip. The problem was that the follower assembly was hanging up, but with a little tweaking it's fine now. For a few minutes I thought that I had the wrong parts.

Another issue with the rifle was the two piece STD mounts. With the rear mount the base hung over the back of the receiver making contact with the top of the bolt handle. So, I had to flip the mount and remove material from the mount. Then when I went to mount the scope I realized that the way that it was the rings would not fit between the bells of the scope. So, I had to flip the rear mount again removing more material so that the mount now fits even with the rear of the receiver. Luckily I had the tools to do it. The mount is now only held on with one screw, but it seems solid. If this doesn't work out I will probably go with a DNTZ Game Reaper and be done with it.

It's been a bit of a hassle (the kind that I enjoy) but the trigger is so sweet on this rifle that it's well worth it.

 

[dho3]

My son has a Savage Varminter 223, I forget the model, with a heavy barrel and synthetic stock. He bedded it and now it shoots almost one hole groups with handloads. It shot well before, but would shot flyers every now and then. I have a Savage Lo Pro 22-250 that shoots really well. I have not had it out in a while, I will have to check the tang to see if it is touching. My son made sure the rear tang was not touching when he bedded it. Savage does a lot of things right, like the floating bolt head and the barrel receiver lock up is nice for us diy kind of guys. Does not look fancy, but not that bad and the guns are really accurate. A few extra bucks spent on the inside and they would be going first class.

I build custom rifles on the side, for myself. I like to do wood stock rifles, but have put together a lot of synthetics, they are easy. My stock of choice is the Bell and Carlson Medalist. I have never purchased any of the others, but have looked at all of them and for my money, the medalist is the hands down winner. About 200 bucks and you get all you need. I do not bed them, just bolt them and they shoot great.

What mounts did you use on that Savage? I use typically only Warne mounts and rings. I have never run into that problem.

 

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I used the Leupold STD mounts and rings. The front of the mount hung well over into the receiver opening. Loading a center feed (.308) can be tricky enough as it is without a partial obstruction. When I flipped the mount it then went too far to the rear interferring with the bolt closing. So, I flipped it back to the front and ground the base back flush with the opening. But then the rings wouldn't fit between the bells (and of course I'm not realizing that at the time) so I flipped the mount back around grinding off a bit more steel so that the back of the mount fit flush with the back of the receiver. The wod "D'oh" could be heard coming from my house the whole afternoon. That said, I'm really happy with how it is now and hope that the one screw holding the rear mount will suffice. If that doesn't work out I will either go with the Game Reaper or a picatinny rail with Warne rings. Sure is a pretty rifle. I'm not sure how much the fluting helps, but that 26 inch barrel is a real nice piece of work. I can't wait to shoot it

As to synthetic stocks, I only have two. I have a Bell & Carlson Duramaxx on my Savage 10FP and a factory stock on my SIG SHR 970. The SIG stock seems pretty solid. I'm not sure how easy an aftermarket stock for the SIG would be to get. Not a common rifle. I just picked up a Rem 700 SPS Tactical in .223 with a Hogue stock which will be interesting. It might be an okay stock with .223. I have no idea.

I've heard of other folks who have had luck in bedding Savage factory plastic stocks. For me the Bell & Carlson Duramaxx was a decent option without breaking the bank. A Medalist would be nice, for sure.

 

[dho3]

I see. I have had to order some extension mounts to get scopes that were relatively compact to fit on the rifle, but have not had mounts to overhang unless I expected them. Interesting. Wow, you have the 970. I hear that is a pretty awesome rifle. I had a chance to pick up a wood stocked model from www.cdnninvestments.com a few years back for a steal and wish I had. Every now and then I go on the hunt for one, but they are a bit expensive and some want to sell them with two barrels. I know that is the whole idea, but to get the rifle first a maybe think about changing barrels later would be better for me. You know, the truth is I probably would never change barrels unless I got two up front, but I still love the rifle. How does yours shoot?

 

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How does yours shoot?

I haven't shot it yet. One day I was in a shop picking up a layaway (BAR Safari) and while they were pulling the gun from the back I stated looking through the racks of rifles. The SIG caught my eye right away. That white lettering on the barrel is an eye-catcher. So is the SIG logo. Having shot SIGs for decades I was immediately interested but had no idea of what I had. Craddling the rifle I pulled out my PDA and googled it. That rifle never hit the rack again. I went home with it and the BAR. I had read that mags were hard to find for it but immedaitely found a source for them inexpensively on Gunbroker (Joes Pawn Shop in Alabama). I ended up with five of them, which is rather overkill, but I'll never lose a penny on them. The rifle is in 270 WIN which is one of my favorite calibers. It only came with the one barrel. I'd love another barrel in .308, but barrels are as rare as hen's teeth and the .308 seems to be the rarest. Multiple barrels would be nice, but I can see how that is a bigger deal across the pond where in many places you can only own one rifle. It is one rather scarce rifle. It's the first one that I have seen in person. I think they only imported them for two or three years. I'm really looking forward to shooting it. It's supposed to be a real tackdriver.

 

[dho3]

Yeah, like I said I wish I had bought the one when it was for sale. I cannot remember whether they offered any barrels at the time, but the price was really good as usual from them. Sig makes or sources good products and you can never go wrong. And the magazines, well you are right, you will not lose a penny and you know how those can get misplaced and I do not know if you have kids or brothers, but they can wreak havoc on magazines and extras always come in handy. Nice unique rifle that you will not see around the campfire. I have also heard they are a real tackdriver.