I am hoping the collective wisdom here on CGN can assist me with an issue I’m having with my Savage 10 FCP-SR in .308 Win.
I’ve just recently acquired a Hornady straight OAL gauge in an effort to improve the performance of the reloads I am making and found some very puzzling results that seem to indicate I have a VERY short freebore.
Using the OAL gauge with appropriate modified case and a Sierra Match King 175 grain bullet I get readings from the base of the case to the ogive of ~2.121”. Using a Hornady AMAX 168 grain bullet I get ~2.107" and with a Hornady Match 168 grain bullet I get ~2.112”. (This seems reasonable given the varied shapes of the bullets.)
I decided to measure a set of five 175 grain Federal Gold Medal Match (which use Sierra Match King 175 grain bullets I believe) reading ~2.206” and these definitely jam into the lands a good way. Difficult to measure, but I would venture the assumed 0.085" (i.e., 2.206" - 2.121”) is not far off.
Since the Federal Gold Medal Match COAL is a smidge under 2.800” I’m therefore looking at about 2.715” COAL to use the 175 grain Sierra Match King in an effort to just kiss the lands, which frankly seems a bit strange.
Is there any history of odd chambering on this series of rifles? I did find a post somewhere where someone indicated that Savage occasionally uses a .308 Obermeyer reamer and this sounds a lot like it might be the case here (shorter freebore.)
What really concerns me is a staggering amount of jam into the lands with a common commercial load – roughly 1/12”!! That just cannot be correct, can it?
Should I refrain from firing the rifle until it is inspected? I’ve got 600+ rounds down the pipe, including GMMs with all my fingers and toes accounted for, so I guess this isn’t a timebomb, but being limited to a 2.715" COAL without jamming seems off.
Thoughts?
I’ve just recently acquired a Hornady straight OAL gauge in an effort to improve the performance of the reloads I am making and found some very puzzling results that seem to indicate I have a VERY short freebore.
Using the OAL gauge with appropriate modified case and a Sierra Match King 175 grain bullet I get readings from the base of the case to the ogive of ~2.121”. Using a Hornady AMAX 168 grain bullet I get ~2.107" and with a Hornady Match 168 grain bullet I get ~2.112”. (This seems reasonable given the varied shapes of the bullets.)
I decided to measure a set of five 175 grain Federal Gold Medal Match (which use Sierra Match King 175 grain bullets I believe) reading ~2.206” and these definitely jam into the lands a good way. Difficult to measure, but I would venture the assumed 0.085" (i.e., 2.206" - 2.121”) is not far off.
Since the Federal Gold Medal Match COAL is a smidge under 2.800” I’m therefore looking at about 2.715” COAL to use the 175 grain Sierra Match King in an effort to just kiss the lands, which frankly seems a bit strange.
Is there any history of odd chambering on this series of rifles? I did find a post somewhere where someone indicated that Savage occasionally uses a .308 Obermeyer reamer and this sounds a lot like it might be the case here (shorter freebore.)
What really concerns me is a staggering amount of jam into the lands with a common commercial load – roughly 1/12”!! That just cannot be correct, can it?
Should I refrain from firing the rifle until it is inspected? I’ve got 600+ rounds down the pipe, including GMMs with all my fingers and toes accounted for, so I guess this isn’t a timebomb, but being limited to a 2.715" COAL without jamming seems off.
Thoughts?
