As for glass, for the time being, it's gonna be a Millett TRS 4-16X50. Yeah I know, coulda done better for the same money. But got this one for a good price. I know the school of thought is to get the best glass you can afford, and upgrade the rifle later, but this scope was going to sit on a Savage10 FCP McMillan, but after asking questions, and seeing what is out there, I decided to go with a custom build after the scope was purchased. Good thing to, cause if I got a better scope, the money wouldn't be there for this SWEET looking rig! At some point in the not to distant future, I will be looking for advice on a higher end scope. Thinking Nightfoce or Sightron, just not sure which.
New build
- Thread starter Bear_Blade
- Start date
Beautiful gun, but you're making a huge mistake on the glass. Range time and time spent reloading is too precious to waste. I had this scope, it was a pos, i wish i could get back the time i wasted trying to figure out why my rifle wouldn't shoot. Turns out it was the weakest link, the pos millett scope that i thought was such a great deal. Do yourself a favor and borrow a quality piece of glass from a friend while you are verifying the accuracy of the rifle. Otherwise, very sweet rig!
OK Finally!! Had a chance to get to the range today. Had worked up a series of loads 5 rounds for each .2 grain increase in charge. After putting some brass jacket rounds through and cleaning after each round for 15 rds, then 10 more cleaning after each 2 rds, I settled in to give it a little test.
I made 8, 1 inch dots on cardboard and placed them at 100 yards. Starting at the lowest charge, and climbing with each shot into the next dot. Repeated this string 8 times til each dot took 5 rounds.
First I'll comment on the rifle. NICE!! I had done most all the fitting at home (comb and length of pull etc) shot from a Harris bipod. I love the feel of this thing! the swell of the pistol grip is a good fit for my hand, although having it a little mor rear of the trigger would have been a better fit for me. I am 6' 4" big hands, long fingers, so I found the trigger a little too close. Not the end of the world. The alignment, and feel of the grip set up is quite comfortable. I found my index finger alignment to the trigger was on the money.
The cheek rest is quite comfortable, there is a sheet of rubber/plastic of some sort on top making for a comfortable cheek weld. Eye alignment with the scope was dead center. The adjustable recoil pad is nice. Height, LOP, and cant all adjustable.
As for fireing the rifle, I wasn't too sure what to expect. Recoil was mild, and straight back. There was NO percivable muzzel flip, and sight picture was easily maintained for follow through. Recoil and muzzel blast were in my opinion light. To the point I don't think I blinked at discharge.
The bolt cycled smoothly, and consistantly. None or very little of the dreaded Savage bolt lift I have heard so much about. The bearing kit is a winner in my book.
Trigger. My first go at the accutrigger. Thought it was going to be weird, but I found my self liking the tab travel. When my finger met the blade of the trigger, I found it took a little alignment on my part to find the spot on the tab so when I made contact with the trigger, I was in the right place on my finger pad. Trigger pull is at 2 pounds. I like it, but may go lighter in the future.
As this session was more rushed then I would have liked, I will give my results verbally. I was paying more attention to how the rifle felt, and behaved at the shot. It was very easy to maintain a good sight picture, and keep it. Shots broke crisp, no noticeable trigger creep, again, follow through was nice, sight picture maintained well enough.
As for the groups, the rifle has promise. Best group of the day was 5 rounds, 0.78 inches center to center, with the following load
165gr Nosler/Winchester balistic silvertips
44.6gr's Varget
Lapua brass
Federal primers
As this was the first go at the range, I threw together the components I had left on hand. I will be looking for advice on projectiles (weight and type) in the near future, as it has been a while since I did any serious load development.
Over all: Great rifle! Love the XLR stock. Highly recomended if this is your type of look. Fit and Finish are top notch. I will keep you all up to date as I mess with this rig a bit more.
Pierre
I made 8, 1 inch dots on cardboard and placed them at 100 yards. Starting at the lowest charge, and climbing with each shot into the next dot. Repeated this string 8 times til each dot took 5 rounds.
First I'll comment on the rifle. NICE!! I had done most all the fitting at home (comb and length of pull etc) shot from a Harris bipod. I love the feel of this thing! the swell of the pistol grip is a good fit for my hand, although having it a little mor rear of the trigger would have been a better fit for me. I am 6' 4" big hands, long fingers, so I found the trigger a little too close. Not the end of the world. The alignment, and feel of the grip set up is quite comfortable. I found my index finger alignment to the trigger was on the money.
The cheek rest is quite comfortable, there is a sheet of rubber/plastic of some sort on top making for a comfortable cheek weld. Eye alignment with the scope was dead center. The adjustable recoil pad is nice. Height, LOP, and cant all adjustable.
As for fireing the rifle, I wasn't too sure what to expect. Recoil was mild, and straight back. There was NO percivable muzzel flip, and sight picture was easily maintained for follow through. Recoil and muzzel blast were in my opinion light. To the point I don't think I blinked at discharge.
The bolt cycled smoothly, and consistantly. None or very little of the dreaded Savage bolt lift I have heard so much about. The bearing kit is a winner in my book.
Trigger. My first go at the accutrigger. Thought it was going to be weird, but I found my self liking the tab travel. When my finger met the blade of the trigger, I found it took a little alignment on my part to find the spot on the tab so when I made contact with the trigger, I was in the right place on my finger pad. Trigger pull is at 2 pounds. I like it, but may go lighter in the future.
As this session was more rushed then I would have liked, I will give my results verbally. I was paying more attention to how the rifle felt, and behaved at the shot. It was very easy to maintain a good sight picture, and keep it. Shots broke crisp, no noticeable trigger creep, again, follow through was nice, sight picture maintained well enough.
As for the groups, the rifle has promise. Best group of the day was 5 rounds, 0.78 inches center to center, with the following load
165gr Nosler/Winchester balistic silvertips
44.6gr's Varget
Lapua brass
Federal primers
As this was the first go at the range, I threw together the components I had left on hand. I will be looking for advice on projectiles (weight and type) in the near future, as it has been a while since I did any serious load development.
Over all: Great rifle! Love the XLR stock. Highly recomended if this is your type of look. Fit and Finish are top notch. I will keep you all up to date as I mess with this rig a bit more.
Pierre
