Savage 12FV, another believer!

T

troutseeker

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Location
Prince George, BC
Well, I just came back from a trip to Ottawa and to fight the depression :p I took my brand spanking new 12FV to the range. It is in .223 and sports a Bushnell 4200 6X24X40 in Burris Signature rings on top of a Near 20 MOA base. I had a bunch of Wally World Winchester White box 45 grain ammo to burn as well as some 55 grain Hornady over 24.5 grain of Benchmark (my yote load from a .223 I recently sold on CGN).

Nice day , sunny, 11 degrees with a slight breeze of approximately 8km/hr.

First stop the 25 meters range to sight in the scope. A quick look thru the barrel and the scope, 7 rounds later it's dialed in at 25!

I then move to the 100 meters mark, the wind is gusting a little and angling from my right shoulder about 25 degrees. 4 rounds later I am on the bull, I then fire 4 at the bull and get a cute group of about .9".

I then shoot the reloads I brought along, a nice cluster of 4 in about .6" plus the dreaded flyer which opens it up to 1.2". (my fault, I jerked the darn trigger). So far so good!

I shot the rest of the white box stuff and it was pretty accurate. Best group was my fifth, five rounds in under .4":) ... The rest were pretty good too, largest group at 1.1". I did not shoot at 200 or more as I ran out of time.

I am very impressed to say the least. This rifle is out of the box, I did nothing to it but mount a scope! Next step is to adjust the accutrigger to a lower setting, bed the action and develop some handloads with 75 grain Amax's for longish range target shooting.

This rifle shot the Winchester white box stuff so well that if I did not wish to shoot longer distances I don't think I would even reload for it.

Troutseeker.
 
I can't agree with you more...

Mine likes the Winchester USA 55gr FMJ better than the 45 JHP... Wait until you get your load down!

EB
Another 12FV believer!
 
You will may have tighter groups if you stay under 70 gr bullets but let us know how the 75's shoot. I have a box of 77 gr Nosler match ammo I need to get loaded to try in mine but the barrel is getting fluted right now so i am in a bit of a holding pattern anyway.
 
gp, not true, these Savages love the 75gr Amax. Some like Varget, others H4350. I prefer CCI BR4 primers but CCI 450 are also popular.

Yep, these rifles shoot. Get the trigger as light as you can, bed it and I bet those flyers go away.

Jerry
 
I never could get mine to group with the AMAX but the 75gr BTHP is a little shorter and shoots well. It is amazing how well those cheap Win value packs shoot. I try not to shoot too many because they really are hot, just look at the flat primers.

Brian
 
Brian, the ammo is not hot. More then likely the ammo is a little 'short' and the flattened primer is a sign of headspace.

Nothing dangerous but what happens when min spec ammo meets max spec chamber.

I bet the ammo chambers like it isn't even there. No resistance on closing the bolt.

Jerry
 
thanks for the info on the 75 grners MP. Now you have me feeling really impatient about getting my barrel back on and rounds down range with those 77 gr Noslers.

Have you ever used TAC powder?
 
troutseeker said:
Well, I just came back from a trip to Ottawa and to fight the depression :p I took my brand spanking new 12FV to the range. It is in .223 and sports a Bushnell 4200 6X24X40 in Burris Signature rings on top of a Near 20 MOA base. I had a bunch of Wally World Winchester White box 45 grain ammo to burn as well as some 55 grain Hornady over 24.5 grain of Benchmark (my yote load from a .223 I recently sold on CGN).

Nice day , sunny, 11 degrees with a slight breeze of approximately 8km/hr.

First stop the 25 meters range to sight in the scope. A quick look thru the barrel and the scope, 7 rounds later it's dialed in at 25!

I then move to the 100 meters mark, the wind is gusting a little and angling from my right shoulder about 25 degrees. 4 rounds later I am on the bull, I then fire 4 at the bull and get a cute group of about .9".

I then shoot the reloads I brought along, a nice cluster of 4 in about .6" plus the dreaded flyer which opens it up to 1.2". (my fault, I jerked the darn trigger). So far so good!

I shot the rest of the white box stuff and it was pretty accurate. Best group was my fifth, five rounds in under .4":) ... The rest were pretty good too, largest group at 1.1". I did not shoot at 200 or more as I ran out of time.

I am very impressed to say the least. This rifle is out of the box, I did nothing to it but mount a scope! Next step is to adjust the accutrigger to a lower setting, bed the action and develop some handloads with 75 grain Amax's for longish range target shooting.

This rifle shot the Winchester white box stuff so well that if I did not wish to shoot longer distances I don't think I would even reload for it.

Troutseeker.
Click to expand...

You are hooked, hook, line and sinker...welcome to the club :rockOn:

I'll send some pics of mine sitting in the new varminter thumbhole stock when I get home. You're gonna want one too.
 
Yep. I'm hooked (again)... As far as a different stock, it is a possibilty but I do like the fact it shoots so well in the tupperware stock!

It will remain stock for a while, I'll just sand down the sharp edges and maube paint it.

Now I've got to learn how to shoot all over again...

Troutseeker
 
Replacement Stock

Hi,

I was happy with the way mine shot too... but Santa brought me a new stock, and it actually improved its accuracy over the tupperware stock... it made the Win USA ammo shoot even better...

EB
:canadaFlag:
 
troutseeker said:
Yep. I'm hooked (again)... As far as a different stock, it is a possibilty but I do like the fact it shoots so well in the tupperware stock!

It will remain stock for a while, I'll just sand down the sharp edges and maube paint it.

Now I've got to learn how to shoot all over again...

Troutseeker
Click to expand...

Glad to see another convert. :)

No need to rush out and get a new stock, but seriously consider Jerry's advice on bedding it - he knows these rifles inside and out. An evening spent bedding the stock can really improve the accuracy with very little cost. The recoil lug really benefits from being properly locked in place. :cool:
 
I am definitely going to bed that action. The problem is I've never done it and I have to read up on it first... Mystic offered some help a while back and I might take him up on it.

I must also make it a point to hit the range once a week from now on!

Troutseeker
 
troutseeker said:
I am definitely going to bed that action. The problem is I've never done it and I have to read up on it first... Mystic offered some help a while back and I might take him up on it.

I must also make it a point to hit the range once a week from now on!

Troutseeker
Click to expand...

http://www.savageshooters.com/Pages/Bedding101.html

That's a good article to get the idea with. Ignore the part about putting tape on the front and sides of the recoil lug, you want to bed the whole thing to minimize movement under recoil. Having Jerry to do it with is very lucky, I had to do it with just his advice by pm.
 
At the range with mine today, 25gr Benchmark 52gr Amax, 5 shots inside a dime. My blue dot gopher loads(13gr powder 37 gr Calhoon) were doing about a nickel to a quarter today. Sometimes you do get more value than you expect. You guys are getting me kinda curious about bedding the tupperware or getting a nice stock for it.
 
Yeah I finaly got around to bedding my savage .308 with the mc millan stock... finaly getting sub 1/2" groups(like it should be), before it was around 1.25 to 1.5" even with federal gmm(wich shot realy bad before).

I would probably of just got a wood stock version instead if I were to do it again, and maybe go 300wm.

Now I need a rangefinder, or mildot scope, or figure out some system of rangefinding with the burris balistic plex I have now(hashes for 200-300-400-500yards).
 
savagefan said:
You guys are getting me kinda curious about bedding the tupperware or getting a nice stock for it.
Click to expand...
If you don't mind the synthetic stock, then bed it...if you don't like it, then get a new wooden stock. No need to spend extra money if you're happy with what you already have.
 
At the range once more today. This time my daughter's came along. Much to my chagrin, the young one's first words when she saw the rifle was "A Sniper Rifle!":( ... I had to explain it was a precision long range rifle...

Anyhoo, we first slung a bunch of .22, 9mm, .44 mag and some .410 for good measure. Then off to the rifle range and the "Sniper rifle":mad: .

I shot the first group and did ok, inside 1" with a nice cluster of 3 and 2 a little high. My oldest takes her turn, has a hard time getting a good cheekweld due to the height of the scope and uses her hand on top of the stock. Bang! My young one is on the spotting scope and call's "Bullseye, you shoot better than dad!". :D And so it went with the girls taking their turn shooting bullseyes.

Dad stuck to shooting groups and did ok, a very windy day today with the wind changing direction all the time. I shot at 200 meters as well and got 5 rounds in 1.6". The rest of the groups were a little bigger as I kept getting yelled at to hit the "Bullseye" during my trigger pull!!!

We had a great time and fired about 300 of the .22's in a Beretta pistol and a cooey, 150 9mm in my service pistol and all the .44 mag I had reloaded (about 60 rounds, my poor wrist...) and 44 rounds of .223. The girls refused to shoot the .44 but loved the flame coming out of the barrel (thanks H110).

All in all this was a good way to waste time during their spring break, beat's PS2 and MSN anyday!

Troutseeker
 
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