Savage ,260 LRP makes 2 groups

Gatehouse

Gatehouse

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So I've had this rifle for awhile but it hasn't performed the way I think it should. Sometimes it makes close to MOA triangular groups, but mostly it makes 2 groups. Here are a coupel of pics from today, at 300 yards

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I've tried a bunch of things, several different types of bullets, different powder (H4350, Varget, H4831) and even some factory ammo to see if my dies were bent.
I slacked off the action screws and tightened them down to proper torque specs with my torque screwdriver
The scope and mounts are all tight. (Incidentally I have had 2 scopes on this rifle, a VX3 4.5-14 and a Vortex Razor and there was no difference in accuracy, so the scopes aren't to be blamed)

I figured it must be my fault as I am a competent shooter but I've not really ventured into the real "precision" aspects of shooting much. And I haven't used the Savage Accutrigger much either. I've owned Savage rifles but the stock or custom Remingtons, Winchesters and Rugers far outnumber the Savages.....But I can pick up one of my .223's, 300s or even 375 Ruger and bang off multiple sub MOA groups. I just bought a cheap Savage Axis .223 to use as a farm beater rifle and with it's Bushnell scope and handloads that I slapped together I was shooting 1.5" 5 shot groups at 200 yards without trouble. And since the rifle consistently seems to shoot 2 groups, so maybe it's not me.

So in the pics you see what typically happens. I'll shoot a string of shots, and no matter if I space them out by 1 min, 5 min or one right after the other, they seem to make 2 groups. It may be 2 shots together then 2 out then 2 back, or they may alternate back and forth.

When I have had issues like this with one of my other rifles, I solved it by bedding and making sure the barrel was free floating. But this is a Savage with a barrel nut and the LRP has a bedding block in it. I've bedded pillars but not blocks and barrel nuts before. I also don't want to jump in and bed a stock that doesn't want to get bedded and make matters worse. All the reports of the LRP is that they are very accurate right out of the box so I don't really want to mess with the bedding unless I have no choice.

So, any ideas on how to deal with the 2 group shooting? Is there some special sequence that Savage uses to torque down the action to make sure everything is even and barrel not making contact? Is there some easy Savage fix that I am missing here?
 
Here's a link to an article I used to help with similar issues. http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/

I actually took my torque wrench to the range and played around while shooting. I was able to get a better result, by loosening the action screws taking a couple of shots and then tightening things up again until I got a consistent POI. After that things have been great. Maybe you just have a bad barrel? I shoot a Savage that has been customized with match barrel, but the action is the same (a Model 10 action not a Model 12) and it reacted well to adjusting the screws at the range. I'm also shooting .260 Remington. My loads are 39.2 gr Varget for a 129 gr Matrix Ballistics VLD bullet, and 36.4 gr Varget for the Lapua 139 gr. scenar. I did the action tuning at 100 yards, on a light wind day to minimize accuracy diminishing variables. Accutrigger and Accustock should give excellent results.
 
Peacefrog I was looking for something like that, but he says you already need an accurate load, and then fine tune with torque. I don't even have that :) So it's on to bedding.

I guess I'll do some googling on how to bed a Savage with a block in it. Just bed the recoil lug? Or a bit of the barrel? Anyone know a good tutorial for this type of stock/action?
 
You are certainly correct about the no support. From the marks on the bottom of the receiver, it appears the only contact being made is on the sides of the bedding blocks (front and back) It doesn't look like there is any contact on the bottom or near the barrel nut or recoil lug.

Incidentally, the barrel is definitely NOT free floated. I forgot to mention that in my first post. It won't allow a piece of paper to slide underneath unless the action screws are not screwed down very tight. I suppose I could try a different sequence of tightening to alleviate that but there would still be very little contact between the receiver and the stock.

I'm also out of bedding compound I just found, so off to the local auto parts store to see what they have in stock. Maybe they have Devcon.

I assume I should be removing some material from both front and rear bedding blocks and around the barrel nut area of the stock, too? Any ideas for the Savage Accutrigger? Seems complicated to remove and reinstall compared ot other triggers? Shoudl I just leave it in place and block it off with tape and plasticine?

Thanks for the help
 
just search youtube for "Savage accutrigger removal"

Gatehouse said:
You are certainly correct about the no support. From the marks on the bottom of the receiver, it appears the only contact being made is on the sides of the bedding blocks (front and back) It doesn't look like there is any contact on the bottom or near the barrel nut or recoil lug.

Incidentally, the barrel is definitely NOT free floated. I forgot to mention that in my first post. It won't allow a piece of paper to slide underneath unless the action screws are not screwed down very tight. I suppose I could try a different sequence of tightening to alleviate that but there would still be very little contact between the receiver and the stock.

I'm also out of bedding compound I just found, so off to the local auto parts store to see what they have in stock. Maybe they have Devcon.

I assume I should be removing some material from both front and rear bedding blocks and around the barrel nut area of the stock, too? Any ideas for the Savage Accutrigger? Seems complicated to remove and reinstall compared ot other triggers? Shoudl I just leave it in place and block it off with tape and plasticine?

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 
When the action is sitting level I bet the barrel is free floating.

You are bending the receiver to fit in the stock which causes the barrel to bear on something.

Some electrical tape around the barrel to keep it centered and level and give the clearance you want before bedding.

You will be stunned by how thick the bedding will be. And yes, that is how far you have bent your receiver..... Hopefully, you have not shot a lot or you may have worn your receiver wonky

Jerry
 
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