Savage 7mm won't stabilize 175's

OldSavage

OldSavage

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I have a Savage chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum and the bad boy won't seem to stabilize the 175 Federals I bought (the only rounds they had at the local shop). I haven't shot anything else out of it yet, but the 4 inch group I got doesn't seem too promising.

The rifle twist is 1 and 9" if that helps.
 
You're saying that they don't stabilize because you got a 4" group or because they are keyholing? A 4" group might only mean that your 7mm doesn't like that particular load. Keyholing will usually tell you if it's not stabilizing. The only 175gr that I've had issues with are the 175gr TSX, these suckers are long.
 
In a 7mm a 9 twist barrel will stabilize all 175 grain bullets except possibly some very long pointy boat tail specialty bullets...

As stated above, a bad size group alone does not really indicate instability, key holing does however.
 
Sorry guys, I should have specified. It was just a large group, larger than I would every consider acceptable. It was an interesting day. I keep going on about how accurate my other savage is, and then this one makes me look like a fool :)

I will try another factory load, then start with handloads when I accumulate enough brass.

Thanks,
 
As posted, you have plenty of twist to stabilize a 175. Handloading should fix things. 7mm mag's pretty easy to work with once you have brass fired from your rifle and headspace them off the shoulder instead of the belt. Inherently accurate caliber, very effective on pretty well everything. Not many people choose the 175, but for big stuff it's a great choice.
 
If you want to see how well this Savage can shoot, consider my receipe.

162gr Amax, Re25, Fed215m in neck sized Rem brass (would prefer Win but it works just fine). Sub MOA a very long ways out.

The 162gr SST would make a great hunting bullet and shot the same windage as the Amax in my gun.

The 165 and 180gr Bergers would be nice bullets and will stabilize in a 1in 9.

I think your barrel just doesn't like that ammo.

Jerry
 
I was going to use it's poor performance to justify purchasing a Shilen in 358 Norma Mag. But I will try a few more things before I give up on the old girl.

Thanks Jerry
 
Who says you can't have more then one barrel? :)

Just keep an eye on barrel temp as well. Groups may start to open up when the barrel gets hot.

Let me know if I can help your with a new barrel...

Jerry
 
I will assume that you checked to insure that the scope bases, rings were all snugged up. Also that the action was firmly secured to the stock? Last new in the box savage i purchased the front action screw was barely tight. 1 group does not necessarily imply that the gun won't shoot either. Barrel break in, should be better than that. The excitement of trying out the new toy for the first time.......
 
Had a similar experience with my Browning 7 mm Rem Mag. I started handloading using 154 grain Hornady's and got my groups to basically cloverleaf. I then decided to try some 175 gr bullets, (forget the brand) and the groups opened up tremendously, despite trying numerous recipes. In the end I abandoned the 175's and now stick to the 154 grainers. I can't imagine that anything I intend to shoot is going to miss 20 grains.
 
My 7 rem mag stabilizes 175 gr speer mag tips with an 11 inch twist. Ihave not tried them at extremely long range, I start them out at 2975 fps, no keyholes at 200 yards..
 
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