I picked up a Savage model 116 stainless 300 win mag with a sightron scope( 2 boxes through it) with a limbsaver for cheap cheap as the boy couldnt handle the recoil. I wasnt expecting much out of it but it seemed to do well this morning. Is this a reasonably good model? It did short work of stumps at 100 yards away.
Savage model 116
- Thread starter mackillan
- Start date
I just finished my first batch of reloads ever , and this is the rifle I loaded them for. I have the same gun in same caliber. Anyhow, At 100 yards (and I am not joking, I put 7 shots into .82 inches) I then took a break, and shot another 20 rounds at the 200 and 300 yard metallic silouettes. I hit all 20 I shot at with resounding "DING" sounds. I say this, because I am not a wonderful shooter, I have average skills, and I was using a medium quality scope (Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9-40). So GREAT accuracy is able to be achieved with this rifle, I just find that the light weight of it limits me to about 7 shots before I need a break.
If you are wondering what load I was using (in case you get into reloading in the future..... I was using Nosler 200 grain Accubond bullets over 70 grains of Alliant Reloader 22 powder. The brass was Winchester and the primers were Winchester magnum large rifle. The overall length of the cartridges was 3.34 inches.
I now have my forever hunting load, I wont need to tweak anything, and a 200 grain bullet can knock the best of them down. Thats where the .300 win mag shines (in bullet weights over 180 grains)
If you are wondering what load I was using (in case you get into reloading in the future..... I was using Nosler 200 grain Accubond bullets over 70 grains of Alliant Reloader 22 powder. The brass was Winchester and the primers were Winchester magnum large rifle. The overall length of the cartridges was 3.34 inches.
I now have my forever hunting load, I wont need to tweak anything, and a 200 grain bullet can knock the best of them down. Thats where the .300 win mag shines (in bullet weights over 180 grains)
Savage rifles.....
You did well. It is a good, accurate, rifle. It's an econo rifle but so be it. Gun snobs will be jealous of the accuracy you can get with only minimal outlay. It might shoot so well you'll get bored with it & want to sell it some day. In that case you'll have nil trouble finding takers to buy it....
You did well. It is a good, accurate, rifle. It's an econo rifle but so be it. Gun snobs will be jealous of the accuracy you can get with only minimal outlay. It might shoot so well you'll get bored with it & want to sell it some day. In that case you'll have nil trouble finding takers to buy it....
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
i like mine a lot more after refinishing the factory stock. i trimmed off all the mold lines with a razorblade, sanded the stock, really roughed up around the areas i intended to fill, degreased and gave it a skim coat of fibreglass. i also bedded it and reinforced the inside of the stock with some fibreglass as well. sanded smooth then gave it a coat of bedliner. it has held up very well and is super easy to touch up.
its a .308, with a Burris FFII 3-9x40 ballistic plex, Burris Zee rings, steel Warne mounts and a factory Savage oversized bolt handle. a budget set-up but i am happy with how it turned out and it is excellent for a winter beater.
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The only problem I have with this gun is the size of the action. Its an extremely long action from scope mount to scope mount. I had to buy an extension ring and modify it further (grind out an area to fit the bell housing on my Elite 3200 in order to even get 1cm of eye relief play) but its a solid rifle and shoots better than I can.
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
yeah the Savage long actions are brutal in terms of scope mounting. this never used to be a problem when long-action guns were topped with long-tube scopes, but nowadays almost all scopes you buy are of compact tube length.
rather than mess with extension rings, i would have just bought a 1-piece weaver/picatinny rail instead, which would let you mount the scope a lot farther back with no hassle.
its still not too late actually, no way id make do with a 300 win mag with such short eye relief
its 80 bucks plus a couple bucks shipping at Brownells for a Farrell one-piece steel rail, same price for the flat or 20 MOA rail if you intend to do longer-range shooting.
rather than mess with extension rings, i would have just bought a 1-piece weaver/picatinny rail instead, which would let you mount the scope a lot farther back with no hassle.
its still not too late actually, no way id make do with a 300 win mag with such short eye relief
its 80 bucks plus a couple bucks shipping at Brownells for a Farrell one-piece steel rail, same price for the flat or 20 MOA rail if you intend to do longer-range shooting.
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- Location
- British Canuckistan
that's a nice looking job, mbp! how do you reinforce the inside of the stock?
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
a while back i saw some tutorials around here (i think gitrdun posted them) on bedding and reinforcing the stock forearm using things like graphite rods epoxied in, but i didnt think the forend stiffness was that much of a problem so all i did was degrease/scuff it up real well inside, then fill the deep honeycombs in the barrel channel with a bit of expanding foam, waited for it to cure and then cut it down below the level of the barrel channel, then skimmed over the entire thing with fibreglass. the reason for the foam (and not solid fibreglass) is because i didnt want to necessarily add too much weight. in fact, HS Precision's stock making process is sortof similar in that they use a hard fibreglass shell which is filled with something very much like expanding foam.
it did stiffen the forend up, but the main reason i did it was because it is a gun i use in winter and bad weather and i dont like the deep hollow 'honeycomb' pockets inside the barrel channel of the stock -- if youre using the gun in winter or wet weather snow, dirt and moisture stays in there instead of running out.
with a smooth barrel channel you can just run a paper towel or rag with a bit of gun oil on it right down around the barrel and it cleans both the barrel and barrel channel nicely.
i caution you though - when using fibreglass on tupperware stocks (this goes for epoxy too) you really have to scuff it and degrease it very well.
to be honest if this wasnt a detachable mag model, it would have been far easier to just order a quality aftermarket stock. but there is very little being offered for the new style Savage DM right now so you have to improvise with what you have.
it did stiffen the forend up, but the main reason i did it was because it is a gun i use in winter and bad weather and i dont like the deep hollow 'honeycomb' pockets inside the barrel channel of the stock -- if youre using the gun in winter or wet weather snow, dirt and moisture stays in there instead of running out.
with a smooth barrel channel you can just run a paper towel or rag with a bit of gun oil on it right down around the barrel and it cleans both the barrel and barrel channel nicely.
i caution you though - when using fibreglass on tupperware stocks (this goes for epoxy too) you really have to scuff it and degrease it very well.
to be honest if this wasnt a detachable mag model, it would have been far easier to just order a quality aftermarket stock. but there is very little being offered for the new style Savage DM right now so you have to improvise with what you have.
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