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Savage 110 Tactical Barrel chatter marks

magman687

magman687

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 14, 2010
180
4
39
ohio
#1
I purchased a Savage 110 Tactical chambered in 308 little over a year and a half ago and I have never seen a worse Barrel in my life.

Looks like train tracks running through the bore. deep and consistent pretty much from chamber to muzzle.

I don't know what kind of voodoo Savage does with these barrels because even though it looks horrible I'm pretty consistently shooting one Moa.
Photo_20230323173157.jpg
Photo_20230323192008.jpg


As you can see it grabs a hold of the copper pretty good lol but somehow manages to shoot great has anyone else had this kind of experience with Savage I actually had my first Barrel replaced from them on this gun because I thought it looked so bad but whenever they sent me the new one back it looked even worse but somehow shot even better.

20230614_163958.jpg


Five shot groups like this aren't all that uncommon.

20240718_124535.jpg
 
#6
JMGlasgow said:
You bought a Savage and expect quality? All of their barrels look like that. Sure, they can shoot good groups, it's the other issues like short chambers, forgetting to throat the barrel, feeding, extracting, shitty triggers, poor customer service (still better than Tikka).
Click to expand...
Must have hit the jackpot! None of those issues with my three, although none of mine are from the Axis line. Problem with Tikka is that you have to deal with Beretta USA customer service, universally considered perhaps the poorest in the industry. Pretty sure that there are private concerns that can service Tikka guns as opposed to having to deal directly with Beretta.
 
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#7
Looks just like my Savage Hog 308 barrel except yours shoots much better. Mine is a consistent 1.5 moa, with an occasional 1.25 moa group. And mine is short chambered too; the only resizing die I have that will set the brass back enough to chamber is a RCBS X-die; my Hornady and Redding will not. I should let mine copper up really bad and see if it groups better.

I’ve been tempted to rebarrel it, but just can’t see the value in spending $500ish to put Pirelli’s on a Yogo. Oh well, it’s minute of deer out to 300 yards and a decent beater rifle.
 
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#8
Yep, I'm not sure what kind of high tech equipment they're using but the consistency in those "train tracks" is incredible. Even in a high volume production environment they are still able to maintain their precision and consistency at the highest levels.
 
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#9
Welcome to the world of Savages...
Most all of them look like that, and most of them consistently shoot sub minute out of the box. No idea why their rifling buttons produce that chatter much more so than other production barrels, but results at the target prove the detriment to accuracy is minimal, if at all.

Above my pay grade to explain how a bore that looks like that, is only incrementally less accurate than a pristine one lacking any tooling marks- but they are.
 
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#12
Turkeytider said:
Must have hit the jackpot! None of those issues with my three, although none of mine are from the Axis line. Problem with Tikka is that you have to deal with Beretta USA customer service, universally considered perhaps the poorest in the industry. Pretty sure that there are private concerns that can service Tikka guns as opposed to having to deal directly with Beretta.
Click to expand...
I've never owned Axis junk. One was a 111 Hunter LH in 30-06, and the other was a Model 10 FLCP-K 308. I sold one, parted out the other, and got Remington 700's to replace them in the same calibers and never looked back. I wasted enough money on those Savage rifles trying to make them better I could have saved it all and bought an Accuracy International.

I now have a Deviant action for my main comp rifle, but the Rem700's remain, and none of the issues that Savage is known for.
 
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#13
I have 7 savage rifles including a 110BA in 338 LM and 2 10BA’s

This is a 12FV 6.5 Creedmoor in an MDT LSS-XL Gen 2 chassis.
I shot this target 2 weekends ago.
102y from a bench with a bipod and rear bag.
All 5 shot groups.
This is my low node 2668 fps.
39.8gr H4350 under a 140gr ELD-M in Lapua brass and a BR-4.

IMG_0825.jpeg

This was the load development target for this rifle it was shot in 0°F weather on New Years Eve 2021.
Ballistic-X-Export-2022-08-04 11:31:40.479494.jpg


A warning for those with heart conditions:
Tangent Theta on a Savage.
IMG_5472.jpeg


The 110BA in .338LM isn’t too shabby either.
Ballistic-X-Export-2023-09-15 20:28:51.840767.jpg
 
Last edited:
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#14
Thump_rrr said:
I have 7 savage rifles including a 110BA in 338 LM and 2 10BA’s

This is a 12FV 6.5 Creedmoor in an MDT LSS-XL Gen 2 chassis.
I shot this target 2 weekends ago.
102y from a bench with a bipod and rear bag.
All 5 shot groups.
This is my low node 2668 fps.
39.8gr H4350 under a 140gr ELD-M in Lapua brass and a BR-4.

View attachment 8522867
This was the load development target for this rifle it was shot in 0°F weather on New Years Eve 2021.
View attachment 8522869

A warning for those with heart conditions:
Tangent Theta on a Savage.
View attachment 8522868

The 110BA in .338LM isn’t too shabby either.
View attachment 8522871
Click to expand...
BUT……..do they feed, extract, eject, etc., etc., …..things that a lot of folks on SH say they don’t? If by chance they do, I guess that makes two of us with functioning Savage rifles !
 
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#15
My 24" large shank 10 in 6.5 CM looked similar when new. It's got about 2700 down the throat. Cracking is pronounced and erosion evident, but it is generally sub moa still. The occasional flyer ruins the groups that make it unsuitable for me. Originally it was .3-.75 moa and I only clean it when accuracy goes to hell. It has always been a bear to deep clean so it has only been done 8 times and its due for the 9th. It's in good enough shape I'll chase the lands.

I already have 2 new Savage take off barrels, a 308 and a 6.5 PRC. They both about 200 ea.
 
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#16
Turkeytider said:
BUT……..do they feed, extract, eject, etc., etc., …..things that a lot of folks on SH say they don’t? If by chance they do, I guess that makes two of us with functioning Savage rifles !
Click to expand...
Yes all of mine feed, extract and eject.
I will admit that ejection can be improved with a replacement spring but all of my rifles are 5-15 years old.

The extractor and ejector upgrade kit is around $20 per rifle. I will probably do that this winter.

I cannot compare the ejection with my Ultimatum Deadline Gen 2 that has double ejectors and throws brass 6-8 feet away.

I will add that all of my Savage rifles are using AICS magazines.
 
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#17
Ridge_Walker said:
My 24" large shank 10 in 6.5 CM looked similar when new. It's got about 2700 down the throat. Cracking is pronounced and erosion evident, but it is generally sub moa still. The occasional flyer ruins the groups that make it unsuitable for me. Originally it was .3-.75 moa and I only clean it when accuracy goes to hell. It has always been a bear to deep clean so it has only been done 8 times and its due for the 9th. It's in good enough shape I'll chase the lands.

I already have 2 new Savage take off barrels, a 308 and a 6.5 PRC. They both about 200 ea.
Click to expand...
How did you manage to find a large shank 10 in 6.5CM?
 
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#18
magman687 said:
I purchased a Savage 110 Tactical chambered in 308 little over a year and a half ago and I have never seen a worse Barrel in my life.

Looks like train tracks running through the bore. deep and consistent pretty much from chamber to muzzle.

I don't know what kind of voodoo Savage does with these barrels because even though it looks horrible I'm pretty consistently shooting one Moa.
View attachment 8522486View attachment 8522487

As you can see it grabs a hold of the copper pretty good lol but somehow manages to shoot great has anyone else had this kind of experience with Savage I actually had my first Barrel replaced from them on this gun because I thought it looked so bad but whenever they sent me the new one back it looked even worse but somehow shot even better.

View attachment 8522489

Five shot groups like this aren't all that uncommon.

View attachment 8522491
Click to expand...

My chatter marks and accuracy are very close to what you're seeing.

I kind of like to crap on Salvage a bit when I get the chance, but most of them still shoot quite well for what they cost (feeding and extraction excluded).
 
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#19
Thump_rrr said:
How did you manage to find a large shank 10 in 6.5CM?
Click to expand...
The BA Stealth Evolutions were closed top large shanks. Plus you got the MDT/Drake chassis. I wanted to pick up the 338L too. The disappeared before I could.

I put a Basix trigger in it, a bolt lift kit and polished the piss out of the bolt body. Put the PRS butt stock on a 22" Seekins 224V I built, and put the MDT folder on it instead.
 

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#20
JMGlasgow said:
You bought a Savage and expect quality? All of their barrels look like that. Sure, they can shoot good groups, it's the other issues like short chambers, forgetting to throat the barrel, feeding, extracting, shitty triggers, poor customer service (still better than Tikka).
Click to expand...
I sold guns for years and I found their customer service to be good and the only rifle I ever had to send back in out of the mini we sold was my personal rifle because I was concerned about the barrel LOL.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say they're just as good as the other guns because I don't think they are I have plenty of guns that are way better than this but for the price I'm extremely happy with my purchase.
Also maybe it's because I worked it myself but the trigger is one of the best triggers I've felt and I am a trigger snob.
Keep in mind out of the box it was okay at best.

My only grape is how the bolt feels whenever I push it forward to load around if I'm not pushing pretty much exactly straightforward it wants to bind.
 
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#21
KYAggie said:
Looks just like my Savage Hog 308 barrel except yours shoots much better. Mine is a consistent 1.5 moa, with an occasional 1.25 moa group. And mine is short chambered too; the only resizing die I have that will set the brass back enough to chamber is a RCBS X-die; my Hornady and Redding will not. I should let mine copper up really bad and see if it groups better.

I’ve been tempted to rebarrel it, but just can’t see the value in spending $500ish to put Pirelli’s on a Yogo. Oh well, it’s minute of deer out to 300 yards and a decent beater rifle.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that the group pictured above isn't a group that I shoot every single time that is a group that maybe I get three out of every 10 groups I shoot but it does consistently keep it about an inch
 
#22
Wannashootit said:
Welcome to the world of Savages...
Most all of them look like that, and most of them consistently shoot sub minute out of the box. No idea why their rifling buttons produce that chatter much more so than other production barrels, but results at the target prove the detriment to accuracy is minimal, if at all.

Above my pay grade to explain how a bore that looks like that, is only incrementally less accurate than a pristine one lacking any tooling marks- but they are.
Click to expand...
We shall call it horizontal internal flute technology
 
#23
JMGlasgow said:
I've never owned Axis junk. One was a 111 Hunter LH in 30-06, and the other was a Model 10 FLCP-K 308. I sold one, parted out the other, and got Remington 700's to replace them in the same calibers and never looked back. I wasted enough money on those Savage rifles trying to make them better I could have saved it all and bought an Accuracy International.

I now have a Deviant action for my main comp rifle, but the Rem700's remain, and none of the issues that Savage is known for.
Click to expand...
I will say I do like a good 700 action but my favorite action that I have is actually on a 25-06 that I built many years ago using a hart Barrel and Winchester model 70 action
 
#24
Thump_rrr said:
I have 7 savage rifles including a 110BA in 338 LM and 2 10BA’s

This is a 12FV 6.5 Creedmoor in an MDT LSS-XL Gen 2 chassis.
I shot this target 2 weekends ago.
102y from a bench with a bipod and rear bag.
All 5 shot groups.
This is my low node 2668 fps.
39.8gr H4350 under a 140gr ELD-M in Lapua brass and a BR-4.

View attachment 8522867
This was the load development target for this rifle it was shot in 0°F weather on New Years Eve 2021.
View attachment 8522869

A warning for those with heart conditions:
Tangent Theta on a Savage.
View attachment 8522868

The 110BA in .338LM isn’t too shabby either.
View attachment 8522871
Click to expand...
Lol she is beautiful.

I've been really lazy as of late I honestly need to get back into reloading because this thing really likes the Precision hunter from Hornady and it also really likes the m118 LR from Winchester but I feel like if I hand load for it I can increase that consistency quite a bit.
 
#25
Turkeytider said:
BUT……..do they feed, extract, eject, etc., etc., …..things that a lot of folks on SH say they don’t? If by chance they do, I guess that makes two of us with functioning Savage rifles !
Click to expand...
LOL yes I've come to realize this too don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with being a snob about your firearms because I do personally enjoy a lot of Precision Instruments I'm especially picky with my triggers and my accuracy if I have a rifle that can't shoot less than one inch at 100 yards I get rid of it.

Now that being said I've never had an issue with any Savage firearm with the exception of a Savage 22 many years ago that kept breaking firing pins left and right.

I have a nice roughly $5,000 rifle that a third generation of Interest gunsmith and myself built several years ago and it is fantastic however I find myself having more fun with some of my cheaper toys.
 
#26
diggler1833 said:
My chatter marks and accuracy are very close to what you're seeing.

I kind of like to crap on Salvage a bit when I get the chance, but most of them still shoot quite well for what they cost (feeding and extraction excluded).
Click to expand...
I totally get it there are several guns especially kimber's and Henry's that I like to crap talk not that they're bad guns just the owners are typically snobby and anything else is absolute garbage to them LOL so anytime I get a chance I crap talk them.
All in good fun though
 
#27
magman687 said:
I sold guns for years and I found their customer service to be good and the only rifle I ever had to send back in out of the mini we sold was my personal rifle because I was concerned about the barrel LOL.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say they're just as good as the other guns because I don't think they are I have plenty of guns that are way better than this but for the price I'm extremely happy with my purchase.
Also maybe it's because I worked it myself but the trigger is one of the best triggers I've felt and I am a trigger snob.
Keep in mind out of the box it was okay at best.

My only grape is how the bolt feels whenever I push it forward to load around if I'm not pushing pretty much exactly straightforward it wants to bind.
Click to expand...
Cerakote the body as many times as it takes to get rid of the Savage 'Bolt Slop'.

www.cerakote.com

Cerakote - MICRO SLICK DRY FILM LUBRICANT COATING (AIR CURE)

Shop Cerakote MICRO SLICK DRY FILM LUBRICANT COATING (AIR CURE) C-110. Find the coating that fits your application. Choose from a wide variety of coatings with specific attributes and specialties.
www.cerakote.com www.cerakote.com
 
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#28
Ridge_Walker said:
Cerakote the body as many times as it takes to get rid of the Savage 'Bolt Slop'.

www.cerakote.com

Cerakote - MICRO SLICK DRY FILM LUBRICANT COATING (AIR CURE)

Shop Cerakote MICRO SLICK DRY FILM LUBRICANT COATING (AIR CURE) C-110. Find the coating that fits your application. Choose from a wide variety of coatings with specific attributes and specialties.
www.cerakote.com www.cerakote.com
Click to expand...
There we go I never thought about that.
I polished the corners up thinking maybe it was just catching on the sharp edge and even though it helped a little bit it wasn't a huge difference and I never thought about going this route because I don't think it'll take many layers to fix the issue so thanks for the great idea I appreciate that.
 
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#29
magman687 said:
I purchased a Savage 110 Tactical chambered in 308 little over a year and a half ago and I have never seen a worse Barrel in my life.

Looks like train tracks running through the bore. deep and consistent pretty much from chamber to muzzle.

I don't know what kind of voodoo Savage does with these barrels because even though it looks horrible I'm pretty consistently shooting one Moa.
View attachment 8522486View attachment 8522487

As you can see it grabs a hold of the copper pretty good lol but somehow manages to shoot great has anyone else had this kind of experience with Savage I actually had my first Barrel replaced from them on this gun because I thought it looked so bad but whenever they sent me the new one back it looked even worse but somehow shot even better.

View attachment 8522489

Five shot groups like this aren't all that uncommon.

View attachment 8522491
Click to expand...
That is from the rifling process and shows up more than likely when the stock is on the gun drill, one person in here mentioned button rifling, however, I have button rifled more barrels than I can count. I have never seen a rifling button create such an artifact, but not to say that cant happen. The scope you have can take a small scratch and make it look like a crushed 18-wheeler. They magnify a lot and make it look alarming.

Based on the groups you are getting I would not fool with it, keep it properly fowled with copper and when it gets excessive, remove it, rinse and repeat. Years ago I had a customer bring me a REM 770 barrel that looked the exact same way. However, it was about a 6-8 MOA rifle from previous damage done from another owner and the fact it was a 770. I lead lapped the bore by hand, going from 120gr up to 1200gr and then polished it with flits for several hours. Here is a grainy image, I had to screen shot it from a vidoe. Brought the rifle to 1 MOA after the fact, however, in my opinion, your rifle is doing fine.

1729923330357.png
 
Last edited:
#30
That caterpillar track pattern is from button rifling over the reamer marks, no lapping done after the reaming. You could try fire lapping using Tubbs Final Finish bullets (embedded with lapping compound) or a similar system to iron those marks down, may or may not help, results can vary.

By the way, those marks are directional, that is they should be ironed from the chamber to muzzle end. Get it turned around and the bore turns into a file. Happened occasionally many years ago with some replacement barrels where someone didn't fully understand when spinning up a barrel. It would about peel the jacket off. Not an issue with better aftermarket barrels which are lapped after reaming, cut or button rifled.
 
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