Impulse buy: Savage 10 BA Stealth, now some questions on setting it up

[wcoats]

I saw a Savage 10 BA stealth in 6.5 Creedmoor marked all the way down to $600 still brand new and ended up buying it. Hoping I’m. Not going to regret my decision even though it was marked down so much. I know this model was replaced by the Evolution and now the Savage Precision Rifle which is why it was probably marked down so much. This is my first “chassis” rifle and I have a few questions. My only other precision rifle is a Rem 700 in 6.5 Creedmoor in a KRG Bravo.

Stock: Already have a Luth AR Rifle length buffer tube and stock sitting around I’m going to swap for the one it came with.

Mounting a bipod further forward: the hand guard isn’t that long and I think I’m going to want the mount a bipod further forward. Can I just mount a long ARCA rail to the bottom of the handgun via the M Lok that sticks out passed the end of the hand guard? Any better ideas?

Pistol grip: wanting a more vertical grip preferably that also has a large palm swell. Recommendations? I really like the grip on my Bravo but not sure if I can get a similar feel.

 

[wcoats]

No replies yet.... maybe that confirms the lack of love for Savage. I’ll got shoot it and see what I think of it.

I went ahead and ordered a Arca rail I can attach to the M Lok attachments on the bottom that will extend 2 inches past the end of the hand guard. I’ll try that out and see if it’s rigid enough to support a bipod well

 

[Comman-D'oh]

No replies yet.... maybe that confirms the lack of love for Savage.

Congratulations on a great deal. These rifles sold for around $1,100 or $1,200 recently, and were a good value even then, considering price and accuracy. At that price point, most Remington 700s are considered merely a starting point, and need things like action bedding, trigger replacement, and maybe an action truing and new barrel, depending on who you talk to.

I've got a Savage 10 HSP-something-or-other in .308, which is essentially the same action, bolt, and barrel, and it can shoot 1/3 MOA groups on some days when I'm totally in the groove, whether shooting 100 yards or 1,200. But you're right, there's not much Savage love on this forum, or with "serious" shooters. I showed up at my local "long range precision" match with my Savage 10, and was the only person without a $2,500 custom Remington 700-based action in a $1,000 chassis. I felt a little out-classed during the pre-match chit-chat, but when the shooting started, I shot just as well as at least half the field.

Yes, the action is clunky when compared to the Remington 700, and this can upset your body position and sight picture when you're making multiple shots under time pressure. There are various videos online about how to disassemble the bolt and polish the cocking mechanism to make this a bit better, and I applied lapping compound on the bolt and cycled it, like, a zillion times in order to smooth out the action a bit. A heavier and longer bolt handle helps, too. But the trigger is just fine, and doesn't need to get replaced with a $200 item before you take it out of the box, like everyone does with their Remingtons.

Yes, there's some sloppy manufacturing tolerance in the chambers and barrels. When I started reloading, I discovered that Savage 10s have a pretty short throats, which limits bullet seating depth options, and there's some slop in the chamber dimensions which is not ideal. None of this affected the mostly 1/3 MOA accuracy, although it maybe accounts for the occasional "WTF?!" fliers and inconsistent muzzle velocities I record sometimes. I'm at the point in my long range precision interest that I'm considering replacing the barrel with an aftermarket match-grade barrel with a custom-sized chamber, which would cost around $500 and which I can do at home because of the Savage barrel nut system. I'll still be stuck with the clunky Savage action, but it's still hard to beat the cost-to-accuracy ratio of these guns. For $600, you got a great deal!

 

[Bandit320]

Good buy, I wouldof been all over that For that price.

Mike

 

[Northernjets]

Pistol grip: wanting a more vertical grip preferably that also has a large palm swell. Recommendations? I really like the grip on my Bravo but not sure if I can get a similar feel.

MDT and Ergo both make vertical pistol grips that should work.

 

[celltech]

Few easy things you can do out of the box. Get the tactical bolt handle...gives you a lot more leverage. I like to cut the safety blade spring down until it just applies some pressure. Not sure if that model has the brown varmint trigger spring? If not get one and turn it down to the ~1.5 lb minimum weight. A bolt lift kit does work a little bit and will reduce the cocking effort by ~1/2 lb. LaRue has some cheap AR style grips with palm swells and good checkering. If you don't care about the front sling mount you can get crafty and put a pic rail right up the edge for a bipod.

If the extraction/ejection is bad you can get a kit that helps...that is my biggest complaint of a stock Savage.

 

[just a scout]

Any input on why the bolt is sloppy when loading a round? I even have to jiggle sometimes when trying to load and seat a round.

 

[celltech]

Any input on why the bolt is sloppy when loading a round? I even have to jiggle sometimes when trying to load and seat a round.

A savage is not known as the smoothest bolt around. They do tend to get smoother as you keep cycling it. Of course other people on here will tell you it's a stinking pile of shit and to throw it away. Put some lube on it and keep firing...

 

[Comman-D'oh]

Yup. Lube the bolt and run it "wet".

I use grease and a bit of "Anti Seize" thread lubricant (the silvery paste used mostly in automotive applications to keep high temperature hardware from seizing). Anti Seize is thick, stays in place, and has bits of suspended metal which keeps metal-on-metal contact from happening and really smooths out the action. If it's too thick and makes the bolt feel gummy, thin it out with a bit of oil. It also makes a mess, gets on your hands and on your ejected cases, and tends to attract dirt and carbon. But the action feels about $500 better!

Breaking in the bolt and action with lapping compound helped a bit; it's kind of like accelerating the break in wear and tear that smooths the action out after a few thousand cycles.

 

[Slides]

Strip it and make sure the scope rail and action bolts/faces have locktite/seating compound on them. My BA110 just had assembly oil on/between everything and stuff shook lose.

 

[Baddog 0302]

Just an FYI, the BA Stealth's are cut with a large shank profile in their receiver's. I ran into one shop offering prefits that wouldn't cut the bbl. profile I wanted due to the Bbl. needing large shank threads.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Any input on why the bolt is sloppy when loading a round? I even have to jiggle sometimes when trying to load and seat a round.

Mine was kind of "hitchy" feeding rounds, sometimes I'd have to back the bolt up a little and then continue forward to get them to chamber. I ended up removing about 0.010" from the ejector plunger as described in this thread and it cleaned that right up. Now my Savage (12FV in an Oryx) is every bit as smooth feeding as my Bergara B14.

I also did a bunch of smoothing and polishing of various surfaces and installed a lift kit from PTG to help slick up the action. I installed a extraction and ejection kit which helped ejection, but I ended up going back to the factory extractor because the "improved" one would occasionally jump the rim (and then I used the "improved" extractor to fix the weak extraction problem in my cheapy Axis 2 - go figure).

Good rifles, IMO.