This is my Savage. There are many like it, but this one is mine
On my eleventh birthday, I received a Savage 110 in 270 Winchester as my first centerfire rifle. I got this from a man unrelated to me, but was like a father to my dad and a grandfather to me. Got my first buck that year with it, on my father's birthday - only took me 4 shots to get one hit with all that buck fever
Fast forward through high school and college and a couple years working out of state...the rifle sat neglected in a case, a victim of teenage disinterest and non-use. Once I got settled I broke the old stick out and gave it a good deep cleaning, but couldn't get it to shoot worth a damn...not with factory ammo, not with a dozen-plus different reload recipes. Replaced the stock, but accuracy didn't get better. At that point I decided the rifle would rise again, but on my terms. I could rebuild it, I had the technology (and cash, albeit not much).
Today, that time has come.
I took the staggerfeed 110 action and gave the factory 3-screw trigger a good work-over. Need to adjust it again to take a little creep out, but it feels MUCH better than stock. I popped off the attached blind magazine, installed an extended bolt baffle (standard on short action 204/223s), and traded the factory .473 bolt head for an original .378 long action bolt head.
Why swap bolt heads? Because I'm building a 223 on this long action...if only because I can. Screwed a Savage takeoff 26" 1:9 223 barrel onto the action, checked headspace, snugged the nut up and called 'er good to go.
I picked a used Savage LA McMillan A5 up here on the Hide. Stock has a pretty good krylon job that is starting to wear/show primer and was only a single-shot inlet, but that's nothing that Jeff @ CDI couldn't take care of with his milling machine. He did a great job inletting for his Savage LA/308 mag DBM and turned it around to me very quickly. With the CDI LA/308 mag DBM you obviously don't need the entire length of a long action bolt and can utilize the aforementioned extended bolt baffle; with it, bolt throw is only 1/4" longer than a standard SA Savage.
I did have to do a bit of work to the stock with sandpaper and a Dremel for a proper action/recoil lug fit due to previous bedding, but everything now mounts up nice and snug.
Picked up a used EGW 20MOA Savage LA flat back scope base here on the Hide too, and mounted one of the popular Vortex Viper HS 5-15s on it. Add a Harris S-BRM bipod and WHAMMY, the budget bastard FrankenSavage is done.
For now.
I need to cut the very front of the scope base off to provide more clearance with the scope, and add a Pod-Loc to the bipod. I'll also probably end up with a Basix SAV-1 trigger, though I might get crazy and try to swap on an Accutrigger to match my other, newer Savage rifles.
In about 12 weeks I should have a 22" 7 twist light varmint Criterion 223AI barrel arrive from Northland Shooter Supply. At that time I'll probably Duracoat the metal and paint the stock, though I'm still undecided on colors. I may also send the action to Kevin Rayhill to be timed & trued. The A5 stock may also get sold and replaced with a Manners T2 - depends how I like shooting it over the next couple months.
But until then (and even after), this is the rebirth of my first centerfire...
On my eleventh birthday, I received a Savage 110 in 270 Winchester as my first centerfire rifle. I got this from a man unrelated to me, but was like a father to my dad and a grandfather to me. Got my first buck that year with it, on my father's birthday - only took me 4 shots to get one hit with all that buck fever
Fast forward through high school and college and a couple years working out of state...the rifle sat neglected in a case, a victim of teenage disinterest and non-use. Once I got settled I broke the old stick out and gave it a good deep cleaning, but couldn't get it to shoot worth a damn...not with factory ammo, not with a dozen-plus different reload recipes. Replaced the stock, but accuracy didn't get better. At that point I decided the rifle would rise again, but on my terms. I could rebuild it, I had the technology (and cash, albeit not much).
Today, that time has come.
I took the staggerfeed 110 action and gave the factory 3-screw trigger a good work-over. Need to adjust it again to take a little creep out, but it feels MUCH better than stock. I popped off the attached blind magazine, installed an extended bolt baffle (standard on short action 204/223s), and traded the factory .473 bolt head for an original .378 long action bolt head.
Why swap bolt heads? Because I'm building a 223 on this long action...if only because I can. Screwed a Savage takeoff 26" 1:9 223 barrel onto the action, checked headspace, snugged the nut up and called 'er good to go.
I picked a used Savage LA McMillan A5 up here on the Hide. Stock has a pretty good krylon job that is starting to wear/show primer and was only a single-shot inlet, but that's nothing that Jeff @ CDI couldn't take care of with his milling machine. He did a great job inletting for his Savage LA/308 mag DBM and turned it around to me very quickly. With the CDI LA/308 mag DBM you obviously don't need the entire length of a long action bolt and can utilize the aforementioned extended bolt baffle; with it, bolt throw is only 1/4" longer than a standard SA Savage.
I did have to do a bit of work to the stock with sandpaper and a Dremel for a proper action/recoil lug fit due to previous bedding, but everything now mounts up nice and snug.
Picked up a used EGW 20MOA Savage LA flat back scope base here on the Hide too, and mounted one of the popular Vortex Viper HS 5-15s on it. Add a Harris S-BRM bipod and WHAMMY, the budget bastard FrankenSavage is done.
For now.
I need to cut the very front of the scope base off to provide more clearance with the scope, and add a Pod-Loc to the bipod. I'll also probably end up with a Basix SAV-1 trigger, though I might get crazy and try to swap on an Accutrigger to match my other, newer Savage rifles.
In about 12 weeks I should have a 22" 7 twist light varmint Criterion 223AI barrel arrive from Northland Shooter Supply. At that time I'll probably Duracoat the metal and paint the stock, though I'm still undecided on colors. I may also send the action to Kevin Rayhill to be timed & trued. The A5 stock may also get sold and replaced with a Manners T2 - depends how I like shooting it over the next couple months.
But until then (and even after), this is the rebirth of my first centerfire...
