Gunsmithing Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

[fastnf]

Since my Ladder test was probably botched due to a loose scope rail and possibly barrel I decided to take everything apart and take a look at things. I have never owned a rifle, so I'll take any advice that an experienced owner would like to give.

The rail was loose at the front. I'm not sure what to to. We put blue locktite on the screws when I first got it, but I'm thinking there was oil or something that caused issues. There was oil under the rail (I assume from cleaning) and on the screws.

I want to replace the factory rail with a 20-30 MOA rail. Any ideas? This one doesn't look to be holding up really well to the abuse of the 338LM.

The front barrel bolt was not what I would call tight. Came loose quite easily. I'm wondering if it was about to be completely loose.

Do these pictues show anything amiss?

Should the front barrel bolt be touching the accustock inside the bolt hole?

Thanks for all advice. If something here is wrong PLEASE point it out because I've wasted enough rounds already trying to get this thing up and running correctly. If I need to send it to have some work done to solve an issue I'll do it. I'd rather use the money now to fix something than to blow more ammo down range to find it later.

Full size pictures can be found at the link below.

https://picasaweb.google.com/rexweatherford/LadderTest?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

[fastnf]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

 

[CaptLink]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

Its hard to smith a gun with just pictures but in general your stock bolts should not contact the stock as they would be adsorbing the recoil the lug should be supporting.I am a perfectionist when it comes to scope mounting when its assembled it must be as one with the receiver.In large calibers I open up the mounting screws to 8x40 or 10x32 and use hardened alloy screws.My bases are steel one or two piece fitted to the receiver bedded if necessary.Screws are fitted first then I use RED loctight after De-greasing and torqued.Rings are lapped in then scope is bedded and top ring are torqued in.Action screws must be properly tightened the barrel is normally free floated.
1)It looks as if you have a problem with your rings fitting to the base
2)make sure your recoil lug is fully fitted or bed it.
3)mount your base rings then scope with care and precision.
4)make sure you stock screws fit and are tightened correctly.
Good luck with your project.

 

[Dirty D]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

The recoil lug appears to be wearing unevenly judging by the marks on the left side of the lug and the pic of the bedding block indicate the same thing. Either the recoil lug isn't perfectly square or the bedding block isn't, like PAR said it is hard to tell definitively so have a good smith check it out. Your rifle may benefit from being skim bedded into the stock since it appears you are not getting even contact, and after 1200 rounds or so I removed my EGW scope base to swap a barrel and the wear pattern on top of the receiver was not even so I will be bedding my base too. Again have a good smith check that out as well. If your scope base worked loose after loc titing then you should blow out the screw hole thoroughly with a compressor and clean the screws with denatured alcohol etc to remove any lubricants/coatings.

 

[fastnf]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

I did find some of the black stock coating down in the lug reciever area and cleaned it out. Hopefully that was the issue there. Taking a jewlers file and running it length-wise along the curved aluminum action area I found there was also some of this black coating that was higher than the aluminum block. I cleaned up around these spots as best I could for now. TQed the action bolts back down to 40 in-lbs according to the Savage directions. I'll have to keep an eye on them until I can ask about the Smith situation in my area.

When bedding the action and scope rail are you using this Devcon 10110?

I need to research the scope rail situation and find one I can use and get some high quality bolts.

I did run a file down the scope rail and the rail had deformed a LOT where the impact from the scope rings lock on the rail. I was able to make it even again, but I doubt I will put it back on the gun since it is not what I want anyway.

Rings are Burris Xtreme Tactical Medium in 30mm.

 

[CaptLink]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: fastnf</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I did find some of the black stock coating down in the lug reciever area and cleaned it out. Hopefully that was the issue there. Taking a jewlers file and running it length-wise along the curved aluminum action area I found there was also some of this black coating that was higher than the aluminum block. I cleaned up around these spots as best I could for now. TQed the action bolts back down to 40 in-lbs according to the Savage directions. I'll have to keep an eye on them until I can ask about the Smith situation in my area.

When bedding the action and scope rail are you using this Devcon 10110?

I need to research the scope rail situation and find one I can use and get some high quality bolts.

I did run a file down the scope rail and the rail had deformed a LOT where the impact from the scope rings lock on the rail. I was able to make it even again, but I doubt I will put it back on the gun since it is not what I want anyway.

Rings are Burris Xtreme Tactical Medium in 30mm. </div></div>
Nice rings now get a good rail you will not need a moa rail unless you shoot long distance.I prefer to fit the base using bluing and a scraper or with sand paper the best way is with a surface grinder but I can't afford that yet it is on my list.Or I prefer accura-glass gel.JB,marine-tex,devcon will work as well but I am used to accra-glass.If the mount is way off you have another problem.Clean up your action and put a little clay behind your recoil lug then tighten your bedding bolts.Pull it all apart and if a thin layer of clay is left then bed that lug.Good luck and as always I will respond to a PM

 

[fastnf]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

PAR thank you very much! I will probably go ahead and get a 20 MOA rail, (still looking, any thoughts?) I do want to shoot 1000+. I have a location that is good for 2100 yards, not that we will try that far.

Most shooting will probably be in the 600-1000 yard range. I was planning on setting my zero at 600 and then adjusting dope from there.

 

[werew]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

There's a lot of great advice in this thread, skim bedding is something I definitely plan on doing to mine, all the Remington HS-Precision stocks I have greatly benefited from it. This is my 2nd Savage rifle, 1rst Savage with a HS-P stock and there's definitely some room for improvement.

I just checked mine out after looking at your pics here, i'm certain that my new 110fcp HS would have done exactly the same thing as your's.

1.)Check all 4 of your rail screws for length, are they all the same? Mine are... translating to the 1rst front screw doesn't do anything except squash the barrel threads when you torque it down. On my rifle, the 2nd front screw actually scrapes the bolt lug, causing it to feel mushy 1/2way thru pushing the bolt down, discovered this when I got it home and figured no big deal, easy fix. Check yours. They must do quality control on them before mounting the rail on these? Both screws need to be shortened, using a sharpie marker cover the tips with ink and individually install them after shortening, then check if rail is secure with each screw, the remove screws and check the tips to see if the marker's ink rubbed off when tightened. Ink rubbing off means it's still bottoming out and it needs to be shortened more. Don't forget to cycle the bolt with the 2nd screw installed to check bolt lug clearance. Fixing this will make a difference.

2.)The recoil lug surfaces don't mate up as well as they could. My remington PSS in 7mag was the same way out of the box so no surprise here. Using a very small file I very slightly beveled the sharp aluminum edges in the stock which were slightly "high" in the recoil lug surface area. I then noticed there was some slight excess of paint on the stocks aluminum recoil lug mating surface. Using light force with a small flat nosed file, the paint scraped off. Thickness of excessive paint was significant so removing this helps the 2 surfaces mate up together better.

3.)40 in/lb of torque on the receiver bolts is a joke for this caliber, however with this stock in mind, only the front bolt is fully "pillar" supported allowing a 55-60 in/lb of torque. The rear I don't think would be able to handle it over time. A trip to the hardware store to get a stainless steel sleeve and cut it to length, fit it between the bottom metal allowing very slight press and i'm calling it good until I get around to bedding it also. This I think will greatly help consistency over time. 40 in/lb is only going to vibrate loose over time. The front action bolt is doing all the work, the rear @ 40 in/lb torque is only vertically flexing/squeezing the stock a little and nothing more.

Do these 3 things and I bet your ladders come right back together, and stay together. One other thing i'm planning on, and with this stock/receiver configuration i noticed it'll be very easy, bedding the bottom metal. I'm pretty fond of it so far, kinda shocked Savage let the rail screws go overlooked, as well as 40 in/lb torque specs.

 

[werew]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

Looking at your rail and receiver again... id bank on your screws are too long in the front. Your receiver is showing you have press at the rear rail mount holes, yet at the front light edge marks. Also the front rails hole's shoulders are black and clean, indicating the screws heads aren't pressing much, if at all... whereas the rear holes are shiny and indicative that those screws are pressing onto the hole's shoulders as they should. Your rail is vibing and humming like a kazoo up front. Check that RH bolt lug too. Your 2nd front screw looks like it sits deeper but might be hittin that bolt lug.

Stock's recoil lug area also identical to mine, LH side excessive paint. Feel the sharp edges in that area and put a very slight bevel on the aluminum's edge. Your recoil lug itself should be fine altho some people do put beveled edges on the backside as well for paint/dirt clearance.

If you have any questions, I can email some pictures to you showing areas to bevel.

 

[werew]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

Took the rifle to a gunsmith friend of mine today and 60 in/lb on the rear action bolt will work and it doesn't need a sleeve/pillar. He said the same thing as I re: 40 in/lb on a 338Lapua mag with this rifle.

60 in/lb press in that area passes from the bottom metal, to the alum. block to the action barely offset of the stock's alum. bed surface, so there is enough support for 60 in/lb.

If there was any press on the stock's composite structure, 60 in/lb would be too much.

 

[jonaddis84]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

As far as the scope base goes. Contact Murphy Precision, get one of his Stainless bases in long action and it will bolt right up. Figure out how many moa you need and hell custom make it no extra charge ($135 for the base).

I used a 40moa on mine and wish I wouldve taken the time to figure out exactly what Id need as Im still 8 mils from the bottom. Luckily the Razor still has like 26 mils up from where Im at now

 

[fastnf]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

Ordered my 30 MOA steel rail today from Ken Farrel. He is in MO so I decided I would purchase somewhat locally.

 

[ajwarrior]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

fastnf I think you'll like the Farrell 30MOA steel rail. Running the Farrell 30MOA on mine. I have to say I was impressed with the fitment and finish of their work.

 

[fastnf]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

I do think I will like it very much....

Bedding drying tonight.

Compared to the old rail.

 

[werew]

Re: Savage 110 FCP HS (pics disassembled)

Very nice looking rail. Looks stout.