F T/R Competition Was freaking out for a minute there!!

[diego-ted]

I just picked up a Savage F/TR in 308 1/12 twist. Did some load development today. I started with the Hornady 178 HPBT set 25 thou off the lands, Varget powder and Lapua brass. I started at 44gr and worked my way up in .02 grain incraments. I had no groups worth talking about until I hit 45gr. Then another good group at 45.4 and 44.6. These were 4 shot groups at 100 yards. I will now start to vary seating depth to see if I can get the groups tighter. I will chrono the loads tomarrow to see where they fall.

The Stick

45 grains of Varget

45.4 grains

 

[HighRez]

45 gr. seems to be a Varget sweet spot. I'm shooting 45.0, 45.2 and 45.3 in my 3 pet .308 loads.

 

[gstaylorg]

Ok, Ted...that's just about enough of that. You are NOT allowed to bring this rifle to Pendleton or South Bay.

Seriously, very nice shooting! Looks like you've got a hammer.

GT

 

[dm1779]

I just finished up some loads for the 178 Hornadys and 175 SMK's with Varget this evening. I've got the same rifle, so we'll see if things line up with most folks results with the 45 gr of Varget. It'd be great as that was the sweet spot for the 168gr Hornadys - then I wouldn't have to change my powder measure.

 

[Tornado]

Quick question - On the Savage F/TR stock - whose cheek rest is on the stock?

 

[diego-ted]

DM, I would love to compare results! I ran seating depth testing with the Hornady 178 bthp only produced one good result which was 45gr of varget 15 thou off the lands. I didn't get any chrono readings on that group cause I knock3d yhe unit over.

 

[dm1779]

Diego - I've got my loaded to 2.1780 (Ogive) which I believe is just .0010 off the lands. I'm heading out to the range on Sunday and I'll post up my results I get @ 300 yards.

 

[dm1779]

Tornado - That's the factory cheek piece. They have a short and a tall variation of the cheek piece.

 

[dm1779]

Test Distance: 300 yards
Temp: 46 deg

Bullet: Hornady 178 Match
Powder: Varget
Ogive Length: 2.1780-2.1790
Powder Drops
43.8 -> 43.5 = 0.2420"
43.8 -> 45.0 = 0.5590"
43.5 -> 45.0 = 0.2350"

Basically those three formed a small triangle with 43.8 and 45.0 directly on top of each other. 43.5 in the middle a hair to the left. No pressure signs on any of them and no compressed loads as I was using a 6" drop tube. Going to now load up a few more below and above 43.5/43.8 and 45.0 and see where she ends up

 

[jhw1]

That is a stock cheek rest. I put a Karsten rest on all my rifles.

 

[chefcam864]

Off topic, but I'm curious how the 178 BTHP shoots compared to the 178 A-Max? I shoot the A-Max over RE 17 (good stuff), but I'm curious if the BC advantage of the BTHP is significant at long range. I shot at 300, 500, 600, 900, and 1,000 today at Butner, and the load was good with less than 7" vertical at 1k. However the wind was kicking my butt (this was my first time shooting past 300). I was Impressed with the A-max, but what has been your experience with the 2?

Sorry for the hijack, but I've been wondering this for a while.

 

[DropZone]

Great looking groups. That gives me some ideas! Thanks for sharing!

 

[diderr]

i have to start my load development once im able to find some Varget. I will either run 175 Bergers or 175 SMKs though. Any pressure signs over 45?

 

[dm1779]

i have to start my load development once im able to find some Varget. I will either run 175 Bergers or 175 SMKs though. Any pressure signs over 45?

It'll depend on your primers/brass you're using. With Nosler brass and GM120M primers I wasn't seeing any pressure signs at 45 grs.. Like with anything work up to that load to make sure you're setup won't have an issue with it

 

[diego-ted]

I hate to say it but things have not gone well for me with this rifle! I could not get the darn thing to quit throwing flyers! The flyer presented it's self regardless of load, bullet or powder? It would shoot 3 or 4 rounds into the same spot then out of nowhere there would be one an inch to 3/4 of an inch away as shown in this photo.



I tried many different solutions on different days with the same results. So I have sent the rifle to Larry Rancne to fix the problem. I have talked to many other Savage owners and when they had the problem, a good bedding job took care of it. I am disappointed I have to do this, but it is not completely unexpected. I may just buy once and cry once and have Larry put a new tube on it as well? We will see.

Diego

 

[Tornado]

That is a stock cheek rest. I put a Karsten rest on all my rifles.

Learned something new - did not know that. The Karsten is one of the options I am looking at for my new FCP-K. Not quite in the same realm as your FT/R