New Load and Bedded Action (With Pictures)

[heikki02003]

Hey Folks,
Just an update on how things are going with the new Savage LRPV chambered in 204. I included one picture below, but you can read my full write up and see more pictures in the "Pics of your 204's" thread here (in the middle of the page) http://www.rugerhunting.com/forum/viewt ... &start=105. I have to say, as I did in the other thread, that the aluminum bedding block in the HS Precision stock was atrocious. It was real rough, and the action was resting on four little points on each corner, it had LOTS of play both forward & back, and side to side. I was not happy with it at all. Because it is aluminum, and the action is stainless, you can wiggle the action in the block and make dark grey marks where contact was being made between the two to see where it was touching. I followed a GREAT article written by Richard Franklin of Richard Custom Rifles titled "Stress Free Pillar Bedding", that may be found here http://www.6mmbr.com/pillarbedding.html. I adapted it for the savage because the pillars in the LRPV are integrated into the bedding block. All went really great, and I got a very tight and precise fit. It also increased the amount of clearance between barrel and stock (amount of free floating). The one problem I did have, was that my three actions screws were a bit too short for my liking. This is because the Devcon 10110 took up space between the receiver and the block, and now the receiver sits slightly higher than it did before. I say this for others thinking about doing a bedding job, so you can order a set of LRPV action screws BEFORE you bed it. It's not a big problem, Sharp Shooter Supply has a set of three. It's ok the way it is, but I'd like more thread holding.

I include two target with six groups on each. These targets were rendered with an amazing program called OnTarget, which accurately determines group sizes. You can find the program FOR FREE here http://www.ontargetshooting.com/download.html. The first one is 5 shot groups with factory Hornady 32gr's in a factory gun. I bought 320 rounds of Hornady (all the same lot number) for brass. The average of the first 6 groups is 1.071", so basically I was averaging an MOA of an inch with a factory gun and factory ammo. Not too bad really... for five shot groups off a bipod. I knew for sure I could do much better.
The second target also has 6 groups, this time only three shot groups. The average for the 6 groups is 0.431". With one nice 0.273" and a couple of low 0.3's. Notice the amount of vertical, it is very limited. This is something to look for when developing a load. I had some nice groups with different powder measurments, but they had more vertical. Don't get too excited by small groups with vertical. There is definitely lots of human error going on in my shooting, I'm struggling with this bipod. If you look at the first target you'll see my range notes for the bipod. I was trying with the PodPaws and without, preloading the legs by slight forward pressure and not, all kinds of variables. In the second target, there is only one sight adjustment, right after the first group (top left). All the other variations in POI is due to me trying different holds. It turns out that a variation of a free-recoil method works best (believe it or not, even with a bipod), I guess due to the weight of the rifle (15.5lbs) and the extremly light recoil.
Anyway... enough of me rambling! I'll finish by saying that I know I can still do better. Right now I'm at 2.282" OAL, which was improvement over the book's 2.25". I'm going to try and stretch it out past 2.3", and play with neck tension. I refuse to shoot this rifle from a rest just to shoot tighter groups, because in the gopher field I shoot off this bipod, so I'm sticking to it.

[jo191145]

Well I'd say your Savage is settling down nicely.
First groups with Hodgens starting charge or are you using Sierras/other data?

I'm a Sav fan but I still don't have a LRPV/bedding block stock.
You can actually wiggle the action in the block with the screws tightened?
A prime candidate for bedding if I ever heard of one.

It would be interesting to see what the 32gn Hornady factory ammo groups now that its bedded.
If and when you get a chance indulge us with that test please.

Enjoy that Sav 204

[WrzWaldo]

heikki02003,

Looks like it's coming together!

Looks like you are using OnTarget? I just used it on the last Postal Shoot targets and it was easily twice as fast as Group Size Calculator!

WW

[BunGhoLeo]

I bought 320 rounds of Hornady (all the same lot number) for brass.

I had that same idea till I tried to uniform the primer pockets today on the hornady brass. Exetremly tight that it's about impossible, and the ones that i was able to ream, half of them were deeper then the reamer. I've got 260 empty Hornady brass that i'm not sure what to do with. Melting it down to make a brass hammer has come to mind...

The stock on my LRPV is/was crappy also. Had to remove over a 1/4" from the channel to free float it. My action fits tight after that fix though. Off a rest with factory Winchester 34gr hollow points mine was doing in the .3's and .4s, with some in the .2s. I won't mention what it was doing before the stock modifications.

[heikki02003]

jo191145,
I am using Sierra load data. I know I'm a little light on my charge. I actually got a better group in development with 27.2gr of H4895, but my primers did not like it, a little bit of cratering. I am shooting CCI 400's right now, ONLY because my local shop did not have anything else. He has 2000 BR4's on order for me. Once they come in I'll go back to the drawing board.
Your question regarding wether the bedding or load contributed to the imporvement is dually noted. I wish I would have just bedded it, shot the factory stuff, then worked up the load to see a difference. The old addage applies here: Only change one thing at a time. I have to say that I think almost all of the improvement was due to the load development, and not the bedding.
No, the stock did not move in the action with the bolts tightened. It did move however when I loosened the screws. After the Devcon dried and I cleaned up all the putty, there was NO movement whatsoever. I probably could of shot it without the bolts, it was a very tight friction fit that had to be wiggled to get together.
Last part of your question... I do have a few boxes of the factory Hornady 32's. I will put a group or two on paper to see how it compares and post the results.

WrzWaldo,
Yes, OnTarget is great! I noticed you've been playing with it. I saw your work in another thead. I think it's great, so easy to use. I have been using digital camera pics and having to calibrate, I want to hook up my scanner and try. It says that if you use a scanner the image will be calibrated automatically for you... What do you do?

BunGhoLeo,
To be honest, I have not tried uniforming to the pockets. I have a Sinclair tool on order. For this set I only used a brush to get them clean. I hope my lot# are better.

[WrzWaldo]

I use a scanner / camera / and images of targets off the web.

WW

[Keith in Ga]

For what's it worth: the factory Hornady 32 grainers didn't shoot very well in my Cooper. I even tried loading some 32 gr v-max, but they still didn't want to shoot (or at least as good as I thought is should). When I switched to the Blitzkings, things really turned around. I'm using Benchmark, and while the velocities aren't in the 4000's fps, it gets the job done on pd's! I wanted to tone my loads down to around 3850-3900 fps to keep heat down and bbl life up.
I'm not real happy with the Hornady brass either. I think Win and Rem are much better, or at least it has been for me.