Halfa Savage Halfa Beast?

[jo191145]

Memorial Day weekend my Sav 12 (204 of course) was nice enough to win the 200yd egg shoot at the Woodcock Rifle range in Dartmouth Mass.
Besides the golden egg trophy I also received a 50% off coupon for any Savage rifle. (Thank You Savage for sponsoring this event) FWIW I had to shoot 21 eggs before my closest competitor with a Sav 22-250 finally missed. If we could have gone a few more eggs we would have switched to 45acp brass. Now that really would have been fun.
I'm quessing the coupon will go to the winner of the 300yd shoot next month. My 204 will be there

Heres the ? What should I get? I have my 204's a 223 and a few 308's all in model 12 actions. Anyone care to offer up some opinions on the next cartridge/model I should be looking at.

One consideration. A new rule in these shoots is any gun costing over $950 will compete in the custom class. Not a big deal to me but it is a consideration. It either shoots or gets fixed and then shoots. The custom class is not eligible for the Sav coupons but my 204 can work on bringing more of those home.

I'm leaning towards one of those new Savage 6.5 X 284 comp guns. Nothing more than a 204 on steroids. Real barrel burners too but thats why they make barrel wrenches.

I'd be interested in everyones opinion. What would you get and why.

[acloco]

+10 on your cartridge selection already. HUGE fan of the 6.5 pencil bullets. Great BC and HUGE SD....and they fly.

No bull...but my 1900 dated M96 Swede will put most guns to shame in the accuracy department at distance. ANYBODY can shoot and do well with it.

[Robert harrel]

congrats on your win. just got a mod 12 lrpv in 22-250 that shoots awsome but the 6.5-284 would be real nice also

[jo191145]

acloco

Yes I hear the 6.5 X 55 Swede is still one very competitive cartridge. (We are talking about the same thing correct ) Its amazing how well some of the old rifles/cartridges will shoot. I recently dusted off one of my Dads old relics. A 30-40 Krag. With a little more TLC and load development I think this gun will shoot pretty good. Never as good as your Swede and close up only but I might spring for a scope mount if I can verify some of the accuracy I witnessed today. It would be neat to compete with this old relic at the 100yd egg shoots against the modern sporters. A little WS2 goes a long way to help a barrel thats seen a lot of corrosive primers. Oddly enough this gun has a benchrest chamber After fireforming/load development I noticed the necks were still quite snug on a naked 308 bullet. At first I thought maybe my mild loads were to mild. Without a neck turning pilot I sanded one down by hand and fired it. Sure enough it expanded. I bought the 308 pilot.
I'm probably the first guy who's neck turned for the 30-40 Krag
Better safe than sorry though. Krags do not like pressure.

Robert

The LRPV is the reason for the new $950 rule. The match director has been watching theses things shoot groups at the range and decided no one else stood a chance against them. Its good I do my shooting at home The previous rule excluded Coopers (custom tube) and 40x's (custom shop)
An LRPV in 22-250 is not far behind the 6.5 on my list. Sav offers a 243 in a model 12 too. The 6.5 will shoot any distance though. So far long range has not been a concern of mine but who knows what the future holds. I wish I lived further West.
So just how well does your LRPV shoot?

[acloco]

Yes, 6.5x55 is the animal that I am talking about.

I want a modern action chambered in this round....it would be sssccchhhwwweeet!

With the modern action, 140 grain pills in the 3000 fps category would be the ticket for some 600-1200 yard shots.

[WrzWaldo]

Heres the ? What should I get? I have my 204's a 223 and a few 308's all in model 12 actions. Anyone care to offer up some opinions on the next cartridge/model I should be looking at.

I am also a huge 6.5 fan, the 140 A-Max (it's as long as my 17 Fireball brass) just needs fins and it would be a rocket! I'm shooting a pre 64 .264 Winchester Magnum and for it's age it will embarrass some of the cocky new shooters at the range.

Not sure if savage has one chambered yet, but the 17 Fireball is a hoot to shoot! 20 grain slug + 17 grains of propellant = 4000 FPS. As much recoil as a .22 cal air rifle.

[jo191145]

WrzWaldo

No 17 fireball yet that I've seen anyway. Sounds like fun though.
In the small amount of research I've done so far I did notice the 140 A-Max. Chances are good I'd start with that bullet. A-Maxs have performed better than the rest out of my 223 and 308's. Excellent bullets at a great price. And the 140 comes pre molyed. At their price I see no reason to tumble my own. Varying thickness in the application process can change accuracy/powder charge. I'm guessing Hornady would get them more consistent than me.

[Shooter]

I would get a .204. And quickly re-barrel to a .22BR. Lot's of potential, low cost.

[Hawkeye Joe]

I saw a Rem 700 17 Fireball at gun shop. It had a funky plastic stock with grip pads.

Go with the F class 6.5/284. Looks like a cool gun.Not sure I like the stock though.I'll have to see if my gun shop will order one so I can look at it .

[Robert harrel]

JO191145 my lrpv shot .75 with fed prem ammo and high 2s to low 3s with 55 noslers and h380 but this is all i have tried. i think ill order some 69 sierra mk and try them also. on the 950.00 rule i paid a little over 900.00 but the msrp was over a 1000.00

[jo191145]

Shooter

22BR hmnnn. You may have a point there. I'm beginning to waffle here. Maybe picking up an LRPV for future builds would be better. The 6.5 is just another 12 action of which I already have three. A right bolt left port might be interesting.

Hawkeye

Definately an ugly stock. Everyone said so and supposedly Savage listened. The stock you see in the pictures is never supposed to go into production. It should be just like the 308 version.

Robert

Yes You can buy them cheaper but the range uses GunBroker .com (I think) for price rulings. I think GB uses manufacturers prices. I can live with 2's and 3's

[Hawkeye Joe]

on the 950.00 rule i paid a little over 900.00 but the msrp was over a 1000.00

I paid $819 for mine because I ordered before the New gun and price was known.


Jo
No ugly stock .Now I want one. Did you see one yet?? Or are they still "work in progress". I need a larger caliber target gun to play with.

[jo191145]

Wrzwaldo

I've seen the F 308 at a public range near my house about three weeks ago. As acloco would say its sssccchhhwwweeet! The guy even let me touch off a couple of factory loads. It was shooting about 1 moa with no rear bag for him. My two shots were about 1 moa too. I've been shooting with a rear bag since I started this accurate rifle hobby. My hold was moving horizontally about 1 moa Take away the rear bag and I bite.

I've seen this guy there with some really really pretty Remingtons before.
Last weekend he was there again with a different gun. I asked him what he thought of his Savage. He said he liked it enough to call Savages custom shop and order one exactly like it in 223. Cheaper to shoot he said.
I then explained what that funny nut was for! It wasn't till later that I wondered if anyone needed a 223 with a 30'' tube.

Haven't seen a 6.5 yet. I've seen posts on other sites of people wondering where they are. I'll bet no gun shop would order one unless they have a buyer. That stock in the picture is butt ugly. I think I'll place a call to Savage and find out firsthand if they're off the assembly line and make sure the stock is no longer pregnant.

FWIW Those pictures of the F class rifles were leaked on the web quite a while ago. The design of the 6.5 stock was not taken well by anyone. Even some F class shooters had no idea what to do with that hump. Savage then retracted and stated that design was no longer being considered and the stock would be like the one on the 308. I believe Savage also stated it was too late to omit the pictures from their 2007 catalog. One can only hope. Either that or their custom shop is going to be busy switching stocks

[Varmonter]

I suppose if you are a hunter the savage predator hunter
would be a nice gun to have.
Right now i think it is only available in 223 and 22-250..No accounting for taste... But still a pretty nice rifle..