Savage Long Range Hunter Rifle Review
By John Johnston
The Savage LRH has been around several years, enough time to let Savage do some fine tuning to meet the needs and desires of the long range crowd. When they first came out, Savage sent a rifle for review. This rifle was in one of our favorite calibers for long distance, the 6.5x284. I kept the rifle for quite a while to see exactly what I could get in the way of accuracy out of the 6.5x284. Now usually I can find that sweet spot for the best accuracy and velocity. This takes a lot of trial and error with powders, bullets and overall lengths. The best accuracy I could achieve at one hundred yards was right around an inch. That may have been good twenty years ago but in today's shooting world it is not quite good enough for me or most long range shooters. So after Savage tweaked a few things on the LRH, I was ready to give it another try.
Savage Long Range Hunter with the Nightforce SHV.
What a shooter looks for in a good long range rifle may be different with every shooter but I think there are a few standard requirements we all desire. The list includes: accuracy, in a good long range caliber, a long enough barrel to get the best velocities, a barrel heavy enough to keep vibrations and recoil down but light enough to carry on a hunt, a stock that is bedded with a free floating barrel and that is adjustable to allow the shooter to keep his or her eye in line with the scope, an action that is smooth and locks up tight and finally at a price that does not empty the piggy bank.
The aluminum bedding in this rifle is extensive.
The Savage LRH fits all the above requirements more or less. Let me start at the muzzle. The LRH comes from the factory with one of their muzzle brakes. These are unique in that they can be turned on or off to fit the situation. If you are at a public range, you may want to turn it off to be courteous to fellow shooters. A muzzle brake does reduce recoil but is very loud for the shooter and even worse for anyone in the area. The report of a magnum rifle both in noise and concussion can do damage to your ears. I have personally suffered from the effects. However, I still have a few rifles with brakes but I double up on hearing protection. The Savage brake is simple to use by turning the brake and lining up the holes to turn it on, and to close it just reverse the turn till all you see is metal. First thing shooters want to know is, "By using the brake does it affect accuracy?" The answer for this test rifle in .260 Remington is "Yes." I found my groups with the brake on were approximately twenty-five percent larger. Since I am recoil sensitive I was hoping the muzzle brake reduced the recoil. Shooting some 140gr. bullets at close to maximum velocity I could not see any significant recoil difference with the brake on or off. Another point about the brake is, make sure it is in the off or closed position when you clean the barrel. If you do not, there is a good chance you can lock up the brake. If you happen to lock it up, it is quite a chore to unlock. To clean the brake Savage advises to just spray it with carburetor cleaner and not to lubricate it. However, this will leave it susceptible to rust.
The muzzle brake. Notice the slightly grey color due to a lack of oil on the finish after being cleaned with carburetor cleaner.
The barrel on this .260 is 26 inches long and tapers to a diameter of .74 inch at the muzzle. It has a 1 in 8 barrel twist. It is not totally free floating. The barrel is in contact with the stock for about an inch at the front. The remaining barrel is floated all the way to the action. It was easy to clean and did not show much copper fouling. The barrel is screwed into the action and tightened with a threaded sleeve instead of the old ugly barrel nut. This works so well other rifle manufacturers are using this method. The barrel can still be removed easily.
By John Johnston
The Savage LRH has been around several years, enough time to let Savage do some fine tuning to meet the needs and desires of the long range crowd. When they first came out, Savage sent a rifle for review. This rifle was in one of our favorite calibers for long distance, the 6.5x284. I kept the rifle for quite a while to see exactly what I could get in the way of accuracy out of the 6.5x284. Now usually I can find that sweet spot for the best accuracy and velocity. This takes a lot of trial and error with powders, bullets and overall lengths. The best accuracy I could achieve at one hundred yards was right around an inch. That may have been good twenty years ago but in today's shooting world it is not quite good enough for me or most long range shooters. So after Savage tweaked a few things on the LRH, I was ready to give it another try.
Savage Long Range Hunter with the Nightforce SHV.
What a shooter looks for in a good long range rifle may be different with every shooter but I think there are a few standard requirements we all desire. The list includes: accuracy, in a good long range caliber, a long enough barrel to get the best velocities, a barrel heavy enough to keep vibrations and recoil down but light enough to carry on a hunt, a stock that is bedded with a free floating barrel and that is adjustable to allow the shooter to keep his or her eye in line with the scope, an action that is smooth and locks up tight and finally at a price that does not empty the piggy bank.
The aluminum bedding in this rifle is extensive.
The Savage LRH fits all the above requirements more or less. Let me start at the muzzle. The LRH comes from the factory with one of their muzzle brakes. These are unique in that they can be turned on or off to fit the situation. If you are at a public range, you may want to turn it off to be courteous to fellow shooters. A muzzle brake does reduce recoil but is very loud for the shooter and even worse for anyone in the area. The report of a magnum rifle both in noise and concussion can do damage to your ears. I have personally suffered from the effects. However, I still have a few rifles with brakes but I double up on hearing protection. The Savage brake is simple to use by turning the brake and lining up the holes to turn it on, and to close it just reverse the turn till all you see is metal. First thing shooters want to know is, "By using the brake does it affect accuracy?" The answer for this test rifle in .260 Remington is "Yes." I found my groups with the brake on were approximately twenty-five percent larger. Since I am recoil sensitive I was hoping the muzzle brake reduced the recoil. Shooting some 140gr. bullets at close to maximum velocity I could not see any significant recoil difference with the brake on or off. Another point about the brake is, make sure it is in the off or closed position when you clean the barrel. If you do not, there is a good chance you can lock up the brake. If you happen to lock it up, it is quite a chore to unlock. To clean the brake Savage advises to just spray it with carburetor cleaner and not to lubricate it. However, this will leave it susceptible to rust.
The muzzle brake. Notice the slightly grey color due to a lack of oil on the finish after being cleaned with carburetor cleaner.
The barrel on this .260 is 26 inches long and tapers to a diameter of .74 inch at the muzzle. It has a 1 in 8 barrel twist. It is not totally free floating. The barrel is in contact with the stock for about an inch at the front. The remaining barrel is floated all the way to the action. It was easy to clean and did not show much copper fouling. The barrel is screwed into the action and tightened with a threaded sleeve instead of the old ugly barrel nut. This works so well other rifle manufacturers are using this method. The barrel can still be removed easily.
Savage Long Range Hunter Rifle Review
The stock is what Savage calls their Accu-Stock. It is fully bedded with laid in aluminum. This stock absorbed recoil well and was a pleasure to use for extended shooting at the range. It comes with an adjustable cheek piece. It is adjusted by the use of two bolts with Allen heads. In comparison, the first models had knobs and threads that protruded out on one side. This resulted in quick adjustment but would tear up a soft case when sliding the rifle in and out. The adjustable cheek piece is a good idea but does need to be lowered when using a cleaning rod. Overall the stock is well thought out and impressive for a factory rifle.
The adjustable cheek rest with the new Allen head adjustment.
The action is typical Savage with the bolt being of the two lug design. It is smooth and works flawlessly if the shooter does his part. It has a magazine that is loaded from the top but can be emptied from the bottom. On this .260 the magazine is 2.97 inches long which allowed for some leeway on the overall length of my loads. Savage moved their bolt release to just in front of the trigger guard. It does work in conjunction with the trigger. This helped clean up the lines of the action. The trigger was their Accu-Trigger and is adjustable from 1.5 to 6 pounds. From the factory mine was set at 2.5 pounds which is perfect for me.
The action screws.
The rifle came with Weaver scope bases. I mounted a new Nightforce SHV using Burris Tactical rings. Reloading was an interesting endeavor in that no matter what brand bullet I used, the smallest groups remained very close to MOA. That was until I moved up to the 140 grain Berger VLD, set out to 2.95 inches overall length, pushed by 40.0 grains of H4350. Going down range at 2604 fps, this load shot at one half MOA consistently. Just to show how even a slight adjustment to a load can make a difference, I tried bumping up the load to the maximum load listed in the Berger manual of 41.5 grains H4350. That 1.5 grain difference opened up the group to almost MOA again. The above results were at 100 yards on my own range. I took it out to the Best of the West Range for some long range shooting. I shot steel plates out to 750 yards with consistent hits. At 500 yards I played around by shooting some clay pigeons that the range staff had placed on the berm. Overall I was pleased with the rifle's accuracy and comfort for shooting off a bench.
The Remington .260 is here to stay for a long while. Currently there are seven different ammunition makers selling this ammunition in multiple bullet weights. So if you are not a reloader, the .260 may be the way to go.
Savage makes fine rifles for the money and accuracy is usually great. This Savage LRH is a good long range rifle for the beginner, the experienced shooter or hunter. The muzzle brake would probably show a bigger difference reducing recoil in the magnum calibers. It is not a lightweight rifle, weighing in at 10 pounds with scope and rings.
After twenty-five years with a major law enforcement agency, John Johnston retired to the hill country of central Texas. His law enforcement career was diverse with assignments with the tactical/motorcycle unit, patrol, and criminal investigation. After retiring, writing became his calling. He started with a newspaper column which, he still writes and then moved up to major magazines in the area of shooting and hunting. He is known for his unbiased product testing and evaluations. Having a full size range from 25-450 yards next to his home was his dream come true. 2010 marks his fiftieth anniversary in the hunting, shooting and reloading sports. You will notice his writing style is quite relaxed and he prefers to write like he is speaking to you around a camp fire. John welcomes questions and comments whether good or bad. You can reach John at [email protected].
The adjustable cheek rest with the new Allen head adjustment.
The action is typical Savage with the bolt being of the two lug design. It is smooth and works flawlessly if the shooter does his part. It has a magazine that is loaded from the top but can be emptied from the bottom. On this .260 the magazine is 2.97 inches long which allowed for some leeway on the overall length of my loads. Savage moved their bolt release to just in front of the trigger guard. It does work in conjunction with the trigger. This helped clean up the lines of the action. The trigger was their Accu-Trigger and is adjustable from 1.5 to 6 pounds. From the factory mine was set at 2.5 pounds which is perfect for me.
The action screws.
The rifle came with Weaver scope bases. I mounted a new Nightforce SHV using Burris Tactical rings. Reloading was an interesting endeavor in that no matter what brand bullet I used, the smallest groups remained very close to MOA. That was until I moved up to the 140 grain Berger VLD, set out to 2.95 inches overall length, pushed by 40.0 grains of H4350. Going down range at 2604 fps, this load shot at one half MOA consistently. Just to show how even a slight adjustment to a load can make a difference, I tried bumping up the load to the maximum load listed in the Berger manual of 41.5 grains H4350. That 1.5 grain difference opened up the group to almost MOA again. The above results were at 100 yards on my own range. I took it out to the Best of the West Range for some long range shooting. I shot steel plates out to 750 yards with consistent hits. At 500 yards I played around by shooting some clay pigeons that the range staff had placed on the berm. Overall I was pleased with the rifle's accuracy and comfort for shooting off a bench.
The Remington .260 is here to stay for a long while. Currently there are seven different ammunition makers selling this ammunition in multiple bullet weights. So if you are not a reloader, the .260 may be the way to go.
Savage makes fine rifles for the money and accuracy is usually great. This Savage LRH is a good long range rifle for the beginner, the experienced shooter or hunter. The muzzle brake would probably show a bigger difference reducing recoil in the magnum calibers. It is not a lightweight rifle, weighing in at 10 pounds with scope and rings.
After twenty-five years with a major law enforcement agency, John Johnston retired to the hill country of central Texas. His law enforcement career was diverse with assignments with the tactical/motorcycle unit, patrol, and criminal investigation. After retiring, writing became his calling. He started with a newspaper column which, he still writes and then moved up to major magazines in the area of shooting and hunting. He is known for his unbiased product testing and evaluations. Having a full size range from 25-450 yards next to his home was his dream come true. 2010 marks his fiftieth anniversary in the hunting, shooting and reloading sports. You will notice his writing style is quite relaxed and he prefers to write like he is speaking to you around a camp fire. John welcomes questions and comments whether good or bad. You can reach John at [email protected].
