Building a custom Savage rifle over time

[Bigeclipse]

I'll throw my $.02 in as I'm doing the same currently. The 116 models are the stainless if you want to go that route otherwise a 110 or 111 would work fine. You could also pick up a Stevens long action for the donor, sometimes they can be had cheaper. As for price I've picked up two Stevens long actions brand new for $200 and a new savage 111 for $250. Just shop around. For stocks I have used Boyds stocks before they are good for the money and turn around time. I currently have a stockys on order that should be here any day and everybody that I've talked to likes them a lot. Its been a 10 month wait but hopefully well worth it. My price on his money saver prairie dog was like $355. As for barrels you have a number of options, criterion, shilen, and McGowan can all be hadfor about $300 for a prefit and a number of places stock them. Mcgowen outlet has a very large stock of barrels ready to ship. Tools have been mentioned, I having used an action wrench for mine but it may be good to have. A few thoughts/comments on the donor action. I would look for one that already has a magnum bolt face I.e.already chambered in 7mag or 300 wm as you will need the magnum bolt face anyway and it would save you from buying extra parts there. In terms of the actions themselves the three digit designations are for long action(ie 110,111,112,116) and two digit is for short actions. You could potentially build a 7mag or 300wm out of a short action but it would be single shot and you may need to pull the bolt to eject a loaded round but it is doable if the price is right for the donor or if you want to use one of the target actions for extra strength. You can buy stripped actions from northland shooter supply as well if you don't want to deal with stripping down the donor.

Another thought, the donor rifle I may use a 7mm rem mag with one of those blind magazines. If I wanted to make my savage custom build into a 300 mag, would I have to modify this magazine to be able to accept 300 win mag cartridges?

 

[stomp442]

No they will use the same magazine no problem. As for synthetic stocks go the best bang for the buck will probably be the bell and Carlson duramaxx or one of the choate offerings. Sounds to me like you have a blind mag staggered feed side bolt release model. Post some pics and we could better help you out.

 

[Bigeclipse]

No they will use the same magazine no problem. As for synthetic stocks go the best bang for the buck will probably be the bell and Carlson duramaxx or one of the choate offerings. Sounds to me like you have a blind mag staggered feed side bolt release model. Post some pics and we could better help you out.

Pics of possible donor 7mm mag

 

[7magcreedmoor]

Can't really see the rust you mentioned, so it should clean up with a little steel wool no problem. The "side release" is also the sear of the rifle. On the bottom release models, they omit the lever that rides outside the receiver, and came up with some more moving parts inside the stock beneath the trigger assembly, with a tab protruding through a hole in the trigger guard. I like the original better. One question I haven't asked an expert yet, which may be of interest to you is: if one removes the attached mag box from this rifle's receiver, can one then install the newer centerfeed mag in a new stock, since the centerfeed (both of mine are centerfeed) is attached to the bottom metal and not actually attached to the receiver?

 

[Bigeclipse]

Can't really see the rust you mentioned, so it should clean up with a little steel wool no problem. The "side release" is also the sear of the rifle. On the bottom release models, they omit the lever that rides outside the receiver, and came up with some more moving parts inside the stock beneath the trigger assembly, with a tab protruding through a hole in the trigger guard. I like the original better. One question I haven't asked an expert yet, which may be of interest to you is: if one removes the attached mag box from this rifle's receiver, can one then install the newer centerfeed mag in a new stock, since the centerfeed (both of mine are centerfeed) is attached to the bottom metal and not actually attached to the receiver?

I didnt mean any confusion about rust. I thought I stated the blueing was bad but there was NO rust. It is hard to see how worn the bluing is but there is definitely no rust. Anyways, I dont mind keeping the blind magazine box as long as there are enough choices of stocks I can use.

 

[stomp442]

Yep what you have is an older 110 with side bolt release. Stock should be easy to find and when you change the barrel out I would recommend getting a new heavy duty recoil lug. The older factory savage ones are really thin and most bend under recoil. The heavy duty lug is a nice cheap upgrade. Also looks like that should be a model with the old three screw trigger. Those can be tuned to a very nice crisp pull.

 

[FEENIX]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f22/my-budget-270-ai-97745/

 

[the shotty]

7 mag donor would be a great start. Stager feed is a lot easier to find stocks for and some stock makers won't inlet for the center feed because it takes up too much space and can make the stock flimsy (stockade). As for stock it depends on what style you want. I prefer shooting prone and like the tactical style personally. Some brands to check out are: stockade- makes a very good stock, multiple styles and has different finish options making it a cheap alternative if your OK doing some work. expect about a years wait time. bell and Carlson: OK but definatly on the cheap end, no tactical style stock for a long action. Choate: decent stocks, good prices, tend to be heavy. Manners: awesome stocks! More of a tactical style some you have to wait for, they have a pretty decent selection ready to ship price is $450+ . Mcmillan: again exelent stocks, 6-12 month wait time and $700+. Other options would be a savage take off stock, you may look for one from a fcp models which have the hs-precision stocks or one of the LRH models which is a more traditional style but with adjustable cheak rest. I've seen both these options go for under $200.
As to your question about the actions, yes northland shooter supply is an online retailer that specializes in savage and you would need to have it shipped to an ffl.
As to the bolt- that doesn't look bad but if you don't like it you can order new bolt handles from a number of places for $30-80 for a custom one otherwise I see them on eBay for pretty cheap.

 

[the shotty]

Also, I have seen someone try to convert a stager feed to a center feed but its not worth it in my opinion. I really don't feel like you gain anything and it requires grinding and re welding parts to the action if I remember correctly. In the end I prefer to single feed so it doesn't matter to me. My current build is off a center feed that will be single shot. My other savage is a very early savage stager feed that is getting turned into a 6.5-06 as my walking gun.

 

[BrentM]

I have not read all the posts but I have now built 4 rifles, had 7 Savages. Nothing crazy but it has been a good deal of fun. I am currently modifying a stock for an adjustable cheek rest.

Savages are easy to work on.

Barrel nut wrench.
Action wrench.You can buy this combo from Brownells or Midway for example.
Go Guage.
Torque wrench.

All of my rifles are .5 MOA or better.

 

[BrentM]

A few pictures

 

[BrentM]

For some reason I can not load multiple pix

 

[BrentM]

Tools and barrel

 

[Bigeclipse]

I have not read all the posts but I have now built 4 rifles, had 7 Savages. Nothing crazy but it has been a good deal of fun. I am currently modifying a stock for an adjustable cheek rest.

Savages are easy to work on.

Barrel nut wrench.
Action wrench.You can buy this combo from Brownells or Midway for example.
Go Guage.
Torque wrench.

All of my rifles are .5 MOA or better.

My goal is to build a semi-tacticool rifle hitting .5moa or better. I am thinking of going with a muzzlebreak/thread protector combo.