Opinions on Savage 111 Long Range Hunter

[captainjoe]

Hi Gang,

Been scouring the internet, but have found very little information or reviews on the Savage 111 Long Range Hunter. I have a few questions:

1. Does anyone here own this rifle and what is your view of it?

2. Have you modified it and if so, what did you do?

3. In your opinion, as this is a 26" barrel, is this too long to be practical for a field gun to hunt elk/deer while hiking around in the mountains, or would a person be better off to save the 2 inches and go for a Weather Warrior or something similar?

T.I.A. for any opinions.

 

[cfvickers]

I have one and several others here do. From what I have seen, they shoot very well. I have heard of one that a guy was having problems with. I have not done any mods to mine. It shoots 1/2 inch or better groups at 200 yards. that is acceptable to me for any hunting rifle. Especially with me and my rest setup behind the trigger.

 

[captainjoe]

I have one and several others here do. From what I have seen, they shoot very well. I have heard of one that a guy was having problems with. I have not done any mods to mine. It shoots 1/2 inch or better groups at 200 yards. that is acceptable to me for any hunting rifle. Especially with me and my rest setup behind the trigger.

I think I read the same report about the guy finding loads that gave good results. The thread stopped with people recommending that he try heavier bullets. Come to think of it, I can't remember the caliber that it was in... I'm interested in the 300 win mag.

How is it in terms of carrying? Some of the spots that I would want to use something like this require me to hunt my way up to them. So I need something that is reasonable to carry, though I don't mind carrying a rifle on the heavy side.

One other question, do you like the muzzle break?

 

[cfvickers]

I think I read the same report about the guy finding loads that gave good results. The thread stopped with people recommending that he try heavier bullets. Come to think of it, I can't remember the caliber that it was in... I'm interested in the 300 win mag.

How is it in terms of carrying? Some of the spots that I would want to use something like this require me to hunt my way up to them. So I need something that is reasonable to carry, though I don't mind carrying a rifle on the heavy side.

One other question, do you like the muzzle break?

The one in question was a .308. He emailed me after I posted a setup instruction for the accustock. Muzzle Brake? Hmm.. No. It does what it shoul, when open, it works. If you use a copper remover to clean your bore, you absolutely must use the instructions in the manual to keep it clean and working, and don't wait till the next day. Mine is frozen closed which is how I have kept it anyway. If you spray it with brake cleaner every time you clean your bore you will not have the problem I do., I did not, and now I am paying for it. Just follow the instruction in the manual and it will be fine though. don't clean your bore without a can of brake parts cleaner in your kit. It isn't bad at all to carry. mine weighs just over 10 lbs with a Sightron SII 4-16x42. put a good sling on it and you can carry it just fine. I walk quite a bit and have never had an issue with carrying it. It is heavier than my Steyr SBS pro hunter mountain with a 20 in. barrel but it is supposed to be.

 

[captainjoe]

I walk quite a bit and have never had an issue with carrying it. It is heavier than my Steyr SBS pro hunter mountain with a 20 in. barrel but it is supposed to be.

Very helpful advice on the muzzle break and I really appreciate the time that you took to answer my questions.

My big issue with this rig is that I am more inclined towards stainless. As far as an 'out of the box run' I'm sort of torn between the 111 Long Range Hunter and the 116 FCSS. My thinking is that I could eventually put a match grade 26" barrel on the FCSS... yet the LHR as a quick and easy rig to get started with, ticks a lot of boxes. I guess I need to go find one and see how it feels for balance.

BTW, what caliber are you shooting?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[cfvickers]

I used mine in the rain all season, and I just wiped it off when I was done each day with a remoil rag. The finish looks brand new still. Except where I have scratched around the break trying to free it. By the way, you can just unscrew it and remove it. Not an advertised virtue, but one that I "learned". I keep it in place and closed to keep the barrel at 26 inches instead of 24.5. and it does effectively increase the barrel length when turned off with results you can see on your chrony. No problem by the way. I have dissected everything about this rifle and it is still as good as it was new on targets. I take care of all of my guns but I do not buy rifles to baby them, I baby a couple of very nice shotguns, but my rifles get used and in some cases abused in the field, it has held up well so far with more abuse and use than many rifles will see in a life time. The brake parts cleaner will cause the rubber coating on the stock to peal if you get it on there.

 

[cfvickers]

Mine is a 6.5-284.

 

[captainjoe]

I keep it in place and closed to keep the barrel at 26 inches instead of 24.5. and it does effectively increase the barrel length when turned off with results you can see on your chrony.

Very helpful. Yes, I agree... my guns are for use, not sitting in a cabinet. I do take care of them, but they aren't babied.

One last question, how do you find the balance of the LHR?

 

[cfvickers]

It's well balanced but I would have issues shooting very far off hand. But I cannot shoot any bolt action much over 100 yards off hand. I think the balance is better than my model 700 LSS 300 win mag. Not as good as the Husqvarna crown grade I have.

 

[the444shooter]

cfvickers,

What difference in velocity do you notice with the brake closed? I have go give Savage an "A" for effort an innovation, trying to bring certain things to market to please the masses. I got one in 7mm Mag, but haven't shot it yet--hoping to do so this weekend. I was trying to sell it at one point, because I didn't need it, and had to buy a new car. But since buying the new car, I've just upped the amount of Ramen noodels in my diet, to offset the financial burden of the car and the gun

One problem I had with the gun was that the soft touch 'overmold' peeled rather easily. I tried to just peel and sand it all off, but that turned into a mini disaster. So I finally just called Savage and asked for a replacement stock--they sent one out, which should be here tomorrow, and we'll see how it shoots this weekend with some 168gr Bergers.

 

[cfvickers]

I see 30-70 fps difference depending on the load. There is one load where I see no difference, but I am not sure why. Every other the brake causes a slight decrease.
I have seen where some said that it caused about an inch movement in the POI but I have not noticed more than about 1/4-1/2.

 

[SidecarFlip]

...and the LRH comes with a 20 MOA Picatinny mount standard. That's worth an additional 100 bucks anytime.... (the .338 does at least).

Mine (in .338 Lapua) is a PITA to carry in the woods. I'm tall and the barrel sticks up like a hardon on a teenage kid on his first date....

I have a Leupold Mk4 4.5x20x50 TMR in Warne mounts and it took exactly 6 rounds to sight it in at 100 yards and it's good for me (kills cleanly at least) at 250 yards. I suspect it will handle 1000 plus. Question is if I can handle 1000 plus.

I have no problem offhand shooting it, however, a tree or convient branch is always nice. It's not a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun......

I had consternation about the Karsten Cheek over the HS stock but the Karsten is just fine for me. I've marked my 'spot' on it and my son marked his so either of us can reset it and shoot just fine..... It's already heavy enough with a tactical scope, let alone a solid aluminum stock over a snot stock.

If you carry it any distance, plan on leaving some granola bars behind. It's pretty stout.

I've pulled a lot of triggers on factory guns and reworked guns (and pistols) and the Accutrigger is the best OEM trigger I've ever had a digit on. Mine has no creep, no sideplay and pulls cleanly at 3 pounds from the factory.

The brake on the .338 is not adjustable. It's fixed in the open position, which is fine with me (not a fan of non-chlorinated brake cleaner anyway)...... I suspect a non brake .338 is a shoulder buster..... At my age, dependency on Ben-Gay isn't a good thing.....

Guess we don't have to worry about a peeling stock finish.......

Finally because the brake expells gases to the side, don't bench the gun with bystanders around. I found out the hard way.....

I look at a gun as a tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver so fancy guns aren't me. The LRH is a tool. Sort of a 3/4" drive in a 1/2" drive world.

 

[Greyfox]

I have owned a LRH in 6.5x284 for about a year. I get 2975 fps out of it with the brake on and can keep 5 shots in 1.5" at 500 yards with 140 Berger Hunting VLD's. I get virtually no change in POI between cold bore and warm bore shots. It didn't take much effort to get it shooting. The weight is just right for me and I really like the adjustable cheekpiece. On the negative side, I don't like the rubbery feel of the crappy plastic stock and the brake freezes up no matter what I do to avoid it. Just left it open and forgot about it. I did have to take some sandpaper to the stock at the forearm tip to fully float the barrel. I won this rifle at a match. My primary hunting rig is a Cooper 52. Performance wise, the Savage doesn't give up much if anything to the Cooper so far. Fit, finish, and overall workmanship, no contest. For short money though, the LRH is probably one of the better performing hunting rigs out there.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Greyfox...

I have prettier guns like the Ruger 300 Weatherby Magnum but from a 'tool' standpoint, it's hard to fault the Savage. It appears to me that Savage is committed to building an accurate out of the box firearm with no frills for a reasonable price.

I called Savage about the brake. Savage lists the brake as adjustable on the 338 which it isn't, or at least it's adjustability is taking it off or leaving it on.......

I've paid appreciably more for pistols than the LRH. Wilson Combat comes to mind....