savage 243 won't shoot i group!!!!!!!

[Lefty7mmstw]

We had a similar issue with a savage 243 rifle a few years ago. Turns out they had a 25 caliber barrel on it whilst it was chambered for a 243. The thing would only shoot very soft bullets like the 70grain TNT by speer that would obdurate enough to grab rifling. Needless to say we don't own that rifle anymore. I'm not saying that's your problem, but take a good look at everything with a mass produced factory rifle like this one as they could have had a case of the Monday's (or worse a case of the Friday's) and let something go awry.

 

[sendero72]

My first Savage 243 had chatter marks in the barrel. Take yours to a gunsmith who has a bore scope and check it out. I returned mine to Savage and they promptly replaced the barrel. Shoots great now!

 

[Trickymissfit]

Assuming the rifle is one of the pillar bedded actions, do two things.

1. pull the barreled action out of the stock, and inspect three things very closely in strong light. Look at the recoil lug area where it's bedded. Look to see if the tang area is binding in the stock (this is rather common). Lastly look at the two pillars to see what they look like. Specially the front one! Look for anything that just doesn't look right. Maybe a bad burr on the area that meets the action. Or even failure to contact the action (more common than one might think). The original Savage actions that were pillar bedded had an issue with the front screw, as it just was not made correctly. Now we get past the inspection process, and lets try something that's pretty easy to do, and see the results. Round up some modeling clay (Even you kid's Silly Putty). Put a very thin dab of it ontop each pillar (no more than 1/32" thick). Reinstall the action and torque the bolts to around 45 inch pounds. Carefully remove the bolts and pull the action. Is there any clay left ontop the pillars? If there is, you have a problem (look closely with a very strong light again). After that it's time to do a serious bedding inspection, and maybe re bed the recoil lug.

2. Call or pull in a marker, and get your hands on a 1" diameter piece of Thompson rod that's about eight to twelve inches long. Most bearing retail outlets can get it without a hassle, but forget the automotive places and drill rod. Now you have something that's strait and to size to see if the scope rings are aligned. Thompson rod usually runs about .0005" under size, and is near perfect for checking scope bases. Also good to lap with. Just don't use the piece you lap with to check alignment. I used to save all left over pieces of 30mm and 1" stuff just for that use.

gary

 

[308longshot]

Thanks for the replies. I knew the experienced minds of this forum would have suggestions I would have never thought of before. I did not see any pillars, just plastic inserts where the actions screws go through which is why I had glass bedded the action and the recoil lug thinking that was the most probable solution. But No... Still shot like crap. That is why I saw no other recourse than to swap the barrel. I figured Savage would have voided my warranty after all of the stuff I did to it trying to get it to shoot in the first place which is why I did not bother to send it back. I am not an idiot (most times) and work as a machinist so I have some knowledge of mechanical things. I also know there is always something new to learn and I can learn from anybody if I can keep my ego out of the way. I have built several very accurate rifles in the past and even shot competitively. I never had a bad Savage before. I always try to fix problems myself but this time I got the Rubic's Cube of savage rifles. Hopefully the barrel swap will work. I will report back when it is done. thanks again all.

 

[SA1000]

I went through the same thing with a bvss 12 in 308 I got rid of mine.That's the only savage I've had problems with though.And I have several of the.

 

[308longshot]

As I promised I would post my results of changing my barrel, I went out yesterday and tried a new ER Shaw 308 barrel in varmint contour. It was a 243 winchester but got nothing better than 2 inch groups.

I fired 3 shots after bore sighting to get it reasonably toward the middle of a target. My rest was decent but still more wobbly than I prefer as I was sitting a little high on a bipod. I fired 5 shots for a group that measured .900 center to center. I did not think think that was too bad for the five of the first eight shots through a new barrel. I assume with proper break in and working up a load the gun likes I should be able to cut that group in half. Reasonable? I tried to insert a pic but no luck Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks again for all of the advice.