Savage Weather Warrior Series

[Walker1]

I have been thinking of getting one of these rifles in 7mm RemMag. Model 116FHSS – with AccuTrigger™, AccuStock™, and Hinged Floorplate.

Is this a good rifle to start for long range out to say 800yrds? Any other suggestions?

 

[magicofmt]

Yes, if you practice to 800 yds, the gun will shoot that far. I have one in 300 Win Mag and have been practicing to 600 yds and it's doing well, almost 1/2 MOA. I shoot handloads, you need to shoot quality bullets.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

almost 1/2 MOA.

If that's true, it's not the norm. I have two, and while they've each punched 1" 5 shot groups at 200yd, they don't do it reliably - and I take a lot of time and spare no expense on my handloads. Expect 1 MOA or a little worse from a stock Savage barrel, if you're talking 10 shot groups. A stock WW is good for 400, maybe 500 yards on deer, but probably 6-700 on something like Elk with bigger vitals.

The really nice thing is you can easily change the barrel at home, and have a true 1/2 MOA gun for another $300. It also gives you more caliber selection: 338 Edge, 300 RUM, whatever you want.

 

[magicofmt]

It will be the most accurate factory gun you can get, in my opinion, I own 3 Savages and they are great.

 

[goose]

I just got the same gun you described. I am still working on break-in, but I am pleased so far. It's my first Savage, and my first rifle with a brake. Other than optics, I bought an adj. cheekpiece, and don't see the need for anything else right now. It seems like a very capable rifle for long range hunting if you want a factory gun.

 

[jcoop]

I have had 8 diferent savages over the last few years and have worked on or built loads for almost a dozen others. Of the 8 I owned only 2 would not shoot less than .75moa (shot about 1moa) and 4 are .5 or less (with hand loads) . I shot a deer last year at 737 yards with a stock barrel. One thing I have always done is change the stock. With the new accustock this does not seem necessary. I think with savage the stock was the weak link not usually the barrel. Savage button rifles their barrels unlike most other manufacturers. They do seem to copper foal easer than my match barrels as they are not lapped and are harder to clean but some of them shoot just as well.
This is just my findings with the ones I have worked with.
I think that is a great place to start.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

I'll chime in again since I've put many hundreds of rounds down the pipe of my new 10PC since I last posted:

The barrel does foul badly. There is one spot near the muzzle that gets copper'd up right away, and takes a good effort to clean it out.

The ergonomics of the stock were only okay, but the Accustock is nice so I just added a Karsten cheek piece to fix that.

It shoots very well. Most people would claim it's a 0.5 MOA gun because I've shot a fair number of groups that size with it - I say it's 1 MOA because I fired 5 ten-shot groups at 100 yards and they were all 1" or less.

I've been shooting a Borden (not mine) as well lately, and the Savage is sure no Borden. But, under field conditions, I have yet to hit a target with the Borden that I'd miss with the Savage.

 

[Bull45cal.]

I say it's 1 MOA because I fired 5 ten-shot groups at 100 yards and they were all 1" or less.

I'm glad you are real clear on how you classify your rifle as a 1 MOA rifle. If everyone was honest with themselves (and everyone else), I think we would see far larger numbers of 1.5 MOA and up rifles. I've shot those sub moa groups with my 20+ year old, pawn shop special model 110 in .30-06 with factory everything, no bedding, and 1000+ rounds down the tube. I have shot them, but I don't shoot them everytime. I'm still learning how to shoot well, load well, and build well. But honestly, my gun would be a 2 MOA rifle now. I expect that to drop considerbly when I get the new barrel, bed the action, and install the SSS trigger. I think that 90% or more of your "groups" (not shots) must be within what ever MOA you call your rifle for you to be accurate when describing it.

 

[Tarek Ibrahim]

Yes, if you practice to 800 yds, the gun will shoot that far. I have one in 300 Win Mag and have been practicing to 600 yds and it's doing well, almost 1/2 MOA. I shoot handloads, you need to shoot quality bullets.

Magic- I just got the The Savage 116FHSAK in 300WM, it has the accustock, acccutrigger, and muzzle brake in stainless steel. Is that what you got, if so have you modified it at all. Are your loads anything special, any tips you could offer would be appreciated. Mine did not seem to do real well during sight in. I was using factory loads with 200 grain accubonds.





t

 

[Auto-X Fil]

Getting down to 1 MOA will almost certainly require handloads.

 

[magicofmt]

T I, my gun is the same as yours, all stock out of the box. Installed a muzzlebreak. Added a Leupold VX-III 4x14x50 LR with Ken Farrell rings and base. Shooting 180 gr Swift Scirroc's with H-1000. Had to get around max load, no pressure signs and .020 jump to get them to shoot good. Last time out I had .61 and .68 moa at 100 yds. 2.1 in. group at 300 yds. with 10 mph winds at my back. 3 shot groups. Now that I have found my load, I'm going to get the chrono out this weekend, I'll get back on results. Will be shooting out 1000 yds too. Will get a Kenton Ind knob once I have everything dialed in.

 

[Fitch]

I'll chime in again since I've put many hundreds of rounds down the pipe of my new 10PC since I last posted:

The barrel does foul badly. There is one spot near the muzzle that gets copper'd up right away, and takes a good effort to clean it out.

I am fortunate to have access to a borescope pretty much any time I need it. Looking in Savage barrels is definitely a learning experience. If you ever get the chance to have a Hawkeye borescope home for a weekend take it. My gunsmith is out of town for three weeks so I've had one here for two weeks. Looked at every barrel here. Definite learning experience, but I digress.

The button rifling tool will almost always leave some chatter marks in the barrel and since the barrels aren't lapped, the marks will still be there. They can be quite faint in their top of the line rifles like my .22-250 LRPV LRPV or look a lot like file teeth in the package rifles (like my Model 10 .243). The chatter marks accumulate copper like filing a copper bar. The faint marks filing less off the bullet than the deep ones. In my Model 10 the chatter marks were deeper than the lands and well into the bottom of the groove). It takes serious soaking with something like BoreTech or another real good copper remover to get it out. Mine copper foul on the first shot.

That said, I've had reasonable performance with one of my two Savage Rifles. The Model 10 was a 2.5 MOA gun from the factory. Probablly good enough for the audience for which it was intended, but I didn't like that. Handloads reduced it to 2 MOA. Rebarreling it with an A&B baarrel (I know, but trust me on this, the A&B barrel was so much better than the factory barrel it defies comparison) took it down to about 1 MOA, bedding it took it down to a real 3/4 minute rifle (five 5 shot groups aggragating just under 1/2") with handloads off a bench rest.

The Model 12 LRPV (single shot .22-250, 9" twist) was a genuine 1/2 minute rifle based on 10 shot groups out of the box with handloads and stayed that way for about 2,500 rounds after which the groups started to expand rapidly and the throat looked like a dry lake bed in mid summer. Barrel was set back 1-1/2" to get past the erosion, rechambered, and recrowned, and now it's back to about a 3/4 minute rifle. It shoots minute of ground hog out to about 300 yards which is as far as I can spot them with old eyes.

Fitch

 

[Tarek Ibrahim]

T I, my gun is the same as yours, all stock out of the box. Installed a muzzlebreak. Added a Leupold VX-III 4x14x50 LR with Ken Farrell rings and base. Shooting 180 gr Swift Scirroc's with H-1000. Had to get around max load, no pressure signs and .020 jump to get them to shoot good. Last time out I had .61 and .68 moa at 100 yds. 2.1 in. group at 300 yds. with 10 mph winds at my back. 3 shot groups. Now that I have found my load, I'm going to get the chrono out this weekend, I'll get back on results. Will be shooting out 1000 yds too. Will get a Kenton Ind knob once I have everything dialed in.

Magic - Have you gone out again? Any good news? I am seeing a few guys are using the 210 grain Berger VLD with ggod results, have you tried them

 

[magicofmt]

Only been hunting antelope with my other gun, Deer and elk starts next weekend then I'll get the 300 Win Mag out again. Settled on the 180 gr Siroccos and have 50 loaded up and ready, should last me a while. Here's my last 3 shot group shot at 100 yds.