.308 advice please

[cracker31]

Just picked up a wally world Savage 10 in .308. $400 package deal with the tupperware stock & glass just itching to take a ride on my old Sears .22lr.

The original idea was to restock and build a .358 Win on the action as finances allowed. As with all new toys it needed to be played with. Took it out to the club range this morning & started to break in the barrel (1 shot, clean, so on & so forth) and without taking too much time or care the rifle was printing 3 out of 5-shots touching. It may be a diamond in the rough.

Do I continue with the original .358 winny project or call it a blessing and really focus my time and money on making the .308 a bonafide rifle? I don't currently have one & really like the round for whitetail, but I have two other fine deer rifles with similar ballistics (270 & 30-06). Been building the .358 in my head for about two years & it seems a shame to give it up now that I have my action. On the other hand it'll save some dough to keep the factory barrel in place. This particular rifle has the best fit and finish I have ever seen on a Savage, polished perfectly for a hunting rifle.

Advice please? This is the only project I can do for a while with three kids starting to eat me out of house and home.

Thanks in advance,
JD

[BusGunner007]

Keep it the way it is.
Come back to the .358 project later.

[SIGSHR]

Savages have a reputation for accuracy and being great value for the money.
Keep it as is.

[700sage]

I own one of those Savage's in .308. I love the gun. All I did was put better glass on it (Redfield 4-12X40) and it has become my go to weapon. I carry it whenever I go on a hunt. It shoots 110grain varmint rounds all the way up to 168grain Nosler Ballistic Tips very accurately. This makes the gun so versetile that it has become at least my back up gun for every hunt that I do. I even use it as a backup for my elk hunts because of one of the loads I shoot through it is a 150grain Accubond at 3000fps that puts 5 rounds touching at 100 yards! Plenty of energy for elk inside of 300 yards. I say keep it and shoot it until the barrel is done, then think about a rechamber! After all, you already have a new toy!

[dawico]

I could vote either way on this one. Chances are if you bought ten more Savages just like this one, you would have atleast eight or more that shot as well. If you do rebarrel it, it isn't like there won't be another great shooting Savage right down the road. Or you could have your cake and eat it too, and use it as a switch barrel gun. I would go ahead with the restocking either way though, as the factory cheap stocks are pretty sad.

[hooligan1]

Build the .358 Win. you already have rifles for other stuff, GOTTA GET THAT BUFFLER RIFLE BUILT!:p:D

[precision_shooter]

Keep the rifle as is. Buy just the action and bolt from Savage to build your .358...

[Rimfire5]

I have a Savage 10 FP Law Enforcement model in .308 and, other than lightening up the Accutrigger from 2 lbs 10 oz to 2 lbs 2 oz, I didn't do anything to it.

My buddy liked mine so much that he bought one and his shoots factory ammo slightly better. Mine likes bullets seated at 2.805 and his likes bullets at 2.800. Factory ammo comes with bullets seated at 2.800 or shorter so I reload for mine.

Mine shoots its favorite 168 grain Sierra Match Kings under 0.55 inches averaged over scores of measured groups. Its smallest group is 0.140 inches and it puts about 60% of its groups under 0.5 inches with 168 grain Match Kings. It shoots 175 grain Sierra Match Kings just under 0.7 inches on average.

You shouldn't have to do anything to your new rifle. Enjoy it as it is.

Just be sure you learn how to torque the screws holding the action to the stock. If you remove the stock to mess with the Accutrigger, you can only mess up the accuracy if you don't torque the screws back in correctly.

Fiddling with it other than adjusting the trigger probably will only mess up a great rifle.

[cerberus65]

If you've been dreaming of the .358 Win. for 2 years I'd say do the build. It's not like you can't get another Savage in .308. Plus, keep the .308 barrel in case .358 Win. ends up not being all you dreamed it would be. What did you have in mind for it? I looked at .35 caliber rifles at one point but kinda lost interest when it didn't seem like the bullet selection was as good as for .338 or .375.

[ndking1126]

Easy answer for this one. Sell your least favorite of the 270 and .30-06, buy another Savage for the build. Keep the .308 you just bought as is.

[handlerer2]

If I'm not mistaken the Savage 10 is a switch barrel rifle, that with a couple of tools would allow to have both. While not a real quick switch it is still an ingenious concept that will allow you to have a 308 and 358WIn using the same receiver.

[cracker31]

I thought about doing a switch barrel but don't want to screw up a good thing. I like the idea but can't wrap my brain around that not effecting pick it up and go accuracy.

[Jimro]

It shoots tight. Keep it as is. Look for a shot out used rifle to donate the action for your 358 project.

Jimro

[hooligan1]

What the heck were you thinking when you bought the Savage?:rolleyes: hell next week it'll be some other thing.:confused: If you buy a rifle to build something you want, THEN WHAT'S YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION PRIVATE PYLE? bUILD THE DANG .358 WINNY AND STOP GOOFING AROUND!;):cool:


YOU SAID IT YOURSELF,,,,,,,The original idea was to build a .358. RIGHT! THEN BUILD IT AND TELL US HOW GOOD OF A RIFLE IT TURNED OUT TO BE!!:mad: and all you other girls shut up and let him do it!:cool:

[cookhj]

check out the savage shooter forum. plenty of good savage specific info on there.

i say keep the .308, but you can always buy a .358 barrel and switch back and forth. it's very easy to change barrels around on a savage once you have the tools. from what everyone says, it's pretty hard to screw up.

[Elkins45]

If you decide to go ahead with the barrel swap then take the precaution of making a witness mark on the 308 barrel before you take it off. THen you can always put it back on and have a much higher chance of having it shoot exactly the same.

[BfloBill]

I'm a firm believer that though some rifle actions or brands are consistant with their performance, every once in a while that one rifle that just happens to be more accurate than it's counterparts comes out of the factory. Keep the rifle and enjoy it, build the .358 out of another one.
I don't know anything about rechambering a rifle, but will the action off one of your other rifles work?

[cracker31]

I think I'm going to leave it as is. I've already got 308 dies and I hate to mess up a good thing. I think I'll wait and find a long action to build the .358, from what I've been reading the long action allows for longer oal required when loading 225 grain ballistic tips. Thanks for all of the input guys.

[BfloBill]

Hope it works out for you, let us know if you find something for that .358.