Goodbye to Savage

[Onward Allusion]

I actually started fire-lapping it to see if I can wear down the trenches somewhat--that's definitely had a positive effect as there are far fewer 8" flyers.

Ouch, I take it back. 8" flyers? What distance?

[doofus47]

I have a Savage 11 in 260Rem and it's been wonderful.
That said, I did replace the stock for a Hogue b/c I liked the grippy texture.

Stagpanther, you should send that rifle back for a replacement.

[dakota.potts]

You know how those relief cuts are done? AFAIK you have to come in from inside the barrel and cut up just shy of the lug and stopping before contacting the threads on the receiver

It's done with a plunge cut on a lathe, typically a grooving bit. I have removed a good number of barrels and never had to do this (never did a Howa) but a classmate of mine did have to do this in gunsmithing school on an Enfield M1917.

Those barrels were put on with incredible torque and it's possible the thread fit was tighter - closer to a Class 3 than 2. Grooving the outside diameter of the barrel gives relief area for the the steel to expand some and release stress so the threads don't hold so tightly.

It's my understanding that magnetic particle inspection is typically done on these receivers because the stress of the original installation can damage the metal.

Another user suggested the very front of the receiver is cut but you typically wouldn't do that because it's going to change the parallelism of the receiver face. If you were going to do that you'd do it on a jig that was running true to the bolt raceway/receiver threads which would typically require the barrel be removed.

For what it's worth, I've barreled a pretty good number of Remington 700 clones and never had issues removing or installing barrels. I'm a fan of Kelbly myself but there are many great actions. If you want a Switch barrel one, look at what West Texas Ordnance is doing with their Switchlug - allows you to change barrels back to consistent headspace without going to the Remake/barrel nut system. Very cool stuff.

[stagpanther]

Ouch, I take it back. 8" flyers? What distance?

About 2oo yds.

[stagpanther]

I own/have owned dozens of savage rifles, barrels and builds based on their receivers--I'm quite familiar with their performance expectations.

[ndking1126]

If Savage had stuck with the Stevens 200 as their bargain rifle instead of the Axis I'd be using them still.

Isnt this the truth?! I've never been so disappointed in a firearms company. I guess its worked out for them or they'd go back , but it still seems like a horrible decision. Building off of those rifles turned into the norm. Now with the non-slotted barrel nut, I really have no use for a new Savage rifle. I've bought a few used ones, but I'm thinking next time I might try a 700 action with remage conversion for the much better aftermarket support. Problem is itll cost a little more though.. decisions, decisions.