Is Truing a Savage Target Action different than a Remington?

F

frwillia

Guest
I have a Savage LRPV in .22-250 which has a right bolt left port Savage Target action. I'm going to be re-barreling it chambered for .243 WIN with an 8" twist some time this winter. I've read a lot about truing Remington actions but nothing about truing Savage Target actions.

Are there things that must be done differently when working on a Savage Target Action than when doing a Remington action?

Anybody done this?

The bolt clearly has to be disassembled, the rotating piece behind the locking lugs removed, and reassembled before the back side of the lugs could be trued, or probably even lapped for that matter. The part would have to be reinstalled after the lugs were finished.

Thanks
Fitch
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have been under the impression that the locking nut on a Savage is part of the "magic" in their inherent accuracy.
If using the locking nut, it is not much worth the effort of trueing, not much to be gained.
If using a shouldered tenon the trueing might become more valuable.
Please correct me if I am wrong, I am interested to know.
 
Hmmm

Things should still be as truly straight and square as possible. Granted, the way the nut works is a little different, but it still has to be tightened against the face of the action. If either the face of the nut, or the face of the action, is not dead square, it will cock the nut, and hence place and uneven load on the entire assembly..

Sounds really bad, Huh. In reality, it probably doesn't make as much difference as we would all like to believe.

Everybody knows that Savages shoot quite well right out of the box. The barrel nut concept and the floating bolt head probably have something to do with this, as they tend to negate some of the manufacturing errors that are a product od a mass produced item. But, if you really want to get serious with a Savage, I would figure that truing it in the same manner as any other mass produced Factory offerring would be a beneficial step.........jackie
 
Ole fred @ sharp shooter supply can/will true that action, if your only going to do one gun thats cheaper than buying the tools/kit from Manson to do it yourself, and fred is THE SAVAGE MASTER !

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
jackie schmidt said:
Things should still be as truly straight and square as possible. Granted, the way the nut works is a little different, but it still has to be tightened against the face of the action. If either the face of the nut, or the face of the action, is not dead square, it will cock the nut, and hence place and uneven load on the entire assembly..

Sounds really bad, Huh. In reality, it probably doesn't make as much difference as we would all like to believe.
Click to expand...

That's doubtless a lot closer to the truth than we know. That said, things do add up, and "something" (or some things combined) makes a good shooter different from a rifle that isn't.

In a way, this rifle will be an interesting test of that. When it was new, it would shoot .2" to /.3" groups with the right load. It's deteriorated over about 2,500 rounds to the point where it is more of a .75 MOA rifle.

I'll true the action to the point of squaring the bolt contact surfaces and facing the front of the receiver just enough to clean it up. I'm going to both chamber a new .243 Win barrel for it and set back and re-chamber and re-crown the .22-250 factory barrel.

Be interesting to see if it shoots any better than it did new.

Everybody knows that Savages shoot quite well right out of the box. The barrel nut concept and the floating bolt head probably have something to do with this, as they tend to negate some of the manufacturing errors that are a product od a mass produced item. But, if you really want to get serious with a Savage, I would figure that truing it in the same manner as any other mass produced Factory offerring would be a beneficial step.........jackie
Click to expand...

Then that's what I'll do. I still have some tooling to make, but this doesn't have to be done till spring.

Thanks.
Fitch
 
Truing and Timing a Savage..

There are about 5 areas to be checked for correctness on any Savage action.

1. The bolt race relationship to: a. action lug abuttments
b. tenon threads
c. action face (90 degrees to bolt face)
d. true up barrel nut
e. bolt diameter (factory bolt.696 aftermarket .700)

2. The bolt body: a. cocking ramp needs to be recut
b. cocking piece pin needs to be fixed
solid with .250 X 28tpi set screw
c. cocking piece and cocking piece
sleeve need to be polished
d. shouldered cap needs to be made
for back of cocking piece sleeve
e. main bolt screw needs to be shortened
then drilled and tapped .250 X 28tpi
then insert a .250 X 28tpi cone point
set screw.
f. firing pin needs to be polished and
adjusted to reduce over cocking
g. use the correct length and weight
firing pin screw

3. The bolt head: a. needs to be hand lapped
( at least 80% bilateral engagement)
b. leading edges need to be radiused
c. firing pin hole should be bushed
d. bolt face trued after the lapping

4. The bolt handle: a. Longer bolt handle for more leverage
b. primary extraction angle checked and
adjusted

5. The sear/trigger hanger: a. shorten sear/trigger pin for excessive
length.
b. deburr inside and outside holes
c. polish contact surfaces

There are more or less things that can be done to a Savage action dependent on the need.

There are about a 100 or more gunsmiths who work on Savages and there are about a dozen who know what they are doing and just as with Remingtons there have and are continuing changes going on all the time.

The new Savage Target Actions are much better than the earlier models but they are not in the class of custom actions. The can shoot just as good at a much lower cost. The number of aftermarket parts is growing daily.

Rustystud
 
Thank you very much.

Rustystud,

Thank you very much. That is the sort of thing I was hoping to learn. That will get me pointed in the right direction. The list of items on the bolt is new to me.

My rifle (Single shot Savage LRPV, .22-250, 9" twist) has the right bolt left port Savage target action. It's about as rigid as anything can be. Basically a thick wall tube with only a small hole in it for the ejection port. I'm looking forward to seeing how square it is. It's not a custom action, but given the selling price, it looks like a pretty good place for a guy with a lathe and mill to start.

I'll definitely do the checking and correcting on the receiver listed in item 1, lap the bolt as indicated in item 3, set back, re-chamber and re-crown the factory barrel, and chamber a couple of new barrels for it this winter (.22-250 with 12" twist and .243 Win with 8" twist), but will leave all the other bolt work till next shop season.

I realize that isn't even two days work for most of you folks, but it will take me most of the winter. I intend to savor every moment of it.

The bolt work looks like it will take some study to get it right the first time. There doesn't seem to be much literature on Savage bolts, at least compared with what is available on Remington bolts. With all the tooling, chambering, and receiver work, I'll have a full schedule for this shop season. No need to hurry through it.

My two rules for retirement are:

  1. Having fun is job 1.
  2. Nothing is urgent.
The factory bolt is .696 as you mention.

Then I get to spend the summer playing with the results on the range. :) Machine shop in the winter, horseback riding, varmint hunting, reloading, and shooting at the range in the summer. What's to not like?

Fitch
 
Good Grief, RustyStud

That is a pretty hefty shopping list.

All so you can say "I'm shooting a Savage"???

..........jackie
 
Kevin Rayhill at Stockade Gunstocks has a nifty thrust bearing to fit the backside of the tubular cocking piece sleeve. It doesn't make a lot of difference on bolt opening but the bolt closing feels like a stripped bolt on an empty chamber.

I think it would be very interesting to make a roller bearing for the cocking piece pin. What I have in mind is a ball bearing that is a nice fit in the bolt lug raceway where the head of the cocking pin rides. The forces involved may be too great for the capacity of a bearing of the correct size.
 
I may have missed it of the long list, but Fred Moreo has a tool that he uses to recut the primary closing cams to a true helix. The stock cams are not and he says that the way that the closing load is distributed to the bolt head, which efects how the front of the bolt is centered as the bolt is closed. The factory cams are supposedly cut with an end mill.
 
I just had Fred Moreo true and time a Savage Striker action for me. I believe he charged around $105.00. I'm pretty sure that did not include any set screws to pin anything in place. It did however include a new bearing in the bolt to reduce cocking resistance and recutting the cocking ramp. He also trued the action. I am keeping the barrel nut but will have my local gunsmith true it to the action when we mount the barrel..

Pretty cheap for what he does, and it IS smooth.

One other thing you should consider is the recoil lug. I have not seen what they put on the LRPV from the factory but if it is stamped rather than milled buy an aftermarket recoil lug they are milled rather than stamped and very uniform.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top