Savage LRPV Saga — When A Barrel Upgrade Is The Only Solution
In our Shooters’ Forum, you’ll find a lengthy thread about accuracy problems with a Savage LRPV, chambered in 6mmBR. The gun would repeatedly split groups at 100 yards, and at 300 yards, the “flyers” would open up the groups to 1.5 MOA or larger. Interestingly, the factory test target (at right) showed a split group — not a good sign.
The gun’s owner, forum member LR_Shooter, tried a variety of tweaks: “I did this, done that… [changed] torque, tang floated, bedded action, recut chamber, and [adjusted firing pin]”. But nothing really helped. Frustrated, LR_Shooter asked his fellow Forum members for help. Much advice was proffered, including the novel idea of removing the middle action screw in the Savage 3-screw target action. Some of the advice proved helpful, but none of the suggested remedies produced a major improvement. This rifle, out of the box, tossed flyers and no amount of tweaking (or changes in shooting technique) really cured the basic problem. That is, until, the factory barrel got replaced…
New Criterion Pre-Fit Barrel Works Wonders
LR_Shooter acquired a Criterion pre-fit barrel from Jim Briggs at Northland Shooters Supply (NSS). These pre-fits are designed for easy installation with the standard Savage barrel nut. Wouldn’t you know it, with a new 30″ heavy-contour barrel on the LRPV, the gun started shooting way better. No more crazy fliers, no more split groups, no more excessive vertical. And the improvement came without any other major modifications. LR_Shooter reports: “I got a replacement barrel from Jim at NSS. It is a 30″ bull Criterion barrel. So far, without playing with torque screws and having my old setup… I’m very satisfied with the barrel I got. Now I have no problem getting [groups] under 0.25 MOA. Finally this thing can shoot!” The targets below, shot with the new Criterion barrel, speak for themselves. The left target was shot at 100 yards, while the target on the right was shot at 300 yards (very impressive).
Targets Shot with Savage LRPV Fitted with Criterion Barrel
Read Thread on Savage Accuracy Issues Fixed By Criterion Barrel
Moral of the Story — Sometimes A New Barrel Really Is the Right Solution
All of us have struggled at times with a rifle that won’t live up to expectations. This Editor personally struggled for over a year with a .260 Rem Savage with a factory tube. The gun tended to split groups and the POI walked as the barrel heated. I tried one powder/primer combination after another, working through a variety of seating depths over many months. I was persistent. Out of stubbornness, I just believed that sooner or later I’d find the magic load.Well folks, sometimes there’s really nothing you can do about a sub-par barrel. It is what it is. To really improve a gun’s accuracy (particularly a gun with a factory tube), you may need to open your wallet and get a quality aftermarket barrel. Spending months trying one recipe after another may simply be an overwhelming waste of powder, bullets, and your precious time.
Albert Einstein supposedly said: “Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” Well that sort of describes my efforts with my .260 Rem. Once I had enough evidence that my barrel split groups no matter what load combo (and seating depth) I tried, it was time to pony up for a new barrel. When I did finally screw on a nice PacNor 3-groove Supermatch, that Savage suddenly became a true tack-driver. As re-chambered in 6mmBR with the Pac-Nor, in calm conditions, my Savage will now consistently shoot in the twos with heavy bullets, and it can sometimes dip down into the ones with Berger 80gr flat-base bullets. The moral of the story here is simple — don’t waste weeks or months chasing your tail with a barrel that just won’t deliver (after a reasonable amount of testing). Save up for a custom barrel, get it chambered properly, and stop your cycle of frustration.
Contact Information for Northland Shooters Supply:
E-mail: briggs.j-b@q.com (that is Q.com not G.com)
Phone: (763) 682-4296
Fax: (763) 682-6098
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 333
Buffalo, MN 55313
Similar Posts:
- Pre-Fit Solution — Don’t Waste Time with a Funky Factory Barrel
- Criterion Barrel on Savage LRPV — Pre-Fit Does the Trick
- Pre-Fit FIX — Savage Accuracy Improves with Criterion Barrel
- Don’t Waste Time (and Ammo) on a Poor Factory Barrel
- Savage Factory Gun Wins Hickory Shoot. Savage 6mmBR Ships This Week.
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I suffered through the same ordeal. Done now new BRUX 30′ 6 BRX.
I would opine that the quote by Einstein would “accurately” define target rifle shooters…..er….maybe my wife is correct, maybe I am crazy!!!!!
With tongue in cheek
Roy
I have a Rem 700. The only things original are the trigger and scope bases. Two barreled actions and then a third barrel finally cured it.
I also have a Remington 700P which is completely original. It spits 175 SMK’s through a ragged hole at 100 yards all day long (175smk, 45.0 RL15, Lapua brass, Fed210M, 0.010 off the lands) with amazingly little vertical error. At 200 yards its still holding 0.5-0.75 MOA. Must have been built on a Tuesday morning by someone who had a great Monday night. Certainly some rifles need a new barrel but every factory rifle sits somewhere on the accuracy bell curve – its just the luck of the draw where your rifle sits on it.
I had a Rem 700VLS in 22-250 that split groups with every load combination. I replaced the barrel with a Criterion prefit from Jim Briggs and immediately got .4 MOA. Criterion barrels are incredible. My 6BR is gonna get one in 2012.
My savage 10 308 puts 5@ 300 that’s at 1.180″ now. Wonder If I would gain anything?
I have a lrpv in 22-250 1-9 twist factory barrel. 35.4 grs of cfe223 with 70 berger vld. sub .25 @ 100 and less than .6 @ 200 5 shot grp. hard to compete with that for a 1000 dollar gun