Jim Crofts’ New Savage F-Class Rig with PR&T Walnut Stock
Forum member Jim Crofts (aka “VA Jim”) is one of the nation’s top F-TR shooters. He finished first at the Berger Southwest Nationals, and just this past weekend Jim won the F-TR class at the “Remember the Brave” match at Quantico. Jim has also won numerous regional and club F-TR matches.
Recently Jim commissioned a new .308 Win rifle with a premium barrel and fancy wood stock. Perhaps surprisingly, Jim started with the model 12 target action that came with a Savage factory F/TR rifle. The action is supported in the new gun with a Whidden Gunworks aluminum V-block. Jim observed “I liked the action, and have no problems with the Accutrigger so it made sense to stick with the action I had and save $1000.00 or more vs. a custom action.” Jim did dress up the action a bit. He told us: “The action and barrel nut were polished — just me and a buffer wheel.” Jim also added an extended “tactical” bolt handle from Sharp Shooter Supply. This provides extra leverage according to Jim.
Jim’s new rifle was built by Ray Bowman of Precision Rifle & Tool, LLC (PR&T) using a PR&T stock with custom wood. The rifle with which Jim won the Berger SW Nationals shares this same PR&T F-TR stock design, and Jim decided to stick with a winner. Jim explained that the PR&T F-TR stock “is one of the most forgiving out there. It’s got the long fore-end on it that lets you get the bipod out there and that really allows the rifle to recoil in a straight line.” The stock for Jim’s new rig is made of hand laminated, highly-figured west coast Black Walnut with two layers of strong, straight-grain East Coast American Walnut. Augmenting the beauty of the natural figure, twelve layers of clear-coat were applied to the stock, with careful sanding between coats. The buttplate, adjustable cheekpiece hardware, and +30 MOA scope base were all supplied by PR&T.
Jim Crofts Lined Up Behind his New F-TR Rig
Doubtless you’ve noticed the fancy fluting on the 30.5″ Brux Barrel. This “Chain Link” fluting was done by the barrel-maker (Brux) as an extra-cost option. It does look distinctive and it may provide some enhanced cooling benefits (but Jim admits “it’s mainly for looks”). This 1:11″-twist barrel is chambered in .308 Winchester, with the throat set up for Berger 185gr and 200gr Hybrid bullets. Note that Jim decided to retain the Savage barrel nut, even though this is a custom barrel. Jim says: “The Brux barrels shoot great… they clean up well, I get very little copper out of the Brux barrel.”
Jim Crofts Talks About His Savage
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Click Button to Hear Audio |
Jim uses a height-adjustable Phoenix Precision bipod with sled-type feet. This suits Jim’s shooting style very well. Jim is a “handshake holder”, who employs “firm contact with the shoulder”. In the audio clip above, Jim explains: “I shoot with a tight grip. I like to keep this thing up in my shoulder… that helps me control the tracking of the rifle. If I do my part this rifle will definitely keep ‘em in the ten ring (most of the time) out to 1000 yards.”
Meticulous Reloading Yields Great Accuracy
Jim loads Varget powder in Lapua Brass with Berger 180gr and 200gr bullets. He hasn’t shot the new gun in competition yet, but in testing at 100 yards it delivered “multiple five-shot groups that could each be covered by a dime.” Jim’s meticulous brass prep contributes to that excellent accuracy. Using a Benchsource annealing machine, Jim anneals his brass after every firing. He has noticed that the regular annealing makes bullet seating more consistent. “I use a K&M arbor with the seating-force gauge. Both by feel, and by monitoring the gauge, you can definitely tell that the bullets seat more consistently if you anneal the cases regularly.” Jim also cleans his brass with stainless media after every firing.
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Tags: F-Class, F-TR, Jim Crofts, PR&T, Precision Rifle Sales, Ray Bowman, Savage
Savage target actions are realy great.
I hope Savage will start to make a target action for 338 Lapua Mag too.
That is sexay. I have a blue PR&T F-Open stock with a Savage action all polished up too, and thinks it looks good, but that walnut beats it by a mile.
I wish Jim could shoot it somewhere else but Quantico. At Remembering the Brave (May 25, 2012), he shot a 197-8X at the 1,000. But I don’t believe he was using this rifle.
My question is, if you’re shooting 197-8X, why do you need a different rifle.
Jim, See you in July for the Regionals.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I wouldn’t go anywhere else than PR&T to have a rifle built.
It’s a pleasure to shoot against Jim and attempt……To out shoot him.
Nice looking rig Jim!
Good looking rifle Jim. See you at Butner in a few weeks.
None of this would be possible without the help of XMEN teamates Mike Hardy, Jeff Rorer, Joe Conley and Phil Kelley. Thanx Guys.
Cool rifle Jim! Ray makes super accurate rifles that look great. You have proven yourself a winner and tough competitor. All of the X-Men are a joy to hang out with and I’m proud to be your friend.
Jim says: “The Brux barrels shoot great… they clean up well, I get very little copper out of the Brux barrel.”
I just reread this article and feel like I ought to second the quote above.
I have a BRUX barrel also. I put a very wet patch of Butch’s Bore shine though it. About 20 back and forth strokes of a brush soaked with Butch’s. Then another very wet patch of Butch’s. The next dry patch is always clean as a whistle.
Even the first first wet patch is not terribly dirty… I use Varget.
I broke the barrel in using Dan Lilja’s method…
http://www.riflebarrels.com/support/centerfire_maintenance.htm
EDITOR: Glad you’re having good luck with your brush. You may find that you can do just as well with a LOT less brushing. TWENTY back and forth strokes is a lot. With some of our best barrels, 3-4 soaking wet patches, followed by 3-5 ONE-way strokes with a brush is all it takes (clean brush with solvent after each outward pass). You might experiment (and potentially save yourself time and energy!).
Another thing I’ve experimented with that has made a huge difference in my accuracy is soft seating… first learned about from John Whidden in an accurate shooter article.
I do it as follows. I too anneal after every firing. I size the brass, then use an K & M .308 expand iron. There’s enough “spring back” remaining after the the expansion to grab the bullet sufficiently. To the feel, every round seats with the same force. I use Berger 175/185 and set them with what would be about a .010″ jam… but I think they’re probably pushed back OTL with the soft-seating.
And just to re-inforce a positive, that Phoenix bipod is the cat’s meow. I got one after talking to Jim and it to has made a huge difference… mostly in comfort and ease of setup. To adjust the “ship’s wheel” elevator, I use a 1/2″ diameter dowel rod, tapered and with a hole drilled in one end… about 8″ long. It let’s me do EVERYTHING from behind the gun. And the rails track wonderfully.