New Savage 10FP .308 Questions

4282 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Lycoming, Jan 6, 2005

Kicker

Discussion Starter · Dec 29, 2004

My wife was kind enough to buy me a Savage 10FP in .308 for Christmas. It has the Accutrigger, 24" barrel, and the standard stock. I am looking for advice from the group on several subjects:

1) How to break it in.
2) Scope: looking at a Mark 4 3-9x, other suggestions? I want Mil dots one way or the other.
3) Scope mounts
4) Ammo
5) Reloading equipment

I can't wait to shoot it, just hoping this cold snap breaks pretty soon. Hard to concentrate when its -10F with the wind chill.

Thanks

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Jeff_850

· #2 · Dec 29, 2004

break in procedure:
in the FAQ page:

Question: What is the proper break in procedure?
Answer: "There really is no 'right' way to break in your barrel, but here is the procedure that I use. Get some copper solvent (I like Hoppes #9 Benchrest) and your cleaning gear, and head out to the range for an extended shooting session. Fire one round, then clean the barrel and let it cool. Do this after every shot for the first 10 rounds. After that, clean and cool after every 2 shots for the next 10 rounds. Then clean and cool after every 3 rounds for the next 9 rounds. At this point the barrel has been treated and is ready to go. Be sure to clean the barrel/rifle one last time with a standard cleaning solvent to remove the remains of the copper solvent."

i agree with mel, that should work welll

scope:
i have a Leupold Mk4 3-9x40mm its good, it gets my reccomendation

mounts:
leupold rings should be fine

ammo:
depends what you want it for, hunting? target shooting? plinking?
differnt guns will generally like diffenrt loads so you will have to do your own testing, inexpensive ammo (surplus) is always fine for plinking but might not give the accuracy match grade ammo does for target shooting, for hunting ammo you should try out Winchester Fail Safes, Core-Lokt Ultra, Nosler Partitions and all that good stuff
plinking- try out Federal American Eagle, Winchester USA, Remington UMC brand, Aussie surplus ive found is good, M80 ball ive tried it doesnt shoot well but for plinking its fine since its cheap
generally Black hills and Federal match ammo is the best but every gun might like a diffenrt load, some might even like diffenr thunting loads and be more consistnat with them than regular match ammo

reloading- sorry i dont reload cant help you out there

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marvin_lr30

· #3 · Dec 29, 2004

10fp in .308

for reloading equiptment depends I supose on your needs ,personally I use RCBS for the most part the Rockchucker press powder measeure and scale, other brands also work well and I am impressed with the current line of Lee dies and hear good things about their cast classic press . Hornady Redding and Lyman make good reloading items . take your time and maybe see if friends or others shooters have reloading setups and try them if possible then get waht you need ,at a minimun press dies powder scale trimmer and a good set of dial calipers ,midway has a nice set, try whatever powder you like Varget works well for me with hunting/target loads as does IMR 4895 others work well also bullets depend on your needs ie hunting target match etc try as many as possible to see what your gun likes and it is fun!(reloading that is ) shooting too ! long winded I know but happens that way sometimes ,

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Jeffvn

· #4 · Dec 29, 2004

Break-in - follow Mel's recommendations - they worked fine for both my rifles (and they are virtually the same as those suggested by some of the major barrel manufacturers).

Scope & rings - personal taste get what you want (I like US Optics, others don't).

ammo - what are you going to use it for? Killin g paper is significantly different thatn killing deer or wild pigs.

Reloading - read a bunch first, then make your move. I use an RCBS Rockcrusher single stage press - for both pistol and rifle. I use only Redding Match grade neck bushing (with separate body dies) and Redding competition seating dies.

The best thing you can do on reloading is to go to SEVERAL different websites (I like Sniper's Hide; Long Range Target Shooting; Wildcat Shooting, and Benchrest Central) and read the forum threads on reloading and load development. Admit you arae new to reloading and ask for advice and tips. These guys will take you under their wing and give you GOOD advice. NEVER simply follow anyone's recipe for a load, because what works in their rifle may NOT work in your rifle - they are all different and components that work in one will not work in another. ALWAYS start low and work up on a load. Blowing primers in your face is not a good thing and smells bad to boot (the voice of experience there).

JeffVN

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Dooty

· #5 · Dec 29, 2004

New Savage

Hi, first post here and would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope you had a great Christmas.
Kicker, if you type in 'Barrel break in' on google you will come up with hundreds of matches and arguments for and against. All I can say is that from personal experience after the handgun ban here in the UK I bought a Remy 700 PSS and without any bedding in I just cleaned it, took it to the range and within a short while working on some loads it was shooting .75 MOA groups.
As for scope mounts I would get the best that you can afford. If you pay £10, sorry 10 dollars, for some mounts then you will get what you pay for.
Regarding loads, then its as marvin_lr30 says, what do you want them for. For target work I use 168 grain Sierra and for deer stalking I use Nosler 165 grain ballistic tip.
I use Lee reloading equipment as I have personally found that this is a good balance between cost and quality here in the UK

Just like to ask where I can get one of those wifes?

Hope this helps

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Troy R

· #6 · Dec 29, 2004

Jeffvn said:
Break-in - follow Mel's recommendations - they worked fine for both my rifles (and they are virtually the same as those suggested by some of the major barrel manufacturers).

Scope & rings - personal taste get what you want (I like US Optics, others don't).

ammo - what are you going to use it for? Killin g paper is significantly different thatn killing deer or wild pigs.

Reloading - read a bunch first, then make your move. I use an RCBS Rockcrusher single stage press - for both pistol and rifle. I use only Redding Match grade neck bushing (with separate body dies) and Redding competition seating dies.

The best thing you can do on reloading is to go to SEVERAL different websites (I like Sniper's Hide; Long Range Target Shooting; Wildcat Shooting, and Benchrest Central) and read the forum threads on reloading and load development. Admit you arae new to reloading and ask for advice and tips. These guys will take you under their wing and give you GOOD advice. NEVER simply follow anyone's recipe for a load, because what works in their rifle may NOT work in your rifle - they are all different and components that work in one will not work in another. ALWAYS start low and work up on a load. Blowing primers in your face is not a good thing and smells bad to boot (the voice of experience there).

JeffVN

There is not much more to say than what Jeff said.

On the Scope and Rings I like Leupold and Nightforce scopes.
Rings- Leupold or Badger rings and bases. My Savage has a 20MOA Ken Farrell base w/ Mark 4 rings.

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spade

· #7 · Dec 29, 2004

Troy, how has your experience been with nightforce? Ive heard alot of people dont like them, and there have been members on this board that absolutely do not like them and have had bad experiences with them. I honestly cant justify the price.

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Kicker

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 30, 2004

New Item

I went ahead and bought a Mark 4 3.5-10x40 LR/T MI, illuminated. Used the standard Leupold mounts. Just got done attaching it. What a sweet scope! Hopefully I'll get time to boresight it and break it in tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice, it is always appreciated. Happy New Year all.

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Lycoming

· #9 · Jan 6, 2005

Savage

Kicker,,,,I bought a Savage 308 before deer season and took careful time to break it in. I wrote a full report describing the barrel break in and results on page two of the rifle forum page titled, "10 FP-LE2A" My Savage and yours are nearly the same rifle, with my rifle barrel being a little longer and mine a choate stock. Of course how you and others choose to break in a new barrel is a matter of preference respectively. Factory match ammo have returned near same hole groups. Factory hunting ammo do quite well too. I plan to get into reloading to beat the prices of premium factory hunting ammo. Later,,,

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