Update: New long range predator rifle.

Fitch

Fitch

New member
I saw this on GunBroker and couldn't resist it.

Savage112BVSSin7mmRemMagC-RS.jpg


It is a Savage 112 BVSS long action in 7mm Rem. mag.

Savage112BVSS7mmRemMag-3-C-RS.jpg


I didn't know they even made such a thing but apparently they made a run of them sometime back. I was looking on gunBroker for a cheap 7mm Mag to be a donor action for a long range predator rifle when I saw this rifle which was almost exactly what I was going to build. Bout dropped my teeth. It was just what I wanted. Picked up this one for less than the cost of an action plus an unfinished stock.

I like the stock. I'll bed it of course but have to shoot it first just to see how it does. It has a decent hunting trigger as is so I'll leave that alone.

The rifle weighs 13.0 lbs as it sits in the picture. I've put 5 breakin rounds through it (the shoot one, clean for ever rounds) and the recoil is completely managable. I'm planning to develope a load for it using the 168g Berger Hunting VLD. If it shoots well enough, that should make it into a 1,000 yard rifle for WhiteTail and anything smaller. If it doesn't shoot well enough I'll rebarrel it.

Looking forward to getting in some range time with it next week.

Fitch
 
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Originally Posted By: jimmienice stik...hopefully you wont need the fur!!!!

I hear you. This is more like a 1,000 yard Coyote Cannon than a predator rifle, but i'm sure looking forward to seeing what it does. Richard Franklin had a video on the WEB of his shooting ground hogs at 1,000 yards with a .300 WSM - this one should keep up with that one - heavy 7mm bullets have respectiable BCs. I bought BulletFlight for the iPhone to use for field ballistics calcs when I get this thing "out there".

I go for Coyotes and ground hogs to help the local farmers. No use for the fur on either. Just want them DRT. There are only a couple of places I can use this rifle but those are 700 - 800 yard shots with a great backstop so I'm looking forward to getting it operational. I belong to a range that has an 800 yard target stand and backstop - I think I'm going to use it for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Fitch
 
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i shoot 168 bergers out my 7 mm. 1 inch groups at 200 yards . sendero with krieger barrel. shot a record book bighorn with it. going to try 140 bergers next. they show flatter than the 168
 
Ah, a man after my own heart. Always use MORE than enough gun. When shooting yodel dogs and fat chucks, there is no such thing as overkill! Also, nice looking rig. Don
 
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Great looking rifle! I love the way those Savages look and want to build one in .264 Win Mag. Iffin I found a &mm like yours though I would be tempted to just shoot it as is.
 
Just got back from my friend the gunsmith's shop where we both did a borescope examination of the barrel and chamber on this new rifle. Guys, I gotta tell ya this barrel looks "almost" perfect. Chamber looks like it's dead center, throat is beautiful, and there are no, repeat "no" chatter marks anyplace in the bore that I could reach with the bore scope with it out unscrewing the receiver.

The reason for the "almost" is there is a tiny little burr on one side of the crown. I can make that go away. I'll do that when I have it apart for bedding. I'll line it up in the lathe and take a light cut or two on the crown with a freshly honed HSS bit and convert the barrel from "almost" perfect to just plain perfect. It looks better than any other factory bore in the gun safe by a significant margin.

We checked the trigger pull as well. It breaks clean just under 2 lbs.

OK, I admit it, I'm stoked, walking on air, happy as a clam, and, honestly, releaved to see the condition of the bore. If bore condition is any indication of accuracy potential this should be a real shooter.

I'll bed it and clean up the crown after it's first trip to the range but so far the bore exceeds my expectations by a big margin. Now the trick will be to find a load for a good bullet in just a few range trips and then only take it out for hunting so I don't wear it out too soon.

That said, I might have to red-mist a few GH with it just for practice!

Am I happy? Oh yeah!

Fitch

PS: Range trip will be Friday if the weather prediction holds.

frw
 
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NICE rig!

I just picked up it's brother in 6.5x284nomra. For under $600 I just couldn't pass it up.


By chance, could you post pics of your bedding job? That's next on my list, but have never done one before.

Again, congrats on the fine rifle!
 
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Originally Posted By: yoteslayer0927Didn't they make a gun like this chambered in 25-06 Rem ?

Yes, they did. From what I've been able to find out they made it in .25-06, 6.5-284, 7mmRem. Mag., and .300 Win Mag. I debated between .300WM and 7RM and went for the 7mm because it shoots just a bit faster and does everything I want to do as well as the .300WM with a bit less recoil.

Fitch
 
Originally Posted By: ScoutinWyoNICE rig!

I just picked up it's brother in 6.5x284nomra. For under $600 I just couldn't pass it up.


By chance, could you post pics of your bedding job? That's next on my list, but have never done one before.

Again, congrats on the fine rifle!

Yeah! Nice rifle. These have to be one of the best long range bargains on the planet.

As soon as I bed it I'll post pictures. Highly recommended if you have never bedded one before, get Richard Franklin's DVD on bedding a rifle

http://richardscustomrifles.com/instructionalvideos.htm

It's really excellent. It was my primary learning tool before I did it myself the first time. Darrel Holland's video is also good but Franklin's is more practical for a guy with out a machine shop if one uses a pillar kit from Earnie The Gunsmith. Richard is very practical about the supplies it takes to do it too. Everything he uses is easy to get.

When I bed it, it will look something like these pictures of when I recently bedded an old non-accutrigger Model 10 .30-06 for a friend of mine.

Stock all hogged out to make room for bedding material with the new pillars glued in:

Pillarsgluedin-1-C-RS.jpg


Receiver with openings all filled with plumbers putty and coated with release agent:

ReceiverReadyForGoo-2-C-RS.jpg


Stock ready for goo with plumbers putty in place to keep the good out of places it shouldn't go.

StockReadyforGoo-1-C-RS.jpg


And finally, the finished job ready for reassembly:

ReadyforReassy-3-C-RS.jpg


I used Devcon 10110 available from Brownell's and other places. It takes about 2-1/2 table spoons of resin and a table spoon of hardener to do one of these savages.

Everything that Holland does with a mill can be done using a Dremel tool and the pillar boring tools from Ernie The Gunsmith's web page. See: http://erniethegunsmith.com/

I have a lathe and a mill but don't think those are necessary to do a good job. As Richard shows in the second bedding job in his video one can do a very good job with out them. Richare does make custom pillars in his lathe, but you can buy pillar kits to take the place of that and do the rest like he does.

Just be sure to get the shoe polish everyplace.

Fitch
 
Thanks Fitch!

Mine has pillars from the factory. Should I replace them? Last weekend I picked up the Devcon Putty, kiwi polish, plumber's putty, and a new roll of blue tape.

Looking at the stock, my biggest question was what to do near the rear pillar that is milled off to clear the trigger assembly.

Thanks again!
 
Originally Posted By: ScoutinWyoThanks Fitch!

Mine has pillars from the factory. Should I replace them?

The rear factory pillar is too short because it has the tab from the magazine over it. On the Accutrigger .243 I bedded I left the tang off and replaced the rear pillar. I'm going to do it that way on the BVSS as well. It's important to have the pillar be the element that defines where the receiver fits in the stock. Once the pillars are glued in, when the receiver sits in the stock before being bedded, it should touch the pillars and nothing else.

That said, I make my own pillars. You can get aluminum pillar stock that's predrilled from Brownells. Cut the step in it with a hacksaw, file it smooth, then cut it to length to make a replacement pillar. I make the rear pillars for Savages 1/2" in diameter, drill the center hole with an "N" drill. 19/64 would be pretty close to that. I make over size alignment studs similar to these to hold the pillars while they are being glued in and while the receiver is being bedded. These happen to be for a Winchester M70 but the idea is the same. It's very important make the thread on the trigger guard end of the alignment studs long enough that you can use a pair of nuts locked together so you can back the studs out before trying to seperate the receiver from the stock. Trust me on this, the seperation will go "much easier with out the studs in place!

PillarsAlignmentstudsandnuts-2-C-RS.jpg


This assures that the receiver mounting bolts will not touch the ID of the pillars.

I make the front pillar 5/8" in diameter with the same size hole.

When I trim them to length I plan for the bottom to protrude about .005" above the wood so the pillar takes all the compression load. The BVSS has a metal trigger guard. Savages that have the plastic trigger guard need to have it replaced with a metal one. I replaced the plastic trigger guard with a metal one on the rifle that is in the pictures I posted. Savage puts in the steel pillars then tightens the bolts on a plastic insert in the front and the plastic trigger guard in the rear. I always make it metal to metal both places.

Quote:Last weekend I picked up the Devcon Putty, kiwi polish, plumber's putty, and a new roll of blue tape.

Looking at the stock, my biggest question was what to do near the rear pillar that is milled off to clear the trigger assembly.

Thanks again!

Your welcome.

If you can find it at an autoparts store the green masking tape they use to paint cars works great for keeping epoxy off the stock. There are sources for pillars - check Brownells, Darrel Ho9lland's website, Midway, all the usual places and you will probably find some cloas enough to make them work.

Fitch
 
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