Savage F Class Rifle

[Baldric]

Hi all,

Just getting into this great sport, and have spent many hours researching away like an obsessed maniac. Was wondering if anyone has thoughts or experience with the Savage F Class rifle (as opposed to 12 f/tr). I know ultimately if I stay as hooked asbi think I will I will go custom, but this rifle looked like a good starting point...

Also, if I wanted to use the same rifle to shoot 0.308 for F STD comps, is it as simple as swapping the barrel? It comes as 6.5x284 (which I like the sounds of ).

Hope you can help steer me in the right direction...

P.s. Planning on night force scope...

Thx.

[macguru]

Hi all,

Just getting into this great sport, and have spent many hours researching away like an obsessed maniac. Was wondering if anyone has thoughts or experience with the Savage F Class rifle (as opposed to 12 f/tr). I know ultimately if I stay as hooked asbi think I will I will go custom, but this rifle looked like a good starting point...

Also, if I wanted to use the same rifle to shoot 0.308 for F STD comps, is it as simple as swapping the barrel? It comes as 6.5x284 (which I like the sounds of ).

Hope you can help steer me in the right direction...

P.s. Planning on night force scope...

Thx.

Hmm... I have alot of thoughts about this, and some experience, owning 2 savage rifles. For a start, F Std is a better starting point than F open, unless you are into reloading, and willing to spend a fair bit on experimenting with custom rifles, calibers and dies right from the start. Most clubs have more f std members than f open but not always. A 6.5-284 may burn out the barrel before you get it sorted out.

A 308 can almost keep up to an f open 6mm rifle out to 6-700 m (almost) if its shooting well. And they are in a separate comp anyways. A 6.5-284 should be better at 800-1000m if going well.

The savage FT/R would be a fairly good start but if you know a gunsmith a custom rifle is a bit safer. I bought a savage Palma and since rebarrelling it with a heavier tube its really going well. The ft/r already has a heavy tube so it should be ok out of the box. You can change the barrels if you have the correct chambering, a set of gauges and the wrench. But start with a 308.

Also , the sightron scope is fine and you can buy 3 for the price of a night force. Use the net.

[DaveMc]

I have three savages and do like them. I would highly recommend the F class. I had a reasonably good 6.5* 284 barrel but eventually owned all sorts of barrels for them (6BR, 6*46, 6.5*47L, 284 SH, 308 etc) and yes it is as simple as screwing on a barrel, you can even buy prefit ones with barrel nut and can buy the wrench from Wheeler.

but if you are after a truly "cunning plan"

You can buy a savage action for under $1000 and get a custom barrel and stock for similar money to the factory rifle.

A friend of mine just got an action and Broughton barrel and stock for under 2000 all up and it is amazingly accurate and only took a few weeks to piece together (look at Richards microfit for cheapest, Procal does some nice ones and for beautiful custom job a Phil Mastin stock. Synthetic wise Wild Dog are starting to bring out some competition stocks that work very well).

Anyway you choose to go the action and stock can take you to the highest level. Personally if I did it again I would have chosen the 6BR (or 308) to start out with. I burnt out a couple of 6.5*284 barrels "learning the ropes"

Dave Mc

[Baldric]

Thank you both for your wisdom and advice!

I have obviously still got some thinking to do. I looked at the mastin stocks (love them...want one...haha), but was looking at them w Barnard action, which jumps the cost a lot... I have had some people say you must go Barnard for best accuracy, and others that savage action is just as good...leaving me more than a little confused... If there are any pearls you can throw me on this that would be great, as I was 100 percent set on mastin/Barnard and got a little spooked by the investment

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Baldric

[Matt P]

Baldric
If your're going to really get into F Class, buy the best you can afford ( Barnard / Mastin), if you're just wanting to have a shoot here and there, the Savage is another option.
I wish I could go back to the start and buy a Barnard, March scope. I'd be $1000's better off.
The Barnard is in my opinion is the best value for money action on the market, it comes with a trigger, is ground after heat treating which lends itself vee block style bedding. Mastin stocks are very, very good but waiting times can be long, there are other options. Before commiting to a stock or barrel profile have a think if you want to shoot FT/R as weight needs to taken into the equation.
Matt P

[jcinsa]

One things for sure Baldric,

you're going to have much more fun shooting F Class

than hanging around with Black Adder

[macguru]

One things for sure Baldric,

you're going to have much more fun shooting F Class

that hanging around with Black Adder

Yeah, you should listen to Matt.... If you want something quick and dont know a good gunsmith get a savage ft/r should be ok with handloads but i honestly think its a gamble. My savage palma with a new barrel is better than ok but if i had it to do over again and i was not impatient there is no reason not to get one of the barnard actions instead and a custom barrel. The barnard in a vee block has to be a safer option, though my savage has turned out really well.

Scopewise, i tried a march today (it was paul's, matt) and was suitably impressed although i am not sure the sightron 10-50 could not keep up. I am still happy with my sightron 8-32, but gosh, that march was a nice hunk of glass

[DaveMc]

I think a couple of basic questions need to be asked here first. Firstly are you considering a factory savage because of price? or is it the timeframe to get a good gunsmith to piece it together?? (I know in my case it was both!)

If it is a time thing then a factory savage is a very good option and you can get started whilst waiting for a gunsmith to fit you in and most of them nowadays are happy to work on a savage action. The F class stock is good enough to do the job too. Same with the FTR option.

I am not going to argue with the guys above - if you can afford a Barnard and Phill Mastin stock and can wait then go for it - I am sure you cannot do better (Phill keeps telling me so ) BUT if it is a price issue - a well built custom barrelled savage action will be 99% as accurate as a Barnard and can be put together for nearly half the price. The factory savage is a bit more of a lucky dip with barrel quality but some do well and you can always replace the barrel later.

Otherwise there are some brilliant second hand rifles around (e.g. Cameron Mcewens 6*47 on for sale pages).

[Baldric]

Well. To be fair I am probably being impatient more than anything. I think the wait time for the mastin is 8mths, but by all accts seems worth it. So... I reckon I should head that way then. At least that way I won't have regrets later

[macguru]

Well. To be fair I am probably being impatient more than anything. I think the wait time for the mastin is 8mths, but by all accts seems worth it. So... I reckon I should head that way then. At least that way I won't have regrets later

Sure, but just remember no matter what you get, you will have to tune it to get the most out of the barrel. A savage for $1500 will outshoot a $5000 barnard if you tune the loads right - no question about it. The question is whether the original barrel on the savage is good enough, the action and the stock are less important than the barrel and chambering. You may need to rebarrel the savage i just dont think you can be sure until you try, but that is true of custom barrels as well.