Savage 11 .308 break-in and first impressions

[Limbwalker]

I've seen hornady superformance shot in a few different rifles and they all shot them pretty good. Might give them a try.

Thanks. I have always liked Hornady ammo.

[kmitchl]

Congrats on the Savage selection. I've been a big Savage fan since I purchased two Stevens 200's several years ago at the Academy Black Friday Sale. They use the Savage action. Both of these have proved to be shooters. Also, with the Savage system it's relatively easy to change barrels and bolt faces to change calibers.

Looking at your groups you may be able to improve if you go to two shot groups instead of three with a 10-15 minute cooldown between groups. I've found that I frequently get the first two shots touching and the third is a flyer. I think this is due to barrel heating on a light barrel.

[Bullseye07]

I've seen hornady superformance shot in a few different rifles and they all shot them pretty good. Might give them a try.

X2. That's my go to round for my .270

[Limbwalker]

Congrats on the Savage selection. I've been a big Savage fan since I purchased two Stevens 200's several years ago at the Academy Black Friday Sale. They use the Savage action. Both of these have proved to be shooters. Also, with the Savage system it's relatively easy to change barrels and bolt faces to change calibers.

Looking at your groups you may be able to improve if you go to two shot groups instead of three with a 10-15 minute cooldown between groups. I've found that I frequently get the first two shots touching and the third is a flyer. I think this is due to barrel heating on a light barrel.

Thanks. I'll give that a try. I was a bit rushed last night in the fading light, and then on top of that having to wait for the pistol shooters to finish standing 30' in front of the benches and shooting their silhouette targets

I'd like to go today and see how it shoots in 25 mph winds. But yea, I think I'll wait.

Incidentally, last week my 30-30 topped with the vintage Leupold scout mount and weaver scout scope fell on the scope when I leaned it against my bike at the NF and the whole bike and rifle fell over. For some reason, I wasn't too worried though. That gun has been through hell and always comes up shooting. Sure enough, I fired one shot with it at 100 while I was letting the Savage cool and it was dead-on, even after rattling around on top of my bike. I just chuckled. That stupid thing just shoots. Always has. Gotta love a gun like that.

[Limbwalker]

X2. That's my go to round for my .270

My shoulder hurts just thinking about that. Think I'll save the Superformance for my 1st rifle elk hunt.

Actually, the Hornady ammo is one reason I settled on the .308 Between the Hornady Lite with the 125's and the Superformance, it's almost like having a 30-30 and a 300 Win in the same gun.

[nathank]

I have been looking at getting a lighter .308 for some time now and have been looking at the savage . I have a Marlin XL7VH with 26" heavy barrel and getting tired of toting it. Even with this very heavy rifle the recoil is still pretty good I can only imagine what it's like with a rifle half the weight.... Thank you for the write up...and good luck with the new boom stick..!!

[Limbwalker]

This gun is light. I think it may be as light as my Model 7 with the wood stock. Points great. I wasn't going in to that purchase thinking Savage, although I knew they had a good reputation for accuracy, but every time I brought it to my shoulder, it felt great. No other rifle I tried fit me as well or balanced as well. So knowing they are accurate reliable guns, it was a pretty easy decision.

I thought long and hard about that Ruger Gunsite Scout though. I'm a sucker for 77/Mauser actions, and that thing pointed great too. Just couldn't bring myself to spend $900 on a gun with a 16" barrel.

But yea, the Savage, with my 3-9x40 VX-II Leupy, is just a hair over 7 lbs. total weight. Very light. I can see how this gun will be easy to carry all day.

Interestingly enough, it's exactly the same weight as my Win. 94 30-30 with the 4x scout scope on it. Balances better though. The Win is a bit nose-heavy.

[Limbwalker]

I'm really itching to sling some of that Hornady Am. Whitetail ammo at the target again, and see if those two-hole groups were just a case of bad shooting or if the gun likes that round that well. It would be sweet if it did since that's a pretty affordable and easy to find round.

[crash8005]

I'm really itching to sling some of that Hornady Am. Whitetail ammo at the target again, and see if those two-hole groups were just a case of bad shooting or if the gun likes that round that well. It would be sweet if it did since that's a pretty affordable and easy to find round.

I wouldn't doubt that it was a 2 hole 3 shot group. Hornady makes good, consistent ammo. I shoot the custom Lite in my Tikka 7mm-08 and American whitetail in my 308. Only other less expensive ammo that I've found that shoots on par out of my 308 is Federal standard blue box. You might give that a try as well since it is easy to find.

The thing that I don't understand is this. Why not find the best ammo for that gun and stock up that way you never have to rely on the inventory at Walmart? You never know when they might have a run on ammo and you'll be screwed. If you stock up you can also buy the same lot #'S which I've been told can make a difference.

[crash8005]

And congrats on the new gun. Savage makes a great rifle.

[Raleigh]

Limbwalker,
I just purchased a Mod 11 Trophy Hunter youth model in 308 for my 12 year old daughter. I did the same thing you did by rushing to sight the gun again prior to our hunt the very next day. I also used the Hornady Lite loads.

I now am huge fan of the Model 11. After 10 shots that included bore sighting and adjustments the gun shot a 3 shot group inside an inch.

We are shooting the lite loads so my daughters can handle the recoil which they do very well. We have shot two does with these loads this year one from the Savage and the other (my 14 year old daughter) from my TC. While both loads killed the deer quickly the bullet did not exit. One shot was 70 yards and the other about 100 yards. As a dad with kids hunting I like big holes and lots of blood to track. We got neither on both deer.

When they were available we shot the Remington Reduced loads and these bullets preformed much better. If you can get your hands on a few boxes I would suggest you try them.

Good luck and congrats on your Mod 11.

[1shot]

My savage hates core locks and winchester but will shoot Hornady great. Congrats on a good rifle

[Limbwalker]

The thing that I don't understand is this. Why not find the best ammo for that gun and stock up that way you never have to rely on the inventory at Walmart? You never know when they might have a run on ammo and you'll be screwed. If you stock up you can also buy the same lot #'S which I've been told can make a difference.

Working on it. That's what I plan to do when I find what the gun wants. Just started with these four because that's what Bass Pro had on hand, along with some FMJ and HP match and surplus stuff - which I'm not going to hunt with.

Will try the Federal blue box since that's always easy to find too.

[Limbwalker]

Raleigh, thanks for the good feedback. I think that Hornady Lite kicks less than my daughter's .243 with 100 grain ammo, so it's definitely a gun she can shoot (or my wife) if need be, with that ammo. I don't think either of them would like it at all if they shot full loads out of it. I don't even like it at full loads, but I can tolerate it.

I will try the Remington reduced loads too. Sorry to hear those bullets didn't exit. That's a real shame, but maybe they are designed to expand quickly and use all their energy in the critter?

To me, hunting whitetails has always been an accuracy game - whether bow or gun. I'm not afraid of a little tracking job but I do want to know that the bullet is going where I'm aiming it.

[Limbwalker]

Got to the range again today for a good long session. Weather was good. Little bit of wind, but not too much. Had time to let the barrel cool between shots, and I ended up shooting 51 rounds over the course of 3 hours.

Learned a few things.

1) the hope I had that the Hornady 150 Am. Whitetail was shooting 2-hole 3-shot groups was dashed when I realized it was the worst grouping ammo of the lot. I never shot a group with it under 2", so it's out.

2) the green box Remington 150's were very consistent, always printing groups about 1.5" in a nice round shape. Not great, but not horrible.

3) the Hornady Lite 125 low-recoil actually grouped pretty well. Same hole on first two shots, then the third an inch away. Second round was similar - about an inch group.

4) the clear winner was the Winchester 150's. They produced the best groups the first time around at 1.3" and today, the first 3 shots made one ragged hole for a 0.7" group! First sub-1" group I think I've ever shot. That was a darn good feeling.

5) Looks like the gun is shooting better as it gets shot in!

Ran the bore snake down the tube and then fired one shot with a clean bore at 300 yards, with a 9" holdover (perfect for the lower post taper on my reticle, which I'm sure is why Leupold designed their reticle that way) - the result was exactly what I wanted. Hit the center diamond 1" high at 300.

Gotta love it when a plan comes together. So, it is possible to get a legitimate 1 moa / 300 yard gun for $500 (with another $100 worth of test ammo).

Incidentally, I shot one of the best 3-shot groups today from my Ruger 77/50 muzzleloader. 1st three shots were inside 2"! Not bad for a cap, loose powder and a 240 grain bullet in a sabot. I'll take it!